Symphony orchestra

Press, 12 September 1988, Page 6

Symphony orchestra

Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Georg Tintner, sponsored by Trust Bank Canterbury, at the Town Hall Auditorium, September 10, 1988, 8 p.m. Reviewed by Paul Goodson. I left this concert with a feeling of unease, not so much at the standard of the performance but because of basic, underlying factors. The rearrangement of seating produced, to my ears, a. recessed and at times unfocused tonal quality. Having the second violins out on a limb and the cellos fighting their way through the first violins did not seem musically advantageous, particularly in the Brahms symphony which requires a full, spacious sound.

The conductor also chose to dispense with a baton, which seems counterproductive in large-scale orchestral works. Any “expressive” gains are offset by a loss of precision and point which can (and did) lead to some uneven entries and problems in cohesion, both between and within sections. A resident conductor is in a stronger position, but the combination of unfamiliar seating, manual direction and limited rehearsal time can hardly have been helpful to these players. Schumann’s “Manfred” overture is a sombre study, evoking the tortured personality of Byron’s hero. In this performance, Schumann’s thick-textured scoring was not unduly compromised by the altered seating arrangements. There was a fine, brooding- quality to the strings’ playing, and apart from some dull-edged brass entries — possibly a balance, as much as an interpretative, problem — playing was steady, if a little lacking in edge. Poulenc’s “Concert for

harpsichord and orchestra is a curiosity. It was inspired by the playing and, probably more important, the polemical character and actual instruments of the legendary Wanda Landowska. There is a two-fold problem. For all the ingratiating qualities of this score, Poulenc — urbane, tongue-in-cheek and delighting in quirky, asymmetrical melodic and rhythmic figurations — did not fully understand the harpsichord’s qualities. Second, Landowska was no blushing violet when it came to applying the most highly coloured registrations to her specially designed monoliths of instruments.

The soloist, David Vine, was precise and buoyant in the “galant” sections, but > expressively a little muted; his instrument also needed more guts. The orchestra handled the piecemeal motivic writing competently, apart from intrusive horn blemishes and some dragged entries; but there are a number of built-in equivocations to this score. To be blunt, a strong dash of theatrical high camp is what is needed to bring the piece alive. In fairness to orchestra and conductor, Brahms’ Fourth Symphony fared better than I had expected. With memories of an exceptionally fine Tchaikovsky Fourth a few weeks ago, my expectations were high. Mainly on account of some unusual tempi adopted, I was not so much aware of cumulative unity in this performance as of the stature of individual movements. The monumental finale, which is a large-scale passacaglia, makes awesome technical and colouristic demands, and was probably the most convincing of the four movements. The sheer concentration of conductor and players was never less than impressive throughout.