Russian Music In Concert

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32354, 21 July 1970, Page 11

Russian Music In Concert

Music by Russian composers, from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, is to be featured by the Christchurch Civic Orchestra in its “Music 70” concert in the Civic Theatre on Sunday. Juan Matteucci will be the conductor and the soloist will be the young pianist, David James, a final-year student at the University of Auckland and a pupil of the Auckland pianist, Janetta McStay. He has already made a name for himself in New Zealand music and was recently awarded a Queen Elizabeth Arts Council Grant for overseas study. He will take up this next year. The programme will open with a Festival Overture by Shostakovich. This contemporary composer writes in a conventional style, with superb craftsmanship. His life as a composer in Russia has not been easy because of the Soviet Government’s attitude to modern music. Many minor Soviet composers suffered. when their experimentation was frowned upon. However Shostakovltch’s ability as a composer has protected him from this fate since he re- I turned to his former romantic style. His music is superb and easy to understand.

The second work is Rachmaninov’s “Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini,” in which the soloist is David James. The witty theme has been used by many composers, one of the more recent compositions being a version for Moog synthesiser by the American composer, Hans Wurman. Each variation in the Rachmaninov Rhapsody is a fresh reflection of the Paganini theme. Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet” is a work which shows the composer at work outside the conventional form of the symphony. This piece spans many moods—the sympathetic figure of Friar Lawrence, the love of Romeo and Juliet, and the feud between the two families. The final work also has a national flavour; this time that of Argentina. The orchestra will play Dances from the ballet, “Estancia,” by Ginastera. This work, full of life and colour, is one of the composer’s better known works. The concert will begin at 2.30 p.m. Another concert is to be given a week later.