MSO vs TSO: no contest!

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Sir Andrew Davis (conductor)

Saturday 3 March, Hamer Hall Melbourne

Beethoven: Piano Concerto Number 5 in D major, Op. 61; Nelson Freire (piano)

Wagner, Verdi: arias; Stuart Sketon, tenor

Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra

Marko Letonja (conductor)

Friday 2 March 7.30pm

ABC Classic FM Concert broadcast from Federation Concert Hall, Hobart

Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61; Veronika Eberle (violin),

“Not much oomph.”

The three mature-age gentlemen were in a huddle at half-time. One clutched a plastic flute of bubbles; another, an icy pole; the third, hands in pockets. Bubbles leaned his head into the triumvirate. He spoke slowly and deliberately, “It just lacked oomph”.

And that about sums up the MSO, the Emperor and Freir.

I’d saved up my pension specifically to hear Stuart Skelton again. First in the Adelaide Ring, then Mahler in Sydney, Tristan in Hobart and now ”Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond” from Die Walküre. The bonus was going to be The Emperor – I’d first heard it and was fascinated by it when I was about 15 – played by Nelson Freire.

The MSO has some of the best orchestral players in the world. It does not have the best conductors. Neither does its managers always select the best soloists.

Nelson Freire is a gentle pianist without the very up-front pianism of, say, Stephen McIntyre or Timothy Young or Kathryn Selby or Anna Goldsworthy or Stefan Cassomenos or Benjamin Martin or Kristian Chong or Adam McMillan or Laurence Matheson – et al. His playing seemed not to inspire the orchestra. Neither did Davis. But worse, more fatally(!) Davis got the balance wrong. Too-loud, turgid double basses swamped the brilliance of the smaller strings and the piano; even the bassoons struggled. So the texture of Beethoven’s brilliant, often angry, very harmonic orchestration was never there. I thought about the Victorian performances of Messiah with a 1000 voice choir and the sort of conducting that Malcolm Sargeant excelled at: Tom Sawyer with his 4” whitewash brush attacking the neighbour’s fence when a #3 camel hair bush was all that was needed. Beethoven got the 4” brush treatment and the MSO’s pre-break playing made me glad I’d subscribed to other bands in Melbourne for 2018.

Perhaps the problem is that, in spite of their high-level technical skill, the MSO musicians don’t like or don’t respect Davis. The tension sometimes erupts with sniping at each other in rehearsal. I wondered if Davis hears the orchestra in the conducting sense. If I can hear 'turgid', 'moribund', 'boring' surely he can - or can he?

The balance and the lightness of touch needed to expose Beethoven's complex textures was way off in the first half. Things fell into place much more happily when Skelton and Wagner hit the stage. (Wagner? Lightness of touch? Nah!) He wasn’t togged up in the ridiculous 19thC tail coat that the orchestra had to wear. Did that fact alone give them hope?

The TSO is a much smaller band – but still big enough to handle Wagner brilliantly. It’s true that they excel at baroque repertoire and that’s next door to Classical Beethoven.

It was no surprise that the TSO made their Beethoven sing and sparkle. I had the advantage that a broadcast gave me of standing in and above the orchestra. From that position the balance was spot-on. You can’t hide technical wobbles from a microphone a few feet from you and there was none as you’d expect. It was the controlled energy and unrestrained musicianship that made this performance so exciting. Veronika Eberle, Latonja and the TSO band understood each other and you could hear them all smiling at each other at the end.

There are some world-class conductors tucked away in hidey holes in Australia. One is running Vic Opera, another is playing clarinet in the QSO, a third is conducting the Adelaide Symphony.

It’s time to get rid of the Europo-centric cringe and put a great Australian musician-conductor whom the musos respect in front of the MSO. Until MSO’s manager do something courageous I’ll spend my concert ticket allowance elsewhere. There are lots of choices in Victoria.