This was a very special concert, held in the resplendent Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House.
There were just two works in the program. The first piece, Michael Nyman’s playful, wistful Where The Bee Dances (1991). Brilliant young British saxophonist Jess Gillan shone in her mesmerising performance of the work as she stood out the front of the wonderful Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the ebullient Umberto Clerici.
After a brief break, sadly we didn’t see any more of the delightful Gillam, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Clerici, again impressed in their performance of Sergei Rachmaninov’s highly dramatic, powerful work, Symphonic Dances, Op.45 (1940).
A capacity Concert Hall audience warmly applauded both performances. A perfect antidote to the icy weather we Sydneysiders are currently experiencing.
