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3 Oct 2005 : Premiere greeted by loud applause
Christchurch Symphony with New Zealand Trio at Christchurch Town Hall auditorium. Conductor Marc Taddei.
Gareth Farr does not mince matters over his new Triple Concerto. "I think this could be my best work yet," he tells conductor Marc Taddei at final rehearsal.
Taddei calls it "very strong". The normally staid classical fans became a rock audience greeting this premiere with stamps and whistles. The high-profile young Farr is used to that. They are responding to his in-your-face directness and lucidity. So you do not miss the absence of notes or info. His music says it all.
Its 25 minutes traverses three movements in a tonal-atonal-tonal palindrome. Its discursive opening is atypically formal. The remaining two are where the white-hot quality is. Here is your typical Farr flamboyance with exciting percussion, plus spiky, scherzo writing and touches of drollery akin to Shostakovich and Prokofiev.
Its post-minimalism avoids the skull-drilling repetition of Americans like Glass whose minimalism Farr hates.
His claim "I didn't have to change much in rehearsal" is testimony to the dream launch it got from Taddei, the orchestra and the outstanding New Zealand Trio - violinist Justine Cormack, cellist Ashley Brown and pianist Sarah Watkins. Farr is not entirely happy yet. Some textural thinning down may sharpen the wit in the finale.
The defiant brass snarls in - Sibelius's Finlandia sounded proudly nationalistic in this dramatic reading.
Taddei's interpretation of Brahms's Symphony No. 1 was typically unique with pushy speeds often utilised deftly to enhance structural clarity and dramatic shaping.
"I don't practise Brahmsus interruptus," Taddei says. "It is neither good contraceptive strategy nor good musical strategy."
Consequently Taddei's Viagra-induced finale was a perfect match for his virile, rhythmic thrust in the energetic opening movement
Ian Dando - Christchurch Press
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