A night of musique française
Although all three of last night’s SSO composers were French, they presented clearly contrasting works, with not a whiff of impressionism from any.
Moreover, two called for our spectacular Opera House organ to be fired up under the fingers and feet of celebrated French organist, Olivier Latry. And to complete the picture, the conductor was a Frenchman, Stephane Deneve.
Denève is music director of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, artistic director of the New World Symphony and, from 2023, principal guest conductor of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. He recently concluded terms as principal guest conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra and chief conductor of the Brussels Philharmonic, and previously served as chief conductor of Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra (SWR) and music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.
Stephane Deneve: Image courtesy of Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Jay Patel.
The concert opened with a nine-minute orchestral helter-skelter by distinguished contemporary French composer, Guillaume Connesson (born 1970). It is called Flammenschrift and while the title has alternative meanings, in this case Connesson chose a fiery psychological portrait of Beethoven. Not that there is much discernible reference to Beethoven in this short piece which is described by the composer as having ‘punch in your face’ energy. The SSO certainly supplied plenty of that, whipped along by Maestro Deneve – although I kept seeing cartoon chase sequences in my mind.
Now it was high diving board time, with Olivier Latry up among the puce petals ready to tackle the Poulenc concerto for organ, timpani and strings in G minor, one of the most popular in the genre originally established by Handel. In Poulenc’s case, it was composed in 1938 but was listener-accessible on first hearing. Even though relatively brief at 20 minutes, Poulenc gives the organ pride of place right from the beginning when it opened the work with an arresting forte chord. From there, seven different tempo marks substituted for contrasting movements without a break. For those who wanted to hear the Opera House organ in full voice (I’m one of them) the Poulenc was a rewarding experience, as was Latry’s playing.
A word about the Opera House organ. It is the world’s largest mechanical tracker-action pipe organ. To quote Gabriel Wilder ‘the organ was designed and built by Ronald Sharp of Sydney and completed in 1979. It was partially constructed in a small factory in the Sydney suburb of Mortdale. It is 15 metres high by13 metres deep, has 10,244 pipes, 201 pipe ranks, 131 speaking stops, five manuals and a pedal drawstop console. Although budgeted to cost $400,000, by the time it was handed over to the Opera House, the cost had escalated to $1.2 million. The first of an inaugural series of recitals featuring the organ was given by Melbourne organist Douglas Lawrence on 7 June 1979.’
Saint-Saens’ organ symphony was a fitting feature work to finish the concert, being one of the most popular in the symphonic repertoire. Unlike the Poulenc, there are long organ-less breaks – especially during the first and third movements – while the members of the orchestra get on with their own agenda and seem to have forgotten Icarus until he slides in with, deep, gorgeous pedal notes. Later, when the orchestra and organ were going ten tenths together, it indeed produced a mighty sound. The finale pulled out all the stops, to quote an old organic term.
Saint-Saens wrote the organ symphony (his third and last symphony) in 1886 after it had been commissioned by The Royal Philharmonic Society during a period during which the symphonic form was very much in French favour. Saint-Saens was only the fourth choice of composer for the Society’s project, but fortunately for us he got the nod, because we now regard it as a much-loved masterpiece.
Like Latry’s playing, Deneve’s conducting showed a sensitivity not only to the score but the balance between organ and orchestra. It was a masterful interpretation from both musicians, along with, as we have come to expect, a compliant SSO.
SSO Sydney Opera House concert 10 July 2024
Fraser Beath McEwing is an accomplished pianist and commentator on classical music performance and is a founding member of The theme & Variations Foundation Advisory Board which provides assistance to talented young Australian pianists. His professional background is in journalism, editing and publishing. He is also the author of three novels.He is a Governor of the Sir Moses Montefiore Home.
