Moya Henderson

The conductor was an egomaniac! Hard to keep watching. The writing was arch . . . OTT! What was with the slow single-note picking on the piano? Not leading to a composition! The privilege of writing music is so different. The sounds themselves take you to an ecstatic place where you do your utmost to transcend the banal, the mundane as you weave the sounds into melody and counterpoint. I have very recently attended a performance of a piece called Cross Hatching, written in 1984. Edward Neeman was the pianist. He played so masterfully and tenderly. We were both at the service of the music. It’s the music that puts out ego, not the composer, not the pianist. Of course there was no Tar-style trumped up conductor to endure. To me the piece sounded Australian. I hope it always will. Moya Henderson

A magnificent movie! Very Australian; switches from hilarious, slap-stick madness to heart-breaking tragedy in a flash, then, doesn't bother explaining all that many of its skips and side-steps in the story-line. I can only imagine that some of the professional reviewers watched the show from under their seats.