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Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at Auckland Town Hall 02-2009
Eckehard Stier, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's new music director, launched its new season on Thursday with the panache and dynamism that we have come to expect from him. In a programming coup, the German conductor eschewed any hint of fanfare or spectacular to set the evening off. Instead, the Prelude to Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina, a little like the composer's Boris experienced through gauze, delivered atmospheric lyricism.
Young English violinist Jennifer Pike opted for two shorter works in place of the customary concerto.
Chausson's Poeme was admired by Debussy for the freedom of its form. However, this seeming freedom brings a special challenge to interpreters, and there were bumpy moments in its unfolding. Subtleties of nuance were sometimes bypassed, particularly in strenuous solo passages.
Ravel's Tzigane was more successful. Pike attacked this arrant showpiece in true gypsy style. Stier and his musicians clearly relished being a Ravelian Romany band, especially when the orchestra seems to morph into a giant cimbalon.
After the interval, Stier put his own stamp on Rachmaninov's Symphony No 2 in a blazing performance that was sustained through every second of its 55 minutes. He caught the work's emotional inevitability at every turn, assisted perhaps by his occasional disregard for the composer's tempo nudges. The lulling allegro moderato theme in the first movement had the very breath of life in it; the Scherzo defined perfectly a middle ground between Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev while the Adagio saw the Philharmonia strings at their most luscious.
Special plaudits for the brass with their Slavic bolstering of the work's dark intent.
The Finale was upon us after a momentary pause for spontaneous applause, and it was a virtuoso turn. So much so that I would have been happy to have not had any cuts. The loss of crucial pages in the Recapitulation, where the first theme slips more deviously into the second, was regrettable.
Richard Straus. Salome in Concert 4-2008
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
A superb Salome
Richard Strauss's Salome is an opera that readily lends itself to the concert stage. Strauss's rich, colourful score is amply able to stand-alone under the glare of a concert spotlight, allowing the orchestra to take centre stage in this virtuosic work. It is only in the final scene with its famous Dance of the Seven Veils and the final confrontation with the head of John the Baptist that one longs for a staged performance.
All credit then to the Auckland Philharmonia for presenting the Auckland premiere of the work in a concert performance with an all New Zealand cast of singers. Unlike previous operas that the orchestra has given there was no attempt to semi-stage the work. Salome sat during the Dance of the Seven Veils and there was no severed head in the final scene. At the end of the day they were unnecessary. All the performers, orchestra and conductor included, rose brilliantly to the challenge producing an intensely gripping account of this exotic, decadent opera that captivated the near capacity audience to the very end.
At its heart was Margaret Medlyn's wonderful Salome. The vocal demands of the role require the volume, stamina and power of a fully-fledged dramatic soprano, yet at the same the singer needs to make us believe that she is a naïve teenager. Medlyn's rich voice with its mezzo hues is perhaps not ideally suited to this role, but she uses it with such intelligence and the raw energy with which she projects the character is truly remarkable. Her magnetic stage presence brought the character alive despite the lack of staging, and she even managed to hold our attention during the Dance of the Seven Veils despite being seated.
The remainder of the cast was made up of a who's who of New Zealand singers. Martin Snell added authority as Jokanaan, while Richard Greager and Helen Medlyn provided comic caricature as Herod and Herodias, although their performances seemed a little undernourished alongside Medlyn's Salome. Patrick Power sang particularly strongly as Narraboth, as did Sarah Castle as the Page. The various other roles were well taken by Grant Dickson, Richard Green, Jamie Allen, Derek Hill, Terry Barry, Benjamin Fifita Makisi and Malcolm Ede.
Alongside Margaret Medlyn the stars of the evening were undoubtedly the Auckland Philharmonia, conducted by Eckehard Stier. It was wonderful to be able to hear this score so vividly played from the concert platform allowing every section of the orchestra to shine in a way that often does not happen in the opera house. Stier controlled his orchestral forces magnificently finding exactly the right feeling of raw energy that this work requires.
Full marks then to the Auckland Philharmonia for continuing their annual opera in concert series, which offers a great opportunity to hear works that are unlikely to be staged here and also to showcase some of New Zealand's finest operatic talent. Long may it continue!
Text: © Michael Sinclair © 2008 The Opera Critic, PO Box 99826, Newmarket, Auckland, New Zealand
By William Dart
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra has given the city its first, overdue taste of Richard Strauss's Salome, an opera of such significance that American writer Alex Ross opens The Rest is Noise, his recent history of 20th-century music, with an account of a 1906 staging of the work.
One felt the same sense of the momentous in the Town Hall on Friday, enjoying a completely homegrown cast and our cherished APO, under the expert baton of Eckehard Stier.
