Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) in his backyard zone
The Zone of Interest
Directed by Jonathan Glazer,
In cinemas from February 22
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
“The Zone of Interest” is based on the Martin Amis novel of the same name. Written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, the movie focusses on the daily life of Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) the S.S. commandant of Auschwitz, his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) and their children.
It’s a story about The Holocaust but one which is just out of sight and mind. Kept at a distance by closed walls and closed minds.
Höss, who admitted at his trial of being responsible for the death of at least a million and a half people at Auschwitz was not named in the Amis book which used three fictional characters to create a wide-ranging narrative about the camp and The Final Solution.
If you didn’t know about Höss or The Holocaust, Glazer’s film might appear to be enigmatic or mystifying. We do not really see the camp only the surrounding wall which is capped with barbed wire, the roofs of the barracks, a watch tower, the occasional smokestack and smoke. We see no inmates, guards or dogs.
We do hear the distant rumblings of the camp, the low sounds of voices, occasional shouts, and barks as well as random shots.
This distancing from the horrors on the other side of the wall is emphasised with much of the filming in long shot and the film features the Höss’ lush garden where Hedwig spends her time and the backyard swimming pool with the frolicking children.
The film is full of contrasts between the two environments – the camp and the house. But that contrast is generated by the viewers knowledge. So, we know the food that the family eat is sumptuous compared with what those on the other side of the wall eat. That the clothes they wear are better, that the environment is calm and relaxing. That their life is simple and ordered.
In one long sequence the camera follows Höss as he tours the house at night, turning off the light, closing doors checking on the sleeping children, bringing the day to a peaceful close.
One of the few sequences set inside the camp is of Höss supervising the unloading of people from a train. All we are shown is a low shot of Höss framed against the smoke-filled sky with the sounds of barked commands, whips cracking, crying and confusion.
One of the other dramatic intrusions of the camp into the idyllic life of the family is seen in a sequence where Höss and his children are swimming in river. The tranquillity is abruptly cut short when Hoss discovers a bone fragment floating in the water and sees a scum floating towards them – the result of ash from the crematorium scattered deposited upriver. The children are them vigorously scrubbed free of the physical and racial taint.
In another scene Höss’ wife swans around her bedroom in an expensive fur coat which she insists needs to be cleaned, without stating why.
When the business of extermination is talked about it is in euphemisms or oblique language. In a meeting Höss has with engineers to discuss the new crematorium no mention is made of the number bodies which could be incinerated rather they refer to the possible “load” the ovens are capable of dealing with.
While there is no reaction by the family to the horrors over the wall, one of the young girls in the family appears to do into catatonic state as though blotting out her reactions. This psychological denial is then represented by some thermal imaging black and white sequences of a young girl placing food around the camp, seemingly at night, in a dream.
The reality of The Holocaust and of Auschwitz is made clear in the final moments of the film where Höss wanders through the silent corridors, his gaze seeming to be drawn to other activities. Then the film cuts to the present-day museum at Auschwitz and we see the piles of suitcase, the stacks of crutches and mounds of shoes, all that remains of extinguished lives.
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Nick Milnes (Angelo), Stuart Tupp (Duke), Stephen Ellis (Escalus) and Āria Harrison-Sparke (Isabella)
Auckland Shakespeare in the Park 2024
Measure for Measure
By William Shakespeare
A Shoreside Theatre production
Pumphouse Amphitheatre
(if wet – Pumphouse Theatre)
Jan 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, Feb 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17
Reviewed by Malcolm Calder
Measure for Measure is one of the comedies that’s billed as a play for today. Peopled by a typically diverse cast, it’s hilarious and increasingly convoluted mundane day-to-day content provides context and plenty of laughs. Some of Shakespeare’s characters simply fill space but a core soon emerges and, with them, the not uncommon Shakespearean themes of intrigue, manipulation and resolution are revealed.
For openers, the rather wearisome Duke of Vienna (Stephen Tupp) decides to take an extended timeout leaving his deputy Angelo (Nick Milnes) in charge. And that’s where things get interesting because Angelo takes a more hardline view of both public morals and the law, before revealing a worldview that is essentially flawed. In particular, he is concerned about sex outside of marriage. So he sets about closing all Vienna’s brothels and heavily penalising anyone who dares fornicate privately – with the penalty being death of course.
One of the first to feel his ire is a likeable young chap called Claudio (Chis Raven) who has very few words in the playscript, but whose situation and fate quickly become something of a fulcrum for what follows. He must have been a sweet-talker in private though because he has somehow managed to impregnate his publicly mute fiancée Juliet (Alice Dibble).
