Concert Series

Press, 5 November 1984, Page 4

Concert Series

Third subscription concert in the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra’s 1984-85 Concert Series. Conductor and soloist Carl Pini (violin). Saturday, November 3, Christchurch Town Hall Auditorium, at 8 p.m. Reviewed by Julie Klaassens. With deft programming and unerring good taste, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, under the baton and bow of Carl Pini, is scaling new heights. Three major works, two of which are definite premiers in Christchurch, if not New Zealand, forecast an exceptionally exciting evening. Whether the drawcard was John Ritchie’s “Pisces” partita concertante (specially commissioned for this concert and dedicated to Carl Pini and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra), a newly circulating Vivaldi concerto for double orchestra, Richard Strauss’s deeply expressive “Metamorphosen’ 5 for 23 solo strings, or Dvorak’s immediately appealing “Serenade” for strings, there was certainly plenty to chew over, digest, and want to hear again. In what was essentially an evening of string music, John Ritchie’s fuller scored “Pisces” served as a focus.

Commemorating an eventful 25 years of this orchestra’s existence, the fourmovement work pays homage to past and present members. Hence the exacting Arioso for solo violin taken beautifully by Carl Pini, and the unexpected jazz Intermezzo for saxophone, piano, bass, and drums.

Characteristically, sprung rhythms set in the mellow English tradition of Vaughan-Williams flavoured this diverse work. Its perennial tone of warmth and optimism and captured by the orchestra which played with neat accuracy throughout, notably in the bulletlike conclusion to the first movement and the final jig. A fourth (completed) Vivaldi concerto for double orchestra, surviving the destructive war years solely on microfilm and now published in facsimile edition, provided the second premiere.

The greatest value of this work lies in Vivaldi’s conception of musical ideas and antiphonal forces, rather than in the musical content itself. This was a colourful performance drawing maximum contrast from two opposing orchestras wielding independent forces. The two

main protagonists of the first movement, violin , and organ in separate camps, were ably supported by flutes countering recorders and harpsichord countering organ in its accompanying role. It was a refreshing newcomer which kept the upper strings scrambling mercilessly for much of the time, and was well delivered.

In Richard Strauss’s lament, “Metamorphosen” (originally entitled “Mourning for Munich” on a preliminary sketch), the monumental achievements of this orchestra’s string section were fully demonstrated. Leadership from the baton brought a rich, throbbing tone ideally suited to the intensity of the work. There was a conviction in delivery which sought to follow the endless variation and development of each of the four themes and to bring them to rest at last in the fatalistic coda, quoting Beethoven’s Funeral March. The same attention to string style swept through Dvorak’s “Serenade,” the sweet panacea to the above. Each of the five movements flowed liltingly and lightly. It was an evening for congratulations, auguring well for the next 25 years.