Nigel Kennedy: The New Four Seasons
Sydney Opera House, January 27
![Nigel Kennedy's playing remains astonishing for its control and dynamism.](/web/20170129045124im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/0/s/z/1/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gu0sxn.png/1485660306495.jpg)
★★★★½
The spate of recent makeovers of Vivaldi's Four Seasons – by composer Max Richter and Richard Tognetti with oud player Joseph Tawadros to name just two in Sydney recently – risked making Nigel Kennedy's title The New Four Seasons seem a somewhat cynical oxymoron.
Kennedy's 1989 recording of Vivaldi's ever-popular set of violin concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra has already run the full nostalgia circuit with a re-release on vinyl two years ago.
Yet any suspicion of cynicism soon gave way to admiration, not only for his playing, which remains astonishing for its control and dynamism even when he deliberately pushed the speeds over the cliff as he did, in the second concerto, Summer. But also for the qualities of renewal and perfectionism, hidden behind the spiky hair, baggy T-shirt and lime green sneakers, which continue to make him one of the world's most interesting musicians.
As Tawadros and Tognetti had done, Kennedy interpolated interludes between movements of the four concertos using both the quintet from the Kennedy Band and members of the more classically-based Orchestra of Life, led by Sydney-born Sonja Schebeck, to blend improvisation and written score into a compelling narrative.
In one of his informal conversations with the audience, Kennedy said one movement had gone particularly well because listeners and players had been "in the zone". Indeed, it is his ability to draw listeners into deep concentration, maintaining what musicians often refer to as "the flow", that keeps his performances "new", even in hackneyed works.
The informality of presentation belied scrupulous attention to balance and ensemble precision with both orchestra and band, creating something of a game with Canberra-born cellist Ezmi Pepper in solo sections with bass to match the fiery impetuousness of his rhythm.
The partner work on the programs was Kennedy's series of Dedications to musicians who have inspired him. The "hot-club" charm of Melody in the Wind for legendary jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli provided an idyllic moment before the final concerto.
There were tributes to guitarist Jarek Smietana, classical violinists Isaac Stern and Yehudi Menuhin, bluegrass violinist Mark O'Connor and a new memorial for the Red Army Choir tragically killed in a plane crash on Christmas Day.