Classical
The Age
Saturday September 5, 2009
WHAT Pops: Swing! Swing! Swing!WHERE Hamer HallWHEN Today at 7pm, tomorrow at 2pmCOST $125/$45, 1300 136 166, mso.com.auIN ITS final Pops concert this year, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra presents a program of jazz-classical fusion, featuring one work familiar to every music lover and others that have not been heard for many years. At the better-known end of the spectrum come Gershwin's An American in Paris and Duke Ellington's Harlem, which the MSO has played several times in recent years. More arcane fare comes with Bernstein's Prelude, Fugue and Riffs from 1955, but the real odd one out is A Jazz Symphony by the American experimenter George Antheil, a startling blast from the 1920s. The night focuses on Melbourne composer Brenton Broadstock's new homage to Miles Davis, Made in Heaven, with the incomparable and versatile James Morrison as soloist, while the MSO's first clarinet David Thomas leads the way through Bernstein's deft score. Conducting it all is the Boston Pops' director for the past 14 years, Keith Lockhart (pictured). -- CLIVE O'CONNELL
© 2009 The Age