The Classics: 20th March

Gillian Whitehead: Ipu.  Tungia Baker (voice), Richard Nunns (taonga puoro), Judy Bailey (piano), Georg  Pederson (cello). Rattle CD.

This 42-minute work by the prolific Dunedin-based composer was released by Rattle back in 1998, but it still sounds fresh and exciting as a collaboration of classical, jazz and pre-European Maori instrumental styles. The title ‘‘Ipu’’ means a gourd or container and this four-part work is based on a story by Tungia Baker about the waka, kowhai and tui, involving a gourd used to attract birds, a love affair, storm and aftermath. The piano and cello blend effectively with the various Maori instruments well played by Nunns, while Baker tells the tale with vim and charm in Maori.

Whitehead, a former pupil of Peter Maxwell Davies, is now a well-known New Zealand composer. She has written a number of works, listed on her website, including eight operas. Last year her chamber opera Iris Dreaming, libretto by poet Fleur Adcock, was staged in the Arcola Theatre, London, as part of the 10th Grimeborn Festival. The opera tells the tragic story of the life of another New Zealand poet, Robin Hyde (real name Iris Wilkinson).

The Guardian newspaper favourably reviewed it, observing that sole singer the lyric coloratura Joanne Roughton-Arnold, Adcock and director Sara Brodie were all expatriate Kiwis. The small Octandre Ensemble provided the music. The newspaper wrongly called it a ‘‘world premiere’’ though, as the work had been earlier staged in Wellington.

I was pleased to find a video of the London performance (41 minutes) on the singer’s website (www.joanneroughtonarnold.com) and found it very enjoyable. Thought:  What about some more live performances of a Whitehead opera, perhaps here in Dunedin?

Verdict: Stories effectively told with music.

- Geoff Adams

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