Remarkable night of music making

REVIEW: SONG OF THE EARTH

Dunedin Symphony Orchestra

Dunedin Town Hall, Saturday, June 24

A stunning new talent and music legends combined in a remarkable night of music making on Saturday, as Dunedin Symphony Orchestra presented its "Song of the Earth" concert.

Under the baton of venerable conductor James Judd, the orchestra was wonderful throughout an epic and demanding concert, moving from the lightness and joy of Mozart, to the drama and emotion of Mahler with aplomb.

The concert began with a brilliant showcase by 17-year-old Wellington pianist Benjamin Carter, giving a nimble, light-hearted, and masterful performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21.

The orchestra was subtle and responsive in support, giving the superb young musician every chance to shine.

Already impressed, the audience was thrilled by Carter’s incredible encore — a break-neck, seat-of-the-pants, yet utterly controlled performance of Prokofiev’s outrageous Suggestion Diabolique.

After the interval, it was on to much more sober, intense fare, as internationally renowned soloists Simon O’Neill (tenor) and Wendy Dawn Thompson (mezzo soprano) joined the DSO for Mahler’s extraordinary song cycle The Song of the Earth (Das Lied von der Erde).

With a libretto translated from Chinese to German and then helpfully to English for projection on a giant screen, the epic hour-long piece took the audience on a roller-coaster of emotions, from joy to the deepest despair.

Both O’Neill and Thompson were fabulously powerful, cutting through Mahler’s massed orchestra forces, while evoking the emotion of each song to wonderful effect.

Steadily marshalled by Judd, the DSO were equally powerful in support, raising the roof with brass fanfares before pulling the audience steadily further into Mahler’s tragic world view, until the work’s spellbinding conclusion.

Bravo!

Review by Brenda Harwood of The Star, 29 June 2023