Rhapsody in Blue celebrated its 100th birthday in high style at Melbourne International Jazz Festival.
In a foot-stamping, three-hour bonanza that presented the jazz canon of Brazilian, Japanese, and American artists, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival enjoyed an evening of firsts on Saturday night.
From the first-time performance of featured Latin American works in an Australian concert hall, to the debut of Grammy-nominated pianist Makoto Ozone on Australian shores, audiences at Hamer Hall provided the shoulder-bumping, suck-in-your-stomach turnout of a major cultural event.
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Leading up to a frenetic interpretation of Gerswhin’s Rhapsody in Blue, this year celebrating its 100th birthday with Orchestra Victoria under the baton of conductor Jessica Gethin, the evening’s first half saw a showcase of works by the father of Bossa nova Antônio Carlos Jobim.
Arranged for orchestra by Panorama Brasil’s musical director Alastair Kerr and Matt Boden, the huge range of pieces selected had the effect of transforming the enormous concert hall into an intimate jazz club. Kerr made full use of Orchestra Victoria’s depth and range to extract the broadest reserves of emotion and sensuality from the strings and flute, as supported by Matt Boden on piano.
The sashaying, lively energy pouring from the stage carried the most wonderful quality of glamour and vibrance, as though the sound itself were radiating the ruby sunlight of a Brazilian beach bar. In particular, Kerr on drums and Boden’s pulsing, propulsive piano combined to give the pieces a fantastic sense of vigour and character.
The second half, meanwhile, truly belonged to concert pianist Makoto Ozone, who swiftly won the audience over not only with his virtuosic performance, but his charming interactions with the audience between pieces. Dazzling with the Australian premiere of his own work “Deviation”, an explosive work for piano and percussion with his arresting troupe TRiNFiNiTY, he drew the breath out of every audience member with his athletic interpretation of Gerswhin’s Rhapsody in Blue.
Driving such a precise, lightning-fast performance at the keyboard, conductor Jessica Gethin ensured that this was a birthday performance of Rhapsody that had much to say. With a heightened tempo and apparent emphasis on the brass sections, Gethin drew a brawny, boisterous portrait of the iconic American work.
As is the challenge with any world-famous work of classical canon, Orchestra Victoria gave Gershwin’s legacy piece a centenary celebration that left all in attendance tapping their legs and bouncing their feet.
Find out more about Melbourne International Jazz Festival here.
