Author: Rosemary Collier

Plenty of pre-university talent for the school of music to draw on

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

New Zealand School of Music Young Musicians Programme

Classical Classes Final Concert 1

Adam Concert Room, NZSM, Victoria University

Saturday 10 September 2016, 2pm

It is inevitable in a concert of this sort that there will be a great variance in skill levels, and in musicianship.  This time, there were fewer really young students than I have heard in previous concerts of this type; nearly all would be intermediate or secondary school students, I would guess.  The comments below are made not to criticise the individual players, but hopefully to assist them to make their musicianship even better.

The concert opened with a guitar quartet playing two short pieces, very competently.  Not all the players had full-sized guitars, and this may have contributed to the low volume.  Like all the items, the pieces were introduced by the players.  The two gentle pieces, ‘The Water is Wide’ and ‘Waterfalls’ had their attributions in the printed programme reversed – the former is traditional and the latter by Australian Peter de Monchaux.  Vaughan Austin played solo lines very well.  This was not all easy music; off-beat rhythms in the second piece were handled very well.

Robert Evers played two short pieces by Prokofiev, and gave his introduction very clearly and confidently s indeed was his playing.  The first piece, ‘Regret’ was perhaps a little loud for such a sentiment.  ‘Tarantelle’ was the expected fast dance.  No pedal was used, and there was little subtlety but certainly excitement.

Ishta Khor (violin) and Elliot Baguley (cello) were younger performers, and I thought the tone, resulting from difficulties in tuning and bow technique, rather harsh, particularly with the violin.  The cello parts were easier, and sounded better.  The two pieces were by New Zealand composers: ‘A Book of Dreams’ by Barry Anderson and ‘Ghosts’ by Ronald Tremain.

Ryan In played from memory the Praeambulum from Partita no.5 in G (BWV 829) by J.S. Bach.  This was superb pianism,  Ryan’s phrasing and staccato passages were excellent.  He varied the dynamics beautifully, and showed great digital facility for someone of his age.

He was followed by a piano trio: an excerpt (I assume the first movement) from Haydn’s piano trio no.22 in A.  This was impressive playing, from Tee Hao-Aickin (violin), Liam Anderson (cello) and Vanessa O’Neill (piano).  Their interpretation was convincing, the playing showed subtlety, there was good balance, and although intonation was not perfect, it was mainly very good, as was the players’ tone.

A change to singing: an all-female vocal ensemble of Hannah Collier (no relation), Hunter Meek, Brooke Raitt, Greta Healy-Melhuish, Cassandra Bahr and Lily Jones, accompanied by an excellent but unidentified pianist (later identified in another item as ‘Danny’) sang Frederick Keel’s setting of Shakespeare’s ‘You Spotted Snakes’ followed by ‘It was a Lover and his Lass’ by Vaughan Williams.

The voices and intonation were on the whole good, but there was insufficient variation of tone or dynamics.  In the second song, these aspects improved, but sometimes the singing was just under the note, especially in the notorious seventh note of the scale when descending.

Vanessa O’Neill played the Prelude from Grieg’s Holberg Suite.  The work was written for piano, although the composer’s arrangement for string orchestra is more well-known.  Vanessa is a very able pianist.  She knows what she is doing; fast passages were very accurately performed, and where the melody was in the bass, it was brought out well.  This was a very enjoyable performance.

Brooke Raitt (voice) sang ‘Dream Valley’ by Roger Quilter.  While she still has a child’s voice, this was very accurate singing, and William Blake’s words were well articulated.  She just needs to develop greater warmth of tone.  ‘Danny’ accompanied.

Stella Lu, piano, played Sonatina Op.13 no.1 by Kabalevsky.  She played this fast piece (first movement) confidently and capably.

Tee Hao-Aickin returned, along with her pianist sister, Danielle, to play the allegro first movement of Beethoven’s wonderful ‘Spring’ sonata.  This sublime work always makes me smile with pleasure.  The players demonstrated lovely tone; these are promising young musicians.  Intonation was not perfect, but very good from Tee.  Perhaps the timing, phrasing and dynamics were a little too strict, especially in the piano part – there should be phrasing within phrases as well as between them.  Otherwise, this ambitious item was most enjoyable.

A piano trio ‘Oblivion’ by Piazzolla from Jim Zhu (violin), Willoughby Benn (cello) and Ryan In (piano) I found rather dreary (was the composer’s idea to put the audience into oblivion?), but admittedly it warmed up a little during its course.  These players were younger than the previous ones, and therefore not so skilled, but they did well.  The cellist appeared younger than her colleagues, but held up her part well.

Hunter Meek, who had already sung in the vocal ensemble, sang Michael Head’s ‘Ships of Arcady’.  I remember this song being popular in the 1960s; I have not heard it for a long time.  Hunter sings well, but swallows her words somewhat.  Her voice needs more projection, and she needs to keep her mouth open more in quiet passages.  However, it was a pleasing performance, and it was good to hear her acknowledge Danny, still unnamed in the printed programme.

The final item was from pianists Stella Lu and Danielle Hao-Aickin, playing three short piano duet preludes by George Gershwin.  The second, andante con moto e poco rubato, had more subtlety than its preceding allegro yet it also had cheekiness.  The final allegro ben ritmato e deciso was a lively and attractive movement, played very well, making an upbeat end to the concert.

All these young players should be encouraged, whatever their age and level.  A little top: when you bow, do look at the audience!  The work of those who administer, arrange, teach and encourage young musicians deserve thanks.

 

 

 

Promising new choir premieres with varied, courageous programme

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

‘Convergence’

Music from all the continents

Inspirare ‘Wellington’s newest choral ensemble’ conducted by Mark Stamper, with Catherine Norton (piano), Jeremy Fitzsimons and Ben Fullbrook (percussion)

St. Andrew’s on The Terrace

Sunday, 4 September 2016, 3pm

Described in advance publicity as ‘a new professional choir’ and that ‘The concert will consist of music from all the continents and will explore our basic needs to commune with nature, spirituality and our love of community and family’, there were high expectations.  Caution recalls that some years ago Professor Peter Godfrey set up a choir that he hoped would be professional, but it did not last.  Such a venture needs engagements, sponsors.  We shall see…

American Mark Stamper came to live in Wellington last year, with both qualifications and experience in choral music in the USA.  Among the names listed in the printed programme were many that I recognised; people very experienced in choral singing and some who conduct choirs themselves.  Many of the items performed were unaccompanied, but those that required the piano were in the safe musical hands of Catherine Norton.  Spoken introductions were interesting, but perhaps a little excessive, given the good programme notes, and not always audible despite the use of a microphone.

