Russians in favour - but Beethoven still rules

TARA WERNER previews the Auckland Philharmonia and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's programmes for next year.

The perennial question of programming balance seems to be a constant battle for the Auckland Philharmonia and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

Venturing into repertoire slightly off the beaten track may intimidate those regular concertgoers who prefer a steady diet of, say, Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms. While maintaining loyal subscribers is vital for financial success, playing only popular repertoire can alienate new audiences and, more to the point, lead to a sort of musical atrophy.

Looking ahead to the 2002 season, it's obvious that the problem has been addressed in very similar ways.

Clearly both orchestras have provided what their audiences want. The NZSO has programmed Mozart in an Amadeus special in September.

Meantime the backbone of the Auckland Philharmonia's Royal and SunAlliance series includes a number of major works programmed "by audience request", as a result of the orchestra's survey to its subscribers.

A little thumbs-up sign in the season brochure denotes them, including Tchaikovsky's 5th Symphony in February, Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 3 and Elgar's Cello concerto in May, Brahms' Piano Concerto No 1 in July, and Dvorak's Symphony No 9 From the New World in August.

And to put an even greater emphasis on responding to perceived audience need, the orchestra has placed its potboilers into the Aotea Centre. A case in point is its Classical Class concert on May 9 with music by Schubert, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky.

Similarly, the NZSO has programmed, for the most part, more popular repertoire in its Great Classics series on a Friday night. Works such as Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in April, Rachmaninov's Variations on a Theme of Paganini in May, and Beethoven's Violin Concerto in September.

And to add grist to the mill the orchestra has produced a free CD sampler of the "catchy tunes" to be performed in its 2002 season.

So much for the favourites. But both orchestras have made a point of providing just enough New Zealand and other contemporary works - or something a little different or unusual, to add a bit of spice.

The NZSO includes works by New Zealanders Jack Body and David Farquhar, plus Penelope Axens, the winner of the NZ Music 2000 prize.

The Auckland Philharmonia also feature three New Zealanders - Christopher Blake, John Rimmer and Martin Lodge. But they are a bit more adventurous, by including a cello concerto by Philip Glass, to be performed by Julian Lloyd Webber in April.

Both orchestras include a number of 20th-century masterpieces - for instance the NZSO is tackling Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and Shostakovich's Symphony No 10, the composer's famous portrayal of Stalin, and the Auckland Philharmonia includes Stravinsky's Firebird Suite and Ravel's Daphnis and Chloe.

It would appear that the Russians, particularly Tchaikovsky, Stravinsky and Shostakovich, are in favour for 2002, and there is also a number of close repetitions of repertoire only recently performed by the orchestras - a good example being a repeat of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6, played this year by the NZSO, and scheduled next year by the Auckland Philharmonia.

And can Auckland have a surfeit of Beethoven? Following its sell-out Beethoven season this year the NZSO has decided to programme two Beethoven concerts in June. Nothing wrong with that, but the Auckland Philharmonia have pipped it to the post by playing its Beethoven Rules concert only two weeks previously.

Better communication between the orchestras would have surely addressed questions of repetition and the clash with Beethoven, however much the composer may be a marketer's dream.