Energetic explorations
, 'CONTEMPORARY MUSIC harpsichord/recorder combination might
PETER McCALLUM
SYMERON
Laura Chislett, Roslyn Dunlop, Daniel
Herscovitch, wit~ guest artists Nicola
Lewis, Mary Lovell, Ian Shanahan, Zoltan
Szabo and Antony Walker
Music by Smetanin. Shanahan, Humel,
Wesley-Smith,Buttei'ley, Tiet, Grisey
'Y
Goossens Hall, J,u ne 7
"
, WO, feat,u res 0, f Michael Smetan-
in's recent music have been its
unbridled raw energy and its
fresh approach to instrumental writing,
approaching tbetechnical ' capabilities
of each instrument with something like
a tabula 'rasa. Both were features of his
new piece for,' bass recorder and
harpsichord, Spin, written for, and in'
collaboration with, Ian Shanahan, a
Sy'dney player who has conducted
original research into the recorder's less
familiar sonic capabilities ..
,
., The work is a furious, disorienting
,, study of rapid motion and shifts in
perspective. Spin marks yet another
r.' impressive work from Smetanin. It could
y ', , scarcely be further removed from either
the nw-baroque connotations which the
C\''j
inspire or from the meditative world of
Nigel BUUerley's 1965 classic, The
White-Throated Warbler, which appeared
later in the program.
The fruits of Shanahan's recorder
research were displayed in his engaging
Three Etudes for Solo Recorder, which ,
comprised a disarming fife piece for
sopranino recorder, an ingenuous exer-
cise in ,rapid chord playing (on one
instrument!) and a haunting exploration
of wispy sounds. I foun d Shanahan's
version of Martin Wesley-Smith's For
Recorder and Tape more interesting as a
comment on the popular original ver-
sion, For Marimba and Tape, than as a
recorder piece in its own right.
His technique was put to moving
advantage on A iVan 2 by Vietnamese
composer Ton-That Tiet.
For two interesting large ensemble
pieces of the evening, Gerald Humel's
Winter 's Ghosts and Gerard Grisey's
beautifully elusive Talea, Symeron
enli sted young conducto r Antony
Walker, whose precision and1musical-
ity were impressive. Walker coaxed
some of the most disciplined playing I
have heard from Syineron. They would
do well to put him on the payroll.
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