Search - Michael Easton, Brett Kelly, State Orchestra of Victoria :: Michael Easton: Concerto on Australian Themes; An Australian in Paris; Beasts of the Bush

A Joy for the Ear

D. A Wend | Buffalo Grove, IL USA | 01/13/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Michael Easton has had a varied career in music as publisher, performer, critic and composer. He was born in England and studied at the Royal College of Music but later moved to Australia. As a composer, Mr. Easton writes energetic, ear-catching melodies, influenced by Ravel, Poulenc and Milhaud. The Concerto On Australian Themes is a virtuoso work from 1996 based on popular themes. The concerto quotes, among others, Botany Bay, Click go the Shears and Waltzing Matilda. Taking George Gershwin's An American in Paris as his model, Mr. Easton wrote An Australian in Paris (1995). While the latter piece will never achieve the fame of the former, it is a witty and melodious adventure. The pieces describes the intrepid traveler On the Boulevard St. Michel, On the Metro, Alone and lonely (which has an interesting kind of dialogue between a flute and an oboe) and Driving in Paris.



The surprise of the disc is Beasts in the Bush for orchestra and speaker. This is a modern parable of well-meaning developers who would change a wilderness into a resort. The animals living in the wilderness will have none of it and are determined to show the unwanted people the "door." What interested me about the piece was that the developers think they are doing good by recycling and giving to environmental groups but would ruin the wilderness out of sheer ignorance. There is humor and interesting facts about the Australian bush in Beasts of the Bush, and the orchestration is light and descriptive.



The Concerto for Accordion, Piano and Strings sounds at first as if it will be something comic but it is a serious work with the accordion taking a prominent part. The piece makes use of the French association of the accordion sounding at times like a description of a Montmartre scene. The music could have been written by one of Les Six. The Overture to an Italian Comedy is a light work inspired by E. M. Forester's A Room with a View, and is evocative of Italy and the violent murder in the book that changes the lives of the English protagonists witnessing the crime.



The music is well performed by the State Orchestra of Victoria and is a lot of fun to listen to. Highly recommended.

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