Monster outing for the NZSO
There was no questioning the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Frankenstein!! on the grounds of adventurous programming. Its star was the eccentric H.K. Gruber, a man who once described the banjo as the harpsichord of the proletariat. Here, the cheery, grizzled Austrian both conducted and, later on, sang his own wacky 1970s songcycle that gave the concert its name.
Frankenstein!! is a huge and lively melting pot, spinning caustic and clever tales of characters from Robin and Batman to James Bond and Miss Dracula, all in prickly speech-song.
It certainly entertained but, 40 years on, the political barbs of H.C. Artmann’s verse are sometimes blunted and the energetic Gruber’s thick Viennese accent, with full orchestra behind him, meant eyes too often dropped to the programme booklet’s lyrics. This was a fatal distraction. One vocal eruption into snarling, spluttering gobbledygook was relished as an opportunity to relax and enjoy some good oldfashioned avant-garde fun.
The work’s toy instruments were very much part of its sound, especially when the eerie hiss of twirling tubes silenced the orchestra after meeting Artmann’s monster.
This last half-hour explained why the overture had been a plodding 18th century Toy Symphony, a curatorial nicety that made for concert hall tedium. Atonement came later, when Hakan Hardenberger took up the baton for Haydn’s lesser-known Philosopher Symphony, with sharp tempi and busy times for two pairs of horns and cors anglais.
Hardenberger, as trumpet soloist, played some lightweight Gruber on his first visit here 12 years ago but here thrilled us with the composer’s meaty 1999 Aerial concerto.
How effortlessly he soared over the work’s expansive first movement.
An exotic interlude calling on cowhorn would take us to the high point of the evening — Hardenberger with piccolo trumpet bopping away on the imaginary dance-floor of Gruber’s finale.