Concerts

The huge, urgent string opening was the surge of adrenaline and excitement Icarus might have felt when he took flight on the wings his father made for him. Lera Auerbach’s Icarus flew through the orchestral gamut, exploring melody, dissonance, rhythm, movement, tone, and some superb instrumental arrangements. The flute might often represent flight but Auerbach somehow did the same with just the brass and reed woodwind.

Alexander Gavrylyuk brought his virtuosic piano talent to the work of another virtuoso and proved himself more than equal to the task. With 24 variations to play with, conductor Vasily Petrenko held the orchestra perfectly in its complex supporting role. Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini must cover every key the piano has. Gavrylyuk’s touch is equally wide ranging. In a slower, perhaps even mournful variation, he conveyed an incredible weight of emotion through the piano keys with enormous sensitivity. In the showpiece cadenzas and livelier movements, he proved he could combine great technical skill with that same sensitivity to give each variation on the theme its own distinct character and style.

Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra lived up to its somewhat confusing title as the orchestra stepped into the limelight for its own solo performances. In five movements Bartók gave every section of the orchestra their 15 seconds of fame. The strings had us captured from their slowly building start, Petrenko drew an impressively delicate and transparent sound from the brass section, the clarinet solo was prominent, the piccolo had lots of perfectly executed exposure, and my favourite, the violas, did a superb job of their solo passage. The final movement built to fever pitch before its sudden but joyous end. Earlier in the evening Petrenko had told us this was “funky, and fun to play” and the NZSO always seem to add an extra something when they’re clearly having fun.

After almost 40 years since he formed Crowded House with bassist Nick Seymour and drummer Paul Hester, Neil Finn’s voice sounds almost unchanged. What has changed, however, is that his two sons Liam (guitar) and Elroy (drums) play alongside him – and it’s obvious that this means a lot to him.

It may just be because this was the first of 16 concerts in Australasia, but the band was clearly excited to play to their home crowd again. Neil and Nick are the sole constant members, but Mitchell Froom (keyboards) actually produced the first three Crowded House albums – the first in 1986! This is a band with longevity.

They came on to the stage in the dark with lanterns, leading into the raging When You Come, a surprise starter. The follow-up World Where You Live had the audience rocking. Teenage Summer was the first song from the new album Gravity Stairs – the new songs mixing seamlessly with the classics. For Oh Hi, Neil got the audience to sing on the chorus and though the verse was almost too high for him, he had strong backing-vocal support from Liam, Nick, and Elroy. To the Island, featuring lead guitar by Liam and Mitchell’s ethereal keyboards, received special applause.

Four Seasons in One Day had the phone-waving crowd singing along, followed by It’s Only Natural, which got some up dancing. The light show was stunning – especially when highlighting the stage props, which looked like giant pipe cleaners!

Neil then switched to piano for a selection of songs, including the languid Night Song – which segued cleverly into Message to My Girl. Private Universe, driven by percussionist Paul Taylor, rose to a crescendo. Elroy then switched to acoustic guitar, with Taylor on drums, for Thirsty.

This was one of the most interactive concerts I have seen. The audience needed no coaxing to join in singing the choruses on the classics: Four Seasons in One Day, the first encore Weather With You, and the finale Better Be Home Soon. This iconic New Zealand band, playing vital new music and much-loved classics, showed their adoring audience the meaning of being entertained. Legends.

Marc Taddei’s choice of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess to illustrate the part jazz has in the history of music was inspired. The music combines classical, jazz, gospel, spiritual, and blues idioms and is full of energy, colour, and sheer beauty. This performance was a 1956 arrangement of the opera by Russell Garcia for full orchestra, a choir, and three solo vocalists, including one who narrates offstage action.

