An Arabian Night at the Town Hall

By TARA WERNER

A bassoonist dressed like a sheik out of Lawrence of Arabia raised a few chuckles when he turned up on stage for part of An Arabian Night, performed by the Auckland Philharmonia.

It's good to see that musicians need not view their jobs always seriously, and his desert garb drolly fitted the Middle Eastern hue of the programme on Friday night, even upstaging conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya, who took it in good heart.

The music contained a showy mix of 19th-century composers clearly fascinated, even obsessed by the Orient. Sumptuous orchestrations colourfully portrayed a nostalgic musical travelogue.

Fortunately, the concert avoided the danger of presenting a line-up of cliches, even though a belly dancer accompanying the encore by Tchaikovsky veered towards the kitsch.

The Bacchanale from Saint-Saens' opera Samson et Dalila that started the proceedings may have been at a rather fast tempo for comfort, but the following Aladdin Suite by Nielsen received a solid performance.

The attractive opening march, a lot like the Montagues and Capulets ballroom scene from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet in its striking rhythm, had a flashy brass section, and later the unusual Market Place in Ispahan cleverly juxtaposed unrelated themes in a vibrant description of a bazaar.

Sibelius' suite Belshazzar's Feast, although suitably atmosshpheric sounded more like Sibelius than the Orient, the composer not quite being able to make the transition.

Four dancers from the Auckland Dance Company made good use of the limited space in front of the organ, their movements sensitively reflecting each scene of the suite. Another dance more sinister in nature and making sizeable demands of the orchestra, The Dance of the Seven Veils from Strauss' opera Salome, was dramatically handled.

But the best came last - the famous Scheherazade Op 35 by Rimsky-Korsakov, with some sparkling violin interludes contributed by concertmaster Justine Cormack.