For this year’s Festival Centre Sessions program, the Zephyr Quartet hit the stage with an all-new version of their popular show Cult Classics: Cult Classics II. Through a selection of songs from artists such as Madonna, Sigur Rós, Wilco, The Cure, Queen and Metallica, the band explore the notion of a classic and the relationship we form with a piece of music to elevate it so. Once the familiar is filtered back to us through a different medium, how has it changed? The string quartet allows us to zero in on different aspects of our favourite songs and hear them anew; or you could just grab a cider and tap your toes along to a rousing version of ‘God Only Knows’.
Violinists Belinda Gelhert and Emily Tulloch, cellist Hilary Kleinig and new violist Jason Thomas make up the Zephyr Quartet, an act that has been gracing our pubs, theatres and festivals since 1999 with a fusion of traditional and original music. After snagging the APRA/AMCOS Art Music Awards State Award for Performance of the Year in 2012, the quartet kicked off what will no doubt be a big year with the launch of their Cult Classics CD, featuring songs from the previous program’s set.
Already known for blending music with other artistic mediums like poetry, painting, dance and theatre, the Quartet challenged the boundaries of genre with their arrangements. Emotive favourites like Sigur Rós’ ‘Hoppipolla’ and Bon Iver’s ‘Skinny Love’ translated predictably yet beautifully to strings, but the real enjoyment came from genre-bending highlights like The Cure’s ‘Lullaby’ and Metallica’s ‘Enter Sandman’ (when else have you heard a face-melting violin solo?). These pieces, arranged by resident composers Gelhert and Kleinig, were mostly on-point and clever: more than once I lost track of who had the melody. Others, such as Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and Toto’s ‘Africa’ were a little on the cheesy side, relying on the audience’s knowledge of the song and the novelty of the performance rather than the intricacy of the arrangement. This mix of challenge and cheese, however, made for a set that was fun, addictive and all-too-quickly over.
When encouraged by the Quartet to head to the bar and grab a drink at any time, it’s a mark of how much fun we were all having that nobody got up. Not the most challenging or innovative of the Zephyr Quartet’s programs, perhaps, but nonetheless a pretty sweet way to spend a summer evening.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Zephyr Quartet – Cult Classics II
Sessions 2013
Space Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre
18 January
