Perth Festival Review: WASO's Echoes Through Time Resonates in Cathedral
The WA Symphony Orchestra strings took centre stage under the high-vaulted arches of St Mary's Cathedral for a captivating performance of Echoes Through Time on Thursday evening. Bathed in warm light and receiving generous applause, the ensemble transformed the sacred space into a resonant chamber of musical exploration.
Opening with Contemporary Australian Composition
A gentle buzz of viola, cello and bass eased the audience into Australian composer Melody Eotvos' Meraki, establishing a dense and intriguing sonic palette. Associate concertmaster Riley Skevington chimed into a sonorous duet with principal first violin Alexandra Isted, their delicate bowed phrases setting a benchmark for decorous expression in a venue renowned for its lengthy reverb.
Energy built in skittish bursts across the ensemble toward a softly strident soundscape with flashes of the titular "meraki"—meaning "soul, creativity or love" according to the composer's program notes. The performance demonstrated how contemporary Australian composition can thrive within historic architectural settings.
Baroque Flourishes and Modernist Contrasts
Florid flurries announced Henry Purcell's Fairy Queen, a celebration of dance themed on Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Bustling beats buoyed by soft percussion varied the attack from ballroom elegance to bucolic charm with practised aplomb.
Touches of reverb attended the statelier measures, literally echoing through time around the ancient-and-modern architecture. Baroque vigour suited both eras in dramatic flourishes enhanced by taut timing, as intensity in inverse proportion to volume alternated with grandiose sweep to exploit the full range of string ensemble expression.
Skevington imported whimsy in a sparkling duet with principal cellist Rod McGrath, where barely-there pizzicato cooled the mood to a sublime whisper. The musicians seemed to caress the still air before reprising dance in lyrical eddies that appeared to while away the night itself.
Darker Themes and Dramatic Interplay
Polish composer Wojciech Kilar's folkloric Orawa broached darker themes through frenzied bowing—a strident mix evoking a modernist ambience far removed in both time and space from Purcell's earlier vision. McGrath's plaintive cello summoned what could only be described as a banshee wail from the ensemble.
Jagged rhythms gave way to dolorous violin melody before returning to menace in the bass register, creating Hitchcockian atmospherics that gripped the audience. A dramatic jump cut then set up a false ending, sucking all into premature applause before a raucous reprise and sudden dismount left listeners breathless.
Post-Interval Reflection and Innovation
After the interval, Arvo Pärt restored focus to Eastern Europe through his Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, albeit with an English flavour. Distant bells set a numinous mood as scintillating strings drifted in to loop over the scene in prayerful concordance.
Solemn cascades of clarion clarity graced the space with mesmeric effect as chimes pressed a more urgent pace. Skevington's decisive beat then slowed the cadence, with volume rising as pitch fell ominously to a lingering bell tone that seemed to hover in the cathedral air.
World Premiere and Temporal Bookending
Treble Matthew O'Neill took the lead for Britten's own Corpus Christi Carol in a world premiere arrangement by WASO double-bassist Robin Brawley. Diffidently tuneful over lilting strings, O'Neill's cameo proved brief yet tender to great effect, demonstrating how new interpretations can refresh familiar works.
Finally, Ralph Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis tied together the two ends of the program's remarkable 400-year timeframe. Rising from a low dynamic base with mystery in harmony, musicians positioned in both transept and sanctuary filled the cathedral with immersive sound.
Restive and restless, WASO channelled Vaughan Williams' febrile, pensive side through a layered fabric of rhapsodic melody and chords. The performance remained constantly in motion yet restrained in demeanour through robust bowing and deft rubato, eventually returning to mystery before fading to blissful silence.
A Four-Star Festival Highlight
The WA Symphony Orchestra's Echoes Through Time proved a standout event in the Perth Festival program, demonstrating both technical precision and emotional depth across four centuries of musical tradition. Under Riley Skevington's direction, the ensemble navigated diverse styles and moods with confidence, transforming St Mary's Cathedral into a living resonator of musical history.
