AN ACHIEVEMENT

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 32, 1 November 1928, Page 17

AN ACHIEVEMENT

♦ A SYMPHONY CONCERT IN WELLINGTON There may be some slackening off in appreciation of music as lias been recently asserted, but this was not sustained at the Concert Chamber last night, when the Wellington Symphony Orchestra gave its first performance. Some may have thought the title of the new body a little presumptuous before the concert, but none did so at its conclusion. For Wellington to produce such an orchestra was, in the first place, a rather amazing thing; for the orchestra to give such a vigorously artistic performance was a delicious surprise. Wellington has been dead orchcstraliy for some time, and it lias remained for Mr. Leon de Mauny to demonstrate that there Is still life in the corpse, and his praiseworthy achievement of last night not only gave one the thrill of tlic unexpected by showing that we do possess the material for a symphony orchestra, but kudos is due to its organiser and conductor in giving the rising generation an idea of symphonic music. It would be ridiculous to make any comparisons at all; suffice to say that the concert was at once an awakening and a delight, and it will be indeed a very great pity if ways aud means are not provided lor its continuance.

Mr. de Mauny, with string players of’lus own training, bad a basis to go upon, but in order to make up the complement of a reasonably satisfactory symphonic organisation, he had to put his hand in his pocket and.pay for professional assistance, notably in the brass and wood-wind sections, and his judgment in selection was repaid very handsomely, for it is years since so competent a body has been heard in an epic work such as Tschaikowsky’s “Symphony in B Minor” (the Pathetic). To be critical, the brass—a very fine section —seemed rather overpowering in the early stages of the symphony, but there was such suavity and certitude in tone and tempo that one could only suppose that the slight want of balance would not have appeared quite so obtrusive in the larger space of the Town Hall. What an amazing and beautiful work it is, with its sensitive gushes of melody, Its ethereal heights; its tragic depths; its martial thrills; its poignant sorrow. Probably “the Pathetic” is one of the most amazing and thrilling transcriptions of the human emotions, and one may hear it twenty times without tiring of its manifold virtues. It is an extraordinarily difficult work, and there again the success of the performance was made all the more emphatic. Notable are the difficulties of the second movement (allegro non troppo), with its rapid interchanges of mood.

Very well played, indeed, was the voluptuous “allegro con grazia” movement—the famous five-four—very inspiriting the great march, that follows the fantastic orgy in the fourth movement (allegfo molto vivace), and most admirably was encompassed the heartbreaking pathos and solemnity of the final movement with its shuddering subsidence into the stillness of death. The symphony is an epic of life—of man’s hopes and struggles, his petty triumphs and passing joys—and the futility of it all. All sections of the orchestra are entitled to credit, none perhaps more than the strings. It hah always been a matter for lamentation 'that the real string tone has been so difficult to acquire here, but the Tschalkowsky showed that we have it at last, thanks to the:work of Mr. de Mauny. The bassoon, flute, and clarinet leads were excellent, and the bass ensemble exceedingly good. Another surprise was the performance of, Grieg’s ’Concerto in a Minor for pianoforte and orchestra, with Madame Evelyn ,de Mauny as soloist. This is an entrancing work, light and fanciful in character, that was very soundly played. The rather pompuous overture to "Don Giovanni” (Mozart), a poem, a massed sound, opening with tremendous chords, was very interesting, and the popular “Finlandia,” the tone poem that earned exile from Finland of its composer, Sibelius, was played with a vigour and impressement that was delightful. The concert was so remarkable an example of what can be accomplished in the face of odds, that some effort should be made to have it repeated in the larger hall. At its conclusion there was a deserved demonstration for Mr. de Mauny. Among those present were Her Excellency Lady Alice Fergusson, and a party from Government House.