Randolph Magri-Overend

ALEXANDER BRIGER AND THE AUSTRALIAN WORLD ORCHESTRA

I managed to contact Alexander Briger the day before he flies to Melbourne for the final preparations with the Australian World Orchestra and their concerts in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.

Australian World Orchestra you may ask?  It’s not a new idea, admits Briger, there are other orchestras based on a similar format.  There’s Claudio Abbado’s Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which Briger much admires and there’s Ivan Fischer’s Budapest Festival Orchestra.  But unlike the Australian version they’re made up of leading European players who do not have a country as a common denominator. The difference with The Australian World Orchestra is that 50% of the players are ex-pat Australians in top orchestral positions abroad and the rest command leading positions in Australian orchestras.  

The germ of the idea came to Briger in 2006 while conducting the AWO’s Japanese equivalent in Tokyo; they comprised only Japanese players based in Japan.  Briger’s brainchild was more ambitious. But how to do it? He contacted uncle (the late) Charles Mackerras who liked the idea and suggested they perform Beethoven’s 9th in their opening concert.  First player to be sounded out was Nick Deutsch, oboe-player extraordinaire for the Leipzig Gewandhaus and other famous orchestras. He bubbled with enthusiasm; other ex-pats were approached and they all wanted to be part of it.  

At the first rehearsal, it was obvious the orchestra was something special.  “Everyone was looking at each other, at their peers. We started off with the Tchaikovsky on purpose because the double-basses (the best players from Berlin, New York, Vienna and Sydney) start it off and then it filters through to the others.”  Simone Young who conducted the first set of concerts in 2011 noticed the tension in the room and during a break said they looked “like the Australian Youth Orchestra with wrinkles” And then it was like watching a musical windscreen wiper! They all started swaying to the rhythm; bows flying everywhere.  It was immediate. The sound was European and rich. The strings were full. Simone summed it all up when she proclaimed: “I think we have an orchestra.” 

“On the opening night,” recalls Briger, “when the orchestra walked on stage they received a 3 minute ovation.  Nick Deutsch was so nervous he had tears streaming down his face and couldn’t even blow the A to tune the orchestra with.  Simone walked in to applause the like I’ve never heard before.” Later, in the middle of Tchaikovsky’s first movement and during a slight break in the music someone in the audience, caught in the excitement of the night, shouted “Bravo!”  The clamour for tickets was so great after the first night, people had to be turned away for the second concert.   

Since then concerts have been performed to great acclaim with conductors Zubin Mehta and Sir Simon Rattle.  “One of the great orchestras of the world,” Sir Simon was heard to say.  

This year Alexander is at the helm with concerts in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney.  The dates are Friday July 26 at the Hamer Hall in Melbourne, Llewellyn Hall in Canberra the next day, Saturday July 27th.  The programme for both concerts consists of Nigel Westlake’s Flying Dream, Janacek’s Taras Bulba and ending with Sibelius’ 2nd Symphony.  What a sensational programme!  On Tuesday 30th July the AWO performs a chamber music concert at the Sydney Recital Hall – Mendelssohn’s String Quintet followed by the Brahms’ E Major Sextet.

I recall the concert in 2013 at the Opera House Concert hall with Zubin Mehta conducting Mahler’s First Symphony and Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.  It was an electrifying night for music lovers attended by the likes of the late Ritchie Benaud, Ian Chappell and the then Federal Attorney General George Brandis. 

I don’t think I have ever witnessed a more enthusiastic and appreciative audience than the one that packed the Concert Hall that night.  I would urge all music lovers to attend these concerts and listen to these magical Australian musos!

Featured image – (left to right) Andrew Bain (principal horn player for LA Phil and AWO), Gustavo Dudamel and Alexander Briger.

 

 

Published by Randolph Magri-Overend

One of the questions Randolph hates to answer is “Where do you come from?” Why? Because the answer can be so time-consuming and, in a way, also gives away how old he is!! Plus the questioner has to wrestle with the wish he hadn’t asked the question!! He was born in Cairo, Egypt, many moons ago of British parents although he can trace Maltese and Croatian ancestry in his lineage. Educated in a Jesuit college in London his wander lust for things unorthodox drove him to embark on a seafaring career with both Canadian Pacific Steamships and Shaw Savill. That in itself dates him because both lines have been redundant for many a year. One of his boasts is that he was the Purser on the “Gothic” which ten years previously had been Queen Elizabeth II’s Royal Yacht soon after her coronation in 1953. One of the objects imported on the ship by HM and left behind was a tape player which Randolph utilised on many a memorable Sunday evening with a classical concert for his passengers. Thus began a journey that not only awakened Randolph’s love for good music but also eventually led to his extensive knowledge of music in all forms. That he loves the era of Sinatra, Crosby, Armstrong, Dorsey (both) and many many more exponents of the post-war music scene is also part and parcel of his appreciation of the music of many an era. These days Randolph is retired but still reviews CDs and DVDs and has written articles on such diverse personalities as Yvonne Kenny, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Alexander Briger, the late Sir John Tavener, Sir James Galway, Dawn Upshaw and countless probes into the music of Gustav Mahler, Elizabeth Shwarzkopf and her husband Walter Legge, Glenn Gould, Leonard Bernstein and many many more he regrets to admit he has lost track of! Before emigrating to Australia, Randolph spent a number of years as a Flight Dispatcher in Canada. Since arriving in Australia, Randolph has written for The Weekend Australian (especially in their travel pages), The Sydney Morning Herald, Opera Opera and Fine Music magazine as well as some jazz magazines. If you require an extensive coverage of your music to a public that, at last count, reaches the best part of 818,000 please contact David Kary on editor.sydneyartsguide@gmail.com or email me directly on ibmar@bigpond.com. This also includes advertising any forthcoming shows by promoting featured artists. Cheers and thank you.