In any musical program, contrast and coherence are often at odds. Joined by Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s music director Otto Tausk and clarinet soloist Ashley Smith, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra on this occasion made a compelling argument for using the coherence of the classic overture-concerto-symphony format to showcase three wildly contrasting works.

Ashley Smith and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Photo © Bradbury Photography

Johan Wagenaar (1863-1941) was a Dutch composer and organist whose style was influenced by Richard Strauss’s music and to a lesser degree that of Berlioz. His Cyrano de Bergerac Overture Op. 23 is a multi-faceted portrait of the literate, lovelorn hero of Rostand’s play. Tausk and WASO pointed up the romantic and the parodic elements of Wagenaar’s rich score with equal alacrity; the result made for a rousing opening to this Friday night concert.

Gnarly Buttons is a three-movement work for clarinet and small orchestra (cor anglais, bassoon, trombone, banjo/mandolin/guitar, two keyboards and strings) written in 1996 in memory of composer John Adams’ father, a victim of Alzheimer’s disease.

As Adams writes, his father’s old clarinets “were sent to me in California where they grew dusty and...