Perth Concert Hall
July 14, 2018

The stormy Perth weather may have deterred some from venturing outside, but the West Australian Symphony Orchestra seems to command a determined audience. The Perth Concert Hall was crawling with concertgoers, all eager to see the young, award-winning Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández make his WASO debut with Dvořák’s extremely popular cello concerto. For those unswayed by the glitzy trio of the young virtuoso, his Lord Aylesford Stradivarius, and the famous work, the concert promised much more. Alongside Ferrández, American conductor Joshua Weilerstein was also making his WASO debut. In keeping with his commitment to showcasing the work of living composers, Weilerstein programmed Anna Clyne’s Masquerade, a short showpiece inspired, according to the composer, ‘by the original mid-18th Century promenade concerts held in London’s pleasure gardens.’ And for those who simply yearned for a solid sliver of the symphonic repertoire, Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony assured concertgoers that they would experience dizzying dance episodes, haunting melodies and full-blown orchestral drama.

Pablo Ferrández

A piece of just five minutes long, Clyne’s Masquerade didn’t have the luxury of easing the orchestra into its sonic midst. From the first beat, the WASO strings expertly navigated...