The unmighty harpsichord
Garth Wilshere
Vector Wellington Orchestra, Conductor Marc Taddei with Donald Nicolson (harpsichord) and Douglas Mews (organ), Wellington Town Hall, November 13, reviewed by Garth Wilshere
THIS final concert in the Vector Wellington Orchestra’s 2010 season ended in resounding fashion with the full sound of the mighty Town Hall organ played by city organist Douglas Mews, in the Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3. The sweep of the larger orchestra in full voice was good and matched the might of the organ well. All sections had some fine moments.
With the orchestra fighting for its life due to the mooted Creative New Zealand funding changes, this concert made a statement to reinforce the importance of the orchestra to the capital city.
But all was not so fine. A harpsichord was never going to work in a hall that large and even with amplification or enhancement it still wouldn’t have been right.
Donald Nicolson is an accomplished player but even where I was sitting seven rows from the front in the stalls, he was playing his heart out but was frequently inaudible. Using a delicate harpsichord in the inconsequential Wilhelm Friedman Bach Concerto was not helped by the small number of strings, who simply were not of a good enough quality to support the soloist.
Even the more robust, modern “revival” harpsichord didn’t really project in the witty and piquant, Poulenc Concert Champetre, despite some good orchestral support.
Nicolson’s encore, a dextrous set of tremolos, reinforced his excellence.
The concert’s opening of the overture to Rameau’s La Temple de la Gloire started the concert in baroque style, which highlighted the crisp brass.
THIS final concert in the Vector Wellington Orchestra’s 2010 season ended in resounding fashion with the full sound of the mighty Town Hall organ played by city organist Douglas Mews, in the Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 3. The sweep of the larger orchestra in full voice was good and matched the might of the organ well. All sections had some fine moments.
With the orchestra fighting for its life due to the mooted Creative New Zealand funding changes, this concert made a statement to reinforce the importance of the orchestra to the capital city.
But all was not so fine. A harpsichord was never going to work in a hall that large and even with amplification or enhancement it still wouldn’t have been right.
Donald Nicolson is an accomplished player but even where I was sitting seven rows from the front in the stalls, he was playing his heart out but was frequently inaudible. Using a delicate harpsichord in the inconsequential Wilhelm Friedman Bach Concerto was not helped by the small number of strings, who simply were not of a good enough quality to support the soloist.
Even the more robust, modern “revival” harpsichord didn’t really project in the witty and piquant, Poulenc Concert Champetre, despite some good orchestral support.
Nicolson’s encore, a dextrous set of tremolos, reinforced his excellence.
The concert’s opening of the overture to Rameau’s La Temple de la Gloire started the concert in baroque style, which highlighted the crisp brass.
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