Sydney Orchestra’s Last Concert

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31627, 13 March 1968, Page 16

Sydney Orchestra’s Last Concert

It is a pity that there should have been vacant seats in the Festival Hall last evening for the last concert of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra whose playing has been such a joy during the last few days.

The many hearers are unlikely to forget the orchestra’s outstanding virtues: the precision and rhythmic verve; the splendidly balanced tonal ensembles: the vitality and warm timbre of a magnificent string section; the virtuosity of the wood-wind players as soloists, and* their wonderful precision and intonation as a chorus; and the rounded nobility of the horns, trumpets, and trombones, glorious in crowning the climaxes and giving sunshine whenever they flashed into the texture, of a profundity in solemn and awesome music. All these have delighted us in a series of grand concerts, and we can hope that when Christchurch is a bij city we can have a great big orchestra too. In the meantime we have made quite a good beginning. Mr Moshe Atzmon has made a splendid impression on his audiences, and we are all deeply grateful for the wonderful interpretations he has given us in this and in the other concerts. It is good to

know that he will be a close nighbour. The programme began with the Royal Musical Society and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra rendering Haydn’s Te Deum in which the choir sang with splendid tone, rhythm, cohesion and verve, showing how excellently Mr Field-Dodgson had prepared them. The sensibly reduced orchestra gave vital support without suppressing too much of the choral detail. The impressive soft sections of the work came through with splendid tone from the choir, and the brilliant passages had plenty of bite. The orchestra screened some of the singing in mezzo forte passages, but that was the fault of the hall rather than of the performers The work was performed with stylish polish. Peter Scunthorpe’s Sun Music IV is orchestral impressionist music with scarcely a hint of a theme and not much that could be called rhythm for long; but it is grand stuff to hear, although much of its “programme” can be horrifying enough. The searing heat of the Australian desert, pitiless and sparing nothing is conveyed in extraordinarily clever fashion by using the strangest tricks with every department of the orchestra, yet making everything sound right and clear, without any momentary dimming of the atmosphere. Describing the weird things which happened would cause only confusion,

but there was no confusion In listening to the work. The score must look strange indeed. The choir and orchestra, with Mr George Metcalfe as tenor soloist, gave a magnificent rendering of Kodaly’s “Psalmus Hungaricus,” a setting of a sixteenth century Hungarian paraphrase of Psalm 55 and translated Into English by Edward J. Dent. The choir, until the end with the final chorus sums up the whole work so splendidly, acts as a narrator and the soloist carries the burden of the work. Mr Metcalfe sang with dramatic fire, with remarkably beautiful tone, and with admirable clarity of words and phrasing. His was a very impressive performance. The choir created interesting and intriguing atmosphere in dramatic fashion and in every way gave a convincing and faithful interpretation. The orchestra supplied vivid colouring and emotional feeling. In all, it was a performance of high standard in every way.

Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7 in D minor was played in the second half of the programme. It began in a mood of foreboding with broadly sweeping intense sounds, followed by a consolatory theme, later developed with varying combinations of instruments. The struggle for supremacy between these two ideas went on, with a mellow mood

prevailing. The playing was excellently balanced in every swiftly changing statement until the movement quietly ended. The second movement began peacefully and in confident spirit, with an atmosphere of idyllic peace which was, at times, challenged but usually to little avail; there was gentle serenity at, the end.

The Scherzo was music of sunny disposition enjoying life as it came, and it danced smoothly along ending with resounding confidence. The last movement began with reflective feeling which gave way to a flamboyant and confident section, almost sabrerattling at times, but breaking out into radiant good fellowship as the work—and the visit of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra ended. —C.F.B.