The Red Tree

23 Jul 2008

A Potent Mix

In what was perhaps one of their most ambitious projects to date, the ACO pushed artistic boundaries presenting Richard Tognetti’s arrangement of Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 15 and The Red Tree – a new work by Tognetti and Michael Yezerski – in a dynamic multimedia concert on June 20 at the Sydney Opera House.

Like the intrepid traveler in the accompanying images, Richard Tognetti took a considerable risk arranging Shostakovich’s 15th String Quartet for the ACO – defiant of the inevitable purist grumblings. Tognetti’s arrangement preserved the stark and austere qualities for which the work is renowned, the themes divided amongst the players creating a simultaneously multi-layered and sparse texture.

It was very effective – the angular sections of the serenade and epilogue were powerfully played and emphasised further the ruminative melancholy of the remaining movements. Tognetti, as usual, led a musically sensitive and accurate performance.

The experience of Shostakovich’s sparse score was enriched by a series of illustrations from Shaun Tan’s picture book The Arrival, projected one by one onto a large screen above the orchestra. Tan’s evocative and detailed illustrations in shades of black, white and sepia depicted a man’s journey from an impoverished village to a new life in a foreign country, and the people and places he encounters along the way.

The connection between this man’s journey and Shostakovich’s meditation on death was intriguingly ambiguous; nevertheless, the overall impression was compelling.

The Red Tree, scored for chamber orchestra and children’s choir, also incorporated projected illustrations describing a journey – through despair to hope – from Tan’s picture book of the same name. The rich variety of textures, styles and colours of Tan’s illustrations were integral to Yezerski conception of the music and the subtle rendering of these was evident throughout the work.

Incorporating texts drawn from various sources, the libretto utilised three languages – Finnish, English and ancient Hebrew – which was conceptually intriguing, although the linguistic subtleties were lost unless the text was already familiar, or you could read in the dark.

The seven movements of The Red Tree took their titles from the names of the illustrations with which they were pared, effectively describing the emotional states which provided impetus for Yezerski score. The gritty dissonances, frenetic string activity and angular melodies were well contrasted with several lyrical sections, and the ACO again gave a polished and well-balanced performance. Under the inspired direction of Lyn Williams, the Gondwana voices sang outstandingly, and the several soloists performed with maturity and accuracy.

It’s not often that audiences in this country are able to witness performances of such a high caliber fusing orchestra, visual art and choir, and it made for a thought-provoking and unconventional concert – perhaps providing creative stimulus for future collaborative projects for the ACO.

We invited members of its online community to review The Red Tree. Watch the blog or join our Facebook group for your chance to review a concert.

Laura Mathison, ACO Community Reviewer | 23 Jul 2008

22 Jul 2008

ACO Shines in The Red Tree

The latest offering from the Australian Chamber Orchestra is a collaboration with artist Shaun Tan and the Sydney based children’s choir, Gondwana Voices. The programme consisted of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 15th String Quartet in E-flat minor, and of a new work entitled The Red Tree, after the book written by Shaun Tan, composed by Michael Yezerski and Richard Tognetti.

The ACO play with a consistently beautiful sound, and their performance of the Shostakovich Quartet was no exception. The work consists of six Adagio movements and is a notoriously difficult one to perform; Richard Tognetti led the ensemble through a precise and sensitive performance of a quality that is not often heard in this country. The orchestra were perfectly together for the duration of the work, and the intonation of the ensemble, even during the quiet senza vibrato sections, was perfect.

Ironically, the weakest parts of the performance were during the solo passages in which Tognetti’s arrangement is closest to the original quartet; Principle Cellist Timo-Veikko Valve played his solos musically but was inconsistent in his intonation, and a cadenza-like passage in the third movement that would have suited a solo player was given to the entire first violin section.

A special mention goes to Principal Bassist Maxime Bibeau, who grounded the orchestra both harmonically and rhythmically in a performance that was not only technically accomplished, but also extraordinarily musical. Tognetti and Helena Rathbone also led the first and second violins with accuracy and panache.

