Young players shine

Press, 21 July 1980, Page 4

Young players shine

By

HEATH LEES

; ’ The Christchurch School of Instrumental Music presented a chamber music recital in the State Trinity Centre last - evening. • It says much for the school ■ that in .the middle , of a cold . winter spell and an outbreak of flu there can still be more than 24 students participating in a concert of this type. One would have thought that with /'thri; inevitable and fre T quent disruption to recent rehearsals -there .would have; been panics, last-minute alter-i ations, and disasters; -'■' • However, with the fexcep-j tion of the last, item, which. . had to be withdrawn, .there was little evidence' of alarm's : arid excursions. The various groups appeared>t^he ; moment and alb-played with a sense of .aplomb and a. con-, ern for the musical effect,

rather than having too ob-| vious a fixation with mere* motes. This; feeling of being united in a common artistic purpose is one of the chief charms of chamber music and these students are obviously no strangers to the many delights that ensemble playing affords. Some people might argue that while having each group play only one movement gives an over-all variety,' and an opportunity for many, nonetheless there is no real I “settling-jn” period for the performers, since the overjail time of appearance is short., .. ' -- • '•'■• <-;A more serious reflection perhaps.is..that it seemed a shame to .such a restricted repertoire, of composers; ‘Apart from- one; piece

! Mozart,; or (especially) Beethoven, It'.was difficult, to shake off the feeling that these talented youngsters were becoming extremely well versed in resurrecting only the art of the past; but no doubt contemporary music is just as familiar to them on other platforms and occasions. It is clearly impossible to, name all the performers and; invidious to single out poten-i tial stars. Instead, one hopes that the performers enjoyed, the concert as much as the audience did. | The Christchurch School of j Instrumental Music is in the: middle of the celebration of its twenty-fifth year as a vital and growing musical establishment; The evidence of last evening’s . performances shows that it-has much to celebrate. ’