Radiance
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Pietari Inkinen
Tenor: Simon O’Neill
Auckland Town Hall
August 21
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Normally one has to wait till either the Wellington or Auckland Arts festivals brings together a couple of international stars, but the NZSO Radiance concert brought together conductor Pietari Inkinen and tenor Simon O’Neill provided an exceptional linking of two international stars along with an inspirational NZSO.
Both O’Neill and Inkinen have become international names in concerts hall around the world, regarded as Wagner specialists.
With the eerie green light projected onto the Town Hall’s organ pipes, the vast array of instruments on stage and a sold-out performance the concert promised to be a major event. And it was.
Out of the huge orchestra came the initial light tones of the Tannhauser Overture which slowly increased in volume and within a few minutes came the full force and musical energy of Wagner’s music under the baton of Pietari Inkinen
Carefully shaping the orchestral sound, revealing the brilliance of the music, he made the audience aware of all the hallmarks of Wagner. Mystery, myth, magical spaces, human sacrifice and redemption. Linking the heroic past to contemporary German nineteenth century German religious ideas and nationalism.
It was several minutes into the music that O’Neil entered, bemoaning his condition. His distinctive voice rising above the sounds of the orchestra.
While the workbegins with the quiet, noble hymn representing redemption and faith it soon erupts into swirling, chromatic agitation depicting sensual temptation.
This was music that followed the ideas of the composer – the total work of art with richly orchestrated music, dramas driven by recurring, psychologically shifting leitmotifs and extreme chromatic harmony. It was music which emphasised the ideas of aspiration, regeneration, hope and nobility.
O’Neill fiercely conveyed the idea of a hero struggling against forces beyond his control, with his sharp angular movements and gestures as well as focussed singing.
Under Inkinen’s direction the NZSO provided a perceptive clarity to the music, sensitive to the singing of O’Neill and providing the emotional depth to the unfolding narrative.
There was drama and violence as well as calm and sweetness to the O’Neill’s voice and he demonstrated his total control, his posture, gestures and all his movements seemed natural and he was the embodiment of the Tannhauser, providing a nuanced depiction of the hero.
A Wagner performance is dependent on the role of the conductor, who needs to understand the music’s structure appreciate the connection between singers and the music and is able to balance the needs of the orchestra and the singers.
Central toTannhäuser is the exploration on the deep, conflictbetween carnal desire and spiritual purity which prevents Tannhäuser from achieving a psychological wholeness. Rather than a simple moral tale of sin and repentance, it is also Wagners attempt to reconcile his own attempt to understand his own ego driven life and the fate of German ideas.
O’Neill approached the role with immense commitment, his tenor voice powerful and his projection flawless. He maintained an intense, radiant quality particularly in the lengthy Rome narrative section as well his farewell to Venus.
His singing, from the quiet, noble passages representing redemption and faith, through the swirling chromatic agitation depicting sensual temptation of the Venusberg section was always focussed.
Parsifal opens with an achingly beautiful prelude where out of silence, a simple melody emerges, played by the strings, and seems to hover there creating a sense of otherworldliness and later adding grandeur and nobility.
Many of the work’s motifs notably those associated with the Grail and the Spear as well as abstract ideas like sorrow and faith, shame and torment are revealed in the music — the restless string rhythms and shifting harmonies always searching for resolution.
The success of Parsifal relies heavily on an orchestra and conductor appreciating the needs of the soloist and the way Wagner’s music supports the singer and O’Neill was able to balance heroic aspects of the role along with his anguished search for redemption.
The audience was provided with the German text and a translation but only those near to the stage would have had sufficient illumination to read the words. Providing surtitles has become essential for any opera production and should have been available for the Radiance concert.
Just because Bayreuth doesn’t provide surtitles doesn’t mean audiences around the world have to make do without them as well.
New Zealand Arts Review 