The first concert of Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's NZ Herald Premier series is a little over a week away, promising a spectacular launch for the city's musical season. Orchestrally, we go from the zoom 'n' gleam of John Adams' Short Ride in a Fast Machine to an astrological trip around Gustav Holst's The Planets.
Between, there is the Auckland premiere of Ross Harris' 2008 Violin Concerto, featuring Russian violinist Ilya Gringolts. Both soloist and conductor are familiar to APO audiences.
The man with the baton is Scotsman Garry Walker. At first he jests that being in Auckland in February is a welcome escape from the European winter, but then reveals a deeper affection for our part of the world.
"The first time I arrived here, the border guard said, 'Welcome to New Zealand'," he enthuses. "That doesn't always happen in other countries and, from then on, I liked this place."
Walker has also forged connections with our music, having conducted the first performance of Ross Harris' Cello Concerto in 2012, released later on a Naxos CD. He is very happy to be tackling the Violin Concerto and pleased it will appear on the APO's third disc of Harris' music.
"There's never a problem with span in Ross' music. The overall integrity is immediate and this is hugely beneficial for listeners finding their way through the work."
Walker admires the way Harris "pits the orchestra against the soloist in the grand tradition of the best concertos. The soloist is not left on his own to dazzle us with virtuosity, but plays in dialogue with the other musicians."
Soloist Ilya Gringolts made the same point a few days earlier. The Russian was looking forward to "working with a living composer and going through the whole process of discovery that eventually gives birth to a piece of music".
Gringolts had warmed to the free-flowing nature of the writing. "It's been composed in a very organic way. It's sincere and you can feel a direct link between composer and audience. That's a difficult thing to establish and not every composer manages it."
On previous visits, Walker has conducted memorable Elgar (including the Violin Concerto with James Ehnes) and introduced many of us to the contemporary British composer, Thomas Ades. He is also keen on the music of John Adams. "He started as part of the Minimalist movement but developed in different ways."
Walker has done a lot of the American's music, and his Short Ride should be a heart-stopping roller-coaster adventure.
He vividly remembers his experiences with Adams' 9/11 tribute, On The Transmigration of Souls. "A frightening piece to conduct," is his first assessment. Then he muses on the score's terrifying climax - "the cataclysmic sound of the towers collapsing, with incredible metallic clang and clash, creating this awful feeling of bending and crashing down".
Doubtlessly, The Planets will work its expected magic Thursday week. "It's an extraordinary piece, even if its best music is less often heard. Back in 1918, it came completely out of the left field. It was unlike anything else that had been written, certainly by Elgar or Vaughan Williams."
In 1926, Holst's fellow composer Joseph Holbrooke wrote that he hoped "The Planets will survive this unhealthy popularity". Walker sees "a real problem with writing a piece as unbelievably successful as The Planets because it can destroy your career".
Nevertheless, the legacy of Holst's music is inescapable. "When we think of John Williams and all those floating parallel triads that are so much part of science fiction movie scores, Holst came up with the idea first."
What: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, February 19 at 8pm