However, when Claudio’s sister, the novice nun Isabella (Āria Harrison-Sparke), learns of this she is outraged and thereby hangs the nub of Shakespeare’s play. Echoing social mores that are sometimes as prevalent today as they were 400 years ago, Angelo says he’ll only do it if Isabella yields her own virginity to him. The cad!
Thus comedy becomes context, and hypocracy, truthfulness and justice are revealed as what this play is about.
Rather than a strong Duke who eventually returns from his sojourn as a Friar and comes up with a Plan B that sees Angelo’s jilted fiancée Mariana (Terri Mellender) substitute for Isabella, the key protagonist is revealed instead to be Isabella herself.
Āria Harrison-Sparke handles this with aplomb, assuredness and maturity. In particular her command of Shakespearean dialogue is of a considerable order.
Nick Milnes ties himself in knots at times as Angelo and Terri Mellender makes a delightful, if giggly, wronged fiancée. Escalus, ever the civil servant is played very straight by Stephen Ellis and the lesser character-roles provide some big laughs. Perhaps of note was Michelle Atkinson (Provost) who introduced both subtlety and nuance to her Provost.
The set is fairly stark and simple, as are the props. Of particularly ghoulish note was the severed head of not-Claudio and brought directly from his beheading and I could swear it as still dripping blood!
Eventually the good Duke shucks off his Friar mantle, resumes his Duke-ness, sentences Angelo to wed Mariana, then threatens to kill him as well. But Mariana and Isabella plead for Angelo’s life, reveal that Claudio is alive, the Duke pardons Angelo and proposes to Isabella, while Claudio and Juliet presumably live happily ever after – even if their newborn bites Claudio’s finger.
As I said, very convoluted, but also very Shakespearean.
Most audible, even from his proper tongue, “An Angelo for Claudio, death for death.” Haste still pays haste, and leisure answers leisure; Like doth quit like, and measure still for measure.
Unlike last year’s Shakespeare-in-the-Park season where winds blew and cheeks cracked, Shoreside Theatre is looking forward to better weather this summer. Nonetheless, the white noise created by even the gentlest breeze in the trees surrounding this outdoor venue makes it sometimes difficult for a cast to project beyond it so seating in the forwards rows is recommended. Rather surprisingly it got a tad chilly as the evening wore on and a good jacket, or even a blanket, is suggested.
This annual two-play season (although not reviewed here, the other is A Midsummer Night’s Dream) is now firmly established on the Auckland theatrical calendar in this, its 28th season.
The Ukrainian performance group DakhaBrakha which is having one performance at the Auckland Arts Festival is known for playing Ukrainian songs which display the traditional polyphonic harmonies of their traditional music. However, they give this music a contemporary, transformation referencing hip-hop, punk and contemporary dance sounds. While using traditional Ukrainian instruments their performances also derive from the indigenous instrumentation of Africa, the Middle East, India and Russia.
Their more recent music though has taken on a much more political edges as they try to counter the Russian propaganda which tries to obliterate the culture, history, and language of Ukraine.
A recent New York Times review of the group references Maria Sonevytsky an ethnomusicologist who says,
“I think one of the most powerful things that DakhaBrakha can offer is that they show both that there is a very rich past in Ukraine, and they show this by bringing together a diversity of musical practices from different regions of Ukraine, from different ethnic groups within Ukraine,” Sonevytsky says. “And they fuse them together in a beautiful way that also suggests a future for Ukraine. It gives the lie to Putin’s propaganda that Ukraine has no culture or history of its own.”
“In fact,” Sonevytsky continues, “what we see in DakhaBrakha’s artistry is a deeply heterogeneous and complex history, the inheritance of multiple imperial experiences, the long history of attempts for Ukrainian sovereignty, and they blend together these kind of fractured pasts into a beautiful whole that is not simple, and it can’t be simply reduced down to a story of one nation that is occupied by one people, but instead suggests a vibrant, if imperfect, democracy.”
A US review enthused about the performance – “How to describe the sound? A drum kit, djembe, and darbuka were all used together and individually. A cello, a couple of accordions, and harmonica, along with the varieties of sounds made by the voice – words and sounds.
It was the voices that were so phenomenal – not just used for singing. How do they get those sounds? Often high, keeping sounds. But, and this was my favourite – animal sounds. Some were made with small tools, but what about the cats? The owls? And then, to close out the song, the piercing “CAW”!
Throughout the evening, as an accompaniment, an artistic slide show. Animation, mesmerizing designs (reminiscent of folk embroidery), background photos of the war and its damage.“
With Nolan Moberly (Simon) and Dean Deffett (Stage Manager)
Jan 11 to 14 2024
The Bus Stop, Corbans Estate Art Centre
Review by Malcolm Calder
11 January 2024
I went for a 90 minute ride today. With others. On an AT bus. In and around some of Auckland’s western suburbs. And an actor called Nolan Moberley told us a story.
