PROFESSIONAL ORCHESTRA.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1456, 3 June 1912, Page 7

PROFESSIONAL ORCHESTRA.

# ' — '' "RUY BLAS" AND "PEER GYNT." The Wellington Professional Orchestra, i which entertained 3000 people at the Town ' Hall last evening, has, musically, become a power in Wellington. It has enlisted { the aid of nearly every professional orchestral player of tho first rank in the city, and the result is a splendid robust tone, allied to a high degree of artistic . finish. Such a band is fortunate in having vested the control in Mr. Herbert ; Bloy. He is a broad, sympathetic conductor, who induces a genial response from those playing under him'. There : are little weaknesses, of course, which every orchestra, has to contend with. One is the absence of Trench horns and the substitution of tenor horns. Whilst these wero well played last evening, one used to orchestral music,misses tho soft, round notes of the French horns in particular passages. The strings and woodwinds aro quite excellent, but the brass not incisive enough when called upon. Taken altogether, the orchestra in tone and balance is one to .be thankful for, and richly deserves encouragement. . . > There were five pieces in last evening s programme. It opened flambuoyantly with Schubert's familiar "Marche Jlilitaire," a popular composition with virtuosi of the pianoforte. Mr. Bloy took tho march at a fine swinging pace, and infused into his interpretation a spirit that'was thoroughly military. In pleasant contrast came the dainty Minuet ot Boccherira, a most prolific composer, who lives only in the famous Jlinuet. It was gracefully and daintily played. . It was in Mendelssohn's overture to his opera "Buy Bias" that the real quality, of the •orchestra became apparent. In this overture tho strings covered themselves with honour, playing with rare sympathy, finish, and assurance. There wore no weaknesses audible... The magnificent crescendos and diminuendos were played with certitude, and the voluptuous bursts of glorious harmony with which the overture is strung were marked by tenderness and strength. "Buy Bias' must be included in the orchestra s .next concert.. Gounod's gay little Saltarello, somewhat recitewtive in melody, was 1 briskly and brightly played. The concluding number was the justly-celebrated suite "Peer Gvnt" of, Grieg, written round the weird noetic drama of that name by the melancholic Ibsen. The suite is too well known to describe;. The four numbers were played-"Jlormng,' '©eath of Ase "Anitra's Dance," and "The. Hall of the Mountain Kings." .There is a strange penetrating beauty in Grieg s music—in its daringlv original harmonies and unusual instrumental combinations, and "grim tragedy seemeth to lurk behind even the sweetest of his melodies. Grieg is Ibsen in music. He has done wonders with that mad ne'er-do-well Peer Gynt. "Morning" is merely a play upon a hauntinglv sweet four-bar theme, introduced by 'the flute, continued by the oboe, and passed on to the stnngs-a stream of interchangeable harmonies ot the purest delight. In "The Death of Ase, ■ Grieg conveys the very atmosphere of the death chamber. As Ase nears her end soft djTefiil chords given out .by the 'cellos and basses breathe lower and lower to a vanishing point. "Anitra's Dance" is 1 a bright pretty pizzicato movement, airy and spirituelle, with that curiously effective break in tho melody peculiar to Grieg. There were traces of unevenncss ' in this movement, which only rehearsnl ' could remove. The grotesque final movement, in which the bassoon and basses figure prominently, was well played, though in the gradual increase of tempo— a characteristic of the movement—prestisimo appeared to be reached rather early " for the best effect to be gained in the amazing din which leads to the final eccentric chords and cymbal crashes at the end. The suite was very popular with the big audience, and will no doubt 1 be in eager demand at future concerts.