The concert did not have a good beginning; i.e. seven minutes late.  However, the choir certainly made its presence felt as soon as it began singing, although it did not impress me that the members were dressed entirely in black, like every other choir.  What happened to colour?  The opening item, ‘At the Round Earth’s Imagined Corners’ was a setting of one of John Donne’s Holy Sonnets by Williametta Spencer, an American composer born in 1932.  It began at full volume; this revealed the capacity of the singers at such a dynamic level to produce splendid tone, and also the marvellous acoustic of St. Andrew’s.  It was a fine piece, with flair (rather than the ‘flare’ of the programme note), ‘excitement and driving energy’.

It was followed with virtually no break by Handel’s well-known ‘Zadok the Priest’, accompanied on the piano – which sound somewhat incongruous since we are accustomed to hearing a chamber orchestra, or at least organ in this jubilant Coronation Anthem.  The words were clear and the voices well-projected.

It was very sensible, in a shortish programme with a lot of different items, to perform two or even three items without space for applause in between.  The next coupling had the exquisite ‘Bogorodiste Devo’ from Rachmaninoff’s All-Night Vigil usually known in English as his Vespers) first.  The choir had good balance and lovely blended tone, particularly in the pianissimo sections.  After two loud items, this was welcome, but the piece featured great dynamic contrasts – not all quiet.  The choir almost achieved a Russian tone – but we don’t breed quite the same sort of basses

Pärt was the other part of the pair: his Magnificat.  This is probably one of his more frequently performed works, and while characterised by the tintinnabuli style, with its apparent simplicity and repetition, it was nevertheless of considerable musical interest.  However, since he has had many imitators, I have to disagree with the programme note that the presence of a drone in many phrases is a unique feature; it may have been when he wrote it.  A pupil of St. Mark’s School, Bella Martin, conveyed these repeated notes.  Her voice was perhaps a little thin, but against the basses singing below, it was very effective. and a boy from the same school, Zach Newton, sang  his solo well.  Before that, the piece had two sopranos singing together.  The spare writing contrasted with denser passages

Moving to South Africa, we heard Chariots, by Péter Louis van Dijk, a contemporary composer.  His was a most telling setting, especially in the repetition throughout of the syllable ‘char’ from the title.  There was plenty of punch, although the performance was not perfect, with a few singers starting ahead of the beat several times.  But that is a mere quibble against the high quality, gorgeous tone of most of the singing.

Ola Gjeilo is a Norwegian-born composer and pianist, living in the United States.   His Ubi Caritas was a quiet, contemplative piece of harmonic charm.  It was followed by another African item: Vamuvmba, in which Jeremy Fitzsimons played an African instrument like large maraca, and Ben Fullbrook on drum featured largely.  The singers made a joyful, highly rhythmic noise.

Ginastera’s ‘O vos Omnes’ from his Lamentations of Jeremiah the Prophet was very much ‘in your face’, or rather, ‘in your ears’.  The beginning was very loud; as the programme note stated ‘…diverse textures that are very percussive and at times “raw”.’  It contains ‘vocal pyrotechnics’.

New Zealander (but US resident) David Childs wrote ‘The New Moon’, also had a loud opening; it was a striking setting of the words of a poem by Sara Teasdale, an American poet (1884 – 1933).  This was an accompanied piece, with modal shifts and interesting harmonies in both voice and instrument parts.

Sandra Milliken is a contemporary Australian composer.  ‘The Dawn Wind’ was another piece with great word setting.  The chordal movement was very affecting, as the music painted pictures of nature at dawn beautifully.  The following ‘The Sounding Sea’ by Eric William Barnum, another American, was, like its predecessor, unaccompanied.  Sounds of the sea were repeated, while harmonic clashes gave a marvellous effect, and were handled with aplomb.  Special effects including stamping, like crashing waves, and noisy breathing, hissing like the last vestiges of smooth waves on the shore.

A piece not listed in the programme I gathered was by Mark Stamper himself: ‘Remembrance’  It featured lovely legato singing.  The setting included some lovely word-painting.  The words were ‘Do not stand at my grave and weep’, a poem frequently read at funerals; it came over clearly in this stunning performance of unaccompanied singing.

The mood changed completely in ‘The Battle of Jericho’ by Moses Hogan.  The very rhythmic setting was lively, busy and striking.  There was notable unanimity between the singers.  Each part was absolutely together.

The final item was specially commissioned.  ‘Hutia te rito’: the title refers to the growing stem of harakeke (New Zealand flax).  The translation of the traditional chant which provided the basis for the composition by American Zachary J. Moore, is ‘If you remove the central shoot of the flaxbush, where will the bellbird find rest?    If you were to ask me, “What is the most important thing in the world?” I would reply “It is people, it is people, it is people.”

Before the performance, the Maori woman who gave the words to be used spoke, and also a gentleman from the Maori Language Commission.  The latter described the words of the chant as being used frequently in Maori speech-making.

A largely youthful audience attended, and gave enthusiastic response to the performance.  However, I got the impression it was made up to a large extent of friends and families; the church was well-filled but not full (downstairs only).  This was a good launch of a new choir.

“Since singing is so good a thing I wish all men would learn to sing” sixteenth-century composer William Byrd said these words.  He might be astonished to see how many choirs there are in Wellington now.  Therein lies the problem – how to get audiences for all the concerts.  Singing is good for its own sake, but to sustain all the choirs financially, and to spread the pleasure, audiences are needed.

In addition to a record amount of opera over the same period, I find that between 20 August and 15 October (i.e. eight weeks) there have been/will be 13 choral concerts, mostly on Sundays.  Two choirs are competing for attention on 2 October.  I can think of half-a dozen other choirs that are not performing during this period.  Surely more co-ordination is needed?  And pity the poor reviewers!

