Art reflections – weekend of music
Sam Edwards reviews of performances by the Rata-Tui Duo, an augmented Hamilton Civic Choir presenting Faure’s Requiem , and Waikato University Conservatorium’s Carnival of Music.
Chris Hainsworth is one of those musicians who remind me of the pavlova argument. He really is a Hamiltonian but the French are after him the way the Aussies want to claim the pavlova but found they had to take Vegemite instead. He is the best, and his association with France, and his original work in Hamilton, underlie the the quite extraordinary musical pairing of father and son, Julien. He is a wit and raconteur, as well as a musician, and the former habits sometimes distracted from the realities of his earlier performances, but this night he and Julien offered a musical experience which was unique in its quality and moving in its beauty. A pairing of baroque cello and continuo organ such as we heard this evening is rare. The match, the dynamic balance, the harmonics, the engendered atmospherics were delicately gorgeous. Hainsworth senior’s delightfully irreverent organ interpretation of Kuhnau’s 17th century Hezekiah
Restored to Health was an interesting virtuosic rival for Julien’s exquisite solo performance of J S Bach’s Suite No 2 in D minor, but the real gems of the concert were in the basso continuo/ cello duets. From Vivaldi to Rognoni, from serious to playful, from deliberate to dancing, from the rarely heard to the familiar, each of the six duets was creatively refreshing in the instrumental combination. This was a musical experience full of optimism and enjoyment. The optimism came with three secondary school choirs enjoying their participation with the Hamilton Civic Choir in a production of Gabriel Faure’s 1890s Requiem in D minor. Some 70 students, otherwise full of sporty stuff and social media, had a thoroughly good time with seriously difficult classical music. It comes from a drive by the Civic Choir, supported by the Royal Schools of Church Music, to make first-rate classical music more widely available to listeners and provide platforms for performers in the Waikato region. The combined choir ended up with 140 singers – a modern, medium-sized, Victorian Choral Society. The danger with that is a loss of vocal quality, and in the uneasy acoustic of St Paul’s chapel the combined choir had some rough spots, but it also produced moments of great beauty. In the Faure, the Sanctus particularly, produced stunning vocal dynamics which were supported by a most memorable and elegantly delivered duet of harp and violin. The choral range was huge. In addition to the Faure, arrangements of Ma¯ ori waiata contrasted with Finzi and Kodaly, a collection of spirituals, and the oddball and utterly onomatopoeic experience which is Toto’s Africa. This was a musical soiree with a difference. It had purpose, passion, a great deal of popular support, and real promise for the future of serious music in this country.
Students expect grades, but they rarely have a chance to grade the educators who helped them attain those grades. My job as a critic is to evaluate performance without euthanasing the performer(s) although sometimes one could wish for the permanent removal of sad directors, badly prepared performance, and repeat delivery of the ineptly delivered and ill understood. These traits stem from incompetent education, but the effectiveness of first class education is also demonstrated in performance. On that basis, one can use Sunday’s Carnival of Music to grade the University of Waikato’s Conservatorium of Music. Can it do better? Who can improve on excellence? It could, however, do more, bring even more credit on the univers-city [sic], inspire and release talent in more students with more staff. Where else can one be so inspired by the unique Cellophonics cello players who happily and passionately had the audience applauding thunderously for more; by pianists like Noelle Dannenbring who, with sheer virtuosity, turned a Chopin Ballade (No 3, if you need it) into a crowd pleaser fit for the Proms; or soprano Felicity Tomkins singing, so appropriately, Mozart’s Comprendo amico (loosely translated as ‘‘Get it, friend?’’) with a voice like manuka honey – priceless, and healing to boot – and an authority and confidence on stage which could give many university lecturers a lesson in presentation. Where else a chamber choir of some 20 voices blending perfectly, pitching a capella flawlessly, and creating pulse-raising atmospherics with a total blackout immersion in choral magic – and I haven’t even mentioned the classic and outrageously sexy Carmen from Cecily Shaw, or the 20 or so other wunderkind destined for great futures. These are the products of the Conservatorium, and its unique staff. Even a crusty old acid-tongued chorister critic looking for flaws was impressed.
Result: A++ Comprendo amico ?