Soloist highlight of C.S.O. concert

Press, 11 August 1980, Page 4

Soloist highlight of C.S.O. concert

By

Philip Norman

Without the William Waltbn Concerto for Viola and. Orchestra, the programme presented by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra at the Town Hall auditorium on Saturday evening would have been indistinguishable from many others of its ilk. Basically set . to a a-relative-unknown-between-warhprses” formula, the programme was designed to lure audiences to the Town Hall? rather than challenge them when they got there. But come the audiences didn’t, at least not in droves,' which leaves one?- speculating.. My heart went out to the conductor, Peter Zwartz, Who was temporarily handicapped by a sprained back. For-this he demahded no concessions;. save that of conducting seated. In spite of the severe restrictions imposed on fiis usual energetic style, he maintained a poise and dignity, arid a clhrity of gesture and intent that was . entirely. laudable., v .

Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C (“Jupiter”) was not an auspicious start to the concert. .Although com? petently played, it did little more than exist as an , aural approximation of the score. Alternately" bland /and listless throughout the first three movements; the performance was characterised by sluggish tempi, little variation- in dynamics, arid tentative entries (particularly at the beginnings of movements). Only in the fourth movement did the playing gain life. On strode the winner of this year’s. 'National Concerto,, Competitions,' Teter Barber, for the Walton Concerto. After a passable first movement with its difficult double-stopping passages for the viola, the. second movement transfixed the. audience with its rhythmic?,coruscation. Here .the spurred on by the" skill of the soloist, gave some splendidly/vivacious playing, especially -in-' the climactic tuttis and the effervescent accompaniment

This vitality was carried : through the third movement ; and a gentle coda brought • the highlight of the evening s to a close. Warhorses No. 3 and No. . 4 might have passed by unnoticed. were it. not for their : lame trotting. Ravel’s • “Pavane pour une Infante ' Defunte” lacked the requisite warmth and pathos, partly through the tempo’s being a ? "shade. brisk, and partly through hesitancy in the allimportant woodwind lines. Tchaikovsky's “Romeo and Juliet” overture illustrated ' the undernourishment of strings in the orchestra that ' only? the .addition of; a few more violinists could have : cured. One had to admire the constant restraint of the brass section in keeping the balance" with the strings. . i It was, in all, not the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra’s most memorable concert of the *l9BO subscription series, but nevertheless, , it was still worth supporting, "if only" to have heard . fine performance of the .Walton-.concerto,