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WASO play Dvorak, Mozart and Mendelssohn at Perth Concert Hall with Jessica Gethin and Emmalena Huning

Headshot of David Cusworth
David CusworthThe West Australian
Emmalena Huning plays Mozart Violin Concerto No.5 with WA Symphony Orchestra and Jessica Gethin.
Camera IconEmmalena Huning plays Mozart Violin Concerto No.5 with WA Symphony Orchestra and Jessica Gethin. Credit: WASO

When COVID’s metamorphoses are over and done, we may finally know whether 19-year-olds are indestructible.

But from the evidence at Perth Concert Hall this week, it’s all true.

Emmalena Huning, 19, a Royal Academy of Music student, fronted the WA Symphony Orchestra with a crystalline rendition of Violin Concerto No.5, written by a then-19-year-old Mozart.

Showing not the slightest sign of nerves, her delivery was assured beyond her years.

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A gentle, dance-like introduction from a pared-back ensemble — two horns, two woodwind, sparse strings — ushered in a measured solo entry, as if content to let the music speak; bright in tone as befits Mozart and his era, fluid and limpid.

It was in the first cadenza that a sense of greater promise emerged; a dramatic reading with deft dynamic and tonal variation.

Adagio brought more courtly elegance in the ensemble, delicately balanced for the solo to sing — Huning’s voice distinct among the many; very present without striving, holding attention throughout.

COVID has its silver linings, and one is to hear such a talent so early in her trajectory with a distinguished orchestra and sympathetic direction. Huning squeezed every lyrical nuance out of an apparently simple theme, and the cadenza was another shimmering delight.

Leading into the Rondeau finale, the soloist seemed to have all the time in the world, exploiting the full resonance of the lower register, offset by scintillating harmonics.

As the “Turkish” motif rolled around, Huning’s lavish gown revealed its oriental theme, red and gold flashing in the stage lights.

Mozart unveils his Romantic soul here, surging strings and col legno rhythm in bass rewriting the Classical script.

Curiously one of the more exotic interludes in a night that explored Europe, East and West, it had nothing on the encore.

Huning, at first unfazed by whoops and applause, launched like a fury into the Fritz Kreisler’s Scherzo-Capriccioso in a pyrotechnic display of double-stopping, high harmonics and searing attack.

They say it’s the quiet ones you have to watch …

Emmalena Huning plays Fritz Kreisler’s Scherzo-Capriccioso.
Camera IconEmmalena Huning plays Fritz Kreisler’s Scherzo-Capriccioso.

Earlier, Mendelssohn’s Hebrides overture caressed the hall as lilting strains of the opening theme rose and fell with Jessica Gethin’s baton and Alex Timcke’s timpani – a central partnership in this fortnight of remixed repertoire for WASO.

Woodwind and strings neatly blended over limited brass highlights – two French horns, two German trumpets – all capable of explosive effect when required, one moment summoning a faint echo of “Jessie’s Jump” made famous on YouTube.

Changes in mood and tempi were well handled, drama subsiding smoothly back to the opening figure in warm strings; fading to a sublime duet in clarinet, supported by horns.

At the last, brass and timpani provided just the right firepower to the climax and long, lingering cadence.

WA Symphony Orchestra and Jessica Gethin.
Camera IconWA Symphony Orchestra and Jessica Gethin.

After the interval, Dvorak’s folkloric Symphony No.8 injected lower brass for the first time, filling out the symphonic range in a mournful meditation with low strings, relieved by Andrew Nicholson’s scintillating flute, summoning the full ensemble.

Lush strings opened the Adagio second movement, with woodwind, horn and timpani highlights.

Less dramatic than the better-known Symphony No.9 “New World”, this work is warm and welcoming, with a hint of oriental promise in the clarinet duo of Allan Meyer and Lorna Cook. Woodwind stepped lithely over plangent brass chords then sweeping strings; subsiding to an elegiac mood; rising in brass and timpani only to fade again.

The Allegretto grazioso third movement brought more dance for orchestra and conductor, minor key highlights lending a “macabre” edge, timpani the hand of fate.

The trio section lifted the mood to major, with trumpets leading the way to a bright fanfare in the Allegro finale, Brent Grapes and Jenna Smith teaming seamlessly.

Repetition and variation threw to lyrical flute over fluttering strings, then back to full ensemble with low brass back on deck, rich and plangent, before calming the storm for another pastoral episode – a lingering idyll, dramatically interrupted by the full power of brass and woodwind in a rousing conclusion.

WASO repeats the program on Friday and Saturday, October 9 and 10 at 7.30pm, and Sunday October 11 at 5pm, and plays Mendelssohn and Dvorak on Thursday, October 15, at 11am and 1.30pm.

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