FOUR CONCERTOS

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 95, 23 April 1931, Page 9

FOUR CONCERTOS

PIANO AND ORCHESTRA1:

Students of Air. Gordon Short and whal might be described as a bijou orchestra gave an unusual performance at the Con« cert Chamber last evening of four conseculive pianoforte concertos. A large and receptive audience was present, and -th« applause of the efforts of the performers,separately and as a body, had a.genuine nng about it. The works presented were Mozart, Schumann, Tschaikowsky, and Liszt, each exacting and iv striking con« trast to the other. To adequately appro ciate the efforts of the students and ths tasks they essayed-, an audience composed entirely of musicians and students would perhaps have been desirable, but the general public. were invited, and no doubt the pianoforte performers had much to gain by familiarising themselves -with the atmosphere of the concert hall as distinguished from that of the studio. In any, case, the concert, if ambitious, was in lina with Continental usage, where-three or (our concertos may be given at one per* formancc, and it may also bo regarded as a notable contribution to genuine musical effort in Wellington. Opportunities of hearing works of the character constituting the programme are necessarily very, rare here, for many reasons; therefore Mr. Short made the audience his debtors, and they seemed to, be not unmindful of .tfe» proverbial gratitude with which the half loaf ought to be received.

The first number on the programme was Concerto in E flat for two pianos (Mo,tart). In this work, as in those following it, the different movements were .played by different students, so that the audience had the uncommon experience of hearing various interpretations of each section of one complete work. This concerto was remarkable for the liveliness of the first movement, the pensiveness of the second, and the brilliancy of the third. The ladie* rendering the three movements wera Misses Molly Cook and Molly Withers* Dulcie Reeve and Madge Dorling, and Lurleign AVatkins'and' Stella Willoughby. The rendering of the pianoforte parts was generally noteworthy for careful reading, crisp touch, sound teachnique, and the apparent ease with which the, many, difficulties in the work were approached. Concerto in A minor (Schumann) fol* lowed. It was a work not unfamiliar, perhaps, to many in the audience, and one remarkable for its beauty and expressiveness of .various human emotions. Appertaining to the second movement is a lovely passage for the 'cello. Flashes of brilliancy marked the performance of this concerto, especially in the final movement. The piano parts were .played with a nica sense of the character of the work con* sidered as an entity, by Miss Eileen Clark, L.A.8., Miss Gladys Morgan, and Mr. Ernest Short, in thaj; order. The third concerto was the B Flat Major (Tschaikowsky), opening in startling fashion, and .remarkable for its massive chord effects and suave and "popular," or easily, assimilabft, melodies. To the second movement belongs a lovely melody for the fiuto» The third and last movement was thrill* ing in the extreme, and ended in mosl imposing fashion. The performers, all completely invested themselves in ■ tha lively spirit of the work and its Quick transitions of mood. Misses Nora Gray, L.A.8., Eileen Goodson, L.A.B.,and Glen Carty, L.A.8.. F.T.C.L., respectively were the solo pianistes. . The last work was the Concerto in X Flat by Liszt—emphatically his—with all the fire, colour, and dash and the suggestions of frenzy and tziganerie that dis« tinguish much of his work, which generally laß in this particular concerto) bristles with, executive difficulties. The pianoforte part in the first movement was played by Mils Mary Lennie, L.T.C.L and th» second, by Miss Lalla Vandersloot, L.A.B. The orchestra, under the competent leadership of Miss Ava Symons, seemed at times to overpower the pianists, and it was hard to suppress the thought that a "little more rehearsal would have been an advantage. But mention has already, been made of a half-loaf, so that it is imnecessary to say further than-that Mr. Short, who conducted, placed his audience under obligation to him for the.prmlcga of hearing these fine musical works and for the arduous work he had evidently given to preparing and arranging tor tneir public performance.