From the Heartlands: Vienna to Budapest (Southern Cross Soloists)

Music that shaped Central Europe explored in an eclectic program featuring jazz trumpeter James Morrison.

Concert Hall, QPAC, Brisbane

Reviewed on 18 June, 2023

by Suzannah Conway on 19 June, 2023

The Southern Cross soloists (SXS), under the artistic direction of oboist Tania Frazer, set out to explore some of the richly diverse folk music and traditions of Central Europe in From the Heartland: Vienna to Budapest. Including composers and works from Austria, Moravia, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary, this was a judicious program with some reworking of pieces to suit a chamber orchestra.

Mozart’s Horn Concerto No.4, with its famous third movement including the popular ‘hunting horn’ theme, was the first piece. With a buoyant and well-paced string quintet as accompaniment, the Allegro moderato got off to a speedy start, followed by the gentle and melodic theme of the Romance. The final Rondowas briskly played by the strings, with excellent work from the violins. Unfortunately, Nick Mooney’s horn solo was neither bright nor exciting, underwhelming in delivery, while theRondo failed to ignite.

Czech composer Pavel Fischer’s Two Moravian Songswere given a new treatment by a string quartet with the oboe replacing the vocal line. Jedú chlapci, jedú (Boys on Horseback) had a distinctly eastern European folk quality with its plucked strings.

The violins and viola in the second song, Brodil, Janko konĕ (Janko Waded Horses) were fast and vigorous, while Frazer’s oboe was beautifully played throughout. However, Fischer’s songs work so perfectly with their soprano vocals that it was hard to better the original in this revision.

Lutoslawski’s Dance Preludes 1955 amply highlighted the skills of clarinettist, Ashley Smith.  These five short movements by the Polish composer were written originally for piano and clarinet. Here they were joined by string quintet, horn, oboe, flute and percussion; these additions blending well. The rhythmic dialogue across diverse dance forms between piano and clarinet here extended to the higher strings, the deep notes of the bass and the richness of the woodwind.

Smith played stylishly and with great sensitivity across the full range of his instrument, demonstrating the energetic vibrancy of the Allegro movements and contrasting them with the melodic, reflective chords of the Andante sections. His breath control was particularly impressive.

James Wannan gave us Bartόk’s Viola Concerto Sz. 120 in a reconstructed version that was created by him and Frazer. Generally considered the most challenging of all concertos for viola, additionally there is no definitive version of this work as Bartόk died before it was finished.  It started hauntingly in the Moderato, became melodic and lyrical in the Adagio before a ferociously fast and impressive Allegro Vivace.

Wannan’s management of this tricky work was exemplary. Technically accomplished, he delivered perfect top notes, alongside a dark lower sonority and strong rhythmic and fast virtuosic passages. His playing was energetic and mesmerising. Moreover, he had a real feel for Hungarian folk music of the period, assisted by solid support from the woodwind and strings.

Franz Liszt’s Totentanz: Paraphrase on Dies irae S.126 is another virtuosic work, this time for piano. SXS Artist in Residence 2023, Konstantin Shamray, gave a very fine reading and understanding of this complex work. Written with a series of variations around the theme of the hymn Dies irae (Day of Wrath), the work is by turns both powerfully threatening and quietly unsettling. The pianist is made to push the instrument to its utmost limits, traversing the keyboard in a series of sweeping gestures, arpeggios and runs that involve fast paced octave changes and a huge fluidity of sound.

Shamray tackled it head on, with some extraordinary playing across and at the extremes of the instrument. Technically assured, he delivered a rich, colourful palate of sound that was equally well played in the frenetic, tempestuous sections as it was in the tender and lyrical moments. A marvellous performance.

Southern Cross Soloists (SXS), James Morrison and Chris Williams (right). Photo supplied

As part of the SXS Didgeridoo Commissioning Project, renowned jazz trumpeter James Morrison was commissioned to compose a new work for trumpet and didgeridoo with SXS Didgeridoo Artist in Residence, Chris Williams. The result of their joint composition is Co-incidence, intended as an act of cooperation, rather than chance, that was given its world premiere in the concert. Alongside trumpet and didgeridoo, the work also involved the full SXS.

There appeared to be three main sections to the work. An opening with long didgeridoo and woodwind notes, across gentle percussive tones that had an ethereal and haunting feel. They were then joined by trumpet, woodwind and strings. The second section offered a change of mood and rhythm with predominantly didge and trumpet, the latter taking pre-eminence. The third section started slow and languorous, involving all the players. Slowly fading to nothing, the work then reverted to the opening theme with didgeridoo and trumpet ending softly together.

This was a well-considered composition, nicely paced and delineated with the involvement of all the SXS. The trumpet and didge blended well, though the trumpet was overly powerful within this chamber setting. On the whole Williams did not show off the splendid versatility of his instrument, especially in a range of bush sounds.

Monti’s famous Czardas was a great piece on which to finish. Normally played on piano with violin, it was here played by all the musicians taking turns at short solos, while the violin part was shared by both violinists. The arrival of Morrison with a trumpet to replace one violin section was greeted warmly and was an impromptu and welcome addition for the finale.