French favourites to test Town Hall organ

By WILLIAM DART

Michael Christie, the young American conductor at the reins of the Auckland Philharmonia for its next two concerts, is forging a career for himself on three continents. With busy schedules in the United States and Europe, he is also a familiar presence on the Brisbane music scene as chief conductor of the Queensland Orchestra since 2001.

It all started when he took his baton to the Sibelius Competition in 1995 and came away with a special prize for outstanding potential, and it was in Helsinki that the whole business of conducting "was unveiled in all its brilliance and horror", he says.

The horror is "the intense competition among colleagues". The brilliance? "You have this amazing opportunity to go to other countries and be exposed to all kinds of music. A month ago I was in Prague doing Dvorak with the Czech Philharmonic."

We have to wait a week for Christie's Dvorak (two Legends and the Sixth Symphony, on March 4) but tomorrow's fare is mainly French.

Why is French music so eminently palatable? "There is a nice sweep to it," Christie says, "although it never becomes film music. It's just so full of different textures and colours, and our ears are quite tickled by that."

Tomorrow's concert is unusual. The two major works feature the organ, and concertgoers will have the chance to check out the much-publicised Town Hall instrument. Christie "enjoys the colour of both beasts, so to speak" and the Saint-Saens Organ Symphony is a favourite.

"It's a powerful piece and for the audience it can almost be something like a rock concert. There is quite a physical experience when you have an organ involved and our bodies rumble when they play those lower pitches."

Christie enthuses over his involvement as director with the Colorado Music Festival, "a dynamite little festival because there's a little bit of a brains trust in Boulder and they really support the arts".

Last year's experiment joining forces with the local Shakespeare festival was so popular it is being continued this season, with a project intertwining Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with the original Shakespeare play.

It is clear that audiences come first with Christie. Tomorrow at 7pm, Christie and organist John Wells will entertain a pre-concert gathering with a conversation about the music they will play.

Don't be surprised, either, if you find the conductor mixing with the audience during interval. "I'm not a big fan of cocooning myself in the back room," Christie admits. "I like to peek out into the foyer during interval.

"You get a sense of the buzz, although it doesn't necessarily affect the music of the second half. It's like going out and finding good restaurants in a city - you find a back corner you didn't know existed."

It's this approach that has made the Queensland Orchestra such a kingpin of Brisbane's cultural life, with a full range of music from unflinchingly contemporary to a popular Sunday lunchtime series which "gives people something they can grab on to and have a sentimental journey".

The Australian experience has also made Christie into a cultural ambassador for his new country. He is justly proud that a Colorado Festival performance of Peter Sculthorpe's Mangrove with didgeridoo-player William Barton was hailed by one Denver critic as the event of the year.

Christie says the whole experience of a folk instrument can be very moving. "I'm going to Phoenix this year and they've taken the programme verbatim."

How many of our many visiting conductors have undertaken such services for the New Zealand composer?

Performance

* Who: Michael Christie conducts the Auckland Philharmonia, with John Wells

* Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, Thursday 8pm; pre-concert conversation 7pm