Dvorak Work Performed

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31323, 20 March 1967, Page 14

Dvorak Work Performed

The Christchurch Harmonic, Society, conducted by William! R. Hawkey and accompanied, by the Christchurch Civic Orchestra, gave a well-knit | performance of Dvorak’sl ‘‘Stabat Mater” in the Civic! Theatre on Saturday evening.' Three of the soloists, Loris Synan, Lauris Elms, and Noel Melvin, were brought from; Australia, and Noel Signal! came from Wellington. Technically, the work is a taxing one and the choir, the orchestra and the soloists rose to it splendidly, bringing bright and dramatic colours, strong rhythmic drive and cohesion, a wide range of expressive changes with many delicate nuances in the phrasing, and clearly defined shaping to each section of the work.

Mr Hawkey conducted with assurance and held the work together with strong directions aimed at achieving unity of musical design. His tempi were well suited to the hall —although a vociferous Amen chorus towards the end seemed to skid round the corners— and his building to climaxes was well prepared and dramatically convincing. Where the work allowed he brought forth an appealing tenderness in soft tones — sometimes balance between orchestra and choir at these levels suffered inevitably, because the players and the singers are virtually in two rooms on that stage, and much of the accompaniment has a high tessitura. From all his forces Mr Hawkey got an operatic brilliance of timbres which was necessary to create the excitement and the lavish colour schemes demanded by the work.

The work is thoroughly operatic in style and pretty

lush opera at that. The music creates many moods, offers sharp contrasts, builds atmospheres of grief, remorse, aspiration, despair, longing and triumph—all with lavish strokes that give the impression of an actor’s face when the grease-paint and the lines of make-up are clearly visible. It is all on very large scale and was interpreted cleverly !—as it had to be.

The poem is an intimate expression of a grief too deep for understanding. The necessity for constant repetition of words—sometimes strangely phrased—must do violence to the poem both in structure and in spirit. This poem least lof all can stand that treatment. Therefore it mattered ' little that the words both from i the soloists and from the choir were often far from ; clear.

Quite early in the work it becomes a thankless task trying to equate the words and the music. The idiom of much of the music is unacceptable now as an expression of religious words—particularly of these words—and the result is a lack of unity. There are two courses open to a listener: to forget the words and absorb the general atmosphere of the sounds, or to invent new libretti to which the music could be adapted.

Loris Synan and Noel Melvin were new soloists in Christchurch and both have voices strong in glowing resonance with an arresting array of colour changes. Power is at ready command in their singing, without any suspicion of forcing, and the carrying quality of their voices makes light of the problem of balance with an orchestra. Lauris Elms has been here several times and the vibrant

richness of her voice is always a delight. She has an impressive range and enviable ease of attack—at its extremities. Her singing of the “Inflammatus” had a deeply moving dignity of atmosphere. Noel Signal impressively maintained his fine standard of singing and did not let the local side down at all in the presence of the visitors. His operatic quality—and clarity of voice gave just what this music asked for. In their quartet work these singers did not make any notable impression, but. that usually happens when operatic soloists have to sing in ensemble. The balance in qualities, and at times even in volume, was erratic.

The orchestra, led by Louis Yffer, played with attractive tone and sensitive appreciation of the dramatic requirements of the music.

The score is symphonic in scope—and the players overcame most of its difficulties convincingly. The work begins with sustained unison sounds from various instruments and the players allowed the audience a generously wide choice in the matter of intonation.

Throughout the evening the internal balance of the choir was sustained with exemplary sensitivity. The performance was enthusiastically received by the audience, whose numbers should have been larger. —C.F.B.

British Aid.—lndonesia received on Friday £1 million worth of aid from Britain and a willing hand from the Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, to help restore Indonesia’s shattered economy.—Djakarta, March 19.