The 2025 season for the West Australian Symphony Orchestra reached a magnificent climax on Sunday, as Beethoven's monumental 'Emperor' Piano Concerto No.5 brought the curtain down on a remarkable five-day festival. Held at the University of Western Australia's Winthrop Hall, the event saw principal conductor Asher Fisch and acclaimed pianist Lukas Vondracek complete a cycle of all five Beethoven piano concertos.
A Majestic Finale with the Emperor
The performance began with bold, commanding chords from the orchestra, swiftly transitioning into the piano's dynamic and lyrical response. Vondracek's playing was both crisp and fluid, expertly navigating Beethoven's demanding technical passages and extreme emotional shifts. The orchestra provided a tightly woven backdrop, with notable contributions from trumpeters Jenna Smith and Darcy O'Malley, and a sublime horn duet by David Evans and Julia Brooke.
Vondracek masterfully balanced the concerto's military grandeur with moments of deep pathos. His feather-light trills and powerful cadenzas, full of quicksilver runs and chords, held the audience spellbound. Under Fisch's vigorous direction, the philharmonic furnace was stoked, culminating in a frenzied and brilliant close to the first movement.
From Ethereal Adagio to Triumphant Finale
The second movement, Adagio, opened with elegiac strings, creating a space for Vondracek's angelic and musing piano lines. Time seemed to suspend as soloist and orchestra leaned into the famous, much-imitated melody. The transition to the final movement was expertly teased out, evolving from a mournful key change into an avalanche of rhythmic energy.
The Finale erupted with visceral drive, its broken rhythms passed brusquely from piano to orchestra. Vondracek gave free rein to an ebullient romp, his fingers dancing across the keys as if charged with the heat of the gunfire that inspired the piece—Beethoven composed it during Napoleon's 1809 bombardment of Vienna. The performance concluded with an eccentric pulse over whispering timpani, exploding into a glorious afterglow that brought the Winthrop Hall audience to its feet in loud, sustained applause.
A Complete Beethoven Journey
The 'Emperor' concerto was the crowning jewel of a five-day series that showcased the full range of Beethoven's work for piano and orchestra. The festival opened with the stately Namensfeier overture and Beethoven's Symphony No.1, an ideal matinee offering with its syrupy smooth Adagio and urgent Menuetto.
Friday's program featured the dramatic Egmont overture, weaving Goethe's narrative of defiance, followed by the lighter, more balladic Piano Concerto No.2. The fourth concerto, performed later in the series, highlighted Beethoven's Romantic spirit and experimental nature, with Vondracek exploring its grandiloquent sweeps and scintillating cadenzas.
Throughout, the chemistry between Fisch and Vondracek was palpable, a true 'Beethovian bromance' that energized the ensemble. The triumphant final concert was followed by a whimsical encore of Dvorak's Humoresque, providing a lazy, summer-haze fadeout to an extraordinary musical marathon.
The WA Symphony Orchestra will return to UWA Winthrop Hall for its 2026 season.