I’m glad I did. Because it left me drained. Exhausted. And not a lot of theatre does that to me.
Moberley gave us bus passengers a character named Simon Douglas, an indigenous Canadian born on an Indian reservation in British Columbia perhaps 50 years ago. He is a product of the Canadian Indian Residential School system. Tales of an Urban Indian focusses on his struggles with self, on family and heritage and on the world in which he lives during childhood, adolescence and early adulthood, moving into an ever-increasingly urban lifestyle.
His issues are shared by a cohort that is international. But the context of each is unique.
This story is moving and painful at times. It tells of segregation, alienation and rejection. It tells of aspiration and maybe even – hope. As Simon says, “it’s a story I need to tell, not because it’s extraordinary, but because it’s common. Too common, and it’s not told enough. It’s a story about my people …”.
In this country we have some awareness of our own socio-historical context and, to some extent, we like to think we comprehend something of the Australian terrain too. Or perhaps we only think we do.
For some reason however, Canada is not imprinted on our national consciousness in the same way. Hardly at all in fact. And that is what made this performance so strikingly different for me. The issues may not be dissimilar. But the context certainly is.
Nolan Moberley gives a bravura performance, somehow keeping his footing as our big blue bus as it lurched over traffic humps and narrow turnarounds. I’m not sure if the itinerary was random or carefully programmed but there was something deliciously ironic as we passed smashed up deserted and graffitied houses that somehow echoed the words of the script. Or how Simon’s vain attempts to get work in films, fancying himself to be James Bond, came just as we passed some of the giant sound stages that encircle this part of Auckland.
Accolades to our driver who found his way into and through some impossibly teensy streets and to stage manager Dean Deffett who revealed stage management skills delivered by sign-language.
After 90 minutes I was starting to wonder how director Herbie Barnes would round it all off – or get Simon off the bus, to coin a phrase. He did. But no spoiler alerts from me. You will just have to take your own ride to discover how. It is fitting, apt.
First Nations theatre has developed an ever-increasing international voice over the last few decades and Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT) is to be congratulated for sharing thus Canadian story with other parts of the world, for finding commonality there and for such a breathtakingly exhaustive bus ride.
One of the more intriguing acts on at the Auckland Arts Festival this year will be Scott Silven’s Wonders. The clairvoyant, mentalist, and performance artist has dedicated his career to unique form of theatrical illusionism which fascinates audiences.
He studied hypnosis in Milan at 15, gained recognition from the American illusionist David Blaine at 19, and headlined one of the United Kingdom’s most prestigious theatres at 21.
In Wonders, Silven invites the audience on a journey through his childhood memories in the lowlands of Scotland, connecting his participants with the myth and mystery of the landscapes that shaped him. This show is said to go beyond the traditional theatre experience, offering an interactive, audience led, performance that explores the power of connection through illusions.
What is extraordinary about his show is the response of reviewers who grapple with trying to explain what they have witnessed in seeing one of his shows
A Melbourne Time Out reviewer said of Silven, who talks to the audience about his early exploration of the family attic – “he also explored the corners of his own mind, and he claims that he began to discover his ability to make mental connections to the world around him in weird and wonderful ways. Interspersed in this narrative are demonstrations of Silven’s extraordinary skill as a mentalist, which involves audience members at every turn. His ability to convince that he’s reading minds – and that random audience members are able to perform similar feats under his instruction – is absolutely dazzling. The complexity of his work is spectacular, and he draws together the threads of just about every “ta-dah” moment in the final moments of the show. Even non-believers, like myself, will be blown away by the artistry.”
A Sydney reviewer was also baffled “Silven does not perform your typical brand of magic, using visual illusions and tricks to stun the audiences. Instead, he uses the power of language and of the imagination to draw the audience in, fostering magic out of the power of human connection. One by one, he brought members of the audience up and seemed to be reading their minds. In reality, a lot of the time he was actually guiding them as to what to think. That prepared monologue at the start that felt out of place was actually an ingenious way of planting motifs and ideas in the audience’s mind that they would bring back to him later. Every little bit of speech had a purpose.
Some moments felt scarcely believable. When an audience member said their prize possession as a child was a “Snoopy” dog, Silven reached under his chair and pulled out a billboard he had written earlier predicting that the prize possession of the audience member he called upon would be a “Snoopy” dog. Is this too much of a coincidence? Did he have plants in the audience? Did he have an assistant furiously typing up a billboard backstage and slipping it under the stage curtain to his chair when we weren’t watching?”
