C.S.O. ill concert

Press, 27 May 1985, Page 8

C.S.O. ill concert

The 1984-85 Concert Series: Fifth concert presented by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Hopkins with Paulene Smith, soloist, at the Christchurch Town Hall, Saturday, May 25, at 8 p.m. Reviewed by John Farnsworth. This concert was definitely a case of leaving the best until last. In terms of execution and design, the final work, Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, stood out above the earlier and relatively unmemorable offerings. A well balanced programme consisted of three pieces: Schumann’s lightweight Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Khachaturian’s bravura Violin Concerto in D, and the longish Schubert after the interval.

As the informative programme notes admitted, Schumann was no great orchestrator, but Opus 52 makes up in charm and pleasant melodies what it lacks in tone colour. In the event, the orchestra managed the outer movements best, with a cohesive

in the Overture and a vigorous finale supporting a Scherzo that sounded restrained and with a tendency to galumph.

The Khachaturian Violin Concerto, by contrast, is a big, brassy, sometimes showy work that expands the orchestra to include timpani and a piano. In this case, it was an oddly unsatisfying performance, because the players only fitfully caught the piece’s expansiveness and emotional range. Likewise, Paulene Smith, in the solo part, while largely sailing through the technical difficulties and producing some nice slower lyrical passages, seemed to miss something of the urgency and passion needed to bring the work completely alive. Curiously, after the interval, she re-emerged to resume the leader’s desk when, and justly following convention, she had fully contributed her full share to the evening. Surely someone could manage to give her the rest of the night off.

That aside, the Schubert Symphony, even in this brisk and shortened version, produced the best performance of the evening. Its broad design was carefully

mapped out from the opening andante by John Hopkins, with a first movement that had a real sense of vitality and was beautifully shaped and delivered by the orchestra.

The following andante con moto was notable for excellent dynamics and rich woodwind combinations and, after emphasising the sometimes thunderous gaiety of the scherzo, the players gave a committed reading of the finale, impressively shaped and managed by Mr Hopkins. Of course, there was ome looseness, muffed entries and rough edges, but over all this was a mature and finely judged performance with a cohesion that reflected, beyond the earlier works, the understanding between players and conductor.