‘Back to Bach’

Press, 15 July 1985, Page 4

‘Back to Bach’

“Back to Bach,” presented by the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Carl Pini at the Town Hall Auditorium, July 14, 3 p.m. Reviewed by Philip Norman.

The rare sight of a long queue at the Town Hall box office yesterday afternoon is testimony to the increasing popularity of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra’s Sunday Series of concerts. The “Back to Bach” formula seems to be working well, both as a drawcard for a pleasingly large number of concertgoers and as a recipe for an enjoyable, rewarding recital. The Bach item of the programme was the everfaithful Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. For this performance, the concerto’s usual inner movement of two pivotal chords was swollen to full length with the interpolation of the second movement of Bach’s Sonata in G major for violin and continue. I am sure Bach would have approved of * this fusion. The beautifully con; trolled account by Carl Pini of the tender solo violin line in this added value movement provided a satisfying zonej of contrast between

the driving rhythms of the outer movements. As a nod to authenticity, only 10 string instruments were used in this performance, and as a result of this economy, the sound positively sparkled. Entries were clean and confident, the counterpoint vigorous, and the dynamics noticeably terraced to excellent result. At last, the orhestra’s management has seen fit to foster locally the art of conducting. For a while it seemed that occupancy of the C.S.O. podium and permanent residency in the city were mutually exclusive. Paul Mayhew, principal horn player of the orchestra, conducted members of the wind section through a reasonably neat performance of Gounod’s “Petite Symphonic.” The general tone was good and the balance of sound pleasing. If the performance was a shade on the polite side, the fault lay with Gounod’s music, which seemed intent on preserving good manners at the expense of uninhibited thought or lively emotion.

The second half of the programme featured two works for solo violin and viola. Jane Hazelwood, an

Australian violist based at present in West Berlin, joined Carl Pini in a charming performance of both Handel’s Passacaglia for violin and viola and Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola. In both works the soloists displayed pleasing empathy, with co-ordination of rhythm, pitching and tonal balance being of excellent order. The Handel Passacaglia was perhaps the more satisfying of the two; the unaccompanied nature of the work allowed the soloists greater freedom of colour and movement. The Mozart Concertante suffered from being conductorless throughout the passages featuring the solo violin. While the orchestra played with admirable cohesion in these places, there was nevertheless an appreciable improvement in the clarity and vitality of sound at points where Carl Pini, as conductor and soloist, was able to beat the music. Thus, over all, the interpretation of Mozart’s music was a shade uneven in temperament. The third concert of this “Back to Bach” series will be on Sunday, August 11.