Ever since last year’s event, I’ve become strangely attached to the ABC’s annual Classic 100 countdown. Like Triple J’s Hottest 100, viewers vote on a wide list of songs (or instruments in last year’s theme) to be counted down live, followed by a concert played by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO). Last year, I voted, followed the entire broadcast, attended the concert in person, and was even briefly interviewed on the air through bizarre circumstances. But while I don’t think anything will top my experience with the ‘instruments’ countdown, I must admit I came out of last year’s concert feeling a bit disappointed.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a decent set-list, but not nearly as experimental or varied as I would’ve liked for the topic. So, when the station announced that this year’s theme would be ‘Feel Good’––a blatantly vague and broadly-reaching topic––I was concerned that this would just be an excuse to mash past years’ selection lists to form a generic countdown. Thankfully, I came out of this year’s event fairly satisfied, and I’m delighted to say the concert in turn was a great improvement.
The first immediate note was the setlist: a far stronger representation of the countdown results and theme. We of course open on the number one pick ‘Ode to Joy’ from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, a crowd-pleasing introduction, and especially well-performed by the choir and strings. In fact, the string orchestra was a consistent delight throughout the show, as expected from the MSO. Special highlight goes to the woodwind group during the performance of ‘Jupiter’ from Planets, and of course the brass, horns, and drums during the Star Wars suite. Compared to last year, the choice of songs overall was a much stronger balance of both high and low countdown picks. There were more odd picks or varied compositions too, like the salsa stings of ‘Mambo’ from West Side Story, or a performance with an oud that I just don’t want to spoil. My personal favourite, however, was their rendition of Puccini’s ‘Nessun Dorma’ aria, with spectacular vocals by musical guest Paul O’Niell. It was almost as if I was listening to Pavarotti himself.
While not my favourite theatre setting, Hamer Hall was still a great environment for the evening. Even from the stalls, the Hall’s main stage and its attendants are always visible, with comfortable seating and spacing between seats. Within the show itself, the use of lighting overall was well balanced; easily shifting into moments of dramatic flair and emphasis, but never obscuring the members of the orchestra for too long. There was also some fun use of background lighting, with planets illuminated against the wall during Star Wars. Outside of that, working with reception staff was very smooth both on entry and exit, especially important when we had to move through large crowds. My main issue with the venue was unfortunately the audio –– I was seated middle of the row in the stands and the first few songs felt quieter than I expected. It eventually balanced out, thankfully before Dorma, and it could’ve just been my ears, but I still hope this is improved for the upcoming broadcast version.
Another feature of ABC’s concert was the interspliced video bios or interviews, featuring a variety of people from the ABC and the Australian music scene. These can always be a bit hit or miss, but I found this year’s selections to be entertaining, or at the very least educational and relevant to the topic. Presenters included a wide selection of ABC hosts from both TV and radio, composer Elena Kats-Chernin to explain her creative process, and the Gondwana Indigenous Youth choir. Even everyone’s favourite Swinburne professor, Dan Golding, showed up, teasing us with soundtrack clips of Zorba the Greek and Slumdog Millionaire that I’d never thought would be performed (and they weren’t, sadly). Sure, these videos may seem a bit corny, but considering the nature of the evening it felt rather well-suited.
I think I’ll come out of every year feeling upset about missing pieces––The Typewriter fans, we lost again. However, this year’s concert felt very consistent, both in musical quality and setlist, that I didn’t mind too much. Conductor Benjamin Northey did a fantastic job and seemed to be having a lot of fun along with the rest of the MSO. While I don’t think anything will beat seeing the performance in person, I think that energy will still translate well into a very engaging broadcast.
This year’s Classic 100 in Concert will be broadcasted on Saturday June 29th at 7:30pm across ABC TV and Radio, later available for streaming on ABC iView.
Photographer credit: Laura Manariti