More concerts should come with entrees as taste-tempting as Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite. On Thursday, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, under Eckehard Stier, certainly served it up in scrumptious style.
Stravinsky teases our musical palates here, toying with the original Pergolesi score. Placid G major does not last long before touches of rusticfiddling and other seditious string techniques leave their mark.
Dissonances are as delicious as the luscious fruit that peppers and peps up an olive loaf.
The musicians, in concerto grosso formation, benefited from the assured lead of Wilma Smith, with eloquent solo turns throughout the orchestra. Bede Hanley's oboe was particularly affecting in the Serenata and Huw Dann's trumpet set the tone for the breezy jaunt of the Toccata.
Poulenc's Organ Concerto sustained this sense of elation, but would one expect anything less from a composer who praised French music as always leavening the profound with a lightness of spirit, without which life would be unbearable.
This piece is a smorgasbord of Poulenc's most lovable traits. Within 20 minutes we visit the fairground, the cabaret and the church, with spot-on registrations from soloist David Briggs evoking humble harmonium one minute and the roar of cathedral grand organ the next.
Yet there were more rewards than just colour, with the real sense of camaraderie between Briggs and Stier's band of strings and timpani, especially in the pulsating Allegro.
Many were doubtlessly disappointed when Briggs did not come up with an encore. His free Town Hall recital tomorrow afternoon should more than make amends, especially when the Klais organ faces the test of a Ravelian ballroom in the French composer's La Valse.
After interval, Brahms' First Symphony was emphatically a main course, solidly Teutonic, a score with the weight of history behind it.
Soloist David Briggs' free Town Hall recital tomorrow afternoon should satisfy those disappointed by the lack of an encore. Photo / Supplied
Stier's total commitment here was apt for a work that occupied Brahms for well over a decade before it was finally premiered in 1876, in the composer's 44th year.
The conductor emphasised the sheer suspense of its opening pages before releasing Brahms' imposing Allegro, and the expert blend of woodwind and strings suffused the Andante sostenuto with a sumptuous glow.
What: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Where: Auckland Town Hall
