Bergel leads N.Z.S.O. in grand concert

Press, 22 June 1978, Page 4

Bergel leads N.Z.S.O. in grand concert

By

C. FOSTER BROWNE

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Erich Bergel and led by Peter Schaffer, gave a splendid concert in the Town Hall last evening and thoroughly deserved the furore accorded at the end.

The programme began with Mozart’s Symphony No. 38 in D (the Prague). In its dignified opening the blending of the woodwind and strings seemed all that could be desired, a matter of weight and balance which under Mr Bergel’s direction remained at the highest level throughout the whole programme. Many colours enlivening the scene came with gentie caress from the players, guided always with immaculate finesse in Mr Bergel’s polished style'. The slow movement had superb dignity and came to hearers with a gracious and compelling sense of peaceful wellbeing, and the work ended in warmth and dignity. Gyorgy Pauk (violin) and Ralph Kirshbaum (cello) were the soloists with the orchestra in Brahms’s Double Concerto in A Minor. This playing seemed to be without flaw. Both players have technical mastery and the most finely poised poetic judgment. Through many years of playing together they have the finest accord in phrasing and in the smallest details of expression and colour. They and the orchestra created heightened life and interest in every moment.

Be’nign dignity marked the course of the slow movement, and the finale brought the audience to the edge of their

seats and to a cheering furore at the end.

The programme ended with Debussy’s “La Mer,” a work requiring the finest gradings of expressive changes at all levels. Mr Bergel held the complete attention of all the players every step of the way, and gave a performance that conjured the glints of sunlight on a calm surface and die blinding force of unleashed fury in the last movement.

Throughout the interpretation, there was always a feeling of threat and of hidden power even in its moments of lyrical peace. The members of the orchestra showed in this superb programme how high sights have been set in artistic response. There will be a concert in the Town Hall today at 12.15 p.m. when Mr Kirshbaum will play, with the orchestra, Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.