And The Guardian reviewer said of another of his shows “Silven’s use of storytelling and setting creates something genuinely magical, and it’s a joy to willingly suspend disbelief and slide into a sense of wonder not experienced since childhood.
And with that comes connection. Not the psychic kind Silven suggests, but the kind forged by a shared sense of discovery. Across the table, eyes are shining, guards are down, and there’s the odd report of goosebumps. The childhood game of Chinese whispers, further confounded by whisky, brings things to a delightfully silly finish.
I emerge still a sceptic, but certainly not a cynic.”
Brunnhilde and Siegfried on her Walkure platform Image – Wallis Media
The Ring Cycle
Opera Australia
Lyric Theatre, Brisbane
8 – 14 December 2023
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Opera Australia’s fully digital Ring Cycle opened in Brisbane last month to critical acclaim and huge audience responses. Three separate seasons of the four-work opera were presented at Brisbane’s Lyric Theatre. The production was originally scheduled for 2020, but postponed twice due to the COVID pandemic,
The scale and scope of the story is epic. It follows the struggles of gods, heroes and several mythical creatures over a magic ring which has been forged by the Nibelung dwarf Alberich from gold he stole from the Rhine maidens. It is a ring that grants domination over the entire world. The drama and intrigue continue through three generations of protagonists, until the final cataclysm at the end of the final opera, “Götterdämmerung”.
Director Chen Shi-Zheng drew on the best of the best talent from Australia, New Zealand and around the globe creating a futuristic version of the Norse mythology into which he wove weave Chinese mythology into the production.
Along with some of the sculptural design features the production will be remembered for the digital staging. Designed by, Leigh Sachwitz, it made use of LED screens with AI auto-generated graphics, audiovisual projections and 3D printed set pieces.
Throughout the operas abstract patterns and colours were used as motifs for various characters as well as being used to represent the emotions and the internal struggles of the main characters.
These design elements were dramatically used in the opening scene of “Das Rheingold” featuring the three Rhine Maidens who were perched on a huge chunk of coral / gold.
The Rhine Maidens Image – Wallis Media
Above and behind them were their three doubles, who swam and cavorted in the projected waters, waves and bubbles of the Rhine as though in a huge aquarium.
Later we entered the underground Nibelung, home to the dwarves, with its digitally created atmospheric, dark cave with accompanying brooding music.
At the opening of “Die Walkure” the stage was dominated by a large icy white, bonsai tree which featured the sword Nothung embedded by Wotan in its trunk – the sword which Siegmund later releases. This is one of Wagner’s many nods to other mythologies in this case Excalibur, the mythical sword of King Arthur which had magical powers related to the rightful sovereignty of Britain.
Siegmund, Nothung and the tree Image – Wallis Media
At the conclusion of “Die Walkure” Brunnhilde (Lisa Lindstrom) ascended a platform/ fortress which was supported on Walkure spears. At this point as she and her father Wotan (Daniel Sumegi) engage in an emotive duet about their parting a huge metallic Chinese dragon encircles the platform to protect Brunnhilde, erupting with flames from its body.
In “Siegfried” when the hero forges the broken sword, Nothung after the failure of Mime to do so the digital screens pulsed with giant images of the sword and flashing flames all accompanied by dancers rushing around stage trailing ribbons.
When Siegfried enters the forest, the labyrinth he encounters is one of dramatic images, puzzling shapes and symbols while his encounter with Fafner has him slicing into the dragon-like figure as he progresses from one realm to another though a series of grotesque images.
The final scene of Gotterdammerung Image – Wallis Media
The conclusion of “Götterdämmerung” featured a pyramidal shape representing a sacrificial pyre for Siegfried as well as symbolising the ancient notions of life, death and rebirth.
In the final as moments as Brunnhilde mounted the pyramid it blazed with colour while various screen images came alive with bursts of colour and ring images. Then the images which had previously been used throughout the operas were displayed in reverse order as the memories of the gods were replayed in their final moments.
Here the Rhine maidens again appeared, swimming down to retrieve the ring from Brunnhilde before she was consumed by fire.
There were several stand out performers in this Ring. Lise Lindstrom was a remarkable Brunnhilde, investing the role with emotional clout. Her presence on stage showed a well-honed acting ability in her various encounters with her lover Siegfried, her husband Gunther as well as her father, Wotan. Throughout her voice was sharp and she conveyed the emotional relationships with both the notions of a demigod as well as those of a passionate human.
As Wotan Daniel Sumegi was a powerful presence on stage conveying a real sense of a god with his strange godly flaws and weird relationship with wife and daughter.
