NZSO get mixed reviews in London

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's performance at the BBC Proms in London was a "triumph for the Kiwis", according to selective quotes in a press release sent out by the orchestra's publicity people.

"The NZSO received a dazzling review of their Prom concert from Stephen Pettitt of the Evening Standard," says the press release, going on to quote Pettit's review: "In Sibelius' great Second Symphony, the final work, [conductor James] Judd, whose technique nobody could describe as economical, seemed determined to inspire his orchestra to play out of their skins. They certainly did in a magnificent, beautifully shaped performance that really set the spine tingling."

Unfortunately, the London broadsheets were not so effusive, bordering on patronising.

Hilary Finch, of the Times: "All the lights went out. Was it a power cut? Far from it. An electric charge coursed through the auditorium as two Maoris with resonant conch shells appeared on either side of the stage. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra had arrived for its first visit to the Proms.

"This was a karanga: a traditional Maori welcome indicating that visitors are free to approach their hosts across the sacred space. After the orchestra's music director, James Judd, had exchanged nose-kisses with his friendly, feather-quivering colleagues from the Manaia Maori Performing Arts Company, the fun could begin.

"Fun? Well, having traversed 12,000 miles with just about every penny of public and private money their country could drum up, the Kiwis were determined to wave the flag in earnest by starting with the Third Symphony by Douglas Lilburn, once described as the grandfather of New Zealand music.

"Lilburn, who died four years ago, venerated Sibelius and the Third Symphony is the most rigorously and austerely Sibelian. Sibelius' skeleton without, alas, his vibrant flesh and his coursing red blood.

"And although the symphony's pattern of solo cues - from bassoon, trumpet and side-drum - showed off the keen responses of the NZSO, it left only the lightest, most elusive footprint in the sand.

"Flesh and blood aplenty in Mahler's orchestral settings from the folk-song collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn.

"And with the New Zealand Samoan bass-baritone Jonathan Lemalu at hand, there was an eager musical rendezvous.

"Sibelius' Second Symphony confirmed the feel-good energy of this orchestra: its brightly focused strings, its characterful woodwind and its noble brass. Yet Judd drove the work relentlessly from A to Z, as though they couldn't wait for the next plane home."

Ouch! Geoffrey Norris of the Daily Telegraph:

"Lilburn's Third Symphony, crisply played, was made of tough stuff, rigorously organised and economical in a way that made the logic of Sibelius' Symphony No 2 a natural counterweight in the programme's second half. But the performance of the Sibelius was disappointing. The sound that the NZSO makes - polished, technically adroit, nicely blended - suggested it had far more expressive potential than the conductor James Judd exploited. His interpretation lacked edge, atmosphere and textual finesse; the music's energy was sapped, and its impact was humdrum compared with the fervent Maori greeting."

Oh dear. Not looking good for Judd. But the Guardian's George Hall was kinder:

"Visiting orchestras regularly bring a local speciality with them, but the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's debut Prom under its music director James Judd offered two - if you count the traditional Maori welcome, or karanga, that opened the concert with ceremonial calls and movement, together with some fierce blowing on shells, enacted by the Manaia Maori Performing Arts Company. It made for a notable beginning.

"The other speciality, Douglas Lilburn's Third Symphony, proved less memorable ... neither the dry material nor Lilburn's workaday scoring hold the attention.

"Lemalu took to the stage for five of Mahler's Des Knaben Wunderhorn settings. As prodigious of voice as he is of personality, Lemalu is always a striking performer, but he needs to explore further varieties of colour and attack to really impress in this repertoire. Similarly, Judd's work with the orchestra homogenised Mahler's idiosyncratic orchestration to the point of blandness.

"Things took a turn for the better after the interval, with Sibelius' Second Symphony. The players sounded absolutely on top of the piece, and Judd's astute conducting charted its structure with a sure touch. The result gained in concentration and dynamism right through to the resplendent close."