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Last year, the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra celebrated its 60th anniversary. It was an occasion we marked in this magazine, Fine Music, when the orchestra’s chief conductor and artistic director, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, shared some of his thoughts about that event, and about the position he then held in the world of fine music. Here we are, a year later, with those particular celebrations behind us, and it is as good a time as any to catch up. The orchestra and Lang-Lessing have moved forward into a new season. What has happened during that last year?
For Lang-Lessing, at least, there has been no shortage of new experiences that he is now able to bring back to base in Tasmania. They remind me of a comment he made when we were talking a couple of years ago. ‘We are living in a globalised world. There is no way that you sit in Australia, close yourself in and have no connection with what’s happening in Europe, or Japan, or America.’ It is not at all surprising, then, in the lead-up to his commitments in the last year or so, that he should have found himself full of the excitement and personal challenge that came with his invitation to open the fabulous new opera house in Oslo with its very first stage production. A building it may be, but it is also art, ‘amazing art’! It has made a dramatic impression on him. ‘It’s so spectacular! The look of it! It’s like a great … [he gestures to describe the shape of a pyramid or an iceberg] going into the water, like white marble, built into the fiord, so you can walk on the Opera House, on the roof. You can walk on it!’
The performances of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess that he led did not actually require him to do anything on the roof, but even without that added dimension the whole experience proved to be an outstanding one for him. In Lang-Lessing’s estimation, the work is ‘one of the most important operas of the 20th century. For America, the most important one!’ It is not without its challenges, though. ‘You have to have an entirely black cast, including the chorus, so in Europe it’s almost impossible to perform.’ It is for that reason he found himself working, in Oslo, with artists from South Africa, something that in itself helped make it a hugely satisfying assignment to fulfil, despite having to keep within strict time limits. ‘A very short rehearsal period and performance in 20 days.’ He was still able to establish a cooperation with the singers and chorus from Cape Town Opera. ‘A wonderful and enriching experience for me. I felt so much warmth, enthusiasm, joy and energy.’ Those were qualities that Lang-Lessing was able to follow all the way to South Africa itself, when, in April, he headed for Cape Town along with the homeward-bound singers to conduct their 10th anniversary Gala Concert. A strong experience, indeed, in anyone’s terms, to bring back with him.
It also enabled him to compare notes on the design of acoustic spaces, which has been an important project in recent times for the TSO’s base in Hobart. ‘Fantastic acoustics’ was his summary of how it has been done in Oslo. ‘The company which worked on this is the same one that we’re using for the upgrading of our acoustics in Hobart, and that helped design Angel Place in Sydney. I learned a lot about acoustics working on this project during the last 16 months.’
What can audiences look forward to, in terms of the concerts and performances planned for the new season? ‘As you know,’ advises Lang-Lessing, ‘we focus on our core repertoire, the classical and early romantic periods.’ Which, for this season, shines a light on the work of Franz Schubert. ‘We will play three of his most important symphonies, including his masterpiece, Symphony no 9, the ‘Great’. Besides those symphonies, music from Schubert’s Rosamunde will be featured. Not that Schubert will be alone in this season’s TSO performances. Lang-Lessing has come back ready to present the last three piano concertos by Beethoven, and to do them justice he will be conducting a musician whom he considers to be one of the most exciting pianists of the young generation: Nicholas Angelich. Those piano concertos of Beethoven, like his symphonies, represent repertoire that the TSO works on constantly. ‘We never get tired of it,’ is Lang-Lessing’s assurance. ‘We are always inspired.’
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