ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY

Evening Star, Issue 22144, 26 September 1935, Page 17

ORCHESTRAL SOCIETY

THIRD CONCERT OF SEASON BRILLIANT PERFORMANCE BY VISITING PIANIST The programme at last night’s concert of the Dunedin Orchestral Society was of conventional composition but held a lively interest nevertheless. There was certainly nothing in it to confuse the uninformed, for the music possessed a simple and direct appeal, and it follows that the performance was a clear success. Mr Vernon Griffiths is maintaining an admirable course in tempering familiarity in his programmes, scoring by reason of the freshness or his readings. When he brought the full orchestra up last evening it was at its best. In solo there was some uncertainty, but the trombones iu particular erred in the other extreme. They were much too assured. The string tone was generally smooth, and some very charming music was heard from the woodwind, a section of the orchestra concerning which it_ is never safe to prophesy. The evening was enriched by the presence of Miss Elsie Phillips, a young Wellington pianist who was associated with the orchestra in the Liszt concerto in E flat and also, played an arresting group of modern works. Miss Phillips is unquestionably one of the brilliant products of her generation in Dominion music. Such individuality and authority are very seldom heard in a young pianist. 'the orchestra opened with old friends in three dances from Sir Edward German’s ‘ Henry VIII.’ suite, and caught their pleasant melodies and rhythms very easily. The shepherds’ dance was interpreted with distinct grace. It was apparent from the first, however, that a tighter rein would have to be kept on the forceful trombone. When that instrument blares it becomes offensive. Then followed two movements from the ‘L’Arlesienne’ suite of Bizet. There was charming string and _ woodwind style in the fanciful minuetto, _ and_ the horns showed out with nicely-judged effect in the carillon. Miss Phillips made her first appearance with the orchestra in the Liszt. She was confident and unhesitating, clear and incisive, and played with a command that argued decidedly unusual technical powers. Liszt may be a king of pianoforte complexities, but his sometimes deraonaical intricacies were surely and deftly fingered here. < There was not the same sustained interest in the orchestral responses and elaborations. The balance often wavered to the detriment of the solo music, but the orchestra was generally full and effective in its highly interesting part. At the same time, it is rather difficult to assess such values from the hack of the stalls. The two movements from the Fouldg Keltic Suite were heard with pleasure. The orchestra in concert was excellent in the melody of the lovely lament, and invested the fascinating march-like air with becoming verve. Percy Grainger’s ‘ Molly on the Shore ’ was a jolly affair that was also refreshing to the ear. The last orchestral work was the exhilarating ‘ Slavonic Rhapsody ’ by Friedemann, and it wag given a full-blooded performance.

For her modern group Miss Phillips selected three very interesting works—/the brilliant Capriccio in F sharp by Frank Bridge, York Bowen’s ‘ Windmill,’ and the well-known Rachmaninoff Prelude in G minor. The Bowen tone sketch is a masterpiece. All three very happily demonstrated Miss Phillips’s extraordinary individuality. It will be a great pleasure to hear her again. The other soloist was Miss Phyllis Clare, whose attractive mezzo quality was well set in Dvorak’s ‘ Songs My Mother Taught Me/ Rogers’s ‘ The Star/ Malashkin’s ‘ I Shot an »Arrow into the Air/ Campbell-Tipton’s 1 Spirit Flower/ and a particularly dainty cuckoo song (of which there is apparently an endless variety). Tho last two were Miss Clare’s best efforts, although all had a definite character. She showed a fine sense and contributed studies of conviction. The cuckoo ballad was especially delightful. The accompaniments were played by Miss Jessie Jones.