Music review: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at the Auckland Town Hall

Jeno Lisztes gave the APO's new cimbalom a fascinating workout. Photo / Supplied

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Tall Tales was a mighty celebration with music to match, deftly pairing Zoltan Kodaly's Hary Janos with John Adams' recent Scheherazade 2 — both based on the telling of tales and calling on the exotic timbre of Hungarian cimbalom.

Kodaly proved a spectacular launchpad. Livewire maestro Gilbert Varga barely made it onto the podium before unleashing the evening's first rush of sonic exhilaration.

Compressing a lively opera into a 23-minute suite has made for a vivid, good-humoured score, and an orchestral showcase to boot. We were spellbound by Kodaly's chiming Viennese clock and his mock military march for the warring and eventually defeated Napoleon, while the full orchestra caught the compulsive csardas dance with gusto. The third movement's magyar melancholia was effectively underpinned by Jeno Lisztes' hammered cimbalom.

Lisztes then gave the APO's new cimbalom a fascinating workout, introduced by the flamboyant Varga. We were charmed by two improvisations, moving effortlessly from fierce bass twangs to ethereal harp-like washes of sound, airing familiar tunes from Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies.

John Adams' 2014 Scheherazade 2 updates the premise of Rimsky-Korsakov's well-known Scheherazade. His is a 21st-century take on the idea of a woman plea-bargaining for her life by spinning diversionary tales to a tyrannical despot.

Clara-Jumi Kang took on an unsparingly virtuosic solo part. Photo / Supplied

The American composer describes it as a dramatic symphony for violin and orchestra, and on this night its unsparingly virtuosic solo part was taken by Clara-Jumi Kang, whose 1708 Stradivarius eloquently symbolised the struggles of a woman against orchestral forces intent on suppressing her.

The APO was certainly a force to contend with, impressing in delicate details and, when required, almost brutal power. Conductor Varga took special care in moulding the subtle rhythmic play within intricate textures, gently reminding us of Adams' minimalist past.

Kang more than held her own in this massive 50-minute confrontation, whether sparring with the orchestra in gnarly outbursts or imbuing its many long flights of lyricism with the strength and inevitability they demand.