Tag: orchestra

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Daniel Muller-Schott’s elegant and expressive performance

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Daniel Muller-Schott Image, Uve Arens

Auckland Philharmonia

Schumann Cello Concerto

Auckland Town Hall

November 13

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The Auckland Philharmonia’s Schumann’s “Cello Concerto” concert opened with Schubert’s “Rosamunde Overture”, a work which was written at a time when all of Beethoven’s symphonies (apart from his final – the Ninth) had been performed and composers made attempts at homages to the composer.

The opening features much of the drama typical of Beethoven with the dance-like passages caried along by the woodwinds. The joyous melodies are an ideal introduction to the play Rosamunde which tells of the adventures of a shepherdess in some idyllic settings.

Some of the dance-like music sounds like precursor of the later Viennese dance music which would come several years later. Conductor Giordano Bellincampi seemed to be inspired by the music, his arms performing arabesques as he responded to the passionate dance-like melodies.

The major work on the programme was Schumann’s “Cello Concerto”, a work which has some funereal tones throughout and is often thought of as foreshadowing his death. Cellist Daniel Muller-Schott opened the work with some melancholic sounds which slowly evolved into playing which was more ethereal and meditative with sequence which were supported by the strings.

With much of his playing he took a serious and studious approach as he explored some of the darker elements of the work which then morphed into more uplifting passages.

The second movement saw Muller-Schott playing in a more cautious manner and there was sense of apprehension before returning to the earlier theme as both he and the orchestra engaged in dramatic interchanges.

Muller-Schott played with a range of approaches. At times he was lethargic while at other times dramatic and towards the conclusion he took a more tentative approach as through trying to rediscover the main theme before producing a dramatic conclusion.

Overall Muller-Schott gave an elegant and expressive performance which showed him to be totally in control but also that he had an awareness of the orchestra and the emotional qualities of the music.

The final work on the programme was one of Beethoven earliest major works, “The Creation of Prometheus”, written for a ballet at the imperial court of Austria choreographed by Calvatore Vigano. The work has a similar theme to that which Mary Shelley explored in her “Frankenstein – a Modern Prometheus” – the implication s of man attempting to create life.

The ballet tells of Promethea creating a man and woman from stone statues, but they have no souls. Apollo helps Prometheus teaching them music, dance and drama. Through the series of dances Beethoven’s provides music which explores the qualities which make humans more knowledgeable and spiritual.

Each of the sections featured one of the orchestral sections – delicate music with strings harp and woodwinds, a brilliant cello sequence played by Ashley Brown, flute playing for a court dance sequence and a country dance by strings and woodwind. Beethoven seemed to have allocated certain instruments to characters in the ballet – Apollo the harp, Melpomene the oboe, the Male Creature the oboe bassoon.

While the music serves the ballet well it can also be seen as something of a calling card for Beethoven who had only written two of his symphonies at the time. With this work he showed his mastery of composition, his knowledge of the orchestra’s instruments.

With the various sections Beethoven also provided himself with melodies which he used in some of his later work with one of the sequences being used for his Eroica symphony.

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Sylvia Jiang’s intense and vivid “Totentanz” at Auckland Philharmonia’s Fantastique concert

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Auckland Philharmonia Image Sav Schulman

Fantastique

Auckland Philharmonia

Auckland Town Hall

September 16

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The three works on the Auckland Philharmonia’s “Fantastique” programme to a lesser or greater extent reflected on the religious teachings and practices of the Christian churches many of which confused, condemned and persecuted people. These in turn resulted in isolation, banishment and often death.

Opening the programme was New Zealand composer Louise Webster’s “Proof against Burning” which was inspired by the historical witch trials and the tests used to judge the accused. 

The four sections – Cauldron and Stone, Floating on Water, Spectral Evidence and Ordeal of the Cross all related to methods of judging, condemning and execution of those charged with the practice of witchcraft. These would be boiling, drowning, crucifixion and evidence of magical or supernatural appearance.

The opening movement had a sense of oppression provided by the portentous sounds of wailing strings, sharp percussion and screaming brass where the second having a more contemplative sounds from the strings and wind instruments which suggest the notion of dunking of witches into water, the placid image of flowing water ends with some apprehensive sounds which suddenly stopped, as though death had come quickly.