 

 

 

 

Maaike Christie-Beekman with Rachel Thomson in admirable song recital

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Wednesday Lunchtime Concerts

Maaike Christie-Beekman (mezzo-soprano) and Rachel Thomson (piano)

Debussy: Trois Chansons de Bilitis
Samuel Barber: Hermit Songs
Poulenc: Banalités

St. Andrew’s on The Terrace

Wednesday, 31 August 2016, 12.15pm

A recital entirely of song-cycles is perhaps a little unusual, but it made for a very satisfying concert.  Maaike Christie-Beekman introduced each in a lively and informative way, giving a summary of the words of each song.  Even though she was not using a microphone, most of what she said could be heard clearly.

The Debussy cycle used poems by Pierre Louÿs, which the latter claimed were translations of the Greek, but were in fact his own work, based on Greek styles and in some cases, sources.  The first, ‘La flûte de Pan’, was dreamy in character, with the enchanting flute written into both voice and piano parts in unmistakable French style.  It was a gorgeous song, sung by a gorgeous voice, with its very expressive, beautifully controlled range of dynamics.  ‘La Chevelure’ (head of hair), the second song, was livelier, with the French language pronounced with clarity.

The third, ‘Le tombeau des Naiades’ became quite excited, but ended in a quiet, contemplative mood.  The piano was always sympathetic and eloquent.

The performers turned next to the English language and Samuel Barber.  The poems were translations of Irish poems written from the 8th to the 13th centuries, and translated by W.H. Auden and others.  Most had religious themes, starting with a spiky ‘At Saint Patrick’s Purgatory’.  Here again, in English, Christie-Beekman’s words were for the most part very clear.  ‘Church Bell at Night’ was much more mellow, like the bell.  ‘St. Ita’s Vision’ followed.  I had never heard of this Irish saint, but apparently she lived a virginal life in the fifth century.  The song began in declamatory fashion, and then flowed into euphoria.

By contrast, ‘A Heavenly Banquet’ sounded like a very a jolly party. ‘The Crucifixion’ focused on the drama and pain, expressing grief.  ‘Sea-Snatch’ was fast and furious, like the action of a stormy sea, while the brief ‘Promiscuity’ was angular, questioning whether someone was sleeping alone.  ‘The Monk and his Cat’ contained delightful meows and other feline features, particularly in the lovely frisky accompaniment.  ‘The Praises of God’ was also short – and powerful.  Finally, ‘The Desire for Hermitage’ was solemn and flowing.  The sustained notes were beautiful.  All were characterised, and sung with appropriate feeling and clarity.

Banalités is Poulenc’s setting of poems by Guillaume Apollinaire (real name Wilhelm Albert Vladimir Apollinaris Kostrowitzky); this was the last in the tri-cycle.  Its opening number was ‘Chanson d’Orkenise’.  Not the Orkney Islands, but a village in France.  It was a fast, spirited song in a set all about love and heartbreak (but banal?).  The second , ‘Hôtel’, was more thoughtful, with a lazy mood.  The poem was about a young man who just wanted to stay in his room and smoke.  ‘Fagnes de Wallonie’ concerned a wander through the woods in Wallonie in Belgium – but sounded more like a quick trot.

‘Voyage à Paris’ was described by Christie-Beekman as ‘Carmenesque’.  It began with decisive chords from the piano, and the words confidently described ‘gay Paree’.  Finally, ‘Sanglots’ (sobs).  It was quieter and more introspective, but developed dramatically, having a sublime ending.

The singer conveyed lovely tone throughout a wide tessitura.  All the songs were sung in a thoroughly accomplished and comfortable manner.  Moreover, Christie-Beekman gave a lesson in fine presentation.

 

‘Singers to listen for’: “A long way to hear singing as good as this”

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Rotary Club of Wellington and Kiri te Kanawa Foundation

‘Singers to listen for’, compèred by Rodney Macann

Jonathan Abernethy (tenor), Anna Dowsley (mezzo-soprano), Katherine McIndoe (soprano), Jarvis Dams (baritone), Terence Dennis (piano)

St. Andrew’s on The Terrace; 6.pm for 7.15pm

Friday, 26 August 2016

Advertised on RNZ Concert like any other concert, it was in fact not at all.  It was a fundraiser for Gillies McIndoe Research Institute (for cancer research) and the Kiri te Kanawa Foundation.  A similar event had been held last year.  The early part of the evening was taken up with chat, drinks and canapés, before the music started at 7.15pm.

Rodney Macann was a genial and knowledgeable MC, and Professor Terrence Dennis the incomparable accompanist.  Jonathan Abernethy and Katherine McIndoe are graduates of Victoria University and Jarvis Dams is still a student at Waikato University.  With the exception of an item by Berlioz and perhaps the Delibes aria, this was a ‘top of the classical chart’ concert, but none the worse for that; these items are popular because of their outstanding melodies, sentiments and sheer musical quality.

First up was Mozart’s Magic Flute; Tamino’s wonderful aria ‘Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schön’.  Jonathan Abernethy has a rich, powerful, dramatic tenor voice, and he was fully up to not only the musical demands of the piece but also the emotional and expressive character.  Meanwhile Dennis impressed me with his astonishing ability to never be merely in the background of the performance, yet always allowing the singer to be in the foreground.  The piano lid was held on the short stick, appropriate for accompanying singers.  This was a glorious performance.

Jonathan’s partner, Australian Anna Dowsley, has not been to New Zealand before.  Like Jonathan, she is a singer with Opera Australia.  Staying with Mozart, she sang ‘Non so più’ from The Marriage of Figaro.  This was a fast, but assured performance, by a lovely voice.  She gave us the drama of the piece in full measure. Terence Dennis made the accompaniment more interesting than I’ve ever heard it on the piano.  In this and many of the other arias, the singers did not stand stock still as in a recital, but moved around the platform.

Back to The Magic Flute, for the duet between Pamina and Tamino: ‘Bei Männern’, from Katherine McIndoe and Jarvis Dams.  Katherine’s voice is placed well forward; Jarvis’s less so.  The soprano sang just a shade under the note occasionally, but this disappeared as the programme progressed.  Both have warm tone, and they made a lovely job of the duet.

