★★★☆☆ Tchaikovsky’s ‘Mozartian’ steals the spotlight in a Wolfgang-inspired programme.

Llewellyn Hall, Canberra
April 7, 2016

Mozart was the title of this concert which consisted of that composer’s Symphony No 31, K297 (known as the Paris), a flute concerto entitled The Magic Flute Dances by the contemporary British composer Jonathan Dove based on themes from Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute, and Tchaikovsky’s Suite No 4 (Mozartiana) consisting of four pieces by Mozart arranged or recomposed for orchestra by Tchaikovsky. The odd man out was Out of the Blue, a piece for string orchestra by Nigel Westlake. This work, which reminded me very much of Stravinsky’s Concerto for Strings, began well but ran out of inspiration halfway through. Also the tessitura of the piece seemed far too restricted in range. The piece was very well executed by the orchestra.

The best performance, however, seemed to me to be of the Tchaikovsky Suite. Here, the orchestra‘s tone took on a real sheen and the conductor kept the texture admirably clean. There was some fine solo playing by the clarinet and also by the leader of the orchestra in the rather lengthy violin solo in the final movement; she was rewarded by the conductor with a bottle of what I assumed was...