BY TARA WERNER
On music
Fifty years ago, the chamber music scene in New Zealand survived on the passion of new European immigrants and sporadic visits of overseas professionals.
But based on the rock of professional administration, Chamber Music New Zealand survived the rest of the century and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.
The body that has brought many of the world's outstanding musicians to New Zealand, often on the smell of a financial oily rag, must count as one of the country's most successful arts institutions.
Given the funding difficulties constantly faced by performing arts groups, surviving five decades as a union of societies is a remarkable feat in itself.
Nowadays, as the British musicologist Norman Lebrecht points out, chamber music is flourishing.
"Throwing off corsets and cummerbunds, string quartets and trios are coming out in designer clothes. Chamber music is the medium of the moment," he wrote.
Chamber Music New Zealand has capitalised on this trend, bringing to Auckland performers from Austria, Germany, Russia and the United States for its 2000 Celebrity season.
Featuring strongly in the line-up is Windscape, five of New York's top wind players including ex-patriate Auckland flautist Marya Martin.
Based in Manhattan, where the quintet's musicians are artists-in-residence at the Manhattan School of Music, Martin was last here to perform with the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra.
The wind quintet was formed in 1994 and has built a reputation for its innovative programming and engaging commentaries.
"We give a monologue between the scores, and audiences find this very different," Martin says.
The group will be here in May, playing an eclectic mix of contemporary works among more traditional fare - if Mozart's Mechanical Clock Pieces K594 could be termed "traditional."
The scene 50 years ago - little live chamber music and long gaps between tours - was a situation intolerable to emigrants from war-torn Europe, many refugees.
Chamber Music New Zealand general manager Brian Budd says that these arrivals brought a love of great classical music.
"Two of them, Fred Turnovsky and Arthur Hilton, were to make vital contributions to music and, in particular, chamber music in New Zealand."
Both were strong personalities, determined to set the organisation that would become Chamber Music New Zealand on a sound financial and artistic footing.
Hilton especially felt that professional administration was at the core of any successful arts organisation.
Back in 1974 he lamented that "this country has had to pay dearly, financially and artistically, for the lack of professional administrators."
From the early days, the quality of musicians brought to New Zealand was remarkable.
The volatile Hungarian Lili Kraus was the first international pianist to reach New Zealand since the war, and her fiery temperament set off a chain reaction of praise (and otherwise) throughout the country.
Others, such as the Amadeus Quartet, were feted around the country and often treated like royalty. During the musicians' 1958 visit to Nelson, they were wined and dined, with local committee members vying for the privilege.
Considering the tyranny of distance faced by musicians visiting from the musical capitals of the world, the line-up of international artists has been impressive.
Names such as Yehudi Menuhin and Yuri Bashmet, the Borodin Quartet, the Beaux Arts Trio, the Nash Ensemble and the Brodsky, Smetana and LaSalle Quartets crop up over the years.
Former general manager Elizabeth Airey says that attracting the best chamber groups was always a financial juggle, but well worth the effort.
"We paid international groups the same as they would get in the United States and Europe, so we had to be careful with our budget.
"But we have kept up our standards and therefore have kept our core audience, who tend to be very loyal," she said.
New Zealand artists have never been ignored, and Chamber Music New Zealand has always had a policy of fostering local talent.
Often these musicians created some highly innovative groups such as Music Players 70, formed by Gary Brain and Barry Margan to concentrate on 20th century music for two pianos and percussion.
This year's programme features the Vienna Piano Trio in April, the Emerson String Quartet - winners of four Grammy Awards, including Best Classical Album - in June, and Russian pianist Oleg Marshev in July.
The Vogler Quartet from Germany makes its New Zealand debut in September.
The next month pianist Michael Houstoun performs with the New Zealand String Quartet, giving the final concert in the series.
The musical medium of the moment
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