The orchestra was on fire throughout, the large brass section having a particularly good time with the jazz idioms. Soprano Deborah Wai Kapohe, playing all the female characters including Bess, was outstanding, her voice flexible, with an excellent range, and both sweet and strong. Bass Eddie Muliaumaseali’i, as both Porgy and Crown, his villainous rival for Bess, was equally impressive. He had an imposing presence and his wonderfully integrated voice was rich, smooth, and dramatic. Tenor Siliga Sani Muliaumaseali’i (Eddie’s brother in real life) provided the narration and sang the role of drug-dealer Sportin’ Life with convincing menace. The audience was treated to characterful performances of arias such as Summertime, I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’, It Ain’t Necessarily So, and Bess, You Is My Woman Now. The choir complements the soloists in creating the drama and pathos of the opera. An outstanding group of Pasifika singers from the award-winning, Wellington-based Signature Choir provided this component of the performance very sympathetically. Jacqueline Coats’ staging of the opera was minimal, clever, and amusing.

Porgy and Bess was preceded by the annual appearance of Arohanui Strings, a group of Wellington and Hutt Valley youngsters grasping the opportunity to learn and make music. This always heartwarming event featured A Kalahari Eclogue, an attractive composition by Keith Moss, supplemented by simpler pieces that even smaller children participated in. “Adorable”, said Taddei, and they were.

In sum, with Taddei’s imaginative programming and natural ebullience, Orchestra Wellington triumphed again.

Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino was a very accessible entry to this concert. Its familiar themes, moments of drama, and ‘proper’ ending – i.e. one that went on for a few bars and was obvious about when it was finished – were perfect for ‘almost, but not quite the end of the week’ at 7:30pm on a Thursday.

Soprano Eliza Boom, tenor Paul O’Neill, and conductor José Luis Gómez led us through some of the best of Italian pop music of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The programme covered four composers and 10 operas. Those with an interest in opera would have recognised the composers: Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, and Leoncavallo. Those less familiar with the opera, but with an ear for melody, would have easily recognised enough of the programme from soundtracks and advertisements to feel quite at home.

With so many separate items on the programme, Gómez provided a valuable and light-hearted narrative throughout. Context about the time when the composers were working, and scene setting so we knew what the aria was stating, gave the audience an understanding and additional pleasure that should not be underestimated.

Two soloists alone on stage is a far cry from a performance with their fellow cast members, chorus, costumes, lighting, and scenery. Despite missing all these usual extras, Boom and O’Neill did well to convey the full opera experience. They were most comfortable when on stage together and a nice touch was O’Neill (Rodolfo) escorting Boom (Mimi), arm in arm, into the wings, as if they were on stage in a full performance.

As ever, the orchestra was in very fine form, working with and responding well to Gómez. Together they directed and played with energy, emotion, and an obvious respect for the music despite their undoubted familiarity with much of what they had in front of them.

Esperanza Spalding’s music has been described as “weaving jazz, soul, funk, rock and improvisation – defying categorisation”. For the final night of the Wellington Jazz Festival, we were privileged to have this five-time GRAMMY®-winning vocalist, bassist, and pianist performing here. Joining her were GRAMMY-winning guitarist, bassist, and producer Matthew Stevens, with drummer and producer Eric Doob rounding off this multi-talented trio.

The addition of two incredible dancers from New York City’s Antonio Brown Dance company, Tashae Udo and Kaylim Horrigan, provided another dimension and gave depth to the work. Backing vocals by Udo, Horrigan, Stevens, and Doob enhanced the songs further by adding layers of rich harmonies – complementing Spalding’s at times ethereal vocals.

The complex rhythmic changes of the first track I Want It Now, with Spalding on piano, showcased her extreme vocal dexterity and range. We were in awe of an artist seemingly at the height of her creativity but, as she mentioned, she only turned 40 two days earlier! So, hopefully she still has a long musical and spiritual journey ahead for us to look forward to.

Five songs from Spalding’s complex and multifaceted 2018 album 12 Little Spells followed. The title track 12 Little Spells expounded the virtues of the thoracic spine! Dancing The Animal was a deep-themed, meandering work about the mind. On the very catchy Thang, about hips, Spalding joined the dancers to showcase hers – cue ecstatic applause! 