In the third movement, the concept of the spiritual or spectral is suggested by the various instruments shifting tones and sounds, transforming the aural landscape. The Ordeal of the Cross section was introduced by blaring horns along with drumbeat accompanying the condemned in their final walk. Strings produced heart rending sounds of torment along with hints of birdsong including the sounds of a crow, the messengers of death.

Liszt’s piano work “Totentanz” was inspired by both “The Comedy of Death” a series of woodcut by Hans Holbein and “The Triumph of Death” a monumental fresco by Andrea Orcagna in the Camposanto in Pisa both of which depict religious myths concerning the fate of the damned and the saved at the end of the world.

Sylvia Jiang Image Sav Schulman

The work was played by Sylvia Jiang a Chinese born New Zealander who has previously played with the Auckland l Philharmonia. Last year she performed Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto” and previously Liszt’s “Second Piano Concerto”

Liszt himself was fascinated by ideas of death and he incorporated variation on the Dies Irae throughout the work. The work transitioned from Webster’s work with more sounds of oppression. The  heavy brass and piano opened with a dance of death which introduced us immediately to the sounds of a nightmare.

With Jiang hovering over the piano, she attacked the keyboard with a series of arpeggios and runs based of the Dies Irae while the orchestra contributed savage bursts of sound.

At times it seemed as though Jiang’s feverish playing was creating a vortex of sound replicating the idea of bodies spiraling in their descent into Hell. Conductor Pierre Bleuse was equally feverish in some of his conducting, leading the orchestra with dramatic gestures. Generally, Bleuse was curt and crisp in his conducting, attentive to all the players in the orchestra, managing to bring out the subtleties of the music from them.

While much of the time Jiang’s playing was vivid and intense, she was also able to produce more delicate and nuanced sounds showing a pianist with a true understanding of the music and the composer’s intention.

Her assaults on the piano became more intense at the finale of the work where she joined with the violent percussion display.

For her encore she played a minimalist work by the Chinese composer Gao Ping.

The major work on the programme was Hector Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”, which through its five movements tells the story of an artist’s self-destructive passion for a beautiful woman. The work describes his obsession and dreams, moments of anguish and tenderness along with visions of suicide and murder, ecstasy, and despair.

Berlioz was obsessed with the Irish actress Harriet Smithson, and the symphony was his mating call to the actress.  The music attempts to render the story of his own life intertwined with that of The Artist, musically and emotionally.

The piece begins with an impressive percussion sequence and the sounds of a reverie as though embarking on a spiritual journey. The orchestra’s free flowing melodies were a mixture of the dramatic and Romantic creating both dreams and nightmares.

There was also a description of The Artist and the object of his love with an elusive theme which recurs through the work. Then we encounter him at a ball, trying to gain the attention of his love and then in a pastoral setting possibly seeing his beloved with another suitor. This ballroom scene with its opening waltz also seemed to affect the sprightly conductor as he swayed to the music.  However, even in this ballroom sequence there was tense undertone of tension beneath the jollity

The serenity of the countryside was introduced by the woodwinds and strings with ecstatic sounds of dawn before darker sounds of the strings herald a stormy period before we return to sunnier moments with the sounds of birds returning to rest and sleep.

A fourth movement is a narcotic dream sequence where he sees himself led to the scaffold in the belief that his love has been rejected.

The final movement is another dreamscape, this time a vision of hell where The Artist is carried into the underworld watched over by the object of his craving.

Under the direction of an agile Pierre Bleuse the orchestra provided an energetic performance of the work ensuring the drama and intensity was expertly delivered. There were the thrilling violins and flutes which conjured up the image of The Artist’s beloved through the two harps leading the delicate ballroom scene to the military band escorting the prisoner to the scaffold and onto the final ominous bassoons and tubas roaring out the funeral chant of the Dies Irae. 

The final Dream of the Witches Sabbath has much in common with the Swiss Romantic painter Henry Fuseli with their shared interest in demonological fantasies, Gothic atmosphere of and a fascination with the supernatural.