Warwick Fyfe’s Alberich was a careful mixture of the malevolent and the comic, a menacing presence in the cave of the Nibelung contrasting with his bumbling tussle with the Rhine maidens.
Stefan Vinke as Siegfried had some huge passages to sing and he dealt with them brilliantly both with his macho duet with Luke Gabbedy (Gunther) and his passionate duet with Lise Lindstrom (Brunnhilde).
The Queensland Symphony Orchestra under Phillipe Augin was probably the most impressive part of the four operas, playing for fifteen and a half hours and never once seeming to flag.
Opera Australia’s 2024 season offers some spectacular operas performances including.
Verdi, La Traviata
2 January – 14 March 2024
Glamour, riches and a tragic secret: La Traviata is the story of a courtesan falling in love. Classic opera with stunning costumes, outstanding music and a fresh perspective.
Gluck, Orpheus & Eurydice
12 – 31 January 2024
Journey to the underworld and back with the grieving Orpheus. Awe-inspiring acrobatics meet Gluck’s exquisite music in this genre-busting production.
Mozart, The Magic Flute
1 February – 16 March 2024, Sydney Opera House 9 – 16 November 2024, Geelong Arts Centre
Embark on an enchanting adventure and meet a host of wondrous characters in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. This production in sung in English.
Bernstein, West Side Story
22 March – 21 April 2024 Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour
A musical masterpiece returns to Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour in a thrilling, larger-than-life staging. Dynamic dance numbers along with fireworks above the harbour.
Puccini, Tosca
24 – 30 May 2024, Margaret Court Arena 25 June – 16 August 2024, Sydney Opera House
A thriller with sensational music, opera’s best villain and an unforgettable ending, Tosca will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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Auckland Choral and Pipers Sinfonia Image Randy Weaver
Handel’s Messiah Auckland Choral and Pipers Sinfonia Auckland Town Hall December 17
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Auckland Choral has been singing the Messiah every year at Christmastime since 1856 but despite this long history, each year Auckland Choral manages to bring a fresh interpretation with new singers.
Although it is immensely popular, with great tunes the Messiah can be a challenge to make it a truly great experience.
The work has aspects of an opera but does not have an opera’s dramatic form. There are no characters as such and no direct speech. Instead, the text provides insights into the spiritual, emotional and psychological dimensions of Christ’s life as well as the joys and struggles of mankind. Part I deals with prophecies by Isaiah and others, and moves to the annunciation and the shepherds, the only “scene” taken from the Gospels. Part II concentrates on the Passion of Jesus ending with the Hallelujah Chorus. Part III covers the resurrection and Christ’s glorification in Heaven.
A great performance of the Messiah needs to have soloists who convey the various narrative lines and psychological nuances of the work, expressing aspects of the life of Christ as well as that of the common man. It also requires an orchestra of exceptional quality to provide the emotional content and drama of the work.
With this year’s Messiah Auckland Choral and Pipers Sinfonia conducted by Uve Grodd achieved all that was necessary with an exhilarating display along with the four soloists: Kristin Darragh (mezzo-soprano), Anna Leese (soprano), Simon O’Neill (tenor) and Wade Kernot (bass).
Conductor Uve Grodd with Anna Leese (soprano), Kristin Darragh (mezzo-soprano), Simon O’Neill (tenor) and Wade Kernot (bass). Image Randy Weaver
The bass has some of best tunes to sing in the Messiah and Wade Kernot gave them a fresh interpretation making him the stand-out appearance of the concert. His singing of “The people that walked in darkness”, exposed the dark and eerie quality of the oratorio and his “Why do the nations” sounded like a powerful revolutionary call to arms.
Simon O’Neill’s “Comfort ye” was well modulated showing a superbly controlled voice making his opening recitative a moving description. His dynamism extended throughout his singing and his second half “Thou shalt break them” which was delivered with strength and precision was filled with a mix of anger and aggression.
Kristin Darragh lacked power in some of her early arias, but later on the richness of her voice allowed her to give an affecting performance notably with her anguished account of “He was despised and rejected of men” which she imbued with sorrow and despair. In the second part of the that Air she changed tempo and intensity brilliantly; Throughout she used her voice to effectively create an interplay with the orchestra which provided emotional refrains to her lines.
Anna Leese had a great stage presence with a bright, incisive voice full of drama and feeling. She excelled in some of her singing notably in the duet “He Shall feed his His flock”, while her singing “I know my redeemer livith” showed her ability to project and to use her luxurious voice to create an intimacy with the audience,
Conductor Uwe Grodd proved himself to be a conductor who thinks through the music. There was a balance between the various parts of the orchestra and between choir and orchestra which brought out the best in the music and the singers. The choir as usual turned on a polished performance in which individual voices surfaced and merged providing an opulence and majesty to the work. The choir was electrifying in some of its choruses, producing sounds which ranged from the light and sweet to the vibrant and dark.
