Jeremy Fitzsimons performing in John Psathas' Fragment Photo: SOUNZ
Michael Houstoun performing in John Psathas' Fragment Photo: SOUNZ
Performed by Michael Houstoun (piano) and Jeremy Fitzsimons (percussion) with Orchestra Wellington conducted by Marc Taddei.
View from Olympus was commissioned by percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie and has become one of John Psathas' landmark works. His description of the work shows how he drew on his Greek heritage for inspiration:
1. The Furies - The Furies represent the avenging spirits of retributive justice who were charged with punishing crimes outside the reach of human justice. This movement contains an adapted transcription of a fragment of improvised playing by one of my favourite Greek violinists, Stathis Koukoularis (it appears as a solo for violin about 2 minutes into the movement)
2. To Yelasto Paithi (The Smiling Child) – This is the closest I’ve come to expressing – in a way not possible with the spoken or written word – the feelings inspired by my precious children. This movement also captures the summer I spent working on the concerto at my parents’ house just outside the village of Nea Michaniona - a house perched on a cliff which looks down on the Aegean and up to Mount Olympus.
3. Dance of the Mænads – Draped in the skins of fawns, crowned with wreaths of ivy and carrying the thyros - a staff wound round with ivy leaves and topped with a pine cone - the Mænads roamed the mountains and woods. When possessed by Dionysos, the Mænads plunged into a frenzied dance, obtaining an intoxicating high and a mystical ecstasy giving them unknown powers, making them the match of the bravest hero.
Performed by Jeremy Fitzsimons (vibraphone) and Michael Houstoun (piano)
Fragment was originally composed as a piano duet to commemorate the occasion of the retirement of the composer's first piano teacher. It is a simple and tranquil meditation in which gently pulsing chords provide hushed support to a delicate melody. At the time of its composition, John Psathas was engaged in writing his double concerto View from Olympus, and in mood and musical material, Fragment is related to the second movement of that work.
Marc Taddei conducts Wellington Orchestra Photo: SOUNZ
Performed by Orchestra Wellington conducted by Marc Taddei.
Following the critical dismissal of his First Symphony, Rachmaninov fell into a period of creative paralysis and deep depression that lasted almost three years. He sought treatment from hypnotist Nikolai Dahl who managed to get the composer writing again, and this led to a string of successes for Rachmaninov, including his Second Piano Concerto. By 1906 Rachmaninov was ready to compose another symphony. The second symphony is a large, brooding, romantic work, with a wealth of melodies. The orchestration is lush and impassioned, often with dense counterpoint in the inner parts.
All four movements are linked by a single motivic idea, first heard in the lower strings at the opening of the first movement. There’s a galloping Scherzo movement, followed by a sublime Adagio which contains some of Rachmaninov’s most beautiful music. The meltingly lovely clarinet solo seems to flow endlessly, and its famous melody is presented in different guises, providing solo moments for the horn and woodwinds.
The finale begins explosively, layering a wealth of melodies over each other. It’s full of energy and rhythmic drive, and is capped by a passage that simulates the magnificent clamour of bells.
Recorded on 5 December 2020 in Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Producer: David McCaw
Engineer: Darryl Stack