Frightening outbursts alternated with moments of the greatest tenderness. Massive onslaughts by the percussion and timpani contrasted with the delicacy and melancholia of the ballroom and pastoral scenes

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A mesmerizing performance by Chloe Chua with the Auckland Philharmonia

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Chloe Chua Image: Joel Low

Tchaikovsky’s Violin

Auckland Philharmonia

Auckland Town Hall

September 26

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The major work in the latest Auckland Philharmonia’s concert was Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with soloist Chloe Chua who came with well-established credentials having won the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists when she was 11.

It was immediately clear that she was an exceptional player with a self-contained, flawless approach to playing. But as well as a technical virtuosity she displayed an emotional sensitivity.

With her playing she maintained a distance from the orchestra, with an internal focus and much of the time she seemed to be in a reverie.

The concerto according to many who have played the work since it was composed is notoriously difficult to play, as it requires exceptional technical mastery of various techniques like double stopping and arpeggios as well as playing at a fast pace for extended periods.

Chua manged the piece effortlessly, notably with the cadenza where she was masterful in her control and delivery. Her playing was impressive with a technical brilliance as well as providing and intelligent and sympathetic interpretation of the music.

After the dramatic display in the first movement her delivery of the second movement revealed the sweet lyricism before she performed a range of tones, textures and tempos, continually testing the limits of the violin.

Throughout the work she was a whirlwind of musical dynamism and it was miracle that she didn’t collapse at the end of the work.

While she may have given a spirited performance of the Violin concerto receiving rounds of applause it was her mercurial version of Amazing Grace which showed another aspect of her approach. Her playing of the work and her variations were mesmerizing and by turns anguished, sprightly and whimsical.

Sung as ever conducted with dramatic flourishes as well as intensive elegant hand gestures and at other times seemed to exude an electrical force directed at the orchestra.

Franz von Suppe who was a rival of Strauss in producing Viennese light music provided the opening piece on the programme with his “Morning Noon and Night in Vienna Overture” which features waltz and polka rhythms, reflecting Viennese musical traditions. The work was originally the incidental music to a comic play “Morning Noon and Night in Vienna” which captures the vibrant atmosphere of Vienna through its three distinct sections.

The opening section featured an impressive cello solo, following on from a brass chorale. The solo, played by a meticulous Ashley Brown was like a mini cello concerto imbedded in the work and consisted of a lengthy Viennese style melody accompanied by the harp.

The work had several dynamic dance sequences which had the orchestra racing at a hectic pace, barely contained by conductor, Shiyeon Sung.

With Haydn’s  Symphony No 93, the first of his London Symphonies Sung showed brilliant control of the orchestra allowing each of the instruments to shine and ensuring  the drama and contrasts of the work were clear and that the intricate and unusual dynamics of the work were allowed to evolve, slowly revealing the beauty of the work.

The final work on the programme was Stravinsky’s “Divertissement from The Fairy Kiss” a ballet he composed in 1928 based on the Hans Christian Anderson tale and dedicated to the memory of Tchaikovsky.

Each of the four sections used elements of Tchaikovsky’s piano works and songs including a reference to one of his preludes in the first movement and in the final minutes of the last movement he quotes Tchaikovsky’s song, “None But The Lonely Heart”.

The music featured magical and unusual sounds and was filled with drama and lively movement which conveyed a sense of narrative and the creation of character. Though not as novel as his other ballet music Sung was able to reveal the works lyricism and romanticism shaping the music with elegant hand gestures

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Mahler’s dynamic Symphony No 6

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Gemma New

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

Mahler 6

Auckland Town Hall

September 6

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

With their latest concert “Mahler 6” the NZSO and conductor Gemma New have shown that they are a major symphonic force, particularly with their performances of Mahler’s symphonies.

Mahler composed his Symphony No. 6, Tragic between 1903 and 1904 at the peak of his professional life as a conductor, at a time when Europe was experiencing a significant political and social upheaval, with tensions building up to World War I, Mahler’s personal life was marked by turmoil, including strained relationships and health issues. However, this was also a period of intense creativity for Mahler, having just completed his Symphony No. 5 a year prior. Mahler drew inspiration from philosophical and literary sources such as Friedrich Nietzsche and the Austrian poet Heinrich Leopold Wagner, whose themes of destiny and human suffering resonated with Mahler. The symphony’s title, Tragic, reflects Mahler’s engagement with the tragic nature of the times as well as huis own fraught life.

