Dukas: Ariane et Barbe-Bleu

This is a marvellous opera by a composer who produced very little but what there is of it is marvellously crafted. Ariane has had a mini-revival in 2007 when Telarc released a studio recording conducted by Leon Botstein with the BBC SO and American soprano Lori Phillips in the title role. Imagine my surprise when the small Austrian label Oehms launched another Ariane in April 2008 which is a utter stunner. It is conducted by French conductor Bertrand de Billy, stars soprano Deborah Polaski but the real star is the Vienna RSO which blows the competition to pieces. At first I was led to believe that the orchestra playing in this recording was the Vienna SO and I thought that the band sounded as good as the VPO! But it is actually the Vienna Radio SO which is playing. This marvellous orchestra brings out every detail in Dukas' lustrous scoring and the quality of the front desk fiddles takes one's breath away as do the horns and winds. In comparison the BBC SO cannot illuminate the intricacies of the score and Telarc's recording is disappointing. If you can access the Naxos listening site listen to this Oehms recording - you'll love it!

Gramophone Magazine Orchestra List

I cannot comprehend what possessed the Gramophone panel to call the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra the world's No 1 orchestra. It is a good orchestra but from what I have witnessed it does not deserve to rate ahead of the Berlin Philharmonic or the Staatskapelle Dresden (my No 1). As for the LSO being No 5 on the list, give me a break!
My criteria for orchestras is simple - listen to the oboe and the horn sections. There is a world-wide shortage of good players in both instruments. Unfortunately the Concertgebouw horn section doesn't cut it and the oboes don't blend either. The same goes for the oboes in the LSO - there are other British orchestras with better woodwinds (Philharmonia, BBC Phil). If the oboe is off there goes the whole orchestra's tuning.
Watch the RCO's DVD of Heldenleben and there are fluffed and split notes , missed entries no way is that the world'd best orchestra. There is a problem with oboes in the Berlin PO they have never replaced Lothar Koch or Schellenberger properly. Pahud is a great replacement for Galway but the individuality of the world's greatest woodwind section (Karajan's Berlin Phil) has become diluted. Dresden is a better example of the qualities of a traditional German orchestra with its warmth and precision. The Bavarian RSO is a fine orchestra but it does not have the traditions of Berlin, Dresden or Leipzig.
Where have the critics been for the last 20 years Leningrad has been St Petersburg for that long! Here is the list:

1 Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

2 Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

3 Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra

4 London Symphony Orchestra

5 Chicago Symphony Orchestra

6 Bavarian Radio Symphony

7 Cleveland Orchestra

8 Los Angeles Philharmonic

9 Budapest Festival Orchestra

10 Dresden Staatskapelle

11 Boston Symphony Orchestra

12 New York Philharmonic

13 San Francisco Symphony

14 Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra

15 Russian National Orchestra

16 Leningrad Philharmonic

17 Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

18 Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

19 Saito Kinen Symphony Orchestra

20 Czech Philharmonic

Fleming's Lemmings Bite the Dust

I know it's not music but it's not cricket either. Put it another way New Zealand can't play the game - they lose it. So much for the World Cup next month - just forget it boys unless you get a new captain and coach. Well done England.

Concert Diary July 2006 Christchurch

Initially I planned to review individual concerts one at a time but in July a trickle has become an avalanche so I will cover each one briefly. This year Christchurch had to wait until the end of May before the NZSO finally came to town – was it worth the wait? Not in the first half. Michael Noriss Heavy Traffic for contrabassoon and orchestra was a quirky but unmemorable piece better suited to chamber music. Unfortunately Julian Lloyd Webber’s rendition of Elgar’s Cello concerto was not much better – everything sounded routine – since then Christchurch has heard a far better performance as part of the International Cello competition but more about that later. Fortunately the second half was dedicated to Zemlinsky’s rarely heard Mermaid - a gorgeously opulent symphonic poem in three parts. This type of music is what large symphony orchestras are born to play although I wish that conductor James Judd would not pedantically divide the 1st and 2nd violins for every piece – having violins on both sides of the stage tends to cover up the lower strings too much.
Russian maestro Alexander Lazarev conducted Christchurch’s second NZSO concert on July 6. Lazarev was musical director of the Bolshoi Theatre in the 1990s and it shows! The Muscovite love for grand gesture and drama is evident in Lazarev’s conducting - particularly in the Russian repertoire. Although Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 1 is an early work influenced by Tchaikovsky and Glazunov, it still bears the original stamp of the young composer. The performance combined passion and precision with biting brass attacks and lush string sonorities. Lazarev’s sweeping flourish to the audience after the finale, may have horrified some purists but it was certainly in keeping with Bolshoi tradition.
Gillian Whitehead’s haunting piece for harp and orchestra – Karohirohi - was performed with soloist Rebecca Harris. Of all the premiered works by New Zealand composers I have heard in the last two years, this is the best. Frankly it is a relief to get away from the populist rhythm-dominated textures of Farr and Psathas and to hear some lyricism at last. Whitehead is now a veteran composer once known for uncompromising serialism but has largely renounced this, as many composers have, for a more approachable post-modern style.
All in all the two concerts have demonstrated a high standard of execution from the NZSO. There is little doubt that Lazarev inspired the orchestra rather more than Judd who was rather lack-lustre. Watch out for the dynamic Susanna Malki conducting Mahler later this year!