Another Mozart favourite is the trio ‘Soave sia il vento’ from Così fan Tutte.  The two women’s and Jarvis Dams’s voices were well matched and they sang in perfect cohesion in this most beautiful trio.

Rossini’s popular comic opera Il barbiere di Siviglia gave us Anna singing Rosina’s aria ‘Una voce poco fa’, as the heroine thinks of her beloved Lindoro.  From the same opera Jarvis, as Figaro, sang ‘Largo al factotum’ in fine style.  Anna’s is a rich mezzo voice, but perfectly under control.  She floated it so agilely, it made for an astounding performance.  Jarvis began off-stage; his voice was well-coloured, and his production seemed effortless.  He made great use of the Italian words.  Sometimes he was a little too loud for this very lively acoustic.  His enunciation of the tongue-twister ending of the aria was phenomenal!

To a different mood; Gounod’s Faust was represented firstly by Jonathan singing a meltingly beautiful ‘Salut! demeure chaste et pure’.  His tenor voice is utterly right for this role.  He injected plenty of feeling into this intensely romantic aria, addressed to Marguerite by Faust, and his high note was glorious.  Katherine McIndoe put the required innocence into her well-characterised rendition of the ‘Jewel Song’.  She employed a range of dynamics to magnificent effect, and her French words were exceptionally clear.

Now to something less familiar: from Berlioz’s The Trojans.  ‘Nuit d’ivresse’ is a duet sung by Dido and Aeneas in Carthage; in this case, by Anna and Jonathan.  Together they sang, calling on their dramatic abilities to great effect, even though lacking set and costumes.  The accompaniment, as always, set the scene though the excellence of Terence Dennis’s representation of the orchestral score.  The singers both sustained beautiful tone marvellously well.  It was a splendid performance of a lesser-known duet.

Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers has one exceedingly popular number; before we got to that, though, we had the aria ‘L’orage s’est calmé’ sung by Jarvis as Zurga.  This was a mature and very fine interpretation, although the tone was just a little harsh at times.

We moved from the former Ceylon to India, with the opera Lakmé by Delibes.  Here was the famous duet for the two women (for some time a number of years ago it was used to sell cars) with its delicious interweaving harmonies.  Rodney Macann explained that these two singers had only met the previous day, yet they were so professional, it sounded as though they had sung together many times, such was their cohesion and matching tone; they gave a very fine, in fact almost immaculate performance, with exquisite phrasing.

To end the musical programme (well, not completely), the famous duet was sung: ‘Au fond du temple saint’.  There is nothing to say about it except that it was outstanding.  The two male singers were simply superb.  As Rodney Macann said more than once, the hearers would have to go a long way to hear singing as good as this.  Congratulations to all concerned!

A number of encores were performed, the first a light opera-style piece for soprano, by John Drummond, recently retired professor of music at the University of Otago.  I missed these, on account of another engagement.

 

 

 

Polished guitar music from Poland, New Zealand and Japan from St Andrews

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Wednesday Lunchtime Concerts

Jane Curry and Owen Moriarty (guitars)

Works for guitar duo by Marek Pasieczny, Maria Grenfell and Anthony Ritchie

St. Andrew’s on The Terrace

Wednesday, 24 August 2016, 12.15pm

Jane Curry introduced this recital by making generous remarks about the dedication and hard work by the year-round organisers of these important lunchtime concerts, Marjan van Waardenberg and the church’s administrator, David Medland.

Having a couple of highly competent guitarists performing means relaxing, knowing that even complex music will be reproduced faithfully, sensitively and accurately.  In this case, the programme consisted of innovative, recent compositions.

The first, Sakura No Hana Variations took its melody and inspiration from Japan, but was written by a Polish composer, who has been to New Zealand.  Many different sounds of a percussive nature were produced from the instruments, not only knocking on the wooden body.  Based on the pentatonic scale, the music brought out the melody well.  It was soothing in character, yet stimulating in places.  The variations involved not only the plucked melodies and percussive sounds, but also strumming.  Mostly, the music was quiet.  The variations introduced distinct melodies, related to, but not the same as, the main melody played at the beginning.

One of the ‘extended’ techniques employed was plucking the strings above where the fingers of the left hand were depressing the strings to produce notes.  The scope of the composition was surprising, given the limitations of the pentatonic (five-note) scale.

Dunedin composer Anthony Ritchie has written music in a great many different genres.  The Pas de Deux was written in 1992, and consists of a series of five dances.  The first movement, ‘Prelude’ was a lovely alternation between loud and soft passages, with a final note splendidly sustained.  I had some difficulty establishing where the break between this movement and the next was, or was it between II and III?  My colleague confessed to the same problem when I consulted him.

However, what appeared to me to be the second movement ‘Au revoir’ was dreamy and gentle.  What may have been ‘Jeux’, the third movement, was a loud, twanging interlude, while the ‘Waltz triste’ (‘Valse’, surely?) was quite playful right from the start, with brief melodies that fell one on top of the other.  The final movement, ‘Epilogue’, (if I am correct) began rather dolefully, concentrating on a few low-pitched strings, before becoming smooth and flowing.  All in all, the music was attractive and interesting, and played absolutely superbly.

Maria Grenfell is a New Zealand composer currently resident in Australia where she teaches at the Conservatorium of Music of the University of Tasmania.  Her piece was titled Di Primavera.  She arranged it from the earlier version for guitar and marimba, specifically for Curry and Moriarty.  Curry took the part written originally for marimba, while Moriarty played the guitar part.  On a rather cold day, it was a hopeful sign to be thinking about spring.

The first movement was lively and rapid, while the second was overall more gentle, but spiky, too.  The final one was bouncy, alternating in mood and between the players, with a wide dynamic range, and a sudden chord to end.

The concert was rather too long; the Grenfell work ended at 1pm, the usual time for the close of the lunchtime concert.  Quite a number of audience members had to leave at this point.

However, we then met Marek Pasieczny again, in his Polish Sketches, the work being based on Polish folk music.  The first piece, titled ‘Majestically’ and inspired by the Polish dance the mazurka, was rhythmic and attractive.  ‘Stealthily’, like its predecessor, employed a variety of techniques, including rhythmic drumming on the instrument.  It ended with an exclamation.