The title of The Tragic, has been given to the work in part because the work has often been considered prophetic as the composer suffered several tragic events after he had composed the work. But the tragic element of the work is only part of the complex work.

As with most of the composers works there is a personal element in their work and his output can be seen as a series of autobiographical symphonies, charting his reactions to his evolving development, physically, artistically and emotionally. The sixth symphony looks back over his life as well as looking forward and envisaging a life full of drama, excitement and tragedy.

It is these personal and psychological issues the fears, anxieties and pleasures of his life which form the basis of the work, and we are presented with the man and his attempts to understand and explore his inner psychological struggles, endeavouring to express himself through his music in a way few other composers have managed to achieve.

While it is an autobiographical work exploring the composer’s personality, there are parallel themes as he depicts narratives, landscapes and other emotional states.

The work opens with a martial march with strong beats which suggest the relentless march of time, a feature which recurs throughout the work. After that dramatic opening there is a sublime lyrical passage which expresses contentment and even  jollity. It is these contrasting elements which fill the symphony, a series of encounters and emotions which are musical metaphors for the incidents in the passage of life.

Throughout the symphony, Mahler weaves this recurring musical motif known as the “Alma theme,” named after his wife. This haunting melody, first introduced in the opening movement, serves as a motif representing Mahler’s conflicted feelings towards Alma and provides a layer of autobiographical depth to the work.

The final movement opens with some magical sounds produced by the strings and bells as though one was entering a dream world with several of the instruments seeming to be out of key, giving the work a surreal, disconnected feel.

New’s conducting is always dynamic and with this work she showed her approach to be focused with attention to detail. While she always appears to be in total control there were times when  she appeared to be demanding more of the players,  exhorting them to greater efforts.

Her conducting was generally strict with firm directions and hand gestures carefully controlling the orchestra but then there would be passages when she seemed like a choreographer / dancer, more concerned with the spontaneity, the arc and flow of the music.

The work was full of the composer’s favourite percussion instruments – cymbals, bass drums and gongs, but in his Sixth Symphony he added two timpanists, snare drum, celeste, xylophone, glockenspiel, church bells and cowbells. He added one other dramatic instrument  – a giant hammer designed to create a dull thump, a fatal blow which occurs twice in the final movement of the symphony.

In that final movement the music becomes exalted and inspiring, the harps and strings producing a transcendental sound before the fateful surges which turn the music into tragedy, ending not with a bang but a whimper.

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NZSO’s Ascension: three contemplations of Nature

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Jerome Kavanagh Poutama and André De Ridder

Ascension

NZSO

Auckland Town Hall

August 9

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The three works on the  NZSO’s “Ascension” programme featured  the responses of the composers to Nature with responses that ranged from encounters with the  small incident to contemplation of its vastness and complexity.

Ralph Vaughan Williams’ observation and reflection on the simple action of a bird taking flight is turned into a metaphor for Spring and the awakening  of consciousness in his “The Lark Ascending”.

The work opens with both  bird and orchestra being roused from their slumber, the sounds of the orchestra capturing the notion of bird flight while the woodwinds and brass build a picture of the forest and bush

Inspired by the poem of the same name by George Meredith, the poem’s imagery of water and nature conveys a sense of fluidity and renewal, while the bird’s song inspires a profound sense of harmony and contentment.

Lines sauch as

For singing till his heaven fills,
’T is love of earth that he instils,

Show that Merdith and Williams saw their works as metaphors for both the simplicity and drama of Nature.

The orchestra’s brooding tones depicting a landscape blended well with the solo violin of Vesa-Matti Leppänen, the concert master of the NZSO. He managed  to evoke a spirit of celebration tinged with a  sense of the  melancholic.

The central work on the programme was “Papatūānuku”, a joint collaboration by composer Salina Fisher and taonga pūoro   specialist Jerome Kavanagh Poutama. It was a work honouring the Earth Mother, Papatūānuku and featured a number of instruments played by Jerome which produced music  which  replicated sounds of the natural world.

