Federation Concert Hall
October 10, 2018

“I think we’re going to have a party.” These were the introductory words of TSO Managing Director Nicholas Heyward, who gave an opening address to the audience before the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s 70th Anniversary Concert. As warming as it was to see him in the flesh, he needn’t have stated this prediction – the music soon said it all. Romeo Retold was perhaps the most exciting and high-octane concert I’ve attended in the Federation Concert Hall.

The hall was abuzz long before the lights dimmed – musicians filling up the stage with smile, chatter, and instrumental toying; audience members left with scarcely a seat available as they contributed to the joyous ring heard in the space. After Heyward’s address (which also included a thanks to the TSO supporters, including the audience and government funding), conductor Marko Letonja stepped on stage to open the night with Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet, Fantasy Overture.

It was one of three works in this concert, each of which told of this Shakespearean tale, and this was well-selected as the opening work. A slow build, it took a while for the energy to exceed the pre-concert anticipation – but once struck,...