ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29165, 28 March 1960, Page 7

ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Recital By Peter Cooper The audience, at Peter- Cooper’s anniversary concert on Saturday evening was insistent in its applause and seemed clearly alert to the merits of the performance, as well as the significance of the Occasion. It is a pity that the Civic Theatre was not full, for a capacity house would have made a well-deserved compliment to a New Zealander who has made good in one of the most difficult of musical careers. In congratulating him on his achievement, it is no,t out of place to record what it does stand for. Mr Cooper is one of a generation which we may. in time, call the first of the few. With the Mary Pratts, the Ken Smiths and the Alex Lindsays of this part of the world (to name a few from different fields), he is fully aware, of the impedimenta of his vocation. His worst qualification is his birthplace, of course, with his name running a close second. The days are gone when he could have sought favour by adopting Coprario for a name, as an early namesake did. But one wonders if the conditions which forced such an expediency are auite removed vet. The fact that most of Mr Cooper’s work has been done outside New Zealand prompts this thought. In a programme that followed well-worn paths there was much to interest and inspile the young nianist. Mr Cooper relished the full sonority of the piano, producing passages of immense oower and drive in the Chopin B minor Scherzo, the Liszt works and in Tausig's arrangement of the D minor Toccata and Fugue (Bach), which was also notable for the lively use made of “terrace” dynamics, a baroque device which is quite a feature of Mr Cooper’s playing in general. Coupled ■ with his comprehensive technique there is an ever-present and vital sense of onward rhythmic flow which allows Mr Cooper not only to illuminate the composer’s message, but also, in terms of his own personal predilections, to 'hed new light on it. Such was the case in the allegretto of Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata which, taken at a deliberate tempo and underlined with some telling mezzo-staccato, possessed a tinge of haughtiness that was as unusual as it was refreshing. The sonata took pride of place. The outer movements had limpidity and impetuous strength in excellent proportion. The attack made in the initial stages of the finale was sustained in such a manner that there was room tonally and dynamically for an impressive climax. The music by Chopin which followed suffered somewhat by comparison—as music and in performance—but three of the preludes and the scherzo restored interest, as well as offering further evidence of this pianist’s penchant for anything that smacks of the toccata. Albenlz, Faure, Debussy, Liszt, Poulenc, and Peter Cooper him-, self (a charming Tango Caprice) were also represented. —J.A.R.