Vasse Felix Festival review

Drawn into the perfect moment

THERE are those rare moments in listening to music when a performance is so concentrated and compelling that one is drawn totally into its sound world and time seems to stand still.

I had such an experience last Sunday afternoon in a rustic gallery space at the back of a winery in Margaret River.

This extraordinary performance was delivered by violinist Richard Tognetti and pianist Dejan Lazic, who created a powerfully gripping interpretation of Brahms's enigmatic G-major violin sonata.

Tognetti was at his creative best here, probing the work's dark corners, exploring its complex character, blended from suppressed joy and melancholic tenderness.

His interpretation was profoundly insightful, its effect breathtaking and affecting.

Lazic was a superb duo partner and, while it seems unlikely that they had much time to rehearse together given their touring schedules, there was an impressive unanimity of approach.

This performance was the high point of three concerts by the Australian Chamber Orchestra at Vasse Felix Winery; an annual weekend festival of music, complemented by fine food and

wine, for a small audience of 220.

Lazic also shone in his account of Mozart's charming A-major piano concerto, K414.

His playful exploration of colour and gesture worked well in this musical style and the effect was much more satisfying than his recent, rather unsettled account of Beethoven's fourth piano concerto, which he performed on the ACO's last national tour.

Other highlights from the weekend included Maxime Bibeau's arrangement of Astor Piazzolla's Kicho for double bass and strings, and violinist Satu Vanska's elegant rendition of the musically problematic but technically dazzling Rondo Brillant by Schubert.

Tognetti also created a magical atmosphere in his arrangements of two songs by Ravel.

Eleven of the ACO's string players made the journey to Margaret River and they were at their best in a warm and relaxed performance of Corelli's Christmas Concerto.

Despite these high points, there was also some variable playing throughout the weekend and the orchestra was noticeably less vibrant than at the same time last year.

Not that anyone seemed to mind. To be surrounded by large, colourful canvases of some of Australia's leading Aboriginal artists while listening to some of our most outstanding musicians in one of the most beautiful parts of the country was an extraordinary privilege, and the prolonged standing ovation on Sunday afternoon was a heartfelt expression of gratitude.

Review by Mark Coughlan, The Australian

An aural homecoming

Violinist Pekka Kuusisto tells Anna King Murdoch about his journey of musical self-discovery.

After becoming the first Finn to win the marathon International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition 14 years ago while still only in his teens, Pekka Kuusisto felt that something wasn't right. "I was not really happy playing and I couldn't really tell why because I was on the verge of having the kind of life I had always wanted — gorgeous concerts with great orchestras and playing the Sibelius violin concerto everywhere. I couldn't understand it myself."

Read the full article in The Age.

Learn more about Pekka Kuusisto's tour with the ACO.

Audacious Documentary

MORE MUSICA SURFICA

MusicaSurfica Emerging Artists tour is now complete for 2007. 4 public concerts+ 3 private including one for our sponsors APN – big thanks for making it all possible, 2 schools and the luck of surfing 4 nice point breaks: Crescent Head, Scotts Head, Broken Head and Noosa Heads. We followed the swell and after each concert, the hardcore surfers in the band drove some 3-4 hours each night to be there for the dawn surf, led by Derek Hynd. It’s rare to get surf in this part of the world in October and so we were blessed, especially at Noosa Heads where the swell must wrap around a long way to break. We arrived at film maker Jack McCoy’s Scott’s Head house after 1 am and were awoken by Derek Hynd at 5am with the words “ the nightmare has begun”. His words couldn’t be further from the reality. More like a wonderful dream to be on the far northern NSW coast to surf these perfect point breaks. The waves weren’t as big as we were hoping for at first and the wind was ill, but we waited until 7 am and the wind backed off, the dolphins came out and the swell picked up.

Perhaps the best vibe I’ve experienced in the water, we the finless crew were joined by a motley assortment of varied surf craft including a one legged surfer who managed to STAND on his surf ski balancing with his prosthetic leg and oar. I hope Jack McCoy filmed it. Mate – whoever you are, you are a legend. We also had Warren riding his inflatable mat and the pure elfin spirit of Sage Joske surfing on the finless ancient Alaia. Missing were the usual slash and burn assholes aggressively claiming their right to rule.

We are dreaming that we are recapturing the soul of surfing with the free spirit of finless. Surfing in the day, playing concerts in the night (joining the ACO were Tim Freedman and Shark Island charger Terpapai Richmond on drums, Joseph Tawadros on Oud and our emerging artists), couldn’t be better.

We’ve been playing our arrangement of Shine on you crazy diamond and Paganini’s 24th caprice live to Mick Sowry’s surfing cut from his under construction doco.

It was great to see two colossal Jacks in the audience: Thompson and McCoy.

After the Bellingen school concert one young bloke told me that he was going to take the fins out of his board and asked me where you can learn to play the viola. That’s thinking out of the square.

Let’s conclude with the words of Derek Hynd:
To surf free friction, or fin free, primarily forces the surfer back to the core. It is an act of homage to thousands of years of wave riding. It’s a return to an unpredictable wild side in a sea of conservatism. It is a test of composure in delivering the upper hand to nature. Most of all though it’s just a frontier feeling of being untethered and unguided that brings fun to the fore. And fun IS the key.