Auckland Philharmonia’s Sir Andrew Davis: A Tribