Q U E E N S L A N D   O R C H E S T R A   G A L A   S E R I E S

A Ballet Spectacular

Queensland Orchestra and Queensland Ballet
Conductor - Andrew Mogrelia
Presenter - Guy Noble

QPAC Concert Hall
SOUTH BANK

18 April 2011

These two hours of music and dance were like a superior sample bag filled with delicious treats giving an enticing glimpse of the talents on view and certainly leaving the audience asking for more.

I can’t remember two hours passing by so quickly in the Concert Hall. When presenter Guy Noble informed us that it was interval I had to check my watch to be sure and he was right a full hour of sheer enjoyment had passed.

The evening was clever mix of ballet music, dance, and song, with infinite variety and what’s more everything was familiar. I was particularly proud of the dancers of the Queensland Ballet for they had returned from a gruelling tour of China only four day earlier, which’s says a lot for the fitness and stamina of the dancers.

The Concert Hall stage had been rearranged for the dance. The musicians were set back while a dance stage had been laid down in front. It was a workable set up and made the evening even more interesting to see the orchestra behind the dancers instead of being hidden in the pit.

The orchestra opened the proceedings with Dance of the Knights and Balcony Scene No 6 from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet.

The Ballet made its first appearance with Artistic Director Francois Klaus’ choreography to the Bach/Gounod arrangement of Ave Maria, not a piece of ballet music, I know, but with the angelic movements of the mix of company and trainee dancers proved to be an exquisite section, with concertmaster Warwick Adeney playing the oh so sweet melody on his 400-year-old violin; and then the addition of the voice of soprano Kiandra Howarth. It was the sort of occasion that would make a best-selling video clip.

The next item was Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. The orchestra played the pretty Waltz of the Flowers and then two of the younger company dancers, Katherine Rooke and Alexander Koszaryycz performed the Arabian Dance. Katherine grows in stature and confidence every time she hits the stage. She already is a very elegant dancer with strong attitude. Together they made a fine duo.

The orchestra took over again with a marvellous rendering of Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance. I realised as my feet tapped along to the beat that this was the first time I had seen the piece played live! It was a happy experience.

The finale to the first half was Greig’s Air from Holberg Suite (the Peer Gynt ballet), the scene where Solveig at last finds the wandering Peer and declares her love. This brought together principal dancer, Rachael Walsh, and Keian Langdon in a soulful piece that showed why Rachael is a principal.

After interval there was more Khachaturian from the orchestra as they played the Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia from his Spartacus ballet, the ever popular Waltz (No 5) and Panorama (No 4) from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty and an excerpt from, Delibe’s Coppelia.

The next four dance pieces all came from Swan Lake, which the Queensland Ballet will be presenting later in the year. The first one was true show stopper when principal dancers, Clare Morehen and Christian Tatchev, danced the Act Two pas de deux to Petipa’s choreography. It was simply exquisite with such balance, beauty, and feeling that it brought thunderous applause from the entranced audience. It was the top spot of the night for me.

It was hard act to follow, so Francois chose probably the most popular piece of dance in ballet - the Dance of the Cygnets - as the next dance. It is always an amazing piece to watch with Petipa’s intricate and physically gruelling, precision movements performed by the four girls. Teri Crilly, Tamara Hanton, Lisa Kim and Gemma Pearce didn’t let us down either. It was a step-perfect interpretation.

Teri Crilly was back after the orchestra had played the finale from Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite to join Yu Hui, another of the very strong male dancers in the company, in the cheeky Neapolitan Dance from Swan Lake. The younger dancers were back for the dance finale, the Russian Dance from Swan Lake.

The orchestra then ended a fascinating night with the powerful Swan Lake Finale.

Eric Scott