The musical landscape featured an intertwining of the orchestra’s instruments with the taonga pūoro which including pūtātara and pōrutu pounamu. Throughout  the work the two groups of instruments called to each other with both sets of instruments replicating bird sounds. The percussion instruments of the orchestra, including the piano  responded to the taonga pūoro, often mimicking their sounds. As well as bird calls Jerome’s instruments also captured the sounds of sea shore and bush. The work becomes a dreamscape of drifting sounds.

As the work progressed, we seemed to drift further  and further into the bush, some of the instruments sounding like voices enhanced by the breathing of Jerome himself.

Jerome had laid out his instruments on a table covered with a Palestinian keffiyeh so his performance took on a reflective mood referencing Gaza where no birds sing.

The major work on the programme was Schumann’s “Symphony No 1 (Spring)”. It opened with a  dramatic introduction ,something of a welcome to Persephone, the Goddess  of spring, acknowledging her return from the underworld each spring, a symbol of renewal and  immortality.

After the sprightly first movement there was the softness to the second movement which morphed into an heroic sequence featuring a vibrant dance. Here conductor André de Ridder took a few tentative dance steps to the music which flicked between the languorous and the dramatic. This-was followed by the Scherzo with its rapid tempo creating a sense of liveliness. before the  final movement’s farewell to Spring.

Throughout the work the composer celebrated aspect of spring – the blossom erupting, the sounds of birds and animals and the cries of children at play.

André De Ridder has been announced as the NZSO’s next Music Director, and will take  up the position in 2027.

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The Auckland Philharmonia’s Daphnis et Chloé

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Javier Perianes

Daphnis et Chloé

Conductor – Jun Märkl
Piano – Javier Perianes
Choir – Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No.5 ‘Egyptian’
Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé  (complete ballet)

Auckland Town Hall

August 7

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

While Camille  Saint-Saëns composed much of his music at the same time as Debussy, he rejected the idea that he was an impressionist composer however, with his Piano Concerto No 5 which is rooted in the romantic tradition he does display some  impressionist ideas.

The work is referred to as “The Egyptian” as he wrote in Luxor during a holiday in Egypt, incorporated some  Impressionist and other exotic elements. These include images of clouds, sky and sea in the first movement, the croaking sounds of frogs in the central movement and the the sounds of a ship’s propeller in the third.

Despite his traditionalism, Saint-Saëns’s use of colourful harmonies provided a foundation that influenced the French Impressionist composers who came after him.

The piano concerto is a  light drenched work with pianist Javier Perianes picking out colour flecked details, contributing ot the sense of landscape and history referencing the French fascination with Orientalism particularly in the late nineteenth century.

Perianes played with an assurance and was also very aware of conductor Jun Märkl. He handled the dramatic changes as well as the many runs and trills without being overly demonstrative playing with a restrained elegance manging to discover subtle nuances in the work.

Many of the passages  were very  descriptive and Perianes handled these effectively notably in the second movement with its changing  exotic tonal qualities replicating the sounds of Arabic  stringed and wind instrument. The orchestra also depicted the gentle flowing Nile with the oriental themes woven into the musical landscape.

The work has many passages of experimental and novel sounds for both the orchestra and piano with some dark and mysterious sounds as well as effervescent and graceful passages.

In the third movement which has hints of a return journey across the Mediterranean both the orchestra and piano were more  energetic with a tranquil passage from the piano before the orchestra’s massive finale.

Leon Bakst. Set design for Daphnis and Chloe

Ravel’s ballet “Daphnis and Chloé” is set  in the rural, idyllic landscape of Lesbos where myth and legend combine.  The original set design by Léon Bakst reflected that setting as well as the idealised Grecian style costumes for the dancers. Ravel’s music has a sensuous flow to suit the ballet as well underscore the lover’s adventures. The music provided elements  of drama and description as well as atmosphere for the evolving narrative.

The work is Ravel’s longest composition, lasting nearly an hour, and includes  a wordless chorus which was sung  by the Sydney Philharmonia Choir as well as a range of percussion instruments – harps, harpsichord, castanets and wind machine.

Ravel referred to the composition as a “choreographic symphony” and it  has a complex narrative built around several recurring themes and a number of dance sequences which gives the work a sense of ritual.

