This evening’s concert was originally programmed to showcase international guest guitarist, Milos Karadaglić, making his Australian debut, but an unfortunate injury forced him to withdraw from his entire international tour in 2017. This was a disappointment but fortuitously the Queensland Symphony Orchestra was able to attract South American piano Duo Lechner Tiempo in his stead, to play the acclaimed Jusid Tango Rhapsody in its Australian premiere. With this addition, the programme became strongly based around Latin and Central American musical styles and themes, alongside Malcom Williamson’s Our Man in Havana orchestral suite and two glorious pieces by Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas.

^{Duo Lechner Tiempo, Alondra de la Parra and the Queensand Symphony Orchestra. Photo © Peter Wallis}

Based on the novel by Graham Greene, Williamson’s opera Our Man in Havana, is a rich eclectic musical mix, displaying Cuban inspired dance rhythms alongside easy-listening music of the 1950s. The orchestral suite, with its medley of the opera’s highlights, opens with some trademark neoclassical writing, lending the music a distinct sense of danger, perfect for its espionage theme. Under Alondra de la Parra’s leadership, the orchestra entered with gusto into the...