Margaret Medlyn's Salome was a diva assoluta turn. With no need of a score, Medlyn achieved dramatic marvels within her few square metres of stage. Here was a princess who could turn from sex kitten to fury within a few beats; a soprano who had no need to clutch a disembodied head to take Strauss's music to almost terrifying levels of ecstasy.
Martin Snell, coming down from the top of the stage for his initial sparring with Medlyn, made Jokanaan a man rather than a mere zealot. The bass has an enviable turn of phrase, although the confrontation with Medlyn lost a little with Snell's music stand between the two singers.
For Heldentenor lyricism, Patrick Power's Narraboth would have few equals on the international circuit. Opening the opera, floating his line through Strauss's saturated harmonies, he was the ideal foil to the evil Salome.
Richard Greager was a suitably loathsome Herod while mezzo Helen Medlyn rendered Herodias as vile and vicious as they come.
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at Auckland Town Hall 2-2007
Prokofiev, Saint-Saens, Beethoven
By William Dart
English soloist Raphael Wallfisch
It would be difficult to imagine a more spritzig launch for a new season than Prokofiev's Classical Symphony which opened the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Thursday programme.
Under the baton of Eckehard Stier, Prokofiev's score was a sparkler.
The German conductor injected an intriguing tongue-in-cheek pomposity into its first movement and the unexpected harmonic deviations in the Gavotte seemed as much a nod to Richard Strauss as Haydn; the Finale was a reel to remember, with the woodwind sparking on all plugs.
The only problem - and it was a serious one - lay with the first violins. While Prokofiev is unsparing with his demands, particularly in the upper register, there can be no excuse for so much ragged intonation.
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 4-2006 Kritiken
Mozart Piano Concerto No. 21; Bruckner Symphony No. 9
Eckehard Stier, conductor; Alexander Gavrylyuk, pianoWhen the MSO plays at or near the top of their game, it is a privilege to be present. When they do it for great masterworks, so much the better. Mozart’s most famous piano concerto (at least since the 1967 film ‘Elvira Madagan’) hardly needs introduction. In this case, its opening theme statement was delivered with chamber precision by an orchestra that sounded a different band from that which played the same composer’s 15th Piano Concerto only 11 days before. Alexander ‘Sasha’ Gavrylyuk, the young Sydney-based Ukrainian pianist, compensated for occasional slivers of inaccuracy with otherwise ideal Mozartian flair. This was a performance to be savoured, full of those delightful moments that melt criticism. If anything, Gavrylyuk outshone himself in encore, the Lisztian ‘hey-mum-look-at-me’ variations on Mendelssohn’s famous Wedding March. The young pianist not only managed to conquer its pyrotechnics with ease and rare transparency, but indeed almost made it sound like a worthwhile piece of music. There is no doubt he is a worthwhile pianist, one of the most exciting of the new generation, with sheer virtuosity to match Lang Lang and a good deal more musical sense. In the second half, the young German conductor Eckehard Stier took his turn to shine. Never completed, Bruckner’s last symphony is a miracle of musical architecture, but needs excellent conducting to display its quality: in the wrong hands it seems too long by half. Generally that means we need experienced hands, so Stier’s youth did not bode well. But advance anxiety was swept away by his measured, patient exposition, inexorably advancing through the symphony’s long paragraphs. The orchestra was clearly convinced, and realised his vision with firm gravitas. Due ferocity in the Scherzo gave way to satisfying catharsis in the ‘final’ movement. When the devoutly religious Bruckner’s health failed after completing the first three movements, he was philosophical. ‘If God does not spare me to complete this symphony, he must take responsibility for its incompleteness.’ A bold statement - but who, having heard the sublime Adagio fade into the night without sequel, would indict the musical taste of the Almighty?
Matthew Williams
…This is a technically challenging work for the pianist, never mind the fact that this composition is so well known and that the audience will be familiar with every single note, making any errors prominent ones. Thankfully this was not an issue for Gavrylyuk as his crystal clear voicing was well suited for highlighting the classical counterpoint so critical to the piece’s success. Even though this is a concerto, the orchestration is finely constructed to produce a wonderful balance, which was well realised by Stier. This was pure delight from beginning to end, which the audience sincerely appreciated. The second and final item was the mammoth Bruckner Symphony no 9. Bruckner did not finish the fourth movement of this work himself, hence the name of the concert program. Last works of composers are interesting, often plumbing the depths of the musical psyche, and this is no different. While not his best work, there is certainly anguish and despair here, as this composer approached the end of his life.
Stier’s articulate direction lead the audience clearly through this final journey and the large orchestra was well balanced, with clear lines and dramatic climaxes. The final moments of this almost seemed an anticlimax. I wasn’t convinced that this realised solution of the final movement, produced from Bruckner’s sketches after his death, was a total success. But then, how could anyone finish what he started? Regardless, this was a lucid, intelligent interpretation, providing a thought provoking opportunity to listen to the parting gestures of a great master.Ronald McCoy