Starting with a virtuoso four-minute drum solo, I Know You Know was an electric-bass-driven song about ‘a suitor playing coy’. With Others, about ears, was followed by Black Gold, featuring beautiful a capella singing and scatting. The lighting and sound crews deserve a shoutout here for creating a special ambience for the occasion.

For the first encore, the band and dancers (sitting on mats) moved to the very front of the stage for the gorgeous ballad Formwela 4, featuring all five voices and Stevens’ hypnotic acoustic guitar. To finish the concert, and with the audience humming along, was the final song Satisfied.… and from our standing ovation, it was clear that we were!

Fly My Pretties are back, with sizzling new talent, new songs, and the same old ethos of collaborative musical magic. Their loyal Pōneke fans were treated to three concerts in the Great Hall of the Dominion Museum Building at Massey University as part of the Wellington Jazz Festival. Even more excitingly for us, these concerts were the recording sessions for Fly My Pretties’ upcoming album Elemental and overflowed with sweet new material.

Elemental is Fly My Pretties’ eighth album and feels resonant with their platinum debut Fly My Pretties Live at Bats. The much-beloved Aotearoa musical collaboration was founded in Wellington in 2004 by Mikee Tucker and The Black Seeds frontman Barnaby Weir, and has championed a plethora of Kiwi musicians over its 20-year history. This latest incarnation features 11 established and emerging Kiwi artists, including the velvet-voiced and grounding presence Aja, firecracker pop sensation Riiki Reid, and the indomitable Taylah.

The featured artists all have independent careers, but came together to write songs for Elemental. The setlist managed to strike a balance between stylistically eclectic and thematically cohesive. This sense of cohesion was enhanced by killer coordinated but individualised outfits in the first set, and fantastic supporting visuals on an enormous screen by Mike Bridgman and Jamie Robertson. Our appetites have been well and truly whetted for the release of the Elemental album and next year’s tour.

But the critical ingredient that made this night one of the best gigs I’ve ever attended was the incredible vibes and sense of whanaungatanga. Barnaby Weir seems to have a talent for that elusive and vital skill of community building. It came through in the way the artists interacted on stage, the time taken to acknowledge the venue and recording equipment provided by Massey University, and the way we were invited to feel part of the album’s production.  

Multi-GRAMMY®-winning bassist, composer, arranger, and producer Marcus Miller has been called one of the most influential artists of our era. At the top of his game for over 40 years, he is consistently recognised as one of the greatest electric bassists of all time. Renowned for his legendary technique and feel in his fusion of jazz, funk, groove, and soul, he is also one of the most recorded artists in modern music. It was fitting then that he, as the top billing, opened this year’s Wellington Jazz Festival.

The full Opera House audience was fortunate to experience not just one, but five exceptionally talented musicians on stage. Miller may have been the star of the show with his sublime, at times simply breathtaking thumb-slapping skills up and down the guitar neck, but he also constantly praised his fellow musicians and introduced them at least three times throughout the night! 

From the funky opening track Panther, featuring soaring keyboards from Xavier Gordon and dynamically syncopated, rhythmic drumming from Anwar Marshall, we knew we were in for something special. With Miller’s funky bass and Donald Hayes’ dazzling, soaring notes on saxophone, Red Baron had the crowd mesmerised, clapping and cheering after every solo.  

Maputo was a dedication to saxophone great David Sanborn, who passed earlier this year – one of a multitude of artists Miller has collaborated with throughout his career. Miller is probably best known for his work (including three albums) with Miles Davis during the 1980s – Tutu and Mr Pastorius, tracks from which featured the expressively clean tones of Russell Gunn on trumpet. 

Miller told of his visit to an island off the coast of Senegal, which served as an outpost to slave trading, after which he wrote the poignant and desperately sad Gorée (Go-ray). With Miller playing a bass clarinet under soft deep-blue lighting, this slow melancholic ballad almost moved me to tears. 

A second standing ovation, after the encore Come Together, was no less than this spectacular band deserved. Superlative.