The Sydney Philharmonia Choir which was integrated into the orchestral work gave a sumptuous performance. It performed at the opening of the work and at various points throughout. Its ethereal sounds provided a rich musical texture adding to the expressive quality of the work. They also provided some intriguing, choral work for the Pirate Camp war dance.

Some of the music for the  dance sequences was tense and abrupt while other were more sinuous and graceful. The orchestra also highlighted some of the dramatic moments in the ballet such as Chloes kidnapping  and Daphnis’s despair at the thought of losing Chloe.

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Violinist Arabella Steinbacher shines in Auckland Philharmonia’s “Beethoven 5” concert

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

Arabella Steinbacher image: Sav Schulman

Beethoven 5

Auckland Philharmonia

June 26

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

It is rare for a New Zealand orchestra to perform the  same concert twice  in a week, something which is common with European orchestras and even Australian ones. However, this week the Auckland Philharmonia performed its Beethoven programme on a Wednesday and Thursday, both to sold out audiences.

The orchestra’s “Beethoven 5” concert opened and closed with two very different compositions composed within ten years of each other. The first, Rossini’s Overture to La Cenerentola, composed in 1817 is an effervescent work based on a fairy / folk story while Beethoven’s Symphony No 5 of 1808 is a dramatic work reflecting the composers view of the political climate of the time as well as a growing awareness of his own fate.

Between those two pieces was an elegant display of violin playing by Arabella Steinbacher

The Rossini opened with an engaging display by the woodwinds and brass evolving into a dance-like piece.

The woodwinds held much of this musical adventure together which captures the essence of the opera, its comedy and convoluted storyline.

The Auckland Philharmonia manages to attract some of the world’s great soloists and with the Japanese / German violinist Arabella Steinbacher the audience was treated to a stunning performance of Mozart’s “Violon Concerto No 5”.

She opened the work with some silky playing, slowly revealing the intricacies of the work. At times her playing flowed along with the orchestra while at other times she appeared to add new musical themes to which the orchestra responded.

With the cadenza she showed a skill and insistence which gave the work a very contemporary and adventurous sound.

Throughout the piece she seemed to be perfectly in control of her playing, never trying to outdo the orchestra preferring to let her exquisite, often restrained  playing  shine. In the second movement some of her playing was almost ethereal while at other times her deft and refined.

In the third movement as the orchestra became more dynamic, she seemed to revel in their playing adding an urgency to her own playing.

Having heard Beethoven’s “Symphony No 5” several times it is still rewarding to hear another orchestral performance. The drama, the nuance, the intensity of the conductor and the players, all add the spectacle. As well as appreciating the music there is also a sense of the composer himself grasping for musical ideas, responding to the momentous events of his  times and seeing his own political and spiritual condition connected to those events.

No section of the work is irrelevant or unnecessary, it can can be loud and dramatic with rousing sequences but also gentle, soothing. delicate and  sprightly. Beethoven certainly knew how to create drama, mystery and atmosphere.

Apart from the symphony’s well-known dynamic opening and other dramatic sequence the symphony also has superb moments provided by individual instruments  such as the clarinet and flutes in the opening minutes or the mass pizzicato of the strings.

Conductor  Bellincampi guided the orchestra  brilliantly showing his ability to reveal the drama, tension, and revolution within the work. He also highlighted the nuances of the work, emphasising the  contrasts and  moods of the piece.

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Mozart’s Jupiter: Musical foothills and a mighty mountain

Reviewed by Peter Simpson

Genevieve Lacey Photo. Pia Johnson

Mozart’s Jupiter

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Auckland Town Hall

May 1

Reviewed by Peter Simpson

Thursday’s Mayday concert by the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra consisted of some pleasant foothills leading to a mighty mountain. The foothills were all acts of homage by different composers to a major predecessor: Tchaikovsky honouring Mozart; Australian composer Elena Kats-Cherwin (born 1957) honouring Bach, and British composer George Benjamin (born 1960) honouring Purcell. The mighty mountain was Mozart’s sublime ‘Jupiter Symphony’, No. 41.

The conductor, Leo Hussain (born 1978), is British and is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the George Enescu Philharmonic in Bucharest; he also worked with Simon Rattle at the Berlin Philharmonic and is probably He is best known as a conductor of opera. In Auckland he began the concert informally with a brief verbal introduction emphasising the linking theme of homage and describing the Mozart symphony as the summation not only of Mozart’s career but of the whole Classical period in music. His control of the orchestra was impeccable throughout and the whole concert was warmly received.

