★★★★½ Robertson’s opener did mean a thing ‘cos it sure had that swing.

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
February 26, 2016

Engaging head and heart is a laudable goal, frequently aimed for, less than frequently achieved, and to that end programming is something of a dark art. That old black magic, however, was definitely in the air at the Sydney Opera House as Chief Conductor David Robertson started his 2016 season with a heady brew concocted out of two perfectly complementary composers: Leonard Bernstein and Wynton Marsalis.

Bernstein was the sassy white guy who most perfectly united his American classical background with the burgeoning jazz music that was pervading the popular culture of his day. A fine composer, the great pity was that the demands of his conducting career left us with so few concert scores. His ballet, Fancy Free, an early work (1943) written at the behest of Jerome Robbins with whom he would go on to create West Side Story 15 years later, is a perfect example of musical fusion. A simple tale of three sailors on shore leave in New York (pretty much the scenario that would inspire his subsequent musical, On the Town), the score embraces...