The Secret Society was an early 20^th century club of French musicians, writers, and artists. Claude Debussy’s music greatly influenced this group. Two other featured composers in this concert programme, Maurice Ravel and Florent Schmitt, were members. A fourth composer, Lili Boulanger, was not a member though musically she would have fitted admirably. The Secret Society did not admit women. Tragically, she died in 1918 aged 24.

Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun was the only work in the programme that is standard in the orchestral repertoire. (How well conductor Marc Taddei educates his audience!) This haunting and largely dream-like work feels almost like a 10-minute improvisation. There is little urgency in it but the whole is beautifully balanced and complete. Taddei did not go for the lushest interpretation and I was happy with that.

The audience loved Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand with soloist Jian Liu. Written for a soldier who lost his arm in war, the one hand achieves all (and more) that you would expect of two. The full brass and thumping percussion and lovely use of lower-pitched instruments made for satisfying listening. Jian Liu was thoroughly on top of it. His encore, Flight of the Bumblebee by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, was cheekily for right hand only!

Boulanger’s D’un Soir Triste (Of A Sad Evening) was her final work. The range of emotion and expression is remarkable. It is morose and gaunt at times, dignified, fearful, resigned, then quietly reflective. A monumental work, strongly performed.

Congratulations to Orchestra Wellington for the dynamic delivery of a very challenging programme; challenging for listeners as well as players. After the final item, Schmitt’s The Tragedy of Salome, a very dramatic piece with brass and percussion just about lifting the roof off, I felt quite wrung out! The Tudor Consort contributed to this work, providing great relief with their lovely voices.

Aaron Copland is the ‘Dean of American Music’ who established a distinctly American style. His Appalachian Spring Suite, written for a ballet and often played alone as an orchestral work, is one of his most recognisable pieces. It tells a simple story of ordinary people in 19^th century rural Pennsylvania. The music has a clarity and calmness that reflects the lives and values of Appalachian society. A solo clarinet always sounds pastoral and the audience was transported immediately to a rural setting. The sequence of images continued to be clear, thanks to a stellar performance by the orchestra under the baton of principal conductor Gemma New.

Pianist Stephen De Pledge was gifted Lyell Cresswell’s Piano Concerto No. 3 upon the composer’s death in 2022. De Pledge described it as “swathes of contrasting colour like a painting by Howard Hodgkin”. The pianist brought every note to life, carefully crafting and presenting it like a Hodgkin abstract. It was an unmistakably modern piece but, at the same time, one with a familiar tone. De Pledge led us through the music – complex and multi-layered, sometimes noisy and perplexing – and we could see him clearly putting his heart and soul into the performance.

Undaunted by the switch from a 21^st century abstract representation to Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C major, New was obviously enjoying herself. Perfectly weighted, positioned, and balanced accents in the opening bars of the second movement were followed by a most delicate but lively third movement, and the delayed phrasing in the fourth felt like we were always on the brink of ending the evening only to be lifted up again by the next phrase. A highly skilled orchestra, in tune with a talented conductor, brilliantly interpreting a mature Mozart symphony combined to an impeccable performance. Our creative capital has plenty in the tank. It’s our job to get out there and enjoy it!

The sacred symbolism of light has inspired many composers over centuries and singers love to sing the Latin word ‘lux’, a word capable of much expressive beauty. 

The concert opened with one of four pieces called Lux Aeterna, the first a plainchant originating in the 12^th-century Catholic church. Sung by male voices only, it was a simple, peaceful, and thoughtful start to the concert. The other bookend of the concert was also a Lux Aeterna, an arrangement of Edward Elgar’s Nimrod from the Enigma Variations. Light years away from the plainchant, it had all the powerful sweetness associated with Elgar.

It was in the five movements of Lux Aeterna by Morten Lauridsen, an American contemporary of great stature in the choral world, that the choir performed best, creating a lovely tone – warm, clear, and well blended with a convincing range of dynamics, good energy, and excellent intonation.

Bob Chilcott’s Canticles of Light was another contemporary work. Its third movement, O Nata Lux de Lumine, was particularly well sung by the women choristers, their voices fading away beautifully into nothingness at the end.  