Their singing of the Hallelujah Chorus was a highlight while their singing of “All we like sheep” was particularly thrilling and expressive.
Trumpeter Josh Rogan gave a sensational performance in his “The trumpet will sound” ‘duet’ with Stephen Bemelman This section which ends with the words “we shall be changed” seemed to be a more appropriate ending to the whole oratorio given the power of the two performers.
Organist John Wells gave an inspiring accompaniment with some thrilling, burnished sounds which heightened the drama of many of the choruses. At times it seemed he created a cloud of sound which hovered above the choir while at other times he produced tidal waves of sound which rolled into the audience.
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Most people have a vision of Antarctica. It is huge, bleak, cold and white – just white snow and white ice – and penguins. But that is a superficial view because the area has many dimensions and holds secrets which explorers and scientists have been searching for and uncovering for more than a century.
Also, for more than half a century, artists have been looking at the continent and seeing the landscape and its history through new lenses. They have been helped by Antarctica New Zealand’s Community Engagement Programme, originally called Artists to Antarctica and Invited Artists Programme along with assistance from Creative New Zealand.
Over 100 artists, writers, dancers, designers and composers have travelled to Scott Base with the programme since 1957. They have returned home and through exhibitions, performances and publications have brought their experiences to the wider public. Their work has played a crucial part in informing and influencing the public’s understanding of Antarctica.
A new book “Artists in Antarctica” edited by Patrick Shepherd has brought together the work of thirty-seven of these artists with images of their work along with their experience of being on the ice.
The list of artist incudes: Photographers Laurence Aberhart and Anne Noble, Sound Artists Phil Dadson and Chris Cree Brown, Painters Nigel Brown and John Walsh, Choreographers Corey Baker and Bronwyn Jones Poets Chris Orsman and Bill Manhire, Writes Lloyd Jones and Owen Marshall, Sculptors Virginia King and Martin Hill & Phillipa Jones
Peter James Smith, The Wasteland
Each of these artists has brought a different vision to bear on the landscape, ecology and history of place. Some emphasise the mystery and vastness such as Stuart Robertson while Anne Noble has looked at the everyday business of maintaining Scott Base with her portraits of trucks.
Anne Noble, Hazel
A lot of the works, particularly the landscape images are very white such as the photographs of Grahame Sydney and Jae Hoon Lee which capture the immensity of the place.
On the other hand, the interiors of Shackleton’s Hut by Dick Frizzel, Sean Garwood and Jonathan White are dark, highlighting the bleakness of the confined space.
Dick Frizzell, Hut Interior
Nigel Brown’s paintings include a self-portrait along with fellow artists Chris Orsman and Bill Manhire as well as an historical portrait study of the early explorers, Ponting and Oates.
Several artists have included the few human constructions on the ice such as the various monuments – the cross on Observation Hill, the Memorial Cross at Cape Evans and Vinces Cross on Hutt Point. Other artists have taken inspiration from the rocks and core sample of the area (Raewyn Atkinson), electron microscope images (Virginia King) and hydroponics. (Chris Cree Brown).
The paintings of John Walsh allude to the underlying spiritual nature of the place with his mythological or spiritual figures while Margaret Elliot’s Pyramid paintings hint at a parallel landscape.
Also included in the introductory chapters along with background information are some of the earlier depictions of the Antacticac by William Hodges (1777), John Wilson Carmichael ($1847) and Peter McIntyre (1957)
The various writers have provided different perspectives on their experience with Lloyd Jones capturing a sense of passing through the empty land .
“Here it is so white. It is so still and silent. Why, it is beautiful>
We move on, and before long stop again to admire the view.
It does not appear to have changed. It is still white. It is
Astonishingly white. It is so still, so still.”
While Bernadett Hill provides a slightly surreal take
“A woman is standing under Erebus.
She has wrapped all her gifts around her,
Including caritas.”
Collectively the thirty-seven artists contribute to a jigsaw-like portrait of the Antarctica with each artist providing a different piece of the environment. Along with the images and writing about the area the book also offers insights into the many dimensions of the Antarctic, the people who work there and the range of scientific enquiry undertaken.
