‘Fifty years of pop’

Press, 23 February 1987, Page 8

‘Fifty years of pop’

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Ron Goodwin, in the LB.M. “Summer Pops” at the Town Hall auditorium, February 21, 8 p.m. Reviewed by Phillip Norman.

With Ron Goodwin at the helm, one can rely on a safe course for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s annual passage through the musical shallows of “Summer Pops.” This year, the theme of "fifty years of pop music” was chosen, ostensibly to help celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of broadcasting by the ZB radio stations in New Zealand. I have often wondered what the sound of a hollow ring would be like in a concert setting — this tidy justification seemed more an excuse for continuing the usual tried-and-true programming formula for “Summer Pops” programmes. Melodies by composers

such as Gershwin, Carmichael, Rodgers, Bacharach, and Williams marched by in a chronological sequence, interrupted only by medleys of television themes, Disneyland tunes, and songs from the war years. It was all staple stuff, but delivered with sufficient vigour and good humour to provide an enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

Ron Goodwin certainly knows how to win over an audience. By the end of the concert he had persuaded us to whistle along with “Colonel Bogey,” to hum (where words were forgotten or, with the disadvantage of youth, never known) selected verses of “The White Cliffs of Dover” and “Bless Them All,” and to link arms and sing, with surprising warmth, “Auld Lang Syne.” His jokes between items, though several years older since his last visit to New Zealand, stiU

carried the capacity to amuse. The humour, however, was more in the telling than in the material — a sure sign of an adroit raconteur at work. The playing by the orchestra was steady, if not inspired. A few facets of the performance could be considered as highlights, not the least of these being the crisp ensemble deliveries by the brass section, particularly in the rousing “South Rampart Street Parade.” The harp, cor anglais, and string section gave a magical account of Sondheim’s "Send in the Clowns.” Elsewhere, good solos were taken by Barnaby Hamid (trombone) in “It Can’t be Wrong”; by Donald Armstrong (violin), Ronald Webb (oboe) and Nancy Luther-Jara (flute) in “Slaughter on 10th Avenue”; and by Stanley Friedman (trumpet) in the “Dynasty” portion of the television medley.