The living arts

Press, 15 April 1980, Page 15

The living arts

New conductor Music by three nine-teenth-century composers and one from the eighteenth century will be featured tomorrow night in the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra’s first subscription concert for the year, and its first under a new Christchurch conductor. The works to be played are Haydn’s Symphony No. 99, the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2, Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll,” and Medelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony. During the winter of 1830-31, Mendelssohn was in Rome, and during that time the symphony began to occupy his mind. “It will be the jolliest piece I have so far written,” he remarked. When the London Philharmonic Society commissioned three works, including , a symphony, he

chose to present the “Italian.” The first performance, given in London on May 13, 1833, was received with enthusiasm. Haydn’s Symphony No. 99 has historic importance because it was the first orchestral piece in which he used clarinets. The Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No. 2 was first performed in 1868 with the composer as soloist and Anton Rubinstein as conductor. Oscar Levant recalled someone’s commenting that the work “begins with Bach and ends with Offenbach.” This was' more than a joke, for it suggests both the scholarship that SaintSaens brought to bear on his task; the flair and wit that typifies much of his music. The “Siegfried Idyll” was composed in 1870 as a birthday present for Wagner’s wife, Cosima. She awakened to the sound of music drifting into her bedroom and found, on the staircase outside her bedroom door, Wagner and a group of musicians performing this piece, which had been written as a tribute to her for bearing the composer a son, Siegfried. The conductor tomorrow night, John Pattinson, will be making his debut with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. He came to New Zealand last year to take up an appointment at the University of Canterbury, and has conducted a number of orchestras in Britain and Europe including the Manchester University Orchestra, Chester Symphony Orchestra, Janus Contemporary Music Ensemble, and Orchestra da- Camera. He conducted Britain’s oldest amateur orchestra, the Shrewsbury Orchestral Society, for nine years. The soloist wil be lola Shelley. Italian music Christchurch concertgoers are getting plenty of opportunities to hear the Italian violinist, Olinto Barbetti, who is at present visiting the University of Canterbury. He will be the soloist again on Thursday in a lunch-time recital at the University School of . Music at Ham, playing a

selection of Italian music with harpsichord accompaniment, and next week he will appear in a larger context, as soloist with the Amici Chamber Orchestra in a concert in the. Great Hall of the Arts Centre, on April 23. As well as being the soloist, he will be guest leader of the orchestra for the occasion. The programme for the first half of the concert comprises Corelli’s Concerto Grosso No. 7, Vivaldi's Concerto in A minor for two violins (Jennifer Moreau will play the second solo part), and a violin concerto by an eighteenth-century composer, Pietro Nardini. A Charles I.ves work, . “The Unanswered Question,” and Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 in G minor will complete the concert. Organist An English organist, Jennifer Bate, will give a recital on Thursday night in St Alban’s Methodist Church, Merivale. as part of a tour of New Zealand —■ her.. third visit to this, country. . This time opportunities for South Island lovers of organ music will be limited, because the tour is concentrating on the' North Island, and Christchurch and Nelson are the only two places in the South Island in which' she will perform. Jennifer Bate has broadcast and recorded extensively, and has represented Britain at international festivals in Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, and Asia. The programme for her Christchurch recital will include Works by Bach, Buxtehude, Mendelssohn, and a contemporary Dutch composer, Flor Peeters. In the ivars The Riccarton Players will be in “injury time” when their production of the Peter Ustinov play, “The Unknown Soldier and His Wife," finally opens on April 19. The opening was delayed because two members of the

cast . have been in the wars. Benjamin Carpenter, who plays the role of the Unknown Soldier, dislocated a shoulder while playing rugby, and ' has been swatbed in a bandage; and one of the Soldiers, Richard Capstick, damaged a leg ligament, and has been hobbling around with the aid of a walking-stick. The play’s season will now end, appropriately, with a performance on Anzac Day.

Some props are still needed for the production, and the group has renewed its appeal for Roman sandals, World War I uniforms, and two Army officers’ dress swords. Any person who has some of these items, and is willing to lend them to the Riccarton

Players, is asked to tele-) 1 phone 326-416.. Solo theatre The English solo actor, Derek Bolt, who is based in Nelson and tours regularly to many New Zealand centres, will be in Canterbuiy this week to present his audiences with evenings of reminiscences and extracts from the works of two noted nine-teenth-century writers, Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. He will present “An Evening with/- Charles Dickens” tomorrow night in the Darfield High School hall, and on Friday night in the Great Hall of the Arts Centre. This programme has been presented on previous occasions, and was well received by both audiences and reviewers. On Saturday, an audience in the Centre Gallery of the Arts Centre will be treated to his newer programme, “By the Mark, Twain,” which features reading from many of Twain’s most popular books. The prop for this programme is a replica of the writer’s rocking-chair, made by Ben Dawes, of Motueka. Brass seminar Some of New Zealand's most promising players of brass instruments are expected to take part in a three-day seminar on the subject at Taradale in June. The seminar is being organised by the Music Federation in association with the Queen Elizabeth II Arts Council. A similar seminar was held in Marton two years ago. The federation’s manager (Miss Elizabeth Airey) said in Wellington that 20 players would be selected. The federation has written to all known brass players either directly or through music organisations, inviting them to apply to attend the seminar. The tutors will be Albert McKinnon, principal trumpet with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Edward White, co-principal french horn with the orchestra, Ken Young, who is its tubist, and Ross McGavin of Palmerston North, a trombonist who has toured overseas with every National Band since 1962. Applications are still being accepted. Those selected to take part will have transport and accommodation paid if they live more than 350 kilometres from Taradale, but will pay a small fee for attendance.