Internationally-acclaimed cellist, Christian-Pierre La Marca is an ardent supporter of the natural world and the need for urgent human action to save our environment. In this aptly-named self-curated concert, Wonderful World, La Marca combined his two passions to produce a thought-provoking and, at times, deeply moving ode to nature. With the assistance of stunning imagery by photographer and filmmaker Yann Arthus-Bertrand, La Marca took the audience on a journey where imagery and music were blended to illustrate his vision.
Fusing music with themes of nature and the natural world is not a new concept and, indeed, it has been a major tenet in the programming of the current Australian Festival of Chamber Music (AFCM). Artistic Director, Jack Liebeck. La Marca says: ‘Music has the ability to waken consciences, to make people more sensitive, without trying to convince or mobilise them. Music is a short circuit that goes straight to the heart.’
We can all recognise this – how we feel and react to music. During his narration of the concert, La Marca made the point that he cannot simply change the world, but he can play beautiful music accompanied by stunning visuals that can help us both feel, consider and respond to climate issues.
The concert’s opening imagery was particularly impressive, starting with a range of disturbing statistics about the state of the world, and quoting well-known protagonists on issues of climate change and the loss of habitat. Displayed on a huge screen at the back of the stage, the imagery was spectacular. Pristine views of lakes, mountains, oceans and wildlife represented the wonders of our world. Conversely, when the musical narrative portrayed modern cityscapes alongside destruction, degradation or pollution, then alarming imagery of where we are now was reflected.
The eclectic musical program consisted of some 17 pieces, several very short, divided into areas such as Wonder, The Human and Earth Cry, Man’s Interdependence with Nature, and Prospects and Awakening. The musical choices did not necessarily fit snugly into these various categories, nor did the imagery seem to always replicate the music, though messages were clear and the audience response sympathetic at the very least.
Musical extracts were almost entirely played by La Marca on cello and his accompanist, Itamar Golan, on piano. Both were exemplary. They were supported in a number of the songs by 11 young strings players from the Australian Youth Orchestra (the AYO Momentum Ensemble), who played enthusiastically and well.
La Marca is a cellist of the first order – virtuosic in the diverse range of all the pieces he played representing many compositional styles. He played with great intelligence and skill, offering a colourful musical palette and expert attention to detail, while his fine instrument displayed a marvellous rich tone of great warmth and beauty. Impressive was his fine rendition of Bach’s ‘Suite No.1 in G major’ followed by a lightness of touch in Fauré’s dreamy ‘Après un Rêve’ and an emotional and lyrical Silent Woods from Dvorak.
He was particularly skilful at illuminating the widely differing styles of music. These included Turkish composer Fazil Say’s ‘Four Cities (Sivas and Hopa)’ with its flavours of Middle Eastern flute, violin and percussion, plus the Argentinian Ariel Ramirez’s deeply moving ‘Alfonsina y el Mar’ and the rousing tango of Astor Piazzolla’s Libertango, offering strong bandoneon and guitar overtones. Additionally, the northern hemisphere snow of Nils Frahm’s ‘Wintermusik’ was well-evoked, helped by great visuals, while the plaintive soul-searching of Ernest Bloch’s ‘From Jewish Life: The Prayer’ was both tender and truthful.
Tchaikovsky’s Valse Sentimentale gave us all the power of Russian music in a considered and emotional delivery, while a ravishing slow cello with fine piano accompaniment delivered Saint-SaÑ‘ns’ ‘The Swan’.
Golan accompanied La Marca with relish, coming into his own on particular works, such as the marvellous opening of Philip Glass’ film score for The Hours: ‘The Poet Acts’. Here he excelled in demonstrating the angst and drama of the work. He was equally impressive in the speedy accompaniment to La Marca’s fierce playing of Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Flight of the Bumblebee’. In such well-known pieces as Henry Mancini’s ‘Moon River’ and Harold Arlen’s The Wizard of Oz: ‘Over the Rainbow’, Golan’s pianistic flourishes assisted the cello to make these considered readings, not just the sentimental interpretations into which they could easily descend. He was in his pianistic element in the final Bob Thiele piece of ‘What a Wonderful World’.
The content of the narration spoken at intervals by La Marca could have been much sharper, focusing perhaps on the choice of musical pieces and their interaction with the visuals. The narrative moments of the film in French with English subtitles were excellent and as such could have worked well for the whole concert.
As in the opening segment with the statistics, the messaging would have benefited from being more hard-hitting. Even if the gentle musician in him may have merely wanted us to open our hearts and minds, an opportunity was missed to bring people actively on board.
Musically this was a well-played and delivered program, despite some questionable musical choices to illustrate the major environmental themes. Certainly, the music needed to better match the visuals in order to have a real impact on the listener and viewer. La Marca undoubtedly succeeded in winning over his audience to the cause, but one suspects that he was already preaching to a mostly well-informed and empathetic audience.
Evening Concert 2 – Christian-Pierre La Marca’s ‘Wonderful World’ – An Orchestral Experience
Featured Artists:
Cello: Christian-Pierre La Marca
Piano: Itamar Golan
Australian Youth Orchestra string ensemble: Momentum
Imagery: Yann Arthus-Bertrand         Â
Wonderful World – An Orchestral Experience was performed at Townsville Civic Hall as part of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music on Wednesday 31 July 2024.
