Dreams & Stories | Queensland Symphony Orchestra with William Barton
Sculthorpe’s Kakadu followed, which was a standout in terms of William Barton’s additions through didgeridoo. Note that this was not part of the original score and something Sculthorpe included after hearing Barton play. In part a beautiful homage between musos. I loved the harmonic shifts of the different instruments mimicking birds, trees, nature and the sometimes flight, fright, freeze and fawn.
Reuben Tsang in Concert
The highlight of the day was Franz Liszt’s Rhapsodie espagnole S 254. This suggestive traditional Spanish music opened with a cadenza, included rapid chords and octaves, that was spiced with the feeling of improvisation. Tsang dazzled me with his exquisite piano techniques and I was impressed by the way he swept those 88 keys so blazingly.
La Serenata | Opera Queensland
Wang himself is charming in the humblest of ways. He captures us with his talent and endears himself to us immediately after with his sweet demeanour. This charm is enhanced immensely by his technical prowess. Wang sings with every fibre of his being.
"We were looking for ways and spaces where all our different musical pursuits could coexist and combine…" Connor D’Netto on NONSTOP
It’s easy for people to assume certain types of music to exist in a certain place, presented in a certain way, and maybe even listened to by certain people. That’s so limiting on every level. It limits the kind of art artists feel comfortable (or are even allowed) to create; it limits whether people feel comfortable in certain spaces and therefore whether they are able to experience different kinds of art; it limits how people are able to come together, connect and interact.
The David Bentley Trio | Restrung Festival
Led by Brisbane’s accomplished jazz/blues pianist and composer David Bentley and joined by Brisbane musicians Andrew Shaw (bass) and Nathan Goldman (drums), the trio played a number of jazz standards and original songs; all which left the audience gleefully tapping their feet.
Seen But Not Her | Vulcana Circus
I felt like I was watching the inner workings of a glorious music box. The cogs in this microcosm represented by the musicians and their instruments, and the mathematics intrinsic to music generally, and more specifically in the complexity of a piano trio such as this. Also trapped in the music box, layered over these inner workings were the physical performers, who for me were like spirits or muses who represented the imperfect nature of creativity.
Skyward | Republic of Song
We begin with a beautiful dreamy introduction, a delicate song performed on cello and piano as we watch a mesmerising timelapse. Throughout the performance, Bale explores the inherent urge to escape, to fly free into the sky, and the inevitable sadness that comes with the realisation of gravity, and impossibility, and mortality.
En Masse | Circa
I adored the scene early in the first act when the cast were tumbled across the stage, blown by the howling winds of winter. This was easily some of the best tumbling I have ever seen, full of energy and purpose, no movement repeated, high-level skills interspersed throughout but not repeated just to garner applause. A fabulous scene.