★★★★☆ Nicholas Milton gives the composer’s Fourth the drama and Russian-flair atmosphere it needs.

Llewellyn Hall, Canberra
November 3, 2016

The outstanding feature of this concert was the performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony. The playing was of virtuoso standard throughout, particularly in the scurrying violin parts in the opening of the finale. The solos were well executed and the real pianissimo in the pizzicato third movement was very welcome. The conductor realised fully the drama of the first movement and the Russian-fair atmosphere of the finale. The Russian nature of the orchestration was very noticeable throughout. Tempos were inclined to be fast and it is a credit to the orchestra that it was able to match them. The only weakness, which the conductor should have eliminated, was the overloud playing by the tuba which threatened to turn the work into a concerto for tuba. The predominance of the brass in this orchestra is something that has been noted previously.

The concert opened with a new work by Nigel Westlake, Shimmering Blue. These words were used by Westlake’s father to describe the tone of a former clarinettist in the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Percy Newton. In fact, the entire work seemed to be a...