Now here is my ideal of a concert: Some people from New Zealand spend time travelling in Cambodia. They love it so much that on returning home, they think about ways to give something back to that country. They remember a school they have seen in the town of Ang Ponarey, which is running out of classrooms for its steadily increasing roll, and doesn't even have sanitary facilities for its students. So they decide to put on a fundraising concert in Wellington and donate the proceeds to their local contacts in Cambodia – grassroots funding at its best.

The programme of the concert consists mostly of contemporary New Zealand composers. Of course there will be some classical Cambodian music as well – and as it turns out, Wellington has, among its many other little known cultural treasures, a resident Cambodian music group – led by Sok Som An, a player of the tro, a traditional type of fiddle. The subtle, ethereal sounds of Cambodian traditional music are well matched by a range of New Zealand compositions which make use of taonga puoro – “singing treasures“, as the Maori call their traditional instruments.

The first half of the concert was framed by two such compositions by Gillian Whitehead. The opening piece, Te Ao Marama, featured young soprano Ramona Taleni, who is about to head overseas to complete her vocal studies in London. She was accompanied by Richard Nunns, who has devoted his life's work to reviving taonga puoro and is now known and respected across New Zealand as a prolific performer and composer. Whitehead's Hine Raukatauri concluded the first half with a tender and eerie dialogue between traditional flutes – again played by Richard Nunns – and modern European flute, played by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Bridget Douglas.

Bridget Douglas was joined by her regular duo partner Carolyn Mills, principal harpist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, for a performance of two Lullabies for Rainforest by Wellington composer Jack Body. Both regularly perform together as the duo Flight. The performance of Body's pieces was immaculate, and they provided a gay and rhythmical counterpoint to the more lyrical and introvert quality of the other pieces on the programme. However, the pieces themselves left this reviewer with a slightly uneasy feeling – Body draws extensively on transcriptions of music performed by what he refers to as the “pygmy“ people of South Central Africa, and I do question the appropriateness for western composers to sell so called “ethnic“ material under their own name to a western audience, who moreover probably have no idea what the music would have sounded like in its original form.

The highlight of the first half, however, was Carolyn Mills's performance of Helen Fisher's Otari for harp solo – a Wellington premiere. The name of the piece refers to a native bush reserve and bird sanctuary in Wellington, near to the composer's house. She clearly drew inspiration from birdsong and other bush noises, and makes extensive use of unusual instrumental techniques, such as sliding the finger along the side of the harp string, which results in a very birdlike whistling noise. At times peaceful and burbling, the music is a perfect representation of what it feels like to take a walk in New Zealand bush, and was presented in an inspired and committed performance by Carolyn Mills.

Another highlight opened the second half of the evening: When Antonio was here by young Wellington composer Dan Poynton starts out meekly as a homage to Italian baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi, but takes on increasingly wild and contemporary guises in a brilliant and spirited performance by the young composer himself on the grand piano – of which he used not only the keys.

Gareth Farr's Nga whetu e whitu for flute and piano continued the theme of the first half, with its allusions to traditional Maori music, and was convincingly presented by Bridged Douglas, flute, and Rachel Thompson, piano. The next set of pieces provided a more mainstream counterpoint to the rest of the programme. Ramona Taleni's passionate rendition of one of Giuseppe Verdi's lesser known gems, the romanza from Il Corsaro, certainly was yet another highlight of the evening. The listeners were swept off their feet by the richness of Taleni's voice and the drama of her performance. The following Alleluia by W.A.Mozart did not quite reach the very high standard the singer had just set for herself, but was competently sung, and I don't doubt that here is a young soprano who has the potential to make a real impact on opera stages at home and abroad. I will certainly keep an eye and an ear out for her return after her period of studies overseas.

The programme was fittingly concluded by another set of classical Cambodian pieces, followed by several thank-you speeches from the organizers and on behalf of the Cambodian community in Wellington. The audience left in a glow of having witnessed a truly exceptional concert, at the same time as doing their little bit to help make the world a better place.

written by Asni - contact me

Asni home *** The Harp&Hobbit home *** links & web community *** new stuff - recent additions to this site