Music Director Peter Walls described this programme as "one that he had wanted to do for some time - all of it beautiful music inspired by natural beauty" and the Opus Orchestra responded magnificently.
The programme opened with Douglas Lilburn's Aotearoa Overture.
Composed while a student in London, itwas premiered by my uncle and namesake conducting the Sadlers Wells Orchestra at a New Zealand Centennial concert in London in 1940.
The work has become a New Zealand classic and certainly reflects the influence of the New Zealand landscape on the composer.
The orchestra has a policy of presenting its principals as soloists and in Elgar's Romance for Bassoon and Orchestra Ian Parsons excelled with his moving interpretation.
Similarly Concertmaster Lara Hall made a very significant contribution to the overall success of the afternoon's programme with her performance of Dvorak's Romance for Violin and Orchestra while Tchaikovsky's Souvenir d'un Lieu cher (or Memories of a Favourite Place) was perhaps the highlight of the afternoon.
A very romantic work, the woodwind's most impressive opening was equally matched by her impeccable technique and rapport with the clarinet.
The Scherzo reflected her scintillating technique as soloist.
