Aotea Centre and Town Hall
Review: Tara Werner
Just before she threw herself headlong into some Paganini variations as an encore, the gifted Chicago-based violinist Rachel Barton commented to the audience that she practises a lot.
What an understatement.
While she may have played works calculated to display some particularly difficult string pyrotechnics on Friday and Saturday nights, this 25-year-old has a musicality and superb technique that would be the envy of most soloists.
It was clear that audiences and musicians alike warmed to her extrovert personality and she responded with near flawless performances of Chausson, Ravel, an arrangement of Bizet by Waxman and, last but not least, Bartok.
It must be said that some scores were of uneven quality. For instance Ravel's Tziganecannot be said to be his best effort; indeed this was rather strange music from the master of orchestration.
And while Waxman's Carmen Fantasy had its moments, most of it was pure dross, however passionate its interpretation. Barton was at her lyrical best in the very Wagnerian-influenced Poeme by Chausson.
But it was her performance of Bartok's Violin Concerto No 1 the following night that was the most meaningful.
Her tone was truly lovely in the opening andante - Bartok in a highly romantic (for him) mood. If this interpretation was an indicator of what Barton is capable of in terms of concertos, what a pity she didn't tackle the Brahms or Sibelius.
While the soloist was impressive, the NZSO under conductor Derrick Inouye were also on their mettle in music utilising large orchestral forces in both concerts.
Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture may have taken a while to settle on Friday night, with some decidedly uncoordinated sections, but the same could not be said of a clearly articulated interpretation of Ravel's exquisitely orchestrated Pavane pour une infante defunte.
But the cornerstone was Respighi's Pines of Rome with its big march at the end, the added contribution of the Waitakere City Brass making enough noise to fully overcome the ASB Theatre's dull acoustics.
Meantime, over at the Town Hall on Saturday, many of the audience seemed to stay away to watch the rugby. They missed out on the inspired playing of Stravinsky's masterpiece the Rite of Spring, Inouye not sparing the pace in Part 1.
Kodaly's normally colourful Dances of Galanta were dull in comparison, even though they received a disciplined performance.
Finally Jonathan Besser's Pre- Dawn Meditation provided a calm beginning to the concert. This is music of Mahlerian poignancy, a little overlong perhaps, but nonetheless a deeply felt tribute to the memory of a friend.
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