BRAITHWAITE OPENS TOUR AT AUCKLAND

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 421, 18 July 1947, Page 7

BRAITHWAITE OPENS TOUR AT AUCKLAND

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The Listener

Programme Arrangement "Unorthodox but Sound"

HE popularity of the National Orchestra concerts has not flagged during the Auckland season-although there has been such a remarkable concentration of musical actfvity of all kinds in this city that some falling away of public interest (through sheer exhaustion) would not have been surprising. There has been none. The last concert of the season, at which Warwick Braithwaite conducted,. brought a bumper house. Sitting in the hall and listening to the applause, one could have been forgiven for thinking, at certain moments, that New Zealanders are becoming as enthusiastic about music as they are about football. It is not quite as good as that, of course. But if the present degree of enthusiasm can be sustained there is no need for us to feel in the least apprehensive about the ability of, the Orchestra to establish itself as a public institution. a * HE programme on Friday evening was unorthodox in its arrangement, but I think Mr. Braithwaite’s decision to begin with the hour-long Eroica Symphony of Beethoven was sound. When it comes to building programmes one tends to think in terms of* the meal table-hors d'oeuvres, soup, fish, then the main meat course, followed by sweets. But it doesn’t often work out like that. And there are a dozen’ different principles of programme-arrange-ment. A work of the dimensions df the Eroica places a heavy strain on the attention of the listener, especially if he is not familiar with it. It was probably the best plan to launch straight into the symphony, while the audience was fresh. One must admire Mr. Braithwaite’s courage in getting the Orchestra to tackle such a Himalayan peak. The Orchestra is, after all, very young. It has not yet had time to develop to the stage at which such feats can be attempted with the hope of complete success. It must be said that the players

came within striking distance of it, and in doing so gave further evidence of the most astonishing progress that has been made in such a short space of time. But they will need more experience, and intensive rehearsing over a much longer period than was possible on this occasion, before they can expect to master the Eroica. or any of the other really big symphonic works. It was good, all the same, to find the thing being attempted. In making his first appearance with the Orchestra Mr. Braithwaite could have taken the easy road; he could have chosen much simpler music, and have achieved a facjle success. He preferred, however, to take the Orchestra and the occasion seriously,

and he was fully justified in ‘the event. We were given, not a completely satisfying performance, but one that was (on the highest standards) very respectable indeed. And at the end it was clear that in Warwick Braithwaite we have a conductor of considerable stature. His style is both vivid and sensitive. He infuses a great deal of spirit into his work, and maintains an intimate relationship with the players. I was struck by the way in. which his whole bodily movement expresses his feeling about a passage, there is no movement of head, feet or body that is not dove-tailed neatly and significantly into the movements of the baton and of that very

eloquent left hand, He gives the impression of being possessed by the music, and at home with it; of being quite sure of himself without cockiness or affectation; and. of managing always to be completely explicit in his communications with the players. He must he a very satisfactory conductor to work under. The most serious faults in the performance of the Eroica were, first, a lack of fullness and richness in the tone of the violins -which otherwise played well, with precision and good expression; secondly, an occasional hint of rawness of tone among some of the woodwind section, and a loss of pitch by a bassoon; thirdly, a

touch of stridency in the, brass now and again when it was not called for. These are faults that will be overcome in time, no doubt. But they meant, on this occasion, that the Eroica fell a little short of its full grandeur. * * N the Oberon overture the longer rhythms of the music tended now and then to lose definition; here and there the fiddles were a little shrill; and a wind instrument would have a moment of uncertainty. There was also, I thought, a certain loss of crispness towards the end, a hint of frayed edges on a phrase. But apart from these flaws the performance was a very satisfactory one. The opening passage on the horn was beautifully played. The overture was repeated at the end of the evening as an encore. Mozart’s A Little Night Music was given sensitive treatment, on the whole. The necessary lightness of texture wad maintained, and the lyrical qualities in the music were brought out. Now and then the ‘cellos were a trifle weak in a phrase that needed emphasis without weight. I should enjoy hearing Mr, Braithwaite conduct some more Mozart. The gentleness of the Mendelssohn "Nocturne and Scherzo" was wellrealised, and it provided a contrast with the last number on the programme, Borodin’s "Polovtsian Dances" from Prince Igor, where the Orchestra had @ chance to let itself rip in the barbaric rhythms ‘of Tartary. This sort of music is not my cup of tea, and I really cannot say whether it was well or ill played. It certainly provided the audience with a noggin of raw musical spirits-‘one for the road," as it were, on a cold winter’s night. The, concert was undoubtedly a perfsonal triumph for Mr. Braithwaite, But, as he hinted in a brief speech, it was the keenness and competence of the players themselves that made this possible. The ovation given both players and conductor at the end provided a fitting culmination to the first season of the National Orchestra. 3

A.R.D.

F.