Among the Birds and the Trees | Musica Viva Australia

Sometimes a concert can be like a walk through a beautiful garden, with gorgeous blooms, intriguingly patterned ferns, and now and then a dramatic grass tree shooting skywards. The rather unusual line-up of instruments for this program offers just such an experience for the listener: a world of glowing sounds, with something entrancing around every corner of a gently twisting path.

Creating this world are three of classical music’s acknowledged leaders. Adam Walker was appointed Principal Flute of the London Symphony Orchestra at 21; Anneleen Lenaerts became Solo Harp of the Vienna Philharmonic at 23; Timothy Ridout, youngest of the three, is that rare creature: a solo violist.

This particularly mellow combination of instruments was the brainchild of Debussy, featuring in one of his very last pieces, the cornerstone of this concert. Planted around it are the meditative beauty of Takemitsu, the intensity of Soviet-era Gubaidulina, the joyous vigour of George Benjamin, and a choice selection of other musical blooms.