‘1812 Overture’ off with a bang

Press, 20 February 1988, Page 11

‘1812 Overture’ off with a bang

Ducks flew for cover, the audience plugged their ears and windows in nearby houses rattled last evening as four 105 mm howitzers let fly in North hagley Park. The Royal Regiment of new Zealand Artillery was used to provide the cannon sound in Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture” during the finale of the “Summer Times” programme last evening. However, not everybody found the blast easy on the ear. The switchboard at the Christchurch Central Police Station was jammed with concerned callers as the howitzers fired their blanks about 10 p.m. A practice firing about 7 p.m. caused at

least one family picnicking on the Avon riverbank to flee from what they thought was someone shooting at them. A Deans Avenue resident, Mrs Margaret Johnston, said that the noise was the most terrifying thing she had experienced. “At the first impact of that cannon going off, I actually though a plane was landing on the roof. The lights were swaying and the windows rattling.” Mrs Johnston said she had telephoned other people in her street who were also concerned about the noise. “My neighbour ran outside thinking someone had been shot,” she said.