★★★★☆ Matheuz gets off to a shoddy start but still achieves musical greatness.

Hamer Hall, Melbourne
June 4, 2016

A friend, who is a newcomer to classical music, recently asked me: “what exactly does a conductor do?” “Everything,” I replied, although I’m not sure this helped him much. I’d have been better served by bringing my curious chum to the MSO’s Romeo and Juliet concert, led by the orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor, Diego Metheuz. Here was a telling example of the sway a conductor holds over the quality of a concert, for both better and worse.

Fulfilling the standard programming formula of the overture-concerto-symphony format (the symphony here replaced by a suite), a trio of Russian masterworks were on offer, demonstrating the muscularity, arch-romanticism and flair for the dramatic that this corner of the musical world boasts in abundance. But in very un-Communist fashion, these three pieces were not all equal under Matheuz’s baton. One can almost imagine the conversation that guided this choice of repertoire: “Joyce Yang performing Rachmaninov’s second Piano Concerto, paired with a bespoke selection from all three suites of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet – a dream combo. But what of the...