Anne-Sophie Mutter and SSO, a truly memorable musical experience

SSO | Anne-Sophie Mutter and the music of John Williams

9 November 2023, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Simone Young

Violin: Anne-Sophie Mutter

PROGRAM:

Bernard Herrmann: Vertigo – Suite (1958)

John Williams: Violin Concerto No.2 (2021)

Nino Rota: The Leopard – Suite (1963)

Nigel Westlake: Flying Dream – Suite for Symphony Orchestra (2015)

John Williams: The Long Goodbye (1973)

John Williams: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001): Hedwig’s Theme 

A concert which isolates the music from the films for which it was written, is a good opportunity to reflect on the nature of what music brings to film. Most of the time in movies, it is just in the background and has an unconscious effect on the watcher. If you were to see a film which you know well and love but with the music turned off, you would probably be surprised by how emotionally flat it becomes. Bernard Herrmann, the Hollywood composer who wrote the music for Citizen Cane and many of Hitchcock’s films, said:

“Music on the screen can seek out and intensify the inner thoughts of the characters. It can invest a scene with terror, grandeur, gaiety, or mystery. It can propel narrative swiftly forward or slow it down. It often lifts mere dialogue into the realm of poetry. Finally it is the communicating link between the screen and the audience, reaching out and enveloping all.”

All too often music is only thought about by the director after the final edit and a matter of overlaying stock pieces.  However, it is ideal if the director and composer can get together before even the final draft of the script, so that the ways in which music could enhance the work as a whole can be fully realised in the planning phase. Nigel Westlake said “It’s always gratifying to engage with a director who sees music as a priority and who is willing to allocate appropriate resources to the task”.

In a sense Wagner (who predates film and hence is not in this concert) understood this with his through-composed music drama and use of leitmotifs; the musical snippets which represent characters, places, objects or particular emotions.

Herrmann’s score for Hitchcock’s Vertigo owes much to Wagner, both in its general texture for the full Romantic orchestra and in the snippets representing terror, pulling back from the edge and the haunting melodies associated with the heroine. Simone Young, with her vast experience conducting Wagner, inspired the orchestra to surge and swell and ultimately descend into madness.

The three John Williams pieces all featured German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter. Mutter is of course one of the world’s superstars of the violin, and with good reason. Her playing is intense, beautiful and elegant. And, much like Young’s conducting, there is no grandstanding; only humility with an absolute focus on the music.

John Williams knew Mutter, her playing and her violin well, and wrote the Violin Concerto No 2 specifically for her; no doubt a daunting task. But he used both her playing and her instrument as his inspiration.  Hence the work fits her like a glove and plays to her strengths. (Not that I imagine for a moment that she has any weaknesses!) Not only is her playing exceptional, but wow, what an instrument her Stradivarius violin is! Rich and warm like a viola in the low register and like spun gold in the upper. Many passages had the violin against substantially thick textures in the large orchestra, but the solo was never overwhelmed. Drama, jazzy swagger, respect for silences and moments of great tenderness made this performance a truly memorable musical experience.

Williams also adapted his score for The Long Goodbye specifically for Mutter and produced a work of great beauty and tenderness, sufficient to melt the heart. Hedwig’s Theme from the Harry Potter movies is recast here to be more like a concerto movement, featuring violin obligatos and impressive cadenzas. It retained the fun, but gave a level of sophistication to the enigmatic owl Hedwig well beyond her film incarnation.

Mutter generously played three wonderful encores, all with full orchestra, which showed there was considerable premeditation. All were equally gorgeous.

The composer Nino Rota worked with some of the greatest directors during Italy’s golden age of films. Fellini, Visconti, Zeffirelli as well as in Coppola’s The Godfather. The Leopard Suite was appropriately lush and romantic in the tradition of Verdi, Puccini and Mascagni.

Nigel Westlake’s work Flying Dream is based on his score for Robert Connolly’s film Paper Planes. It harks back to childhood in a time when life was simpler and perhaps more naïve. Despite the huge orchestra, it is joyful in its representation of the richness and simplicity of youth. It is a fine example of how music can control the pace of what happens in a film when it is given the space by the director to do its job.

I went into this concert with confidence in ability of Young and the SSO and great anticipation for Mutter’s playing, but somewhat less so for the repertoire. I need not have worried. The music was definitely worthy of the concert stage and Mutter’s playing exceeded even my highest hopes. This concert will stay with me for the rest of my life.