NZ Symphony to perform Psathas concerto in Auckland

Previewed by WILLIAM DART

This must be the Year of the Kiwi Concerto. In August the Auckland Philharmonia gives us Kenneth Young's Piano Concerto and in October Ross Harris' Labyrinth for Tuba and Orchestra is on the NZSO's schedule. First up, this Saturday, the NZSO brings John Psathas' new concerto to town.

Psathas is one of our high-profilers. Still in his 30s, this Wellington composer has had major international commissions, won Best Classical Album of the Year for his 1998 Rhythm Spike and carried off the SOUNZ Contemporary Award at the 2002 Silver Scrolls for his View from Olympus, which had just been premiered at that year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester.

On the eve of leaving for Europe to work on a mystery project that can't be revealed until later this year, Psathas explained how his new concerto came to have associations with two pianists.

"It was initially written for Michael Houstoun who," Psathas stresses, "was instrumental in his inspiration, as I've always liked the real strength of his playing."

With Houstoun still suffering from focal dystonia and unable to undertake a performance, Stephen Gosling, the man responsible for a good deal of the dazzling on Psathas' two albums, stepped in and will be playing on Saturday.

Psathas admires both men equally for their "strongly grounded sense of pulse along with their ability to transcend mere notes". In fact neither ever talks about "the notes" - they talk about "all that other stuff".

Both offer just what he looks for in a pianist - "an incisive sound, something really clear and clean, the sort of sound that differentiates layers and doesn't create a mush".

This search for clarity has also meant that the orchestra has been reduced to strings, percussion and harp. "Pianists have often said to me how they hate playing a lot of really hard notes when they can't be heard," explains Psathas, "and reducing the forces also gave me more room when I was composing."

You can sense the vitality of Psathas' music when the man talks about it. The first movement is frankly summed up as "jazzy and rocky", with powerchords. He'd rather avoid words such as "structure" and doesn't "want to think in terms of changing keys or something so banal as that". "I'm sure that Beethoven and Haydn didn't think of modulation but rather of heightened intensity, moving to other worlds."

Psathas goes on to point out some shattering effects in the second movement, which was inspired by Inferno, James Nachtwey's heart-rending photographs from such disaster zones of the world as Rwanda, Romania and Bosnia. At one point, marimba, vibes and harp provide "a beautiful constellation-type background for the bursts of colour from the piano"; later there's even a textbook dominant-tonic perfect cadence. "I have a strange pride in that moment," says Psathas, "it makes sense and it doesn't sound like a cliche."

The third movement, inspired by Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto, is "just what is needed to pull you out of the jaws of despair", adds Psathas with a laugh. "I like the idea of music being really positive."

Psathas is now in Groningen, Holland, waiting for the Nederlands Blazers Ensemble to premiere his Zeibekiko (the first performance is tonight at 8.15, Dutch time). The NBE commissioned the work after meeting him at the 2002 New Zealand Festival. It is a huge 75-minute opus, drawing on various Greek musics, ancient and modern, classical and folk.

This project, working with the Dutch woodwind players and two Greek folk musicians, was a coming of age, Psathas admits, "just bringing those two forces together and finding validity for myself".

Psathas' View from Olympus is now travelling the world (the latest orchestra to schedule it is the LA Philharmonic in May next year) and perhaps Zebeikiko might also hit the international circuit.

The NBE is booked for the Bath Festival in May and a work like this would certainly perk up AK05 or AK07 if there isn't enough lead-in time. But, in the meantime, don't miss the concerto.

Performance

* Who: composer John Psathas

* What: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

* When: Saturday 8pm

* Where: Auckland Town Hall