Lovely and disappointing
Garth Wilshere
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Shelley, with percussion soloist Colin Currie, Michael Fowler Centre, reviewed by Garth Wilshere
THERE was a big turnout for this concert and younger people were no doubt attracted by percussionist Colin Currie.
The Edinburgh-born soloist makes a big impression with his astonishing musicality.
He performed the Percussion Concerto, written for him by American composer Jennifer Higdon.
Centred around his love for marimba, this piece had him front-of-stage with marimba, percussion and drum kit, and moving around the instruments.
The piece included wafting marimba, bowed sounds, and full tilt drum kit solos, a la rock bands.
The sounds were varied with the intense orchestral writing balancing out the sound.
His cadenza was vibrant and there was particular interest in the dialogue and interplay, like echoes and “duels” between the soloist and the orchestral percussion players.
The concert opened in a reflective mood with Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite. This was meticulously done under conductor Alexander Shelley.
The same attention to detail made a strong case for Beethoven’s Symphony No 6 Pastoral, with the storm section of special relevance after the violent electrical storm a couple of hours earlier.
It was a lovely interpretation.
Lyell Cresswell’s Landscapes of the Soul for string orchestra was written to explore links between music, painting and landscape. Despite accomplished string writing it didn’t have much to say to me, and was disappointing.
THERE was a big turnout for this concert and younger people were no doubt attracted by percussionist Colin Currie.
The Edinburgh-born soloist makes a big impression with his astonishing musicality.
He performed the Percussion Concerto, written for him by American composer Jennifer Higdon.
Centred around his love for marimba, this piece had him front-of-stage with marimba, percussion and drum kit, and moving around the instruments.
The piece included wafting marimba, bowed sounds, and full tilt drum kit solos, a la rock bands.
The sounds were varied with the intense orchestral writing balancing out the sound.
His cadenza was vibrant and there was particular interest in the dialogue and interplay, like echoes and “duels” between the soloist and the orchestral percussion players.
The concert opened in a reflective mood with Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite. This was meticulously done under conductor Alexander Shelley.
The same attention to detail made a strong case for Beethoven’s Symphony No 6 Pastoral, with the storm section of special relevance after the violent electrical storm a couple of hours earlier.
It was a lovely interpretation.
Lyell Cresswell’s Landscapes of the Soul for string orchestra was written to explore links between music, painting and landscape. Despite accomplished string writing it didn’t have much to say to me, and was disappointing.
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