Manawatū Sinfonia Autumn Concert
Conducted by Peter van Drimmelen
Speirs Centre
Sunday, May 9
Reviewed by Roger Buchanan
One thing you have to say about our Manawatū Sinfonia: they don't shy away from challenging repertoire. This was evident in their autumn concert, which featured no fewer than five very different works.
The first was the popular overture to a relatively obscure opera, Donna Diana (1894), by French composer Emil von Reznicek. Conductor Peter van Drimmelen extracted the drama and excitement from the music and his musicians and, although there was a rousing opening to the concert, at times the rhythmic unity was a little loose.
The following work, George Butterworth's short idyll The Banks of Green Willow (1913), based on an English folk tune of the same name, is planted firmly in the English pastoral tradition. Expansive and noble, Butterworth emanates from a proud era in English music represented by Elgar and Vaughan Williams and one can discern elements of those masters in this work.
Next was something I had been looking forward to. The late Clace Schwabe was a Manawatū musician and music teacher of many decades. I was fortunate enough to work with Clace for about 15 years when she was an itinerant teacher in high schools. A gifted musician, she could play and teach a plethora of instruments, and with her amazing brain a conversation with her was always rewarding.