With Love and Fury

A very Aussie evening.

What an extraordinary experience; With Love and Fury, a collaboration between Katie Noonan, Brodsky Quartet, and a bevy of Australian composers, all inspired by the poetry of Brisbane’s Judith Wright, was oh-so-much-more than a contemporary classical concert.

Katie’s voice is remarkable, otherworldly, and her mastery as well as her distinctive style, were given so much room to play as each composition offered a new mood. From the tension of Andrew Ford’s ‘After the Visitors’, to the thrill of David Hirschfelder‘s ‘To a Child’, to the poignant ‘The Slope’, by Carl Vine, it felt as though the performers each gave themselves over to the music and the result was bliss. Simply watching the rapt artists smile and sway their way through the various pieces provided its own joy.

Although this world premiere was a stunningly modern display of classical technique, there was not a whiff of hubris in the air.  In a rather large concert hall, Katie’s light-hearted, typically Aussie banter with the quartet and the audience immediately created a sense of intimacy. It is rare and gratifying to see such humility on a stage filled with such greatness.

With Love and Fury is a, really quite breathtaking, tribute to the richness of Australia’s cultural life, not only because of the excellence of the works, but also because of the complete absence of ego anywhere on the stage.

It is abundantly clear that this project truly is the fruit of a furious love – for music and for Australia.