West Gate by Melbourne Theatre Company; Anna Lapwood at Melbourne Recital Centre; The Devil’s Violin by Australian Chamber Orchestra and Ilya Gringolts;

THEATRE
West Gate ★★★
Melbourne Theater Company, Southbank Theatre, until 18 April

These days, the hulking monolith connecting Melbourne’s east and west is synonymous with congestion and oversized trailers; But more than 50 years ago, West Gate was the site of Australia’s deadliest industrial disaster when the sudden collapse of the bridge killed 35 people.

The fateful events that resulted in this tragedy and its emotional consequences Based on the work of Dennis McIntosh The play is based on facts gathered from interviews with the families of the dead and years of meticulous research.

in your heart West Gate proud Italian immigrant Vittorio (Steve Bastoni), a welder who is something of a father figure to the workers, especially the aimless young ‘Brawler’ (Darcy Kent), a blustering man who masks his vulnerability with a veneer of faux bravado and casual racism. We meet foreman and union representative Pat (Rohan Nichol), whose commitment to justice and rules clashes with the lovable BJ’s (Simon Maiden) thoughts on workplace safety.

There is a clear distinction West Gate between the blue-collar immigrant workers building the bridge and the middle-class upper management arguing over the sanctity of their lives at a distance that only hierarchy and privilege can provide. This callous disregard and arrogance, familiar to anyone who remembers Titanic, is externalized by three engineers: Stevenson (Paul English), McAlister (Peter Houghton) and Cooper (Ben Walter).

It soon becomes clear that something is wrong with the West Gate project. The lead engineers who designed the bridge fled, a similarly designed box girder bridge in Wales collapsed a few weeks ago, key features missing, no instructions from the lead British company. Meanwhile, time is ticking and deadlines must be met.

The devil is in the (sometimes excessive) detail, but McIntosh is less preoccupied with the minutiae of who did what and more focused on the evasion of responsibility that results in a tragedy that could have been prevented in any way possible.

When the inevitable happens, it’s a catastrophic spectacle of cataclysmic proportions, swallowed up by the confused din of frightened men – a play best left intact for those of us who haven’t seen it yet. It is a stunning recreation of the moment when many men were buried under rubble, thrown to the ground, burned by exploding diesel fuel.

The game is divided into two with the collapse of the bridge; This is also underlined by Christina Smith’s shift in set design from nuts and bolts to the personal. When the stage is illuminated once again, we are transported to Vittorio’s domestic world, where his wife Francesca (Daniela Farinacci) is grieving, trapped in a kitchen trapped beneath splayed beams and concrete. Farinacci is a much-needed intervention against the first act’s all-male cast, but her acting prowess extends beyond the limits of her written character.

If the first act features some trite dialogue, the second half suffers from a certain sense of inertia as the characters try to find their way through their grief and loss. There are moving moments of friendship and camaraderie that build to a moving conclusion, but the emotional fallout is borne almost single-handedly by Francesca, and Pat and BJ’s weak characterizations become more apparent when they become ciphers for greater emotions and actions than their personal narratives can convey.

The administration’s response to the disaster and the subsequent Royal Commission are predictably criminally negligent, but even that explanation seems remote; Stevenson’s character is more likened to a cartoon villain than a man whose actions have far-reaching consequences for future generations.

Where West Gate It stands out for its excellent staging and platforming of sounds traditionally considered contrary to the showy artistry of theatre. Under the expert direction of Iain Sinclair, Kelly Ryall’s ominous sound design combines with Smith’s minimalist set and Niklas Pajanti’s highly effective lighting design to create the prism through which we experience this working-class story and landmark moment in Melbourne’s history.
Reviewed by: Sonia Nair

MUSIC
Anna Lapwood ★★★★
Melbourne City Hall, 13 March

A source of entertainment and education, town hall organs enjoyed great popularity in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Anna Lapwood’s irrepressible vitality has effectively harnessed the power of social media to introduce a new generation to the sonic possibilities of these extraordinary instruments. Watch an incredibly diverse fan base sell out two concerts at Melbourne City Hall.

Lapwood isn’t afraid to bring a childlike enthusiasm to his task, along with the passion of a motivational speaker and the sass of a seasoned entertainer. A great film buff, he deftly blends the worlds of classical and theater organists into a highly popular, personal blend, blessed with enviable dexterity of hands and feet.

Drawing an imaginative color palette from the Grand Organ of City Hall, he did not disappoint his fans and thrilled them with dramatic intrigue. The Da Vinci Codecourage of the camp Pirates of the Caribbean and the relentless race to find new worlds in Interstellar. Among all these Hans Zimmer scores, interstellar It is responsible for turning the organ into a viral phenomenon.

Ludovico Einaudi’s minimalist Experience It contrasted with Rachel Portman’s Flight. Admirable, clear technique was also exhibited in the work of John Williams. Duel of Fates from Star Wars; space travel explored in more detail Limina Luminis Written by Olivia Belli.

Lapwood’s important Lord of the Rings The organ symphony demonstrated his capacity for organistic storytelling. Maybe the next step would be to sing along to the entire movie?

Considering the warm reception given to the Toccata by the 19th-century French organist Eugène Gigout, it was a pity that Lapwood lost the educational opportunity to broaden the horizons of his admirers by not including more recognizable classics.

Even so, in a city that has had a shortage of organists for decades, we hope Lapwood will inspire some young devotees to take on the king of instruments.
Reviewed by Tony Way

MUSIC
The Devil’s Violin ★★★★
Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Recital Centre, 14 March

It was immediately obvious: the unique sound of the 1743 Guarneri del Gesù violin played by Russian-born virtuoso Ilya Gringolts. A warm, deeply lyrical yet intriguingly soft grainy quality, there was a musical sound here that couldn’t be ignored.

Gringolts, no stranger to the Australian Chamber Orchestra and its audiences, Ring Imitation Reappearing in the opening of Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in D minor RV237 by Johann Paul von Westhoff. The superb source material gave way to a feverishly crafted account of the concerto, in which the nimble solo voice deftly opposed the polished sound of the ACO’s impressive array of historic instruments.

Soviet composer Sofia Gubaidulina’s String Quartet No. 2’s arrangement revealed a completely different sound world, in sharp contrast to the grandeur of the Venetian baroque.

As a testament to the versatility of fine instruments on stage, such harsh modernism seamlessly became one of the most famous violin works of the eighteenth century. Devil’s Trill by Tartini. The original sonata was conceived after the composer dreamed that he sold his soul to the devil, who then played a fantastic piece on his violin. It’s no surprise that Gringolts and the ACO relish this evil challenge.

The spirituality of Mieczyslaw Weinberg Aria gave the audience a small taste of the magnificence of the ACO’s latest instrument acquisition, a 1610 Maggini viola played by principal Stefanie Farrands.

Principal violin Satu Vänskä, with her 1728/29 Stradivarius, later dueled with Gringolts in Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins in C major, RV507, to the great delight of all present. It was a rare pleasure to enjoy the differences between two excellent instruments.

Newly launched Paul Stanhope’s Giving Ground it was a thoughtful and well-prepared reflection of the ground press supporting the famous La Follia theme; Geminiani’s flamboyant version provides a stirring finale.
Reviewed by Tony Way

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