Despite the fact that Shaun Tan’s art suited the Shostakovich perfectly in terms of atmosphere, the manner of the juxtaposition left something to be desired. While the projections above the orchestra initially depicted a migrant narrative, the story was soon abandoned in favour of more abstract images that distracted, rather than added to the performance. Occasionally however, there were images that resonated powerfully with Shostakovich’s work – one depicted a lone figure standing in the shadow of a ruined town, while black snow swirled about him.

Yezerski and Tognetti’s The Red Tree was inspired directly by Tan’s book, making the union of music and art in the second half much more effective and seamless. Neither aspect of the performance detracted from the other; they combined to create a wholly successful work that engaged both the eyes and the ears of the audience.

Lyn Williams conducted the work competently, and deserves accolades for the way in which she prepared the singers of Gondwana Voices, who sang like angels. The ensemble and intonation of the children’s choir was flawless, and the soloists sang parts that many professional singers would have had serious trouble with.

The orchestra played just as well in the second half as they had in the first, infusing the work with drama and passion. Brian Nixon joined the orchestra on percussion, giving the ensemble extra punch during the loud and fast movements.

The Red Tree was a wonderful concert experience: lacklustre visuals in the first half could not dampen the effectiveness of Shostakovich’s music, and the combination of Tan’s breathtaking art and impeccable performances from the ACO and Gondwana Voices in the second half both pleased and excited the Sydney audience.

We invited members of its online community to review The Red Tree. Watch the blog or join our Facebook group for your chance to review a concert.

Adam Szabo, ACO Community Reviewer | 22 Jul 2008

18 Jul 2008

The Red Tree is a directed exploration of the human condition, showing realities not normally seen. A multifaceted collaboration between the Australian Chamber Orchestra, author and artist Shaun Tan, composer Michael Yezerski and Lyn Williams’ Gondwana Voices, it incorporates two of Shaun Tan’s books, The Arrival and The Red Tree.

Beginning with Shostakovich String Quartet No.15 in E-flat minor Op.144, its bleakness and haunting beauty, the perfect companion to Shaun Tan’s book, The Arrival. Consisting of six Adagios, we are taken on an unusual musical journey that is lonely, beautiful and delicate.

Shaun Tan’s sepia toned imagery is projected cinematically, as single images initially and then united in a grid like formation, reminiscent of a comic book. Each image depicts and builds on one man’s journey, as he leaves his wife and child behind to find a better life in an unknown country.

The continuous flow of fleeting images accompanied by the austere and beautiful melodies, signals the constantly changing trip via boat, to the new country. 

The performative response of the violinists is a dramatic embellishment and signals the immigrants’ arrival in the new city of promise.

The potent wretchedness of the music confuses the mix. Sweet and delicate, one moment. The next, thunderous, roaring its melodies. The emotional landscape produced by the combination of the music and the images was quite a lot to take in and kept me haunted. The intensity however, perfectly encompassed the bleak realities facing the new arrivals. 

In the second half we are led on a journey into the inner realms of a little girl facing a world that is a “deaf machine without sense or reason.” Symbiotically paired with illustrations and text, The Red Tree libretto is a strange, but intriguing combination of ACO, Gondwana Voices and the tribal beat of a drum.

Beginning in her bedroom, we are shown her depressive response “when darkness overcomes you” signalled by the motif of black leaves. The trumpet heralds its way into the menagerie of the child-like woman’s bleak imagination. As she ventures forth into her darkness, the journey becomes an intriguing adventure. She finds herself sailing through great storms and darkness. Tan’s mythical imagery comes to life as we battle the dark alongside of her. Finally, she returns home to a find a glorious red tree in her bedroom. She appears content.

This mix of strange and incessant influences launched its attack relentlessly. While at other times, the cherubic sounds of the Gondwana Voices provides a perfect compliment to the strings, a reminder that light too is present as we journey. 

