After almost two years away from the concert stage, the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra's "Sounds from Silence" program, in the Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts, was aptly titled and very well received by an audience which has profoundly missed live music. With former conductor Hugh McKelvey returning to the podium there was a sense of excitement and comfort with a program contrasting twentieth century America and Beethoven.
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The silence in the program was the opening work, John Cage's philosophical statement "4 Minutes 33 seconds". This simply asks us what do we hear when we listen to music. The performance last Saturday evening included several coughs, doors closing and the ubiquitous mobile phone.
"The Unanswered Question" of Charles Ives, and "Quiet City" of Aaron Copland were marked by delicately serene and highly expressive string playing, supporting the melodies of the wind soloists. Frank Dyer (trumpet) and Kathryn Saunders (cor anglais) were outstanding in creating the emotionally charged introspection within both works. This performance of Quiet City was dedicated to long serving orchestra violist Anne Smith who passed away recently.
The "Egmont Overture" and Fifth symphony of Beethoven were superbly delivered. The strings were impressive in maintaining a cohesive texture of sound, fine intonation and driving energy through the allegro sections. The symphony's second movement majesty was perfectly delineated while the broad C Major final movement provided the necessary counter balance to the dramatic C minor first movement. This concert was a most impressive return to live performance for the Ballarat Symphony Orchestra.
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