New Zealand Symphony OrchestraRadio Network Tour of SoundscapeConductor Alexander Shelley Percussion Soloist Colin CurrieCopland, Appalachian Spring SuiteHigdon, Percussion ConcertoCresswell, Landscapes of the SoulBeethoven, Symphony No.6 PastoralAuckland
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Radio Network Tour of Soundscape
Conductor Alexander Shelley
Percussion Soloist Colin Currie
Copland, Appalachian Spring Suite
Higdon, Percussion Concerto
Cresswell, Landscapes of the Soul
Beethoven, Symphony No.6 Pastoral
Auckland Town Hall, Sept 11
The latest NZSO concert presented four very different works which took inspiration from the landscape.
Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring Suite” was written as a celebration of the new America of the 1940s. It is full of enthusiasm and liveliness in its depiction of the great outdoors as well as the changing face of the agricultural landscape
There is also wistfulness to the piece, a nostalgia which harks back to earlier more peaceful and gentle times.
This combination of nostalgia and rebirth were superbly captured in the orchestra playing of the work under conductor Alexanader Shelley who looked as though he might dance a bit of hoedown as he pranced around the podium.
The Copland Suite had a bit of dramatic percussion in it but nothing compared to American compser Jennifer Higdon's "Percussion Concerto" featuring percussionist Colin Currie.
With an array of instruments ranged across the front of the stage Currie was a one man orchestra racing around his various noise-producing instruments. Backed by the orchestra with its troupe of percussionists they produced a vast landscape of sound. It was marathon effort, as much a endurance event as musical one.
Lyell Creswell’s “Landscape of the Soul” was a suitable introduction to the Beethoven. Painting a series of eerie, haunting landscapes the work conjured up the flow and rhythms of nature - rushing water, rain, clouds and the passage of light across the land.
The images were like bursts of time-lapse photography capturing the movements of these elements in the landscape. Using only the strings, the work was richly textured full of passages of hectic sound which were balanced with moments of quiet reflection.
Alexander Shelley put his stamp firmly on Beethoven’s “Pastoral Symphony.” While keeping the work within its pictorial framework as suggested by the titles of the movements he managed to present it in a new light.
He stressed the emotions associated with the images rather than merely create a pictorial description. His was a muted and introspective approach which gave the work a baroque elegance.
By focusing on individual instruments he also was able to explore and convey the way in which the music was structured and assembled.
Next NZSO Concert
Sibelius Impromptu
Foote A Night Piece
Grieg Two Norwegian Melodies
Sallinen Some Aspects of Peltoniemi Hintrik’s Funeral March (arr. for string orchestra)
Telemann Burlesque de Don Quixotte
Mendelssohn String Symphony No.10
Wellington / Thu 30 September / 7.30pm
Auckland / Fri 1 October / 7.30pm
Hamilton / Sat 2 October / 7.30pm
Invercargill / Wed 13 October / 7.30pm
Dunedin / Thu 14 October / 7.30pm
Christchurch / Fri 15 October / 7.30pm
