MOVIE REVIEW
The Curse of the Gothic Symphony
A film by Randall Wood and Veronica Fury
Duration: 82 minutes
Filmed from 2005-2010
Premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival, 2011
Perhaps the biggest event of the 2011 Proms was the staging of Havergal Brian’s
Gothic Symphony at the Royal Albert Hall on 17 July. What was rather less
publicised, at least outside the confines of the Havergal Brian Society, was
that it had been preceded by another performance on the other side of the
globe.
Just before Christmas 2010 in Brisbane, Australia, one man’s dream (or
should that be folly) stretching back almost thirty years came to fruition.
That man was Gary Thorpe, at the time of filming this documentary, the manager
of the local community classical music radio station, 4MBSFM. He had battled
the supposed “curse” of the Gothic - that it couldn’t be
staged successfully - singlehandedly for much of that time.
His struggles attracted the attention of a filmmaker, and from 2005, a film
crew led by director Randall Wood and producer Veronica Fury, followed the
ups and downs - mostly the latter - of the project. Veronica Fury became so
caught up in the efforts that she joined the organising committee and was
a major force in achieving the unachievable.
The film documents the sequence of near misses, and the mounting anticipation
and stresses as the planned performance date approaches. Three months out,
there was still not a complete orchestra and choir, nor was funding and the
venue - the Queensland Performing Arts Centre - absolutely nailed down.
Naturally, there were compromises. The absence of significant support from
professional orchestras and choirs meant that this was being done essentially
with amateurs, admittedly well-schooled ones. The majority of the orchestra
were past or present members of the Queensland Youth Orchestra, whose conductor,
John Curro, had been part of the project for a number of years. Assembling
the desired four hundred strong choir in a city of less than a million was
an insurmountable challenge. Even finding a venue capable of holding the performers
was an issue.
As they say in the classics, it was “alright on the night”, actually
a lot better than just alright. “A triumph beyond all expectations”
was how one reviewer described the event.
The compelling story is enhanced by outstanding cinematography and incorporation
of Gothic themes into the structure. You can be lucky as well: one interviewee
continually strokes a black cat, another’s feline is a hairless species,
which filmed in close-up looks more like a gargoyle than a cat.
The Brisbane story is interspersed with dramatic recreations of events from
Brian’s early life, interviews with his daughter Olga Pringle and Brian
scholar and biographer, Malcolm MacDonald, footage of Brian Society meetings
in London and archival footage of the composer.
The chances of this getting an overseas release or making it to DVD would
seem to be somewhere between remote and nil. Even its cinema release here
in Australia is very limited. If you are interested - and you should be, regardless
of whether or not Brian’s music appeals - an appeal to the BBC, PBS
or whoever is your local quality TV station might be your only chance.
David Barker
An outstanding documentary of one man’s seemingly unachievable dream.
Footnote
There is a trailer for the film on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfVg9vn4jCc