Accessible and thoughtfully selected program delivered with warmth and gusto.

Astor Theatre, Perth

October 1-4, 2014

For the annual Latitude New Music Festival, WASO temporarily relocates from the early 1970s magnificence of the Perth Concert Hall to the more intimate Deco surrounds of the Astor Theatre, across town in Mt Lawley. Only the percussion section can fit on the small stage, so the barrier between orchestra and audience is dissolved as both jostle for space at the front of the theatre, adding to the immediacy and excitement of this program of modern repertoire. 

Eight contemporary works were performed over two nights, including one world premiere and five Australian premieres. The first night featured two Australian works bookended by Scandinavian composers, which is not an immediately obvious complementary combination. However, as Swiss conductor Baldur Brönnimann noted, Nordic countries share with Australia a musical culture not strictly bound by tradition, which creates “a wide open field to create new repertoire.”

The program opened with Swedish composer Anders Hillborg’s Cold Heat (2010), an eerie evocation of icy glacial landscapes. Wavering string undercurrents and beautiful dissonant glissandi concluded with a sojourn into deep melancholy. A lush, poised performance of Peter Sculthorpe’s Mangrove (1979) followed, which...