‘Lively’ was indeed that; one could hear clearly the song melody on which it was based., along with its rhythmic accompaniment.  ‘Joyfully with blustering’ was inspired by a ‘furious polka’; it gave a snappy ending to a delightful sequence.

To end, we heard Pasieczny’s arrangement of ‘Pokarekare Ana’.  It was a charming iteration of the well-loved melody.  Interesting harmonies made one listen; the endings of phrases of the melody disappeared into these unexpected harmonies.

Here was a recital by highly skilled performers in complete unanimity with each other and with their instruments.

 

 

Young Korean piano trio at Waikanae with generally colourful, joyous music

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Waikanae Music Society

Beethoven: Piano Trio in C minor, Op.1, no.3
Gareth Farr: Piano Trio: Ahi
Dvořák: Piano Trio no.4 in E minor, Op.90 “Dumky”

Trinity Trio (Stella Kim, violin; Tina Kim, piano; Sally Kim, cello)

Waikanae Memorial Hall

Sunday 21 August 2016, 2.30pm

It was disappointing to see a much smaller audience than has been present at the other concerts of the Waikanae Music Society that I have attended this year.  Was it the beautiful calm and sunny weather that kept people away?  This was the tenth of ten concerts the Trinity Trio has given around the country for Chamber Music New Zealand.

In addition to excellent programme notes, brief spoken introductions to the works by the trio’s violinist gave useful information.  Two of the players are sisters, the third no relation, but all are ethnically Koreans.  What is it about Korea that it produces so many fine musicians in the Western genre?  Is it the very high proportion of Christians in the population that makes them somewhat Westward-looking?  Plus the high level of participation in university education?

The opening of the Beethoven trio disappointed me a little.  There was not the depth of sound from the strings that I expected.  These are young musicians, not seasoned performers however, although their brief biographies attest to not a little experience and competition successes.  I found the piano often too loud for the strings in this work, though I was sitting near the front of the audience.  The fiery first movement (allegro con brio) has plenty for the piano to do, but I would have liked to have had a more assertive contribution from the strings.

Warmth of tone and subtlety of violin playing were more apparent in the second movement, marked andante cantabile con variazioni.  The theme and its variations were most attractive.  The strings were to the fore at first, accompanied by the piano, then the roles were reversed for the second variation.  A variation in a minor key had the strings taking the major part.  Great use was made of the lower strings.  The last variation finished with a nostalgic, coda higher in the register.

The menuetto (quasi allegro) was brisk for what was originally a courtly dance.  With its trio, the minuet was short but jubilant.  The final movement (prestissimo) produced some very abrasive notes from the cellist, who appeared to have her bow wound more tightly than is usual.  In addition, she was not always totally in tune; the tempo was certainly pretty demanding.  The movement had a surprising quiet close.  This was said to be Beethoven’s favourite of his trios.

What Gareth Farr has in common (among other things) with the great composers is that he can write in a variety of styles and genres.  The trio played in this concert followed classical trio structure.  The tuneful opening melody for piano alone was then taken up by the strings.  The first movement French lullaby (as described by Stella Kim) was playful as well as soothing, with shifting tonality.  Lovely interlocking of violin and cello, then passionate declarations, before a quiet ending.

The second movement, a scherzo, was militaristic, bombastic and fiery; the violinist described it as being set in a Russian military factory.  It demanded rapid shifts and loud proclamations from all instruments.  Part of the movement sounded like a fast train speeding across the steppes; this factory must have produced arms at high speed!

The brief Interlude third movement was a gentle relief from the scherzo, while the Finale portrayed elements of gamelan music.  The repeated phrases of Balinese music were certainly there on all three instruments.  It was played with panache and fervour.  There were some brilliant passages amongst the stormy alternating phrases with their quieter repetitions, and a flourishing ending.

The ‘Dumky’ trio is probably the most popular of the composer’s writings in this genre; it is a pity we don’t more often hear his other trios.  However, its undoubted appeal makes it good programme fodder.  Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians says of this trio “[It] consists of a series of six dumky [Slavic folk songs] … the majority being in binary form.  Most start with a slow meditative section and continue at much faster pace.  It was bold of Dvořák to adopt this unique, daringly simple plan, and he executed it with keen imagination… giving each dumka a distinct individuality and colouring.”

Its dramatic opening builds anticipation for what is to come.  The dance-like qualities soon manifest themselves (despite the movement being denoted lento maestoso) followed by delicacy on the piano.  The poco adagio second movement starts with a solemn cello melody, beautifully and sonorously played.  I find Dvořák a most lovable composer, with his characteristics of cheerfulness and sublime melody.  The piano, then the violin reiterated the melody, in most touching manner.

Mutes were produced for the andante.  Again the cello was to the fore, with a delicious melody.  There was a delightful strummed passage for cello, imitated on the piano, before a pensive ending.  The fourth movement (andante moderato) again had a cello solo, with staccato accompaniment on the other two instruments.  Sprightly passages were interspersed.  A slow dance intervened before the return of the theme.

The allegro fifth movement features a joyful opening that always makes me smile.  This quick movement provides a welcome change – not that there is no fast music elsewhere; there certainly is, despite the tempo markings.

Lento maestoso is the marking for the final movement, as it was for the opening one.  Exclamations are a feature, as are alternating fast and slower passages (‘from doleful to exuberant’ as the programme note had it) characteristic of dumky.  The folk music element is prominent here.

The Trio played an encore: Café Music by Paul Schoenfield.  It was bright, jazzy dance music – but personally, I’d rather have been left with Dvořák.

 

Renaissance of the song recital heralded with Poulenc and ‘Songbook’ at St Andrew’s

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Songbook: A breath of Poulenc

Songs and woodwind sonatas by Francis Poulenc

Barbara Graham (soprano), Rebecca Steel (flute), Deborah Rawson (clarinet, Bruce Greenfield (piano)

Adam Concert Room, New Zealand School of Music

Sunday 14 August 2016, 2pm

This time, pianist Catherine Norton, the promoter of Songbook, took a rest from the piano.  Seasoned accompanist extraordinaire Bruce Greenfield did the honours.

The concert was but an hour long, and concentrated on one composer instead of the many composers featured in April’s concert.  Despite the promoter’s title for the group, this concert featured woodwind music, beloved of a number of French composers, as well as song.  With top musicians performing, it was a pity the audience numbered not more than around 30.

