Reviews

HANDEL WITH CARE: a concert for Christchurch - Generous and rewarding

21/03/2011

PUBLICATION: Dominion Post
REVIEWED BY: John Button
WHERE: St James Theatre, Wellington, 17 March 2011

In an act of great generosity, Germany’s the Lautten Compagney, here with The NBR New Zealand Opera’s production of Xerxes, put on this concert at short notice. With the assistance of both the St James and Ticketek, who charged nothing, they drew a generous audience in aid of Christchurch and along the way gave us a tantalizing glimpse of Handel and Purcell as they might have expected to be performed. Not exactly, of course, for many of the purely instrumental pieces were arrangements of arias – something that Handel and Purcell would have done without turning a hair. And, surely, Handel would have loved Almirena’s lament from Rinaldo, transformed by three lutes including a majestic theorbo; a tissue of magical sound in a hall in which a pin dropping would have been heard. The more robust moments, the Rinaldo Overture for example, had a vigour without abrasiveness, and great part clarity.

The performance of Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op.3, No 1 typified both Katschner’s approach and the overall sound of the group. This was not the bold, upfront playing one frequently encounters, yet it teemed with life, and there was a wonderful unforced poetry in the largo movement. In many of the pieces we heard the baroque oboe’s piquant sounds, and the recorder playing of Martin Ripper was an absolute highlight.

One could go on, even in a concert that was shorter than normal, but the sound, built around the lutes, will linger long in the memory.

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Did you know?

Early opera resembled the atmosphere of a race course - chatting, food, laughter and loud comments were the norm.

During all our opera performances an English translation of the libretto is projected on screens above the stage, so you can easily follow the story.

If you are 25 years old or under you can purchase $25 tickets at the venue box office before any performance.

The world's longest opera is Wagner's The Ring Cycle, lasting over 14 hours plus intervals. That's 18 hours at the theatre.

The world's longest applause lasted for 1 hour and 20 minutes as a standing ovation. The opera: Otello starring Placido Domingo.

On average, an opera will last between 2 and 3 hours, with one interval in a two act show, and two in a three act show. Operettas and musicals tend to be shorter.

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