‘Tekau classics’

Press, 4 March 1988, Page 8

‘Tekau classics’

Tekau Classics Concert. Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Curro, Town Hall Auditorium, March 3, at 8 p.m. Reviewed by Paul Goodson. i . Designing a programme of miscellaneous orchestral; works — principally abridgments or arrangements ! — which have become familiar through their association with popular entertainment is a fairly safe-means of gaining audience support. { - Add to familiarity the positive features of wide appeal and thematic unity, and on one level success is assured. But there are{ also risks: namely, truncating works to the point of annihila- , tion, and selecting pieces of questionable artistic worth or which, through overexposure have become hackneyed in itself a compliment.self a compliment. This concert had its fair share of plus and minus factors. One large negative lay in performing the opening few bars of Strauss’s “Also Sprach Zarathustra" as a curtain-raiser. That was a gratuitous piece of gimmickry which flouted the composer’s anthropological design and only highlighted orchestral imbalance and the lack of a concert organ. The ensuing “Overture” from Rossini’s “William Tell” and selections from Tchaikovsky’s "Nutcracker Suite” should have fared better, but there was a lacklustre quality which I found difficult to account for in works that should largely play themselves. Some flimsy woodwind - playing marked the Rossini, and curious patches of imprecision were most intrusive in the Tchaikovsky excerpts which lacked delicacy and refinement. x ....

The orchestra was joined by Angela Shaw and Graeme Gorton who contributed some attractive operatic numbers ranging from Mozart to Gershwin. Instrumental support was firm, but not always well matched to the carrying capabilities; of the voices. From the second half. John Williams’s, music from “E.T." and a Beatles' miscellany arranged by Philip Norman were! most memorable. Norman's arrange-! ments, ! especially showed a masterly! grasp of the orchestral palette at hisdisposal. Addinsell’s one-movement “Warsaw! Concerto” has all the subtelety of ab battering-ram. It represents a particular type of pugilistic and nationalistic bom< bast allied to pseudo-romanticism, long since defunct. But under the capable; fingers of Michael Lawrence and with: suitably indulgent orchestral support); this piece of bogus nostalgia passed off well enough. Ravel's “Bolero”, with its yearning! sensuous melddy line, should have been the highlight of the programme, but was! marred by shaky solo lines and some! precarious intonation. ! ; I regret having to report on noticeable, coarseness in all sections of the orches)! tra at various times, and on some basic! problems of balance and which simply must be addressed. This orchestra stands at a critical time in its performing history. It is capable of so much, but scrappy programming which required players to change gear far too many times, and a succession of guest conductors — however competent individually — will never bring it the distinction it seeks and deserves. [: