★★★★☆ Energised readings see the romantic rub shoulders with the radical.

Perth Concert Hall
August 19, 2016

Music spanning 175 years was the substantial ask of this highly enjoyable programme, one which gave West Australian Symphony Orchestra Principal Conductor Asher Fisch the chance to show off his band’s swanky sound in his beloved German Romantic repertoire, as well as giving the ensemble a showcase for individual talents in a pair of highly contrasting concertos.

Perhaps the best example of where WASO is at right now came in the opener, Schubert’s still relatively rarely played Fourth Symphony. The warm solidity to the string sound was immediately apparent in a work where the still only 19-year-old Schubert relies on modest forces with little in the way of martial brass or percussive effect. A virtue of Fisch’s estimable focus on balancing his orchestra is that even when the serried ranks of violins, violas, cellos and basses are playing, a solo flute can still be heard – and let me assure you, that is not the case with every symphony orchestra.

The strings themselves are beautifully graded so that every contrapuntal gesture is laid bare, while Fisch himself is a paragon of expressive clarity. There’s an elegant physicality to the conducting, his every move conveying his desires in terms of tone and phrasing. The pacey first movement purred like a Rolls Royce, every gear change smooth and effortless, the buttery woodwind lovingly dovetailed into the string sound. Nothing is left to chance – you can see that in Fisch’s gesticulations – but the conductor wears his intentions lightly so that nothing stands out as micro-managed.

By contrast the Andante was richly flowing with eloquent solos for oboe (Peter Facer) and flute (Andrew Nicholson). Fisch imbued the syncopations of the miss-stepping schizoid Scherzo – half Beethoven, half Mozartian minuet – with something engagingly lumpen, the sound a bit like a growly bear with a wooden leg. The Mendelssohnian Allegro finale whistled along, its whirring strings leaving fine solos from clarinet (Allan Meyer) and bassoon (Adam Mikulicz) to comment in its wake.

The first half was polished off with an excellent Mozart Horn Concerto No 4 from WASO Principal Horn David Evans. The work’s original dedicatee, the taciturn Joseph Leutgeb, was noted for his ability “to sing as perfectly as the most mellow, interesting and accurate voice”, and Evans lived up to his legendary predecessor with a lean, smooth tone and impeccable intonation, especially in the tricky to control lower register. Fisch and a subset of the full orchestra provided well-paced support, the reduced string numbers perhaps a little undernourished when exposed to the unforgiving spotlight of the Perth Concert Hall acoustic. The horn is a fiendish device, and of course, recordings remove the most obvious glitches, but regular concertgoers will know how often you can get a crack or a gurgle. Evans never (well, hardly ever) made a blunder, lyrical in the brief Romanza and faultless in the famous Rondo finale.

If the Mozart shone a light on a single WASO Principal, Bartók’s bravura Concerto for Orchestra gave every section (and frequently both Principals and the second desk leaders) a chance to prove their mettle. Fisch’s reading was dramatic, highly nuanced, with dynamic string playing offset against piquant woodwind solos and a beautifully finessed brass section. Focussing on the tradition out of which Bartók developed (with a nod to the new Hollywood sound he must have taken on board as a Hungarian émigré), this was more of a Romantic reading than a modernist one, and while Fisch’s interpretation maybe lacked the inevitability of a draconian like Solti, he captured a certain Viennese neuroticism lurking in its depths, especially in the spasmodic first movement.

The orchestra really came into its own in the jocular Giuoco delle Coppie (Games of Pairs) second movement. With woodwind to the fore, the trumpet duets Brent Grapes and Peter Miller) were particularly fine. It seems wrong though to single out one section when all were so impressive, each pairing filled with the spirit of collegiate music-making. Spicy solos from piccolo (Michael Waye) to percussion (Alex Timcke, Brian Maloney and Chiron Mellor) continued in the creepy nocturnal Elegia. If I’ve heard more vulgar interpretations of the famous Intermezzo with its ‘up yours’ to Shostakovich, I’ve seldom heard a more hectic Finale with Fisch setting pulses racing in orchestra and audience in an exciting race to the finish.

In their different ways, each of the works in this concert were tests of orchestral discipline: the Schubert for blend and balance, the Mozart for a single orchestral Principal, the Bartók a potential trap for each and every player. That they sailed through these varied waters with nary an upset is a tribute to the fine ensemble that they are right now, and especially to their sure-handed helmsman, Asher Fisch. WASO’s recordings of the Brahms Symphonies, recorded live at their festival on the composer last year, is due out next month on ABC Classics. If you don’t live in WA and are curious to hear them, I can wholeheartedly recommend the purchase. WASO are riding the crest of a wave right now. Spread the word.

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