Allegro Largo Scherzo Finale

• Ben Woods: Constant Sphere
• Johann Strauss: “So muss allein ich bleiben” from Die Fledermaus
• Mozart: “Cinque… dieci” from Le Nozze di Figaro
• Weber: Clarinet Conerto No. 2
• Mussorgsky: Night on Bare Mountain
• Johann Strauss: “Brother mine and sister mine” and “The glint of champagne glasses” from Die Fledermaus
• Stravinsky: Firebird Suite (1919)

Conducted by Kenneth Young, Clarinet: Andrzej Nowicki

One always has to prepare to be a little disappointed by student orchestral compositions, because of the time restrictions placed upon them. This was certainly true of Simon Dickson’s piece in the preceding NZSM orchestra concert, but the same could not be said for Ben Woods’ work. True, it could have gone on forever, but at any point Constant Sphere could have ended and still felt perfect. The work moves with immense, noble slowness; every point both static and inexorably pulling on to the next. Woods’ concept of “a shiny ball… rotating in changing light” is an exquisite one; one cannot help but think of the example of our own earth – always spinning, yet always changing. In Constant Sphere as on Earth, it is the little details that make the whole special; I particularly enjoyed the part with the trumpet , just audible inside the texture, playing a constant pitch with subtly changing rhythm, twisting time around it.

Little need be said about Johann Strauss – indeed, the less said the better. The first item from Die Fledermaus was sung competently by all concerned, although there were points toward the end of the opening solo when the orchestra was a little overwhelming. “Cinque… dieci” is a much more proficient piece (even if it lacks the Strauss’ gratuitous final high note – which is completely inappropriate at the beginning of an opera); Olga Gryniewicz sang with great confidence and considerable success.

Usually one sees Andrzej Nowicki playing some esoteric creation of one of the composition students; here he displayed his mastery of classical tradition. Weber is a hugely underplayed composer, at least in comparison to Beethoven, and the Clarinet Concerto No. 2 is a very fine work. The first two movements shun outwardly virtuosic technique and the glorious yet irrelevant tuttis of later Romantic works. Instead the clarinet plays a glorious, almost unceasing melodic line that undergoes some vivid transformations. The third movement has more technical passages, but the performer is still subservient to the music; this might be risky for a performer out to get all the applause they could muster, but of course the mark of an amazing musician is their ability to ability to produce amazing music. Andrzej Nowicki is certainly an amazing musician.

Night on Bare Mountain is probably the best known tone poem by any composer apart from the first bars of Also Sprach Zarathustra. The NZSM orchestra played enthusiastically and with great clarity; playing the  opening sections in particular every bit as viciously as Mussorgsky can have intended. The two choruses from Die Fledermaus were another example of facile music sung spectacularly well, with Ken Young judging the tempi perfectly. The 1919 version of the Firebird Suite is played less often than the subsequent revision; it is short enough to tack nicely on to the end of a concert like this. Although the playing itself was nicely polished, the balance of the piece did not seem to be quite right, with the strings all but disappearing. In the first movement in particular there seemed to be something of a hole in the sound, dominated by brass and percussion.