Music ‘up close’ in a new Wellington venue

The Public Trust Hall in Wellington

…handsomely refurbished.

On a recent chilly August evening several hundred Wellingtonians arrived for a chamber music concert. There was a convivial buzz in the air as we found our way into the historic Public Trust Hall and picked up a glass of wine at the bar. As we waited for the first of Chamber Music New Zealand’s subscription concerts after the pandemic lockdown many of us talked about our first impressions of the venue itself. It has been handsomely refurbished - but how will it sound?

Wellington sorely needs new performing arts venues and has never had an ideal-sized hall for chamber music. The old Wellington Town Hall auditorium with its warm responsive acoustic and the smaller Ilott Concert Chamber alongside closed in 2013 for earthquake strengthening. After probably ill-considered delays work is at last underway and a re-opening date of 2023 has been announced. Other venues are also closed for strengthening including the St James Theatre and the often-used Sacred Heart Cathedral. 

Chamber music has particular requirements of acoustics and ambience. What’s special about it?  For Catherine Gibson, Chief Executive of CMNZ, it’s the intimacy of musicians communicating with each other and out to an audience - and that audience listening in and connecting with the musicians. “What we talk about,” she says, “is music ‘up close’, that personal, immersive experience.”

How did the 300-seat Public Trust Hall perform? The programme by two highly-regarded New Zealand musicians, which has toured to twelve cities, began with Beethoven’s ‘Spring’ Sonata, a good choice for the season and a serene work beloved by many. In the rather dry acoustic, however, violinist Amalia Hall did not find the joyous singing, forward-flowing legato the work requires. Stephen de Pledge’s piano sound was also rather flat. The hall did not seem to add a lot of resonance and the musicians’ restrained approach to Beethoven’s melodic shapes may have contributed to my disappointment. From my seat in the back half of the shoe-box shaped hall I didn’t feel strong engagement with the action on the stage and I was aware that the flat floor meant sight-line issues for some people.

Amalia Hall (violin) and Stephen de Pledge (piano)

…the intimacy of chamber music.

Not a good start - but fortunately, as the programme proceeded, everything improved. Musicians and audience were drawn together by Gao Ping’s beautiful new work, Bitter Cold Night, written during lockdown in China as a tribute to the Chinese doctor who first raised the issue of COVID-19 and sadly died of the virus. Hearing the news the night of February 6 of Dr Li Wenliang's deteriorating health and then his death, the composer decided to express his feelings in music. “On that same day there was a photo online which everyone was talking about,” says Gao Ping, “a very beautiful image of someone writing in huge Chinese characters on a snow-covered riverbank the message 'Farewell to Dr Li Wenliang.' And I thought, that is exactly what I am doing in music for him.” In this performance Hall’s lovely violin sound in short phrases of conversation with de Pledge’s responsive piano communicated the moving story and my acoustic quibbles largely disappeared. 

Three Preludes by George Gershwin (arranged by Jascha Heifetz) offered an almost shocking contrast to Gao Ping’s work but the audience enjoyed the flamboyant bouncing performance in spite of some balance issues with a rather dominant piano.

After the interval Mozart’s charming Violin Sonata No 19 in E flat major had a delightfully conversational style with playing of grace and tenderness. Here we found the essential intimacy of chamber music. And in the virtuosic Saint-Saëns Sonata that completed the programme both musicians seemed fully engaged and all restraint vanished in a dazzling display of technical facility and melodic power. The audience demanded an encore and went satisfied into the night.

The next chamber music concert scheduled in the Public Trust Hall is the New Zealand String Quartet’s Beethoven on September 16 (although if current gathering restrictions continue this date may change). I’m hoping the venue will enhance the sound of a string quartet but suspect it needs more of what acousticians call reflection, particularly behind the musicians.  The world’s legendary concert halls have a lot of hard surfaces. Maurice Clark, owner of the venue, spoke to the audience and welcomed feedback, noting some changes might be possible. The size and attractive features of this heritage space make it an appealing option for presenters – it may be that minor modifications could make it even more responsive.  

Footnote: Amalia Hall and Stephen de Pledge first premiered Gao Ping’s Bitter Cold Night from their respective living rooms in this video performance.