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!