This bold and stunningly rich collaboration is a credit to all involved. The combination of music, image and voice enticingly complex, chaotic and beautiful.

The ending was exquisite. The silence it brought mesmerising.

Lisa-Maree Botticelli, Australian Stage Online | 18 Jul 2008

17 Jul 2008

A darkened hall, music for young voices and strings, projected images by Shaun Tan - the Australian Chamber Orchestra's The Red Tree concert is a 21st-century sacred oratorio in all but name and the absence of any mention of a deity.

Shostakovich's 15th and last string quartet, which opened the program, is a bleak suite of adagios, as thin as an exclamation mark, and as emphatic. In Tognetti's amplified version for small string orchestra, the thinness of the quartet original was not always well served. In the opening stretch, the orchestra's strings, despite best endeavour, failed to wind out each of the four skeletal lines quite unanimously, whereas, paradoxically, a full symphony string section might have made Tognetti's idea work.

The most singing moments came in passages performed as solos, as in the original. And in the greyscale half-light of images from Tan's The Arrival, Shostakovich's intentions were arguably enhanced by the solo cellist's apparent identification with Tan's immigrant outsider.

The second half was not much less ascetic in tone than the first, with The Red Tree a musical counterpoint to images from Tan's illustrated book of the same name. A seven-movement collaboration between composer-lyricist Michael Yezerski and Tognetti, it set texts in English, Hebrew and Finnish.

Delivering this litany of mostly hard sayings, the fearless youngsters of Gondwana Voices came across as much more than just the beguiling symbols of innocence to which children's choirs are so often reduced. The co-composers devised for them music that chanted and occasionally even danced, and which, though reminiscent at times of John Tavener and Arvo Part (to name just two), was remarkably of-a-piece.

The kinetic third movement (The World Is A Deaf Machine, Without Sense Or Reason) made a slightly premature climax, following some darkly ruminant meditations from the psalms, shorn of any Christian overlay.

Throughout, the orchestra played second fiddle to Lyn Williams and her remarkable singers. It would be great to have this fine new piece preserved on CD, though before then a little tweaking could be done to ensure that the final two movements more fully realise the promise of the previous five.

Graeme Skinner, SMH | 17 Jul 2008

17 Jul 2008

Visual feast, young choir in fine voice

At the latest Australian Chamber Orchestra concerts, the projected images from Shaun Tan’s books The Arrival and The Red Tree were plentiful and varied, dominating the scene for the latter work, which was notable for the contribution from Gondwana Voices, that remarkable group of young singers trained to a superlative standard by artistic director Lyn Williams, who conducted this score.

For The Red Tree, composer Michael Yezerski and the ACO’s director Richard Tognetti assembled a score of many sources to complement Tan’s images. While the Gondwanas coped with a fragmentary text made up by Yezerski of scraps in Finnish, Hebrew, English and some untraceable words, the orchestra worked through an amalgam of musical phrases, ostinati, cadenzas and busy passage-work. The complex made for an interesting if impenetrable work, one that travelled along an interrupted sequential path, coming to an optimistic ending, but maintaining its mystery about what the central figure’s odyssey signified – which outcome is apparently part of the original text’s intention.

While The Red Tree expounded a kinetic energy and kept the observer intrigued through its seven movements/divisions, the pre-interval marriage of Tan’s The Arrival with the Shostakovich String Quartet No. 15, here transcribed for orchestra by Tognetti, misfired chiefly because the projected images often seemed to have no reflection in the musical content.

Where the Russian composer’s score comprises six Adagio movements of varying weight, the illustrated story of one man’s movement from home to the city and back again only seemed to fit the aural content fitfully.

In fact, it seems that Tan’s products have yet to find an appropriate musical reflection. Still, the event made an intriguing essay, well worth the effort if only for the chance to hear the young Gondwanas again.

Clive O'Connell, The Age | 17 Jul 2008