With Demi-Jo Manolo, Rodney Tyrell, Faith Schuster and Shane Fataua
Post / VFX Delainy Kennedy (Artificial Imagination)
Director of Photography Duncan Cole
1st Assistant Camera Kirsten Green
Lighting Gaffer Fraser McKay
Original Music Anonymouz, Manuel Bundy and Submarine
Review by Malcolm Calder
27 November 2023
It was a late Monday afternoon in the Atrium on Takutai Square at Britomart and the rush hour was just starting. A young bloke walked briskly through, shoulder bag dangling and footy boots casually slung around his neck with laces tied. Clearly he was a Britomart regular and knew the environment well.
His quick glance to the right on passing an 8m long LED wall probably only registered subconsciously that it wasn’t there yesterday. Perhaps more advertising, he may have thought.
But then his brisk walk missed a couple of beats. Suddenly he did a tiny skip and shuffle, paused for a moment, snuck a longer glance and half-turned towards the wall as his initial scan revealed humans in motion. He took two more steps, glanced quickly at his watch, but took a longer stare as the images on the wall scrolling through their cycle. Then, with a flicker of a smile, he hastened on his way no doubt approaching footy practice with a slightly different frame of mind.
His interest was brief, and he may never return for a longer look, but his passing interest summed up what the second room of Neil Ieremia’s 5-part The Art of Black Grace is all about. It follows the first room at Wynyard last year, where viewers were encased inside a large digitally-lined vertical tube
Yes, the location here helps, but the content is what reaches out and touches people. Put very simply, Neil Ieremia is putting his private mind on public display – in all its guises. Whereas the interior of my own mind mostly resembles a blank white room, his is one of constant three-dimensional movement and memory, colour and music.
As soon becomes clear, his single wavy blue line represents that movement. Then other shapes, lines and colours impinge, spin off and interact until they begin to form an integrated, moving whole. The influences are largely cultural ones – hibiscus and frangipani blend with water and waves. Memory introduces mu’umu’u, the shape of shirts and traditional tatau patterning. Underpinning everything is a non-synched soundtrack sourced from the 1970s and 1980s, each track timed to precisely 33.3 minutes acknowledging their origins on vinyl spinning at 33 rpm – another inspirational source.
In one sense The Art of Black Grace 2/5 is a choreographic script – reinforced and clearly stated – when excerpted overlays of the Black Grace dancers are added as a final touch.
The technique and the technology may be somewhat leading edge, yet the content of this work is surprisingly reflective. And that is perhaps appropriate. Ieremia’s body of work is considerable and his achievements are many.
Yes, it is contemporary and can be found in a contemporary part of the city, but it is also traditional. And it is saying look at me.
So, a success? Yes, for exploring a new medium. Yes, for exhibiting his mind to new audiences. Yes, for creating something new and different. It is well worth a wander past.
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 RespighiTrittico Botticelliano Haydn Symphony No.103 ‘Drumroll’
Auckland Town Hall
November 17
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 is one of the top ten pianio concertos and the sold-out audience for the recent APO concert attested to the fact that the work is crowd pleaser.
It is the last great Romantic piano concerto of the nineteenth century, full of lyricism as well as many dramatic moments. The pianist has to be capable of producing the most poignant of sounds as well as the most intense.
The Ukrainian-born Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk was able to deliver both these qualities of the work as he ranged from the pensive to the flamboyant.
From the opening where he responded to the brash horns and sharp flourish from the orchestra Gavrylyuk dominated the stage with some dazzling displays. There were times as he finished a particularly energetic passage when he raised his hands seemingly having plucked the notes he had just finished playing out of the air to then be picked up by the orchestra.
Several times during his playing his hands again were like those of a magician catching hold of musical phrases with a sleight of hand and delivering them to the audience.
His expression when playing changed continuously and he took on various poses from rapture to steely focus. At times there was a tenderness to his playing while at others he displayed a rawness as he focussed on the lower range of the piano
His rapport with the orchestra was constantly changing as well. Battling with the orchestra, chasing the dramatic themes conjured up by the orchestra and then the dynamics would change and the orchestra would attempt to match his feverish playing.
There were several monuments of musical poetry with Gavrylyuk having interchanges with the flutes, the violins playing a pizzicato as well as a pairing with the clarinets.
After the frenetic finale the audience responded with a huge ovation and a up in the circle a group unfurled a large Ukrainian flag which elicited further applause.
After interval the orchestra played Respighi’sTrittico Botticelliano, a three-movement work inspired by three of Botticelli paintings – Le Primavera, The Adoration of the Magi and The Birth of Venus.
Respighi is a great composer of evocative symphonic poems and the three works in his Trittico Botticelliano all deal with the concept of birth or awakening.
Two of the movements are based around subjects from classical mythology and one from Christian mythology. This combination of the classical and religious was typical of the Platonic ideas of the Renaissance which saw parallels between the ideas of the ancients and those of Christian thought.