A breath of fresh air Poulenc was (along with a number of his contemporaries), leaving behind the sometimes ponderous solemnity of Saint-Saëns and Franck.

Bruce Greenfield arranged the recital and its order, and included in the printed programme notes from Poulenc’s diary that gave some of his philosophy regarding his songs.  Applause was requested to be given only before the short break in the middle of the programme, and at the end; a great idea for allowing continuity of the music.

The songs were settings of poems by Louise de Vilmorin (1902-1969) and Louis Aragon (1897-1982), poets of Surrealism.  Several were very humorous.  Most of the compositions were written during World War II.  The recital began with ‘Violon’ from Fiançailles pour rire (Betrothals for fun?) by Vilmorin.  Through all her songs, Barbara Graham’s language was clear and beautifully pronounced.  Having words and translations printed for us made the songs so much more than ‘mere’ good singing.  The singing was in character with the words, e.g. ‘On the string of disquiet / to the chords on the hanged strings…’

This was followed by the allegro malinconico first movement of the composer’s Sonata for flute and piano.  I wondered what Poulenc would have thought of the silver flute, with its rather more brittle tone than that of the traditional wooden flute.  Poulenc’s writing for the piano was far from just being accompaniment; he gave much delicious music to the piano.

The next song from the same Vilmorin cycle was ‘Fleurs’.  This was no traditional sonnet in praise of flowers.  I loved the expression translated as ‘Flowers sprouting from the parentheses of  a step’.  I have a few of those.  The more sensitive, benign character of this song suited Barbara Graham’s voice better than did the first song.  The slower tempo allowed the words to be pronounced more fully.

Deborah Rawson now played the first movement, allegro tristamente, from the composer’s Sonata for clarinet and piano.  It was not easy to find anything sad in this allegro.  Some of the delightfully spiky accompaniment was in a minor key, but sadness was difficult to detect.

The third song from the cycle, entitled ‘La Dame d’André’, was mellifluous, with quirky touches typical of Poulenc.

The second movement of the familiar flute sonata followed, its description ‘cantilena’ very appropriate in this recital.  The pattern or structure of the work is classical, but the components, i.e. melodies, harmonies and rhythms were not at all.  The beauty of Poulenc’s writing here for flute is incomparable.

Another song from Vilmorin’s cycle was entitled ‘Mon cadavre est doux comme un gant (‘My corpse is as soft as a glove’).  Here again, Poulenc’s treatment of the words was wonderful.

The romanza movement from the clarinet sonata came up next.  There is no doubt about the skill of these musicians: they indeed allowed Poulenc to speak with his own breath.  This movement was like a song – I could almost imagine the words – yet Poulence traversed the range of the instrument, with taste and invention.

‘Paganini’ is a song from another of the same poet’s cycles: Metamorphoses.  With a title like that, it was obvious that this was another song about the violin.  However, the juxtaposition of the instrument with seahorse, mermaid and Mary Magdalen was surreal indeed – stream of consciousness stuff.  The setting matched the diversity of  poetic thoughts, with its various musical images.

The flute rejoined the piano in the final movement of the sonata.  The presto giocoso had a similar flighty, headlong character to the preceding song.

The last song from Fiançailles pour rire was titled ‘Il vole’, probably to be translated as ‘Thief’.  The song contained plays on the words from the verb voler, to fly, and voler, to thieve.  Some of this was lost in reading the English translation.  The sentiment of the last line ‘Je veux que mon voleur me vole’ reminded me of ‘Sweet thief’ in Menotti’s opera The Old Maid and the Thief.

The final movement of the clarinet sonata, allegro con fuoco, was indeed furious – a race to an exciting end.  This excitement was carried over into the final song.  Before it, we heard ‘C’ from Deux Poèmes by Louis Aragon (1897-1982).  The poem introduces images of war among its varied figures, beginning ‘J’ai traverse les ponts de Cé’.  The second poem, ‘Fêtes galantes’ was a fast and furious tongue-twister.  I could not read the English translation as fast as Barbara Graham could sing the French words!  The ironic text points to its having been written during the war, e.g. ‘You see [On voit] fops on bicycles/ You see pimps in petticoats/ You see brats with veils/ You see firemen burning their pompoms’.  It made a glorious end to the recital that illuminated the many-sided talent and innovation of Francis Poulenc.

I’ve long wanted, nay, needed lieder (or art song, if you prefer) in Wellington; the Songbook is the answer to that need, although I do not find this venue the most desirable; it is too resonant for loud solo singing or playing, in my view, and detracts from the beauty of the music.  I noticed that at long last the street-lamp-orange fluorescent lights have been replaced by normal-coloured ones.  Maybe this is not recent, but I haven’t noticed it before.  It’s certainly a vast improvement.

 

Diverting, accomplished, baroque concert from Auckland’s NZBarok on a cold night

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Cello Charms

Mozart: Divertimento in F, K.138
W.F. Bach: Suite in G
C.P.E. Bach: Symphony in E minor, Wq 177
Haydn: Cello Concerto, Hob. VIIb:1

NZBarok led by Graham McPhail, with Daniel Yeadon (cello)

St. Andrew’s on The Terrace

5 August 2016, 7.30pm

Formerly known as AKBarok, this Auckland group was making its first visit to Wellington, though it has been in existence for 14 years!  It was a welcome visit, with an audience almost filling the downstairs and half-filling the gallery at St. Andrews, this despite the night being wet and perhaps the coldest of the year.  It was a pleasure to find the gallery open; it is not always for evening concerts.  The sound is good up there – and hot air rises, so this made it a valuable location on such a cold night.

The highlight of the programme was Haydn’s first cello concerto, with Australian-based English cellist Daniel Yeadon as soloist.  This was claimed to be the first original instrument performance of the work in New Zealand.

These performers play original instruments of the baroque era, having gut strings and using baroque bows.  They stand to play (except of course the cellos, though on Wednesday evening I saw Rolf Gjelsten briefly play his cello standing up!).  Both these factors give them a freedom and a different sound from that from modern instruments.

