Classical review: Composer Connections, Town Hall

It was not difficult to see how the long association between NZCS and John Psathas made for a sizzling rendition of his 1995 <i>Island Songs</i>.

Omission of Mozart and Shostakovich remove carefully curated sense of context.

On Saturday, the New Zealand Chamber Soloists, working alongside composer John Psathas, provided the principal Auckland concert of Chamber Music New Zealand's Composer Connections.

This was one of three programmes placing our composers alongside various ensembles and, for those unable to experience the other two, both were delivered in stripped-down versions at the University Music Theatre on Friday.

First up, Stephen De Pledge and the New Zealand String Quartet traced a link from Bach through to Ross Harris' new Piano Quintet, a 20-minute score of finely crafted complexity that would have benefited from more than two sentences of explanation in the booklet.

The omission of Mozart and Shostakovich from the original concert also removed the carefully curated sense of context.

NZTrio's evening concert worked better.

Here the new commission was Claire Cowan's Ultra Violet, a score of airy, pulsating prettiness. Around it, we were reminded of the group's past glories with Alex Taylor's Burlesques Mecaniques and Karlo Margetic's Lightbox. Two solo turns were neatly a propos - Sarah Watkins blazing through a Conlon Nancarrow Piano Sonatina and Ashley Brown, all blissful buoyancy in Ligeti's Cello Sonata.

On Saturday, it was not difficult to see how the long association between NZCS and Psathas made for a sizzling rendition of his 1995 Island Songs, with cellist James Tennant at his heart-wrenching best.

Instead of a new commission, the players revisited the whirling Corybas that they premiered two years ago.

Kiwi content aside, the international fare was disappointing. While Rachmaninov's Elegiac Trio made for a theatrical opener, highlighting the special partnership of Tennant and pianist Katherine Austin, it was sadly unadventurous.

After interval, despite all the energy pumped into it, Arno Babadjanian's 1952 Piano Trio is a lacklustre product from the Soviet assembly line. Perhaps its andante might make it as second-rate Rachmaninov, but it would need sweeter violin than we heard on Saturday night; around it, the Russian composer's sliding harmonies disoriented rather than compelled.

In its wake, Psathas' short and rather lightweight Aegean was indeed a fresh breeze from the Grecian isles.

What: Composer Connections
Where: Town Hall Concert Chamber
When: Saturday