SSO and the magnificent Arabella Steinbacher premiere a monumental violin concerto

Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Umberto Clerici – conductor

Arabella Steinbacher – violin

Friday 28 Apr 2023, Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall

Georges Lentz – “…to beam in distant heavens…”  Violin Concerto   World Premiere

Richard Strauss – Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Op.30

A disclaimer from me to start with is that I never read program notes before listening to a new work as I feel I want the abstract intention of the composer to convey to me it’s meaning before language itself influences my thought. I will read the notes after submitting this review. Alan

The recent Sydney Symphony Orchestra concert was in a way a celebration of two extraordinary musicians – one who is there now, the violinist and composer Georges Lentz, and one who has recently moved on to a career as a conductor, the previous principal cello, Umberto Clerici and the orchestral members relished this special event highlighting their colleagues.

​Lentz is a composer who straddles two worlds of artistic influence – he is deeply rooted in the high cultural aesthetic of European arts of the 20th century and since coming to live in Australia over 30 years ago he has progressively become someone who reveres this great land from many different aspects.

His much anticipated and monumental violin concerto …to beam in distant heavens… is a work that breaks new ground for this composer for whilst we hear many moments of his exquisite and beautiful slow moving otherworldly hymn-like music that he has shared with us in his previous orchestral works in this score there is now greater inclusion of all the musics that he has heard from previous centuries. This is a superbly crafted and intellectually sound and satisfying composition the likes of which we have not had in Australia for quite a while. There is a drama that starts and finishes with a bang and in the midst Lentz weaves the multiple strands of divergent sounds into a mammoth abstract-like musical painting of the heavens.

Lentz could not have been more fortunate than to have as his protagonist in this premiere the magnificent Arabella Steinbacher. At only the first performance Steinbacher seemed to own the work in a way that she had already performed it 100 times and her communication to the audience was nothing short of astonishing. Super virtuosic playing of rapid figures and a sweet toned high range enchanted everyone.

The soloist could be a narrator of a creation myth and the interaction of orchestral sounds, both familiar and startlingly fresh, drew attention from this to that. The listener was forever enchanted.

…to beam in distant heavens… is a work that could easily headline a new music festival concert and yet here in Sydney at a regular season concert it was enthusiastically received.

The Richard Strauss tone poem, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, was the 2^nd half of the concert and Clerici oversaw a truly fantastic performance. The opening with its grumbling low notes on which the trumpets sound out a gentle fanfare before all comes crumbling down was fun. The trumpet section, under David Elton, was sensational as were the horns with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra principal horn Nicolas Fleury as guest section leader. Indeed, this was a performance to showcase the wonderful members of the SSO and super amongst stars was concertmaster Andrew Haveron and the other string principals, Harry Bennetts, Marina Marsden, Tobias  Breider and Justin Park. The entire string section was energised and a special mention to the double basses too. What a treasure we have in this Alex Henery and Kees Boersma led section. But where do I stop in listing the wonderful other soloists in this popular work? In the flute section Joshua Batty and Katie Zagorski shone as did the all the woodwind players and the lower brass. Frank Celata’s clarinet solos were a treat. Here as in the Lentz concerto the percussion players were thrilling.  And assessing the reaction of the audience it seemed that they too joined in the celebratory mood of the concert.