Classical review: Conductor's hyper energy whips up staggering orchestral display

Conductor James Judd. Photo / Supplied

Conductor James Judd was the perfect guide for the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's Travels in Italy concert.

The hyper-energetic Judd's almost fanatical zeal provided a small audience an electrifying evening.

Berlioz's Harold in Italy offered a Gallic perspective, complete with French viola soloist Antoine Tamestit.

This sprawling symphony, which sprang from the composer's dual passion for Paganini and Byron, catches the romantic spirit in full flush, with idiosyncratic, unpredictable writing.

All this made for a staggering orchestral display, with Tamestit very much the reflective Byronic hero. Yet, even when he played from the back of the orchestra, his 1672 Stradivarius ensured that his exquisite double pianissimo wafted to us.

Elgar's In the South offered an English point of view.

Judd stirred up some thrilling grandeur, with nods to Richard Strauss along with premonitions of Mahler and even Ravel.

Second viola soloist Julia Joyce illuminated a lyrical interlude.

Tchaikovsky felt the lure of Italy in many works, but Francesca da Rimini was the least successful. Judd and his players invoked the hellish visions intended, with enough rumbling to set seismographs whirring, but one always feels cheated with a lack of take-home tunes, and tired climax mongering.

Perhaps the Russian's Capriccio Italien would have been a happier finale.

What: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Where: Auckland Town Hall
When: Friday
Reviewer: William Dart