The Mozart Divertimento was lively, though the group took a little time to settle into intonation and ensemble.  One doesn’t usually think of Mozart (or Haydn) as baroque composers, though in his introductory remarks David McPhail made links between the two periods, with the Bach brothers rather straddling both.

His brief remarks were informative and useful, since there were no programme notes.  Made up of seven violins, two violas, two cellos, double bass and fortepiano, the group has considerable rapport, and plays under the leadership of McPhail, with no conductor.  Fortepianist James Tibbles is up with the times, using an iPad or similar instead of sheet music – but I did find the winking light of the control unit under the instrument a little distracting; incongruous when the music was from the eighteenth century and the instruments were authentic ones.  Apart from McPahil and Tibbles (and Daniel Yeadon, who played with the ensemble in the first half), all the players were women.

The music was charming and, well, diverting, as are all Mozart’s divertimenti and serenades.  We should, of course, have been eating, drinking and conversing during it.  Its sudden ending was part of its charm.

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach’s suite began with a smooth larghetto introduction that gave opportunity to hear the gut strings’ tone which is general clearer in articulation as well as being warmer in tone.  The fortepiano sound was not much in evidence from where I sat, in the gallery.  The allegro contributed plenty of rhythmic vitality and variation.  While not comprised of the set of dances that baroque composers used in suites, there were some dances.  The term ‘Torneo’ puzzled me, and none of my music dictionaries, nor Wikipedia, obliged with a definition.  However, the Italian dictionary did: tournament.  I could not detect horses and lances.

The following adagio Aria was lyrical and beautiful.  It could also be interpreted as an elegant baroque dance.  Menuetto followed; the courtly slow dance it usually is.  The final movement, Capriccio, was more unusual and variable melodically and harmonically than the others.  Nevertheless, I have to say that this music sounds plain after the Mozart; that work was written in 1772 when the composer was only 16, at which time W.F. Bach would have been 61.

The C.P.E. Bach work, written in 1756 was the only one of his twenty symphonies published in his lifetime.   After quite an abrasive opening, it continued to have plenty of dynamic contrasts in the first movement (allegro assai).  A smooth, ingratiating andante followed; again it was possible to envisage a stately dance.  The allegro last movement was rhythmically alive, with dotted rhythms in a melodic line that darted from top to bottom of the stave.

The highlight of the programme was the Haydn concerto.  Yeadon spoke to the audience, explaining some variants in his style from what we come to expect: a narrower vibrato, portamento (slurring), and less than strict rhythm in places.  These, he said, were the fashions in the composer’s time.

The concerto was a familiar one. It was composed around 1761-65 for longtime friend Joseph Franz Weigl, then the principal cellist of Prince Nicolaus’s Esterházy Orchestra.  Its mellow introduction had less staccato playing from the soloist that we have heard in some performances.  Our cellist had a warm, full tone and flawless intonation and bowing.  He imbued the work with taste and grace, and brought out the beauties in it, as did the accompanying strings.  The short cadenza was stylish and at one with the other music.

The adagio bore a sublime melody; syncopation was part of its charm; no wonder it is a popular concerto.  This was playing of a very high order.  Here, the fortepiano was more to the fore.  The total effect was magical.

The third movement was an exciting allegro, and a pretty quick one at that.  At times it was almost a perpetuum mobile.  It was a very skilful performance; the brilliant playing in this work was not only from the soloist.  It evoked a deservedly enthusiastic response from the largely young, and very attentive, audience.  As an encore, Yeadon played the well-known Prelude from J.S. Bach’s first Suite.  It was interesting to see that for this, Yeadon extended down the spike of his cello; all the cellists had played in true baroque style without this accoutrement.  The work sounded very different on gut strings, and made a gratifying end to a fine concert.

 

 

 

Second of New Zealand String Quartet’s 12-concert tour in fine auditorium of Porirua’s Pataka museum

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Heartland Tour
New Zealand String Quartet (Helene Pohl and Monique Lapins violins; Gillian Ansell, viola; Rolf Gjelsten, cello)

Mozart: String Quartet no.16 in E flat, K.428
Gillian Whitehead: Poroporoaki
Dvořák: Cypresses, nos.3 and 11
Mendelssohn: String Quartet no.3 in D, Op.44 no.1

Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua

Wednesday, 3 August 2016, 7.30pm

In the Quartet’s Heartland Classics tour, a number of smaller venues are being visited.  This was the second on the 11-centre tour.  It attracted an audience of approximately 100; the outstanding programme and playing received generous applause from those present.  It was good to see some children there.

The programme began with one of Mozart’s ‘Haydn’ Quartets.  In her remarks, Gillian Ansell informed us that the first performance was played by four composers: Haydn, Mozart, Dittersdorf and Vanhal (also spelt Wanhal).  The first movement (molto allegro vivace) had sombre opening chords that soon gave way to euphonious jollity.  There was both expression and dynamic variety in the playing.  The subtlety of utterance was quite breathtaking.

The opening of the andante second movement was gorgeous: smooth, lyrical, blended, idyllic.  Listening to this was like being in another world.  The modulation into a minor key affected the mood, but it was still blissful music.  It was so good to hear it in a smaller venue than is often the case.

The third movement was a sprightly minuet.  A staccato section was quite amusing in its lightness and playfulness; the trio was almost doleful by comparison.  The return to the minuet was marked by great precision.  The final movement, allegro vivace, had a similar jolly character to the first movement, bravura passages and all.  Its motifs were uncomplicated, but their treatment gave plenty of scope for intriguing variations.

We moved now to an unusual work, introduced by Helene Pohl in some detail.  The musicians demonstrated Gillian Whitehead’s skilful incorporation of the sounds of a number of taonga puoro, played on their stringed instruments.  It was amazing how much like the originals, made variously of wood, gourd, stone and shell, the sounds could be, using a variety of techniques.  They showed photos, some considerable enlargements, of the original instruments. This work was written for the Quartet to play at a conference in China honouring the composer Jack Body, last December.  It was a brilliant piece of work, superbly rendered.  The interweaving of the various instruments was achieved in a thoroughly musical way, each of the stringed instruments having its moments of prominence, but all as part of a cohesive and striking whole.

