WASO and Leanne Glover premiere Iain Grandages cor anglais concerto, Orphee. – The West Australian

REVIEW DAVID CUSWORTH 4 stars

Murmurs of immortality attended Leanne Glovers premiere of the Iain Grandage cor anglais concerto, Orphee, with WA Symphony Orchestra at Perth Concert Hall.

The legendary hero-musician Orpheus challenged death, embracing love yet failing as mortals must.

Such poignant feelings are riven through the concerto delivered with stunning effect by Glover, a dazzling figure in glittering jade, expressive and alluring throughout.

Shimmering strings and percussion set the scene, rustling over Baroque arpeggios, wavering slightly as Glover drifted eloquently in with a high, keening lament; rueful over a sinister underworld accompaniment, deep drums and funereal bells.

Sinuous playing and gesture cut neatly through antiphonal string ensembles held in perfect balance by Douglas Boyds deft baton.

Ghostly, the title of the first movement, was the leitmotif, while a meditative line emerged to explore the cors distinctive alto voice as drums and strings spoke of death and beyond, from which the hero seeks to lead his lover.

In the finale, what Glover terms curly bars lifted the intensity but never quite left behind the sighing tones of the opening; genuinely virtuosic passages rushing to an all-too-sudden conclusion.

Orpheus plea for his lost love Euridice, Do not separate two loving hearts, inspired this work through the medium of UWA professor emeritus David Tunley, whose affection for French composer Clerambaults telling of the classical myth led Grandage to write the concerto as a 90th birthday present.

Ever the showman, Grandage gave a hint of whats to come in his three-year directorship of the Perth Festival by appearing beforehand with piano accordion to expose the themes of the work.

At the last he sprinted on stage and embraced Glover to applause, cheers and bouquets of all kinds.

Vaughan Williams opened the night with Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis; another borrowing from an archaic source expressed by antiphonal string ensembles, in this case small (quartet), medium and large.

Chords mystic and solemn evoked the ecclesiastical origin of Tallis work, a setting of Psalm 2.

In Vaughan Williams reworking, Greensleeves meets ancient faith and the Reformation, a musical kaleidoscope underpinned by deep pedal notes as if accompanied by organ.

Boyd blended three dozen string voices into one, micro-managing the ebb and flow; lush tones and refined dynamics the hallmark of the climax and cadence.

After the interval, Beethovens Eroica Symphony gave a foretaste of next years 250th anniversary tributes.

Clarity in the opening surging theme was tightly knit with complex rhythm and, again, precise dynamics.

Eroica, Beethovens third symphony, is the precursor of the Romantic revolution he unleashed.

Soaring melody, strident chords and a wealth of passion shone through, woodwind and brass scintillating and sharp.

The funeral march second movement gives a hint of the magnificent seventh symphony to come, the death of earthly glory subtly evoked in Liz Chees oboe.

Horns were especially powerful in the Scherzo, three playing as one over urgent, energetic offbeat entries and embellishments that Boyd clearly relished.

Launching attacca into the finale, all the above returned, challenging orchestra and audience with delicious forebodings of the year to come.

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WASO and Leanne Glover premiere Iain Grandages cor anglais concerto, Orphee. - The West Australian