The first of these depicted Le Primavera in which the sprightly strings captured the notion of Spring with the figure of Flora scattering the myriad flowers, heralding the start of the new season. The horns also herald this new awakening while the clarinets and flutes give a sense of the interchanges which might pass between the various figures – Mercury, Venus Flora. Zephyrus. Chloris, the Three Graces and Cupid.
With the depiction of the Adoration of the Magi features the music has an exotic Eastern quality to refer to the travellers from the east along with some fragments from the Latin Mass to capture the ideas around the birth of Jesus. In the final section a wistful bassoon probably refers to the figure of Botticelli himself contemplating the viewer.
The third part depicting the Birth of Venus has shimmering strings conveying the sense of the welling up of natural forces and the rising up of Venus from the waters.
The final work on the programme was Haydn’s Symphony No 103 (The Drumroll). This was his second to last symphony and shows the composer aware of his skills, showing off his abilities to create new dynamics and display his ingenuities.
Deploying the drums to open the work was a novelty and a show of playfulness to entertain his audience. This playfulness extended to conductor Bellincampi who swayed to the music as through doing a gavotte on the podium and there were times when timpanist Steven Logan performed as though he were the drummer in a rock band.
Gavrylyuk Plays Tchaikovsky
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No.1 RespighiTrittico Botticelliano Haydn Symphony No.103 ‘Drumroll’
Auckland Town Hall
November 17
Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples
Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No.1 is one of the top ten pianio concertos and the sold-out audience for the recent APO concert attested to the fact that the work is crowd pleaser.
It is the last great Romantic piano concerto of the nineteenth century, full of lyricism as well as many dramatic moments. The pianist has to be capable of producing the most poignant of sounds as well as the most intense.
The Ukrainian-born Australian pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk was able to deliver both these qualities of the work as he ranged from the pensive to the flamboyant.
From the opening where he responded to the brash horns and sharp flourish from the orchestra Gavrylyuk dominated the stage with some dazzling displays. There were times as he finished a particularly energetic passage when he raised his hands seemingly having plucked the notes he had just finished playing out of the air to then be picked up by the orchestra.
Several times during his playing his hands again were like those of a magician catching hold of musical phrases with a sleight of hand and delivering them to the audience.
His expression when playing changed continuously and he took on various poses from rapture to steely focus. At times there was a tenderness to his playing while at others he displayed a rawness as he focussed on the lower range of the piano
His rapport with the orchestra was constantly changing as well. Battling with the orchestra, chasing the dramatic themes conjured up by the orchestra and then the dynamics would change and the orchestra would attempt to match his feverish playing.
There were several monuments of musical poetry with Gavrylyuk having interchanges with the flutes, the violins playing a pizzicato as well as a pairing with the clarinets.
After the frenetic finale the audience responded with a huge ovation and a up in the circle a group unfurled a large Ukrainian flag which elicited further applause.
After interval the orchestra played Respighi’sTrittico Botticelliano, a three-movement work inspired by three of Botticelli paintings – Le Primavera, The Adoration of the Magi and The Birth of Venus.
Respighi is a great composer of evocative symphonic poems and the three works in his Trittico Botticelliano all deal with the concept of birth or awakening.
Two of the movements are based around subjects from classical mythology and one from Christian mythology. This combination of the classical and religious was typical of the Platonic ideas of the Renaissance which saw parallels between the ideas of the ancients and those of Christian thought.
The first of these depicted Le Primavera in which the sprightly strings captured the notion of Spring with the figure of Flora scattering the myriad flowers, heralding the start of the new season. The horns also herald this new awakening while the clarinets and flutes give a sense of the interchanges which might pass between the various figures – Mercury, Venus Flora. Zephyrus. Chloris, the Three Graces and Cupid.
With the depiction of the Adoration of the Magi features the music has an exotic Eastern quality to refer to the travellers from the east along with some fragments from the Latin Mass to capture the ideas around the birth of Jesus. In the final section a wistful bassoon probably refers to the figure of Botticelli himself contemplating the viewer.
The third part depicting the Birth of Venus has shimmering strings conveying the sense of the welling up of natural forces and the rising up of Venus from the waters.
The final work on the programme was Haydn’s Symphony No 103 (The Drumroll). This was his second to last symphony and shows the composer aware of his skills, showing off his abilities to create new dynamics and display his ingenuities.
Deploying the drums to open the work was a novelty and a show of playfulness to entertain his audience. This playfulness extended to conductor Bellincampi who swayed to the music as through doing a gavotte on the podium and there were times when timpanist Steven Logan performed as though he were the drummer in a rock band.
New Zealand Arts Review 