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| Isaiah Jackson |
by Tony Magee
Isaiah Jackson brings to Canberra and its orchestra an international experience and to my mind, our orchestra delivered the goods well and truely. He is also a showman 'par excellence'! Add to this the remarkable and electrifying pianist and composer Larry Sitsky and the result was a stunning concert presentation of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, Sitsky's Songs and Dances from 'The Golem' and Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in C minor.
The program opened with the Rachmaninov - huge sweeping beats from Isaiah Jackson and the clearest piano tone imaginable from Larry Sitsky, as he played the opening lyrical melody, which according to musicologist Joseph Yasser, is derived from an ancient chant of the Russian Orthodox Church. As the first movement progressed the piano began to dominate more and more climaxing in a huge thunderous onslaught of sound suddenly contrasted by lyrical arpeggiated chords over which beautifully executed solos sang out from Vernon Hill on flute, David Nuttall on oboe, Rachel Best Allen on clarinet and Dominic Harvey on horn.
During the piano cadenza, Mr Sitsky delivered us through soft delicate lyrical passages and stormy onslaughts, followed by a return from the orchestra which featured some excellent ensemble playing from the cellos over the top of well executed pizzicato work from the basses.
To my mind, Larry Sitsky restores humanity to the concert platform - gone were the traditional tails and white bow- tie, in favour of a kind of gold lamae vest over black shirt and trousers; taking off his glasses during piano tacets to wipe his brow and face - just venturing into the slightly unconventional without having to be deliberately reactionary.
Isaiah Jackson abandoned his baton at the beginning of the 2nd movement and controlled his orchestra with remarkable flowing gestures from both hands, rather like a magician casting a magic spell. The violins and violas sounded particularly lush here. This movement also featured a small clarinet duet, superbly played by Rachel Best Allen and Chris Woods.
As Jonathan Kramer states in the program notes, the third movement is a study in piano textures, a fact delivered with conviction by Mr Sitsky. At one point, the Llewellyn Hall resounded in three huge chords where conductor, pianist and orchestra were all operating as one - it was an electrifying moment. This performance was just so wonderfully great. I loved every moment.
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| Larry Sitsky |
Larry Sitsky's Songs and Dances from "The Golem" is a fascinating work. This is a kind of suite based on the Christian and Jewish hymns and folk melodies which appear in the full opera. We were advised by the composer that if we imagined something fairly 'nasty' was going on as a kind of programmatic theme to the suite, then we would be on the right track. This was certainly easily imagined whilst listening to the performance - drama, suspense, intrigue etc. The folk tunes were easily evident, but were often underplayed by a disharmonic countermelody which gave an overall eerie and haunting presence to the piece.
Mr Jackson demonstrated not only total control over the orchestra, but also over the audience as he held the last dwindling moments of the F pedal point with slowly falling arms and then kept that moment for a further few seconds before his body gestures signalled that the piece was finished - what conducting craftsmanship.
Canberra Symphony Orchestra last played Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in the November season of 1987 under Leonard Dommett. This performance under Isaiah Jackson was assured and exciting and perhaps at a slightly faster tempo than say a hallmark performance by Karajan or Klemperer. The eagerly awaited brass fanfares of the 2nd movement rang out with great clarity.
At the conclusion of the performance, Mr Jackson was visibly delighted with the orchestra, shaking the hands of many of the players and generally and deservedly milking maximum applause from the very enthusiastic Thursday night audience.
First published in Muse Arts Monthly (Canberra), Nov 1994
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