The Red Violin
Garth Wilshere
The Red Violin, New Zealand School of Music Orchestra, Wellington Town Hall 30 July, reviewed by Garth Wilshere.
AIMED at showcasing performers and tutors from the New Zealand School of Music concert opened ambitiously with the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. The orchestra was initially a little hesitant but achieved a nice sound and intensity in the performance. Vocal tutor and accomplished Wagnerian soprano Margaret Medlyn, resplendent in a scarlet gown, glided into commence the exquisitely emotional resignation to death, the Liebestod. Medlyn has the vocal control, strength and power to bring this to life and McKeich kept the orchestra in rein, allowing the soaring chords to match the soloist when required. A fine performance.
Winner of the Jenny McLeod Composition Prize, Pieta Hextall, is a thoughtful and politically aware young composer. Her Our Own Demise captured her feelings on the world with strong crashing chords and undulating momentum.
It was well constructed and orchestrated, but would benefit from judicious editing.
American composer John Corigliano constructed The Red Violin from his Academy Award Winning score for the film “The Red Violin”. String tutor, New Zealand violinist Martin Riseley, is the most musically literate of players, with beautiful phrasing and the ability to make a sweet and lovely sound. The orchestra made the most of the score, in good support of the soloist.
Some of the best playing came with the atmospheric Nocturnes of Claude Debussy. We heard two of the three; the colourful fun of Fêtes and the more transparent wistful textures of Sirènes, where orchestral sounds create subtle textures, and the wordless chorus adds atmosphere.
The chorus didn’t quite capture the essence of the ghostly sound of these temptresses. It was however a lovely performance.
By the final work, Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini the players’ stamina was beginning to wane, and the performance suffered a little.
The piece also needs a more persuasive performance than this from conductor and orchestra, to be convincing. It was a long concert.
AIMED at showcasing performers and tutors from the New Zealand School of Music concert opened ambitiously with the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. The orchestra was initially a little hesitant but achieved a nice sound and intensity in the performance. Vocal tutor and accomplished Wagnerian soprano Margaret Medlyn, resplendent in a scarlet gown, glided into commence the exquisitely emotional resignation to death, the Liebestod. Medlyn has the vocal control, strength and power to bring this to life and McKeich kept the orchestra in rein, allowing the soaring chords to match the soloist when required. A fine performance.
Winner of the Jenny McLeod Composition Prize, Pieta Hextall, is a thoughtful and politically aware young composer. Her Our Own Demise captured her feelings on the world with strong crashing chords and undulating momentum.
It was well constructed and orchestrated, but would benefit from judicious editing.
American composer John Corigliano constructed The Red Violin from his Academy Award Winning score for the film “The Red Violin”. String tutor, New Zealand violinist Martin Riseley, is the most musically literate of players, with beautiful phrasing and the ability to make a sweet and lovely sound. The orchestra made the most of the score, in good support of the soloist.
Some of the best playing came with the atmospheric Nocturnes of Claude Debussy. We heard two of the three; the colourful fun of Fêtes and the more transparent wistful textures of Sirènes, where orchestral sounds create subtle textures, and the wordless chorus adds atmosphere.
The chorus didn’t quite capture the essence of the ghostly sound of these temptresses. It was however a lovely performance.
By the final work, Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini the players’ stamina was beginning to wane, and the performance suffered a little.
The piece also needs a more persuasive performance than this from conductor and orchestra, to be convincing. It was a long concert.
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