The capacity audience also heard a rich, solemnly prayerful Lux Aeterna by Brian Schmidt, and an elegant O Nata Lux by Guy Forbes, both contemporary American composers. Choir member Michael Winikoff’s Lux was a worthy addition to the programme.

The mostly a cappella programme was challenging. Despite being overall an entertaining concert, the choir was surprisingly tentative at times. Some entries were a bit untidy, some intonation momentarily unconfident, and the blending of soprano voices was occasionally wanting. Was it the unaccustomed acoustics of the venue? Or in the accompanied pieces, did the odd quality of the organ’s lower register have an impact?

Nevertheless, congratulations to music director Maaike Christie-Beekman and Nota Bene for the interesting, enjoyable, and seasonally appropriate concert.

In this production of The Creation, Orpheus Choir Wellington endeavoured to reimagine Haydn’s famous oratorio. As with a traditional staging of an oratorio, an orchestra, choir, and voice soloists performed the full score of The Creation, but these were supported by a 1.9 tonne LED screen and dancers from Footnote New Zealand Dance.

The Creation is arguably one of the most famous oratorios, and in German-speaking countries has much the same status as Handel’s Messiah does in the anglosphere. The text is drawn from Christian scripture and Milton’s Paradise Lost and relates the story of God’s creation of the world from “let there be light” down to the early days of Adam and Eve’s life in Eden.

The enormous screen was suspended above the choir and accompanied the story’s progression though the catalogue of creation with footage of galaxies, oceans, geological features, wildlife, and fruit. The visual effects walked a line between enhancing the production and distracting from the wonderful performances. There were a few times when the imagery was more abstract, and this was when it most effective because it felt far less dominant.

The three soloists, Anna Leese (soprano), Frederick Jones (tenor), and Joel Amosa (bass), were outstanding, especially when they sang as a trio. Jones’ recitative sections were particularly gorgeous thanks to his rich tone and expressive phrasing, and Leese and Amosa’s duets with the chorus in the third movement evoked all the delight and contentment of Eden.

The third movement featured dancers Airu Matsuda and Jemima Smith as representations of Adam and Eve. Despite having only a very narrow strip of floor space to work with in front of the orchestra, Matsuda and Smith managed to deliver a sensitive and affectionate performance to accompany one of the most beautiful passages in the oratorio.

Orchestra Wellington and Orpheus Choir Wellington provided the foundation of the production from the first disquieting bars of Representation of Chaos through to the triumphant finale Praise the Lord, Ye Voices All. It was wonderful to see so many local artistic elements come together in this innovative production.

Even if you didn’t know Helios is the god of the sun, Carl Nielsen’s wonderfully evocative Helios Overture had us listening to the sun rise, move across the sky, and set over the sea. This was clever programming to open the concert and was beautifully played.

Spontaneous applause from the audience marked the end of the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major. The whole piece is regarded as one of the harder violin concerti, but soloist Augustin Hadelich made a lie of that and simply blew us away with his performance. The first movement has some very impressive scales, triads, runs, and moments when it seems the violinist is the only one on stage, as well as one of the most ambitious cadenzas in a violin concerto. Hadelich absorbed the challenge and almost became one with his violin. Under Dima Slobodeniouk’s very attentive direction, orchestra and soloist flew along, keeping up an enviable, but not overdone speed.

If the first was his tour de force, the third movement was Hadelich’s pièce de résistance. The final cadenza was sublime, virtuosic, and a spectacular end to a very happy piece of music. Hadelich’s encore showcased almost every sound, technique, and musical style you could think of and we enjoyed every note.

The Oceanides by Jean Sibelius is one of the best musical expressions of the sea in all its moods. Storm and wind were brought magically to life by surging and receding timpani and violins and the calm that followed by oboe and harp over strings. My companion heard the wave crashing on the shore and immediately recognised it as the rocks at Kaikōura.

Debussy’s La Mer is also a glorious musical description of the sun and the sea. Slobodeniouk and the orchestra interpreted Debussy’s intent and gave us a stunning representation of our natural environment.

It was an exceptional evening. Thanks, NZSO.