Two short pieces by Dvořák followed.  These were two of the 12 pieces entitled Cypresses, inspired by poems by Gustav Pfleger Moravsky, that Dvořák arranged for string quartet from the larger number of songs he had written much earlier.  The quartet pieces were published in 1887, and the two we heard were entitled ‘When thy sweet glances on me fall’ and ‘Nature lies peaceful in slumber and dreaming’.  Monique Lapins read out the poems, which were, like their fellows, about unrequited love.

The first certainly expressed a sort of exquisite pain, while the second, in contrast, had a more positive tone, contemplating the joys of nature, though still being about unrequited love. That love of melody and of rhythmic felicity typical of Dvořák was much in evidence in this attractive music.

The New Zealand String Quartet has recorded all of Mendelssohn’s string quartets, including some shorter pieces written for four string players.  The quartet no.3 was introduced by Rolf Gjelsten, whose lively remarks stressed the excellence of the counterpoint to be found throughout the work, making it very interesting for each part to play.  Its setting in the happy, cheerful key of D major helped to make this one of NZSQ’s favourite works to play.

The exuberant first movement (molto allegro vivace) had contrasting quiet passages – but these were almost obliterated by the sound of heavy rain outside.  Nevertheless, the movement was full of zest and enthusiasm, as was the playing.  A repeated passage that was almost spooky followed, yet it also had delicious harmonies and intricate counterpoint.  Indeed, no moment lacked interest.

The second movement (menuetto: un poco allegretto) began in a pastoral, languid mood, yet it also had intensity, and strong melodies.  The third movement (andante espressivo ma con moto) was lilting, but with drive.  The principal melody on the other strings was accompanied by pizzicato from the cello.  This was a delightful movement.  The finale (presto con brio) was spirited and dance-like.  Mendelssohn knew how to capture the audience’s attention from the first notes or chords.  The fugato in this movement, with which the composer was apparently very pleased (according to the programme note) was indeed thoroughly satisfying, as was the entire programme.

The Quartet play again, a different programme, on Friday 5 August at 7:30pm, at the Hunter Council Chamber, Victoria University of Wellington.

Woodwind students deliver a delightful variety of lunchtime music at St Andrew’s

Posted on by Rosemary Collier

Works by New Zealand composers (mainly)

Woodwind students of Te Koki New Zealand School of Music; accompaniments by Hugh McMillan (piano)

St. Andrew’s on The Terrace

Wednesday, 27 July 2016, 12.15pm

Head of Woodwind at NZSM, Deborah Rawson, introduced the students taking part in the concert, and said she had asked them to find suitable works by New Zealanders.  However, the unavoidable absence of a few students meant that several played more than one piece, the latter ones in each case being by other composers.

Perhaps the cause was the rather more esoteric nature of the programme, but there was a smaller audience than is often the case at these lunchtime concerts.  First up was Winter for saxophone and piano, by Natalie Hunt.  It was performed by Kim Hunter.  The saxophone part was interesting, employing the full range of the instrument, but I found the piano part rather tum-te-tum; the overall effect of the piece was somewhat dreary – perhaps the composer’s view of winter.

Next came one of the several clarinet players: Laura Brown, playing Sonatina for clarinet and piano, by Douglas Lilburn.  Laura explained that the piece was not played frequently, and that Lilburn himself had decided that he did not like it, and put it aside.  Here again, the accompaniment was not very interesting, though it livened up in the second movement.  However, the composer exploited most of the considerable range of the woodwind instrument and its capabilities.  After a quiet opening, the sonatina developed into a tuneful and expressive work.  There were gorgeous effects and fresh-sounding melodies. The sudden ending was a surprise.  Laura Brown played with excellent phrasing.

After Lilburn, we had a performer-composer; in fact, we witnessed a world premiere: Peter Liley’s ‘Trees’, for solo saxophone.  Peter was the only male among the day’s performers.  The piece was unaccompanied, and moved through several short episodes, which the composer explained to the audience.  (It was good to see all the players using the microphone, so that their descriptions could be clearly heard).  The episodes were to do with birds, insects, the fantastic woods, and a great beast.  Peter’s sound was bigger and more brassy than that of the other sax player.

He introduced into his piece extended techniques such as over-blowing, thus producing different and multiple tones.  However, I found that the practice of starting each phrase of the melodies on the same lower note became a little tedious.  Very loud sounds were followed by high chirping bird-like tones.  Considerable musical gymnastics were performed as part of the piece.

Next up was clarinettist Leah Thomas, playing Gareth Farr’s Waipoua, a contemplation of the great kauri forest, and especially of the giant Tane Mahuta.  It was an attractive piece, played in a controlled but evocative manner.  There was good interplay between clarinet and piano.  Dynamics were handled very well.

The only bassoon on show was played by Breanna Abbot. She gave us ‘Three Pieces’ by Edwin Carr.  The first was contemplative, the second bouncy and impetuous, but rather like an exploratory journey, while the third had features of both the other movements.  They were played with clarity, and pleasing tone.

Kim Hunter returned to play ‘A flower who never fully bloomed’ by Michelle Scullion, a New Zealand flautist (or flutist, if you prefer), composer, and multi-tasker in the arts.  Although Kim’s instrument was again the alto saxophone, this piece began with the lower register of the instrument, giving quite a different effect.  The unaccompanied piece again demonstrated the player’s excellent control of dynamics and lovely tone.  Suiting the title, the piece had a mournful character.

We then turned to the classics: firstly, the appassionata movement from Brahms’s Sonata Op.120 no.2, played by Laura Brown.  It has to be said that the confidence and experience of this great composer was most obvious in this gorgeous piece.  Rippling passages on both instruments were a notable part of the movement.  The piano was in no way left in the background; it was essential.  There was an attractive variety of tonal colours and dynamics from both players; a thoroughly satisfying performance.

Last was Poulenc; like so many French composers, he was a lover of woodwind.  His allegro con fuoco was the last movement of his Sonata for clarinet and piano, which was one of the last works he wrote, in 1962, the year before he died.  Leah Thomas treated it as typically spiky Poulenc, fast and jolly and one could imagine Poulenc playing this in a Paris night club.  There was plenty of variety in the piano part as well as in that for the clarinet:  lots of fun and the players gave it life.  It made an excellent ending to an interesting and varied concert.