This concert from West Australian Symphony Orchestra was a musical feast of orchestral dynamism, featuring a new commission from the thoughtful and measured Elliott Gyger, fearsome musicality and pianism from soloist Paavali Jumppanen playing Ravel’s opulent Concerto for D for the Left Hand, and an overtly emotional and stirring performance of Dvořák’s masterful Symphony No 9 in E minor From the New World.

Elliott Gyger discusses his new commission, Concerto for Orchestra, for West Australian Symphony Orchestra, 2022. Photo © Rebecca Mansell

WASO’s ongoing commitment to commissioning and supporting ambitious and large-scale orchestral works from Australian composers – particularly in such an exigent modern arts funding environment – deserves to be singled out and celebrated widely. The Concerto for Orchestra by Gyger, who is currently Associate Professor of Music (Composition) at the University of Melbourne and Harvard alumnus, began the program. In a welcome touch, we met the composer himself on stage before the start of the concert. Gyger related that he began writing the piece in mid-2020, when he was possessed by questions of musical existentialism, and the distressing thought that his piece may not...