Marjorie Cook reports.
Q: Tell me about Rita and whether you enjoy playing her?
Ward-Lealand: Rita! Well! I'll tell you about the Rita we have explored. This is from a particular period in the early 1940s, when she met Douglas Lilburn.
She always called him Gordon. It covers about 13 years of their relationship. It did last until her death but there was a very intense period and this is the period that we have focused on.
Why I love it is I get to do this huge journey and huge range of feelings.
She's a prickly pear. There is no hiding her vehemence in her letters to Gordon when she feels something he is doing is a betrayal of his art ...
The story starts in Motueka and ends in Central Otago ... this incredibly passionate, tempestuous relationship. And it is all through her letters to him.
Q: What can audiences expect to learn about Rita and Douglas?
Ward-Lealand: They can expect to see the exploration of her pacifism during the war [World War 2] and her reaction to being charged by the Manpower Committee ...
It was a creative meeting of minds ...
I think that is probably the first time she felt understood by somebody who was equally creatively brilliant.
That is a wonderful thing to fall in love with.
Houstoun: He loved poetry and his poet friends such as Denis Glover also felt he appreciated him. I think he must have been gifted with a very intuitive mind.
Q: Tell me about Lilburn's music.
Q: Did Lilburn write any music for Angus?
Houstoun: He might have but I couldn't tell you specifically. He did write a lot of music for friends. A lot of what I am playing, people will not have heard before, although it has been published ... But I cannot say 'that piece is for Rita'.
Q: Lilburn's letters to Angus were destroyed?
Ward-Lealand: Yes ... but bless him, Lilburn bequeathed all her letters to him to the Alexander Turnbull Library ...
She said at the end, 'I miss quarrelling with you.' I think there must have been some very robust correspondence.
Houstoun: They were very high-minded people. They opened up territory that didn't exist in New Zealand at that time, living for their art ... and for the sake of ideals and artistic pursuit, they did sacrifice their relationship.
Q: Do you enjoy playing Lilburn's music?
Houstoun: It is wonderful to play, and it would be very nice for young pianists to come to see the show. I would love them to think 'I could do that'.
Houstoun, Ward-Lealand, writer Dave Armstrong and Angus' biographer Jill Trevelyan will take part in "Aspiring Conversations" on Thursday April 14, from 10.30am at the Crystal Palace. Houstoun will also perform "Jazzing It Up" at the Lake Wanaka Centre on Sunday, April 17 from 1pm.
