William Tell Overture - Rossini Piano Concerto in D minor K466 -

Mozart Symphony No 9 (New World) - Dvorak

En Shao conducted the National Symphony Orchestra in a very tight-reined style at the National Concert Hall last Friday evening.

In Rossini's William Tell Overture the result was vigorous and incisive, but far too inflexible; and in Mozart's Piano Concerto in D

minor K466, the benefits of orchestral precision were little compensation for short-term phrasing and rhythmic drive.

Finghin Collins was the soloist in the Mozart, and his long limbed approach was welcome. It was therefore unfortunate that his consistently strong projection tended to iron out the contrasts in this most contrasted of concertos. His wide-ranging tone and volume in the cadenzas showed that things could have been different.

Neverthless, the performance was dominated by Collin's confidence and fluency, and by his sureness as to how he wanted this music to go.

Dvorak's New World Symphony received the most rewarding performance of the concert. For most of it En Shao slackened the reins enough for the players to shape things spontaneously, and the many orchestral solos were well done. The interventionist conducting led inevitably to occasional exaggeration, making the piece seem less generous and flowing than it actually is. Yet the performance was winning in its subtle orchestral colour, its immediacy, and in the conviction of the playing.