Let me preface this by saying that this was probably the most energised and enthusiastic performance I’ve seen the Queensland Symphony Orchestra give in quite a while; I recall seeing a Beethoven performance a few years ago where the general vibe was somnolescent for both players and audience. Perhaps it was because this concert was being broadcast on the ABC, or because of guest conductor Jaime Martín, but this was a performance that really wowed.

Jaime Martín

The program centred around dream-like atmospheres (hence the title of Dreamscapes), which naturally fits Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique as well as Elena Kats-Chernin’s evocative Mythic. I’m not terribly sure how that theme fits Copland’s Concerto for Clarinet which, to my ears, leans far more on Copland’s trademark jazzy American sound rather than anything particularly dreamlike. Yes, it means you can do the overture-concerto-symphony thing if you slot the Copland in, but surely something else might have melded a little more?

The concert began with Kats-Chernin’s Mythic, which is in quite a different style to that of her piano rags and miniatures. As the composer herself says, the piece “grew out of a passacaglia-like chordal...