HEAVENLY START TO THE QSO SEASON

Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s first Maestro series concert for 2019 brings Mozart and Mahler together into one evening of classical tour de force.

When thinking of divine music, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart inevitably springs to mind. How to play the music of a genius who began composing at the age of five is always a hot topic among musicians. Paul Lewis, QSO’s artist in residence for 2019, brings the strength and comfort of Mozart’s final piano concerto, combining assuredness of a seasoned pianist with confident balance in his musicality. Written at a time of financial struggle and at the end of the composer’s life, the concerto flourishes under Lewis’s well-seasoned fingers, conveying the maturity of both the composition and the performer.

Then, Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No.4 in the hands of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Blendulf, is four movements of pure magic! With each movement featuring an instantly relatable theme, the symphony was intended to portray heaven through the eyes of a child. The unhurried feel to this symphony creates plenty of colour as the QSO musicians indulge the audience with the intricacies of their instruments (if you love watching the orchestra, don’t skip on the seats close to the stage!). The concertmaster, Warwick Adeney, juggles two violins in the wicked second movement – one tuned a tone higher to imitate the sound of a fiddle. As the symphony draws to a close, the angelic voice of Morgan England-Jones carries into the distance. If you held your breath, you probably were not alone.

The bar is certainly set high for the year!