COCKTAIL HOUR WITH TIMOTHY CONSTABLE AT THE UTZON ROOM SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE ON 13 MARCH 2026 : AN ABSOLUTE TRIUMPH

The musicians
Sophie Cole, violin; Dylan Holly and Jaan Pallandi, double bass; David Elton, trumpet; Rebecca Lagos and Timothy Constable, percussion; Louisic Dulbecco, harp

Program
André Jolivet, ‘Heptade for Trumpet and Percussion’
Olivier Messiaen, ‘From the canyons to the stars’: viii. The resurrected and the song of the star Aldebaran (excerpt)
Tōru Takemitsu, ‘Stanza II’ (excerpt)
Peter Sculthorpe, ‘Night Pieces’: iii. Flowers
Iannis Xenakis, ‘Polytope de Cluny’ (excerpt)
Joni Mitchell, ‘All I Want’
Keith Jarrett, ‘All We Got’
Nick Drake, ‘One of These Things First’
Andrew Lloyd Webber, ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’, Overture
Pete Townshend, ‘Baba O’Riley’ (excerpt)
Josef Zawinul, ‘In A Silent Way’
Miles Davis, ‘Sivad’
Einojuhani Rautavaara, ‘Cantus Arcticus’: ii. Melancholy
Dmitri Shostakovich, Symphony No.15 in A major, Op.141: iv. Adagio (excerpt)
Joni Mitchell, ‘Both Sides Now’


Well, what an absolute triumph! This evening’s recital in the intimate space of the Utzon Room, was simply thrilling. It was curated and led by percussionist and composer Timothy Constable, and big congratulations to him for a wonderful evening. He selected a most eclectic – and engaging – cross-section of music that was either written, released or toured in 1971. The compositions reflect, as the program notes tell us, the ‘turbulent changing of the cultural guard’ that occurred in the early 1970s, when musicians across genres exploded into the scene with new and bold approaches. Think of people like Joe Zawinul (co-founder of iconic band Weather Report), and Keith Jarrett, and how they were experimenting with jazz and fusion; heavy metal came into being – think Black Sabbath; Kraftwerk was bringing electronic music to the mainstream. Other popular genres were developing too, including, as Constable tells us, rock opera, punk, glam rock, and concert hall percussion. He maintains that 1971 was the year that the music world changed: musicians felt freer to re-invent themselves each time they performed or recorded their music. So with that in mind, let’s get on with things.It’s not every day – or any day really – that one would see Iannis Xenakis and Joni Mitchell on the same program. Or Peter Sculthorpe and Miles Davis. Or Dmitri Shostakovich and Pete Townshend. But it all came together in a creative, exciting and joyful performance by seven members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, who were able to freely flex their musical muscles.

The one-hour performance was essentially presented as one whole work. So rather than finish one piece, pause, start the next, tonight each piece melded into the next, resulting in a fluid, immersive experience, where myriad elements came together to tease and delight all of us listening. The program began with André Jolivet’s stark and meaty work, ‘Heptade for Trumpet and Percussion’, featuring the crisp and mesmerising trumpet of David Elton, and was immediately followed by the Messiaen, but exactly when the Takemitsu began, I really wasn’t sure. Such was the integrity of the program order: each work was musically connected to the next, making a cohesive whole.

Over the concert, which featured violinist Sophie Cole and harpist Louisic Dulbecco, we watched percussionists Timothy Constable and Rebecca Lagos perform on an array of drums, cowbells, windchimes, wood blocks and the like, but there was also a turntable and various electronica. Constable also played the Rhodes (which came into its own as an instrument in the early 1970s, particularly in soul and rock music) and sang the lyrics to Nick Drake’s ‘One of These Things First’. It’s worth saying that he has a lovely singing voice. Double bassists Dylan Holly and Jaan Pallandi showed their versatility by also performing on other instruments – Holly on dulcimer and also acoustic guitar, and Pallandi on the Rhodes. Trumpeter Elton brought his flugelhorn.

From the vibrancy of jazz, the audacity of rock opera, the quiet contemplation evident in works such as Rautavaara’s ‘Cantus Arcticus’, the boldness of Xenakis, who was an architect before he was ever a musician, this concert had it all. The recital ended with a beautiful arrangement of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’. The plangency of the double bass was complemented by the harp, violin (both bowed and plucked), flugelhorn, tinkling windchimes. What a soundscape.

What makes the SSO’s popular Cocktail Hour series so popular is that each recital has been curated by the musicians themselves, which is not just a wonderful way of showcasing specific instruments outside an orchestral setting, but one that allows us to become more closely acquainted with the personalities of individual performing artists.

All the musicians on stage this evening were clearly enjoying themselves, free to exercise their considerable musical chops outside of a straight ‘classical’ context. Constable was loving it all – you could see the joy on his face, the joy of performing great music with great musicians. That joy was transmitted to an appreciative audience.

My concert companion remarked afterwards that she’d forgotten how much society and the world changed during the early 1970s, and how, to a large degree, music reflected those changes. The effect, given that so many of these works still sound new and adventurous today, is to be taken back in time, and also brought forward into the present. That great connection between the creative arts and social history is a subject close to my own heart, and I believe that Constable’s excellent program captured the variations, drama, and inventiveness of that period.

It was a splendid night, and I very much hope that programs as innovative and exciting as this continue to be presented by the SSO.

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