Show a chance for every talent to shine

The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra’s concert, featuring Franz Joseph Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto, gave a thoroughly satisfying performance at the King’s and Queen’s Performing Arts Centre on Saturday.
Conductor Kenneth Young commented: "What I like about these concerts is everyone gets a go."

He was referring to members of the orchestra but could equally have meant the variety that had something for everyone in the packed hall.

The programme opened with Antonin Dvorak’s Serenade for Wind Instruments, Cello and Double Bass. Written before the composer’s sojourn in New York, there are none of the North American themes heard in his work after 1892 but rather some of the traditional Czech dances of his early years. In this charming work, the 11 musicians demonstrated the skill of the DSO’s strings and horns.

Mozart’s Divertimento in Bb for Strings was lively and well-played but seemed less appealing to the audience.

Although short (13 minutes), Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto in Eb Major demands much of the soloist. DSO Principal Trumpet Ralph Miller demonstrated his versatility with an instrument that doesn’t often take the limelight in orchestral works, delighting the audience with a performance that was, for many, the highlight of the concert. Although a trifle hesitant in his opening bars, he soon settled into the role and his rendition of the third movement was especially impressive.

Delighted concertgoers were treated to a bright encore from Miller, Maurice Ravel’s Piece en forme de Habanera, rarely performed on trumpet.

Any fears that the second-half of the programme could be a letdown were soon allayed, as Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 3 ("Scottish") made an excellent contrast to the earlier works.

The inspiration for the symphony was a three-week walking tour of Scotland in 1829, when the composer was 20, more than halfway through his all-too-short life.

The bold opening of the first movement is reminiscent of the great Scottish battles, calling for a lot of energy from the orchestra. So, too, does the fast, Highland reel-inspired second movement, that concludes softly before the statelier Adagio. The work ends with an energetic, fast-paced finale, again a test of the DSO, to which the conductor and orchestra responded with verve and skill.

A well-balanced and enjoyable concert.

gillian.vine@thestar.co.nz