Tchaikovsky’s ‘Mozartiana’, dating from 1887, orchestrated what the composer called ‘gems of musical art, unpretentious in form, but containing incomparable beauties’. The first three movements are tasty miniatures; the final movement, a set of variations, based on Mozart after a theme by Gluck, is more extensive and includes some effects a million miles from Mozart; the variations fully explore the large orchestra’s resources, one being entirely for strings, another entirely for woodwind, and including solo turns by clarinet, flute, violin and glockenspiel. The performance was spirited.

Elena Kats-Chernin describes her six-part work as ‘Re-inventions (after Bach)’; they are based on some of the great composer’s inventions for keyboard. Scored for small string orchestra and solo recorders the performance featured entertaining solos on four different recorders (discount, tenor, bass, sopranino) by Australian virtuoso Genevieve Lacey who impressed the audience (especially in her bird-song imitation encore) with her skill and vivacity.

Composer George Benjamin was a pupil of Messiaen; his ‘Three Consorts’ responds particularly to the ‘mesmerising intersection of line and harmony’ in Henry Purcell’s 1680 Fantasias. The middle piece was especially sonorous and pleasing.

Mozart’s Jupiter symphony is an astonishing work which the composer himself probably never heard performed; it certainly owes its name to somebody else. One scholar described it as ‘the greatest orchestral work of the world which preceded the French Revolution’ and the APO played the work as if they agreed with that dizzy estimation. The way the symphony combines both clarity and complexity, especially in the last movement, was apparent throughout the orchestra’s sparkling rendition. Glorious music!

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Auckland Philharmonia’s Brahms 3 and a masterly James Ehnes

Reviewed by John daly-Peoples

James Ehnes Photo Sav Schulman

Brahms 3

Auckland Philharmonia

Auckland Town Hall

February 27

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The “Brahms 3”concert began with Romanian composer Gyorgy Legeti’s “Concert Romanesc” written in 1951. The work opens with joyous images of landscape studded with hints of folk music. These passages combined humour and experimentation, qualities which inhabit much of his later music.

From the middle of the piece there were more sombre sounds, as though confronting the history of his country as well as the suffering and death of his parents in Auschwitz during World War II.

As the work became darker and bleaker there was a whirling dance of death moving to a finale where the whole orchestra exploded with lively, suffocating sounds.

Following his performance last week James Ehnes’ performance of Bartok’s “Violin Concerto No 1” was highly anticipated. He did not disappoint. With the soulful opening movement he was initially joined by Andrew Beere and Lauren Bennett before others from the string section joined, adding to the density and complexity of Ehnes’ playing.

Following on from the strings, the woodwinds provided a slightly unsettling voice and even as the orchestra gained in intensity, Ehnes’ violin rose up , soaring above the sounds of the orchestra with some strident sounds which were reflected in Ehnes’ rigid  demeanour and exacting playing.

From the second movement on, his playing style changed, taking on a more passionate and expressive approach with some more hectic, gypsy-like playing as he battled against the sweep of the growling orchestra. However, even when he was frantically playing there was a sense of his being totally in control.

With his mastery of the violin, his skilful changes in pace, and tone the audience  was treated to a display by a consummate violinist.

While Ehnes received a rapturous ovation for the Bartok it was his encore, Eugene Ysaÿe’s “Violin Sonata No.3 ‘Ballade” .that got a tumultuous reception. The solo work dedicated to the Romanian violinist and composer George Enescu which was beautifully structured requires an intelligent and skilful player – all the qualities that Ehnes was able to bring to the piece.

The big work on the programme was the Brahms “Symphony No 3, a work which is full of marvellous melodies but which is something of an enigmatic work.

In many ways it is a forerunner of the impressionist works of Debussy and Ravel reflecting the interest of the Impressionist artists of the late nineteenth century. Much of the music is linked to visions of landscape, light and shade, colours and texture.

