RTECO/Colman Pearce

{TABLE} Captain Blood Overture ............. Korngold Mary Poppins Suite ................. Richard & Robert Sherwin (arr. Kostal) The Piano .......................... Michael Nyman Saxophone Concerto ................. Michael Nyman Aladdin Suite ...................... Alan Menken (arc. D. Troob) Out of Africa ...................... John Barry (arr. J. Tale) The Celtic ......................... D.C. Heath Star Wars Suite .................... John Williams {/TABLE} LAST Friday night's concert at the NCH was somewhat inappropriately titled "Live Sax Plus". While Gerard McChrystal's superb playing on soprano saxophone was the highlight of the evening, the programme was dominated by film music; and finishing with the Star Wars Suite ensured that John Willtas's brash but rousing sounds lingered in the memory long after the concert had ended.

Much of the music was of the "compendium of best tunes" type. Under Colman, Pearce's direction, the RTE Concert Orchestra's playing did not have the balance necessary to project - the tunes clearly, and this was especially detrimental in Irwin Kostal's complex arrangement of music from Mary Poppins. However, it was good to hear Korngold's overture for Captain Blood, a salutary reminder that few composers for film have matched Korngold for strength and vividness.

Colman Pearce played the long piano solos in the full length version of Michael Nyman's music for The Piano. Divorced from the film, this music sounded vacuous; and it was not helped by the rather monochrome piano playing.

Gerard McChrystal gave the premiere of a new piece by D.C. Heath. The Celtic concerto for soprano saxophone and strings uses traditional style material in a quasi modern way. It is technically skilled but unmemorable, despite the persuasiveness of McChrystal's playing.

The most compelling performance of the evening was of Nyman's Saxophone Concerto: where the Bee Sticks. Developed from the music for Prospero's Books, this is in the higher ranks of musical minimalism. Its complex metres were handled well by the RTECO; and the whole performance seemed inspired by the verve of McChrytal's playing.