ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27636, 18 April 1955, Page 3

ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY

SATURDAY’S CONCERT One was intrigued on going into the Civic Theatre on Saturday evening, for a concert given by the Christchurch Orchestral Society, to find a. fire extinguisher placed in a prominent position in the centre of the dress circle. This was thoughtful of somebody but the concert was not bad enough to justify its use. In fact, under its new conductor, Mr Frank John, the orchestra played quite creditably in the brighter and more robust portions of its programme. In Boieldieu’s Overture, "The Caliph of Bagdad,” there was good precision and well-sustained rhythm. Things were not quite so happy in Luigini’s Suite from the “Ballet Egyptian” for both intonation and tonal quality left much to be desired. As for the performance of Sibelius’s “Valse Triste,” c’etait trop triste. « , „ * “Seventeen Come Sunday from a suite of English folk-songs by Vaughan Williams w&s played with real dash and brightness. This is the sort of music which the orchestra can handle well. The ending of the suite was also well done. The middle section, “My Bonny Boy,” however, came somewhat to grief, and called to mind the old song, “Where is my wandering boy tonight?” Poor intonation again in the Meditation “Westminster” from Eric Coates’s London Suite spoiled the many quite promising features of the playmA little German Wedding March by Soderman ended the programme. In this too, it was apparent that there is promise in this orchestra, if the players individually and collectively would give more attention to certain fundamental points of technique and to polishing them before giving a public concert. There is most ’ praiseworthy enthusiasm in the members of the orchestra and they obviously desire to do well. It is sad to see “desire so outrun performance.” However, there has to be a minimum standard for any group who wish to enlist public support, and one cannot say that this orchestra has reached that standard in some of the work it presents. However, there has been improvement and the purple patches are getting wider apart. The Canterbury College Madrigal Group, conducted by Mr William Hawkey, sang with rare charm, and a polished finesse. Mr Hawkey played the first movement of Mendelssohn’s Organ Sonata in F minor with clear phrasing and well-chosen registration. —C.F.B.