These images parallel a world of emotions and feelings, the composers inner and exterior worlds mingling. In building  a structure based on these links Brahms explores the nature if the human condition. This is very evident in the final movement with its passages of drama and tumult suggesting natural forces as well as the inner turmoil of love and passion.

The final works on the programme, three of Brahm’s Hungarian Dances had Conductor Bellincampi conducting at breakneck speed and while he spent much of his time dancing on the podium the orchestra were swept up by the music and carried along by its own impetus.

Bellincampi used the dances to book-end a farewell to the orchestra’s Music Librarian, Robert Johnson who has worked at the orchestra for over thirty years.

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Reviews, News and Commentary

A thrilling “The Planets” from the NZSO

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

The Planets

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

Auckland Town Hall

November 23

Reviewed by John Daly-Peoples

One of the disappointing aspects of the NZSO’s recent “The Planets” concert was the short duration of the first work on the programme.

The Finnish composer Kaije Saariaho’s  “Asteroid 4179: Toutatis” was performed for four minutes, but many in the audience would have been delighted if it had run for twice or three times that length.

“Asteroid 4179: Toutatis”, is named for an actual asteroid, a two-kilometre rock fragment which moves between Mars and Jupiter. The work is a confluence of science and art with the music sounding like music many composers have used for the soundtracks of science fiction movies or to create otherworldly sounds Her ethereal sounds which represent the movement of the asteroid were mysterious and saw her turning scientific notations into music.

The composer was trying to describe the pattern of Toutati’s movements, its chaotic orbit, its unfixed north pole and its complex pattern of rotation so we had music which described the various ellipses, parabolas and  cosmic curves tracing out celestial journeys.

The work contained  multiple combinations, of strings and huge sounds from the full orchestra . Many of the sounds were unusual with shimmering strings, eerie sounds  from  the wind instruments  and even fleeting sounds from the harp.

Christian Tetzlaff

Christian Tetzlaff gave an electrifying performance with his playing of Elgar’s Violin Concerto and he seemed to become one with the violin, It was not just his bowing arm but his whole body which appeared to be affected by the music.

He opened with some  ferocious bowing but this soon morphed into playing which was not much more than a whisper with Tetzlaff gently rocking as though playing a lullaby, taking him into a state of reverie.

There were times when the bow met the strings with a piercing sound,  while there were other passages when the bow barely touched the strings.

Several times his feverish playing was matched by Gemma New’s demonstrative conducting where she conducted with her body and not just baton and hands. Then there were times when violinist and conductor appeared to be linked in a dance, their bodies  swaying in harmony.

There were many passages in the work which were extremely taxing for the violinist but Tetzlaff handled these with style and self-assurance. At times he was sharply focused with some aggressive playing, as though he was trying  to outrun the orchestra  before changing to a more serene mode, melding with the orchestra.

With the slower second movement he was like a different violinist, the torments of the first movement replaced by an  engaging romanticism  Before the spirited finale he effortlessly dashed off a spirited theme with some grand gestures.

That Gustav Holst composed his The Planets suite early on in the twentieth century saved a lot of problems later on. Pluto was not discovered until 1930 so was not one of the planets which the composer included in his work. So, with Pluto now being dropped as one of the planets his work doesn’t have to be seen as an oddity just one of the great British musical works of the early twentieth century.

Under the brilliant direction of Gemma New the orchestra managed to give each of the sequences a thrilling interpretation, exploring their emotional and narrative themes. At times New seemed carried away by the music performing little dances and jigs, her hands and arms tracing out the music as though replicating planetary arcs.

From the relentless marching sounds of Mars, The Bringer of War through to the almost spiritual Neptune there was an urgency and  drama from the orchestra.

Jupiter featured an onslaught from the full strings along with an array of percussion including bells and triangle which added to the intense atmosphere.

Emotional and expressive playing by the violins, cellos, and double basses introduced Venus along with percussion instruments – gongs, triangles, bells, timpani, celesta and drums, which provided a serene and imposing atmosphere.

Saturn gave us the sombre sounds of the double basses  and  plucked cellos and  this then changed with a nice contrast to harps and double bass.

The opening harps and organ of Neptune, created an enigmatic sound with the  orchestra joined by Voice New Zealand Chamber Choir which was beautifully expressive, becoming another instrument  to finish the work in style,