72 LISTENER JUNE 1 2019
The Best of the Week
QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY
Music Alive (RNZ Concert,
8.00pm). The NZSO’s 2019
Podium series includes a
commission to mark the 250
years since the first encounters
between Māori and Euro-
peans and a playful
evening under the
baton of Austrian
composer HK
Gruber, which
features his
works Franken-
stein!! and Aerial,
which was writ-
ten for its performer,
Swedish trumpeter
Håkan Hardenberger. Danish
maestro Thomas Søndergård
is on hand for this concert,
recorded in Wellington’s
Michael Fowler Centre, which
features the brilliant Russian
pianist Denis Kozhukhin. The
theme is “Love Eternal”
and the programme
includes Beethoven’s
Coriolan Overture;
Schumann’s Piano
Concerto in A minor,
which premiered
in 1845 with Clara
Schumann as solo-
ist; and Mozart’s Linz
Symphony, which was
composed while he and his
wife, Constanze, were on a
stopover in the Austrian town
of Linz.TUESDAY JUNE 4
Music Alive (RNZ Concert,8.00pm). This year’s Adam
Chamber Music Festival in
Nelson opened with a stun-
ning mix of international and
local talent, including mem-
bers of the Jerusalem Quartet,
British violinist Anthony Mar-
wood and Canadian
Nikki Chooi and
our own NZ String
Quartet. To top
it off, Hungarian
pianist Dénes
Várjon was there
for Brahms’ Inter-
mezzo Op 118. The
programme includes
Prokofiev’s Sonata for
2 violins and Brahms’ String
Quartet No 2.WEDNESDAY JUNE 5
Music Alive (RNZ Concert,- 3 0 p m). The 2019 Michael Hill
International Violin Competi-
tion reaches its semi-final;
live tonight and
tomorrow from the
Auckland Town Hall
Concert Chamber,
the six semi-final-
ists perform string
quartets by Mozart
with eminent NZ
musicians Andrew Beer,
Gillian Ansell, Julia Joyce
and Ashley Brown as their
backing band. International
judges Dale Barltrop, James
Ehnes, Mauricio Fuks and
Clara-Jumi Kang will make
their decision at the grand
finale on June 8.
by FIONA RAE
Send comments, queries or complaints about radio or tele vision
to: [email protected], or Talkback, NZ Listener, Private Bag
92512, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141.TRIVIAL PURSUITS
I cannot believe how trivial
The Panel (RNZ National,
weekdays) has become with
Wallace Chapman as host.
The “question of the day”
recently was “What was your
worst purchase?” The other
day it was “What is your
favourite lolly?” Really. This
is supposed to be a pro-
gramme for adults.
Chris Mowatt
(Tawa)PRESSURE DROP
For some weeks, TVNZ 1 has
been promoting an upcom-
ing programme, Catch-22. At
the conclusion of the promo-
tion is the comment “drops
May 18”. What on earth does
this mean?
Peter Spiller
(Christchurch)
Talkback responds: It appears
to be an example of hip-hop ter-
minology leaking into common
parlance. The “bass drop” in
early hip-hop records has been
shortened to mean the release
date of an album or tune – or,
in this case, the day the pro-
gramme becomes available on
TVNZ OnDemand. We’re not
saying this is a good thing.NO NEWS IS BAD NEWS
I concur with Susan Reber-
gen’s assessment of the
quality of our TV news
(Talkback, May 18). I first
visited New Zealand nearly
20 years ago from the UK and
was impressed by the wide-
ranging news coverage.
I have now lived here for
10 years and, to fast-forwardto today, I fear we are getting
biased reporting on a narrow
range of news and issues.
Instead of so much US
news, why is there not more
about Australia and China,
with which we have closer
connections? And, given the
parlous state of the environ-
ment, why don’t we see
more about such issues as the
ongoing effects of the March
oil spill in the Solomon
Islands and the proposed oil
and gas drilling in the Great
Australian Bight by a Norwe-
gian company?
Jo Hedge
(Whakatāne)Susan Rebergen should watch
Al Jazeera, which has a lot of
international news.
G Barber
(Gisborne)AUDIO MISSTEP
Dancing with the Stars NZ
(Three, Sunday and Monday)
provides a visual treat, but
for the listener is a huge
disappointment.
Dance styles bear little
relationship to the music –
one couple danced a so-called
Viennese waltz to what
sounded like rock’n’roll.
Notable also is that one
item after another uses music
with the same tempo, beat
and monotonous backing.
Dancing is often defined as
movement to music, so why
do the judges not comment
on this matter and score
contestants accordingly?
Julia Millen
(Karori, Wellington)G
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Talkback
PODCAST OF THE WEEK
HUNGER FOR THE RECIPE
In theory, a podcast is not the best medium for a cooking
show, but that never stopped an enthusiast. Besides, what
else are websites and Instagram for? Friends with Recipes is
a jolly pleasant podcast and website in which London-based
American Bethie Hungerford travels around the UK cooking
with people in their kitchens. friendswithrecipes.orgConstanze
Mozart