Mystery, majesty and melancholy was the theme of the night as the West Australian Symphony Orchestra presented Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in UWA’s Winthrop Hall.
Guest conductor Anja Bihlmaier made her WASO debut as she expertly navigated us through a spectacular programme, comprising Melody Eötvös’ mysterious The Saqqara Bird, Mendelssohn’s virtuosic Violin Concerto in E Minor, Op.64 and Dmitri Shostakovich’s emotionally charged Symphony No. 5 in D Minor, Op. 47. Guest violinist Benjamin Beilman made a triumphant return to the WASO stage, bringing with him a warmth and passion that felt like a homecoming.
Image by Daniel James Grant
The evening opened with Eötvös’ The Saqqara Bird – a debut orchestral work to WASO’s repertoire. Sonia Croucher’s piccolo and the pizzicato of the strings brought mystery to life as the audience was left to contemplate the true function of the bird-shaped artefact, found during an archeologic expedition in 1898, in Saqqara, Egypt. Thought by some to be the first evidence of early flight, an ornament off a boat’s mast, or possibly just a child’s toy, its true purpose remains delightfully, maddeningly unknown – a mystery Eötvös embraces with every note, and that Bihlmaier coaxes with every wave of her baton.
Eyes closed, and expertly extracting every rich note from his instrument, Beilman brought Mendelssohn’s iconic concerto to life across all 3 movements. Every note luminous and romantic in its flow, Beilman effortlessly combines expressiveness with precision, to produce something altogether charming. Choosing Bach’s Gavotte en Rondeau (the third movement from his Violin Partita No. 3 in E Major) as his encore piece, Beilman brought the house down a second time with a lively flourish – a warm, celebratory send-off before we moved onto the weightier Fifth Symphony by Shostakovich.
The 4-movement neo-classical masterpiece was described by Shostakovich as a “heroic symphony”, and rightfully so. Through its brooding opening, the sardonic scherzo and to the heavy and powerful largo, Bihlmaier drew from WASO an incredibly nuanced yet emotional performance. The tension within the famously ambiguous ending – whether it be genuine triumph or forced celebration under Stalin’s ever watchful eye, was palpable – Bihlmaier leaving us to draw our own conclusions, as Shostakovich intended.
An outstanding evening, and a well-earned standing ovation.
Check out the full range of upcoming concerts on WASO’s calendar.