Matthew Gillett:

>Alan Dudley wrote:
>
>>Tonight is Tuomas Ollila and Stephanie McCallum playing Adams, Sibelius
>>Kats-Chernin and Tchaikovsky.  Must hurry!
>
>I hoped you enjoyed this one Alan.  What did you think of the Kats-Chernin
>"Displaced Dances"?

I enjoyed it immensely, but I wish he had not asked.  I got home from the
concert full of enthusiasm for writing a full description of the work, but
realised that I lack the skills required of a music critic.  So I didn't!
Now you must put up with a pastiche of me and the programme notes.

This was a world premiere (well nearly - the same programme was given on
Friday and Saturday nights.  I was there on Saturday) of a work by Elena
Kats-Chernin, Uzbekistan-born, moved to Australia at age 18, studied in
Moscow, Sydney, Hannover and Stuttgart and now living in Sydney.  The work
was written especially for performance by the QSO and Saturday's soloist,
Australian Stephanie McCallum.  It was performed in the presence of the
composer, who gave a short talk about it before the performance.  Someone
gave her a microphone which was badly connected, a dirty trick which led
to half of her talk being poorly heard.

The piece is basically a piano concerto in twelve movements.  Right from
the start it has tremendous drive and energy, placing considerable demands
on soloist, orchestra and audience.  There is a lyrical piano solo near
the middle, but most of the work is extremely vigorous.  A short excerpt
from the composer's notes:  What was most important to me was creating an
overall feeling of displacement, as if one was lost in a strange city.  ...
Dances of migration, loss and discovery - all up, it's a strangely
Australian type of concerto.

If it ever gets recorded, buy it!  If it gets performed near you, buy a
ticket!  If you have anything to do with programming orchestral concerts
anywhere, lobby for it!  If you don't like it, tough!  I think it is
wonderful.

Alan Dudley
<[log in to unmask]>