The combination of Beethoven's Violin Concerto and elegant violinist Midori as soloist proved an irresistible lure for the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's audiences on Thursday and resulted in the "full house" sign being displayed at the door.
From Beethoven's opening orchestral statement, with finely-nuanced woodwind, conductor Baldur Bronnimann looked set to
be hero of the evening. And he maintained this status throughout; he was always perceptive in underlining formal issues, and often cast new light on familiar passages by gauging orchestral emphasis and phrasing.
Once past some initial nervousness, which meant that she was not always in total synchronicity with the orchestra, Midori relaxed and gave a thoughtful, flowing interpretation. Octaves may have occasionally been a little sour, but soaring melodies could not have been sweeter.
The Larghetto was poetry, pure and deceptively simple, as Midori gently stressed the passing syncopations in her line. The Finale, while occasionally lacking in projection on the part of its soloist, took the work to an exciting close.
After the interval, a considerably enlarged orchestra gave us Carl Nielsen's Helios Overture, a piece of winter wish-fulfilment if ever there was one.
The players caught the Danish composer's celebration of sunshine in the Grecian isles most imaginatively in the slow rise and setting of Nielsen's sun, with the strings initiating a lusty fugal reel to celebrate the great globe's "joyful exultant song".
Finally, the concert suite from Bartok's The Miraculous Mandarin dealt out a tsunami of energy that, ironically, seemed even more intense when forces thinned and Gordon Richard's sinuous clarinet initiated his first seductive episode.
There was real expressionist fervour here and the APO played with unstinting passion in what must be one of their stand-out performances. The only regret is that we were not given the complete ballet, which would have involved just 10 extra minutes of music and a tug on the budget strings. The reward would have been to hear some of Bartok's most inventive orchestrations.
