Southern Cross Soloists opened 2023 with a dynamic concert inspired by the city of lights and love, including a programme of classical pieces by composers who had experienced life in Paris: French composers Debussy and Ravel, but also German composer Gluck, Austrian composer Mozart, and Russian composers Prokofiev and Scriabin.
Beginning in Paris, Southern Cross Soloists’ 2023 season is a series of musical journeys, exploring the influence of travel on creativity and inspiration. All of the pieces performed were arranged by Artistic Director and oboist, Tania Frazer, who noted that “travelling has always been an incredible pool for creativity.” As a chamber music ensemble, Southern Cross Soloists perform without a conductor and it was interesting to see the dynamics at play during the concert, the way that the musicians arranged themselves on the stage, and the individual choices to read from an iPad or from paper sheet music.
The concert opened with selections from Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice, an opera based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. After the death of his beloved Eurydice, Orpheus uses his otherworldly musical talent to travel to the underworld and retrieve her soul. Hades and Persephone, King and Queen of the Dead, are so charmed by Orpheus’ skill that they allow him to leave with Eurydice, on the condition that he does not look back at her until they reach the land of the living. In each version, Orpheus looks back just before they emerge, and Eurydice is taken back to the underworld forever; in Gluck’s interpretation, Eurydice assumes that Orpheus no longer loves her, since he will not look at her, and refuses to go on. She sings of her grief until Orpheus cannot bear it anymore, and turns to look at her.
Southern Cross Soloists performed two of the ballet sequences from Orfeo ed Euridice, the dark and dramatic Dance of the Furies and the slower, sweet Dance of the Blessed Spirits, with a charming flute solo performed by guest artist David Silva.
The lightness of the Dance of the Blessed Spirits was followed by the more sombre Sonata No.8 in A minor by Mozart. Written in mourning for his mother after her sudden death in Paris, this was the first of only two piano sonatas that Mozart composed in a minor key. Beginning with the Allegro maestro, which held an underlying tension and intensity, the sonata moved into the contemplative second movement, Andante cantabile con espressione, and finished with Presto, fast and full of conflicting feelings.
Debussy’s Beau soir (Beautiful Evening) was arranged for cello and piano and performed by Southern Cross Soloists’ Artist in Residence for 2023, pianist Konstantin Shamray, and a Guest Associate Artist, cellist Guillaume Wang. The piece is set to a poem of the same name, by the influential French writer Paul Bourget, which paints a picture of pink rivers at sunset, rippling wheat fields, and the fleeting nature of life. Shamray’s fingers moved with languid, fluid motion across the keys of the piano, and Wang’s performance on the cello gave me chills. Recently returned from seven years studying in France and Belgium, including years at the Paris Conservatoire, Wang is an expressive and captivating performer, playing with passion, skill, and intensity.
Wang and Shamray went on to perform Scriabin’s Romance, a moving piece of music that was originally written for horn and piano. Written in ~1891, Romance was composed around the same time that Scriabin developed an injury in his right hand due to his piano studies, which led to a distinctive style that favoured flowing, descending figures in the left hand over the traditional complex figures in the right hand.
Next was the jazzy, tango-inspired piece for solo cello, Stonehenge. Hungarian composer Peter Pejtsik plays the cello, fiddle, and rock bass guitar, and it is from the latter that Stonehenge takes its lead; Wang joked that he hoped none of his teachers would see his performance, as it went against the traditional style of cello playing.
Ravel’s Tzigane was then performed with another Guest Associate Artist, violinist Courtenay Cleary, who changed into a dramatic gown for the piece. Buoyed by the musicians around her, Cleary’s solo performance showcased a range of techniques and drew complex sounds and feelings from her instrument.
Tzigane was followed by a selection from Debussy’s Préludes, originally a collection of 24 pieces for solo piano. Considered the first impressionist composer, and quintessentially French, Debussy composed many works that were rich in imagery and storytelling. Southern Cross Soloists performed the fluttering La danse de Puck, inspired by the mischievous imp from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the playful Ondine: Scherzando based on the myths of sirens and mermaids; and the swirling Ce qu’a vu le vent d’ouest (What the west wind has seen), which grew from a breeze, to a storm, to a tornado, inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s story The Garden of Paradise in which a young prince meets a woman whose four sons are the North, South, East, and West Winds.
The concert concluded with a cohesive and spirited performance of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No.4 for left hand, commissioned by pianist Paul Wittgenstein after he lost his right arm in the First World War. Despite its modern popularity, it was initially rejected by Wittgenstein and never performed in Prokofiev’s lifetime. It is now one of the composer’s most popular concertos, and was energetically performed at the City of Lights concert by Konstantin Shamray.
It was interesting to experience the different combinations of musicians onstage, and the range of emotions and styles that had all been inspired by a single city through the centuries. From the underworld to a picturesque sunset and many places in between, Southern Cross Soloists took the audience on a journey through Paris’ mystical allure and its enduring impact on classical music.
City of Lights: From Paris, with Love was performed at the QPAC Concert Hall on 26 February 2023.
Click here for more information about Southern Cross Soloists, including their upcoming concerts
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