OBSERVER: MSO Concert
In a wonderful evening of classical music, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra delighted with three works, one contemporary and two from the 19th century.
The works were: the premiere of The Ascent, a Klearhos Murphy composition; Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto; and Brahm’s Second Symphony.
The orchestra’s Cyber Young Composer in Residence, Greek-Australian Murphy’s short piece The Ascent consisted of three parts.
The Violin Concerto in D major, Op.35, the only violin concerto written by Tchaikovsky, also consisted of three movements.
Symphony No.2 in D major, Op.73 by Brahms followed the basic structure of a classical symphony and consisted of four movements.
The Ascent was a short but impressive piece as the three stages of spiritual life according to the Orthodox Christian tradition- purification, illumination and deification – were expressed through music.
At times the music soared with passion while, in contrast, it then mellowed, becoming contemplative, meditative almost. Throughout it all there were delightful notes hinting of traditional music.
The second piece of the evening was the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto with the solo violinist Simone Lamsma.
The concerto is technically challenging for the violinist but Lamsma took it in her stride. She showed wonderful skill and technique on the more demanding passages while never sacrificing emotion and expressiveness.
After a short interval the evening concluded with the Brahms symphony. From the Romantic era of classical music, the symphony moved from a warm pastoral feel to one of pensiveness and contemplation before ending on an uplifting and joyful finale.
The three different works covered a range of mood and feeling which was handled with great aplomb by the orchestra and soloist under the guidance of guest South Korean conductor Shiyeon Sung.
Sung showed why she is a successful conductor of international renown with her confident and assured performance.
In its 2025 program, then, the MSO continues to go from strength to strength.
Performed at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
Review by Peter Murphy