The Week's Music...

New Zealand Listener, Volume 35, Issue 895, 28 September 1956, Page 18

The Week's Music...

by

SEBASTIAN

= OLLOWING the National Orchestra in its southward pilgrimage, we have managed to extract some plums from an otherwise rather unrewarding week. For instance, there was Maurice Till’s playing of the Khachaturian Piano Concerto (YC link), deservedly one of the most popular modern concertos: it has verve, it has energy,-exciting rhythm and even (spare our long hairs) some overtones of jazz. Just the thing, in fact, for a Prom or Youth Concert-it was one of the latter on this occasion, and wént down very well. I don’t think the plaudits were only for the composer of the Sabre Dance, but for the work and its playing. Mr. Till made a fine job of the solo part, with precise phrasing that interfered not at all with the lilt of the syncopations or the wistful lure of the slow movement; and the orchestra worked harmoniously with him, neither drowning the piano nor fading out altogether. In short, it was a performance which went as far as possible in breaking the sound barrier between artists and audience. i The Christchurch Harmonic Society repeated its success of ‘last year in Belshazzar’s Feast, a thrilling work if ‘ever there was one. The choir showed no signs of becoming stale, Ninian Walden was at his resonant best in the

baritone solos, and the huge orchestral and band forces gave the impression of controlled power which was unleashed at intervals with stunning effect. This is certainly New Zealand’s most successful and ambitious choral venture as far as I am concerned. I felt that Schubert’s Sixth Symphony, which formed the filling of this particular concert sandwich, was a trifle thinly spread. Not a major symphonic effort in comparison with the later ones, this was a light-hearted but light-weight piece, demanding and getting no special emphasis or enthusiasm. I must admit that I was beginning to find in it something of tedium towards the end, however delightful the themes, and however well played. I tuned in with some justifiable misgiving to the so-called opera The Vanishing Island (YA link), produced by the Moral Rearmament Movement. The misgiving was occasioned by having seen the libretto, and the justification was quickly forthcoming; the script was of a Gilbertian doggerel type, though not as witty or humorous, and the music duly proved to be of musical comedy type, again sterile as far as artistry and originality go. However admirable the sentiments expressed, one could wish for more admirable means of expression.