Dalewool Auckland Brass
31-Oct-2004The World's Most Beautiful Melodies
Conductor: Nigel Weeks
St Matthews-in-the-City
Auckland, New Zealand
28th October 2004
Fresh from their successful trip to Britain to compete at this years British Open Championships, Dalewool Auckland Brass took to the stage in front of a sell out audience at this wonderful church in the heart of Auckland City Centre. (I in fact, bought the last ticket. Phew!)
It is quite common for bands in New Zealand to have various themed concerts as they don't travel around the country like the top bands in Britiain do, so the venues and faces in the audiences are usually the same - so there needs to be diversity to keep the interest alive for their regular concert-goers.
This concert dubbed 'The World's Most Beautful Melodies' did exactly as the title obviously suggests and also gave the audience an opportunity to hear two of New Zealand's greatest soloists - Andrew Large, on cornet and the charismatic Riki McDonnell on euphonium.
The concert started in great fashion, with the solo cornets lining the front of the band in 'Grand March from Aida' in the first of three fine arrangements by Dr Denis Wright. The trombones were outstanding, ably assisted I might add by Douglas Cross, principal trombone with the Auckland Philharmonia. There were however a few rythmic lapses in the dotted rhythms, I felt. We also got the first chance to listen to Andrew Large on principal cornet in the answering fanfare figures with Greg Moverly on bumper up, both were excellent.
The concert followed in typical format with an overture, Nigel Weeks chose 'Le Corsair'. This overture is played by many brass bands and it has become somewhat of a 'war horse' however, I do believe that it is one of the most difficult overtures to perform convincingly and fortunately, Dalewool did - the opening was very impressive indeed. Excellent contributions were noted by Mason Elliot on flugel and principal trumpet from the APO, Viktor Kisnichenko who was 'guesting' on soprano cornet.
The first 'solo spot' was next on the programme with Andrew Large presenting, 'Napoli' and 'My Love is like a Red, Red, Rose'. Andrew is an extremely gifted player and his technique was impressive and he even managed to finish Napoli on a super F. Wow! His warmth of tone was moving in 'My Love is like a Red, Red, Rose' and the band, although a little 'heavy handed' in their accompanying at times during 'Napoli' were very sympathetic in the second item.
A beautiful Gordon Langford arrangement of 'Adagio of Spartacus & Phriggia' was played next and featured Riki McDonnell with his luscious euphonium tone. Once again, Viktor on soprano was sublime, contrasting dynamics in a split second and making something out of each phrase. However, there were a few moments of bass intonation lapses.
The Opera, Carmen has just enjoyed a successful run in Auckland and the band played 'Carmen Fantasy' next. which was followed by the reluctant horn section ( they didn't seem to want to stand up) but with various hand gestures, Nigel Weeks summoned them to their feet to play 'Air from the Suite in D'. This was a moment of sheer class. Brent Large on solo horn had his young section blending so well, the tone was pure and controlled - a stunning performance. The band ended the first half with Howard Snell's arrangement of 'Procession to the Minster'. Douglas Cross on solo trombone yet again, showed his class.
Men of Harlech opened the second half and the band continued in a Welsh theme with 'All through the Night' which featured the euphoniums and baritones well.
The second and final spot featured Riki McDonnell. Riki is the most successful soloist in the history of New Zealand banding and is the only person to have won the prestigious Champion of Champions on three different instruments. He is a world class soloist and his new CD is released in the next two weeks. Riki chose, 'Let Me Try Again' and Maori melody 'Hine e Hine'. Riki was in wonderful form and his communication and stage presence with the audience is excellent. His tone is rich and sonorous throughout his considerable range and it was a pleasure to sit back and enjoy.
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind was performed next and was followed by a lovely arrangement by Frank Wright of Bach's 'Bacarolle'. The band captured the lilting feel very well. The band went straight into Toccata in D Minor which was marred by a couple of 'blips' in the opening but soon recovered whilst the percussion were excellent throughout and the whole trombone section cut through well.
As a special request from one of Dalewool's legion of fans, the band played 'The Lost Chord' which again featured the fine tone of Andrew Large on cornet. Time to say Goodbye or Con te Patiro, followed, I have been watching the box sets of 'The Sopranos' recently and this piece is featured heavily in season two with Andrea Bocelli singing, so this was a welcome addition to the programme and was arranged skilfully by Phillip Sparke. Fittingly, as the band are double National Champions, they chose to end the concert with Major Willcocks' 'The Champions'.
Nigel Weeks was excellent in his direction and comments throughout although perhaps a microphone might have helped the proceedings. The concert was a tremendous success and is the penultimate concert in Dalewool's subscription concerts for 2004.
Alexandra Kerwin
