In its third Maestro concert of the 2023 season, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) presented a thoughtful and well-chosen program, brim full of energy and colour and as atmospheric as it was technically powerful.

With Gustav Holst’s The Planets as its centrepiece, the program explored story-telling and musical characters. Holst admired Richard Wagner’s distinct compositional style and it made sense to complement The Planets with one of Wagner’s most colourful opera overtures, Tannhäuser. Additionally, the little known but highly descriptive Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra by Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov gave a contemporary resonance and balance to the evening.

Tannhäuser tells of the age-old struggle between lust and love with much of the opera’s main story contained in the opening prelude. This includes the final act of absolution in the Pilgrim’s Chorus from Act III, Scene 1 and also elements of the “Venusberg” bacchanal music from Act I, Scene 1.

The familiar lightly played horns, joined by clarinets and oboes, start the overture. This stately, deliberately slow-paced melody is reiterated throughout the opera, but here the tempi were slower than usual and the clarity of the horns was not as crisp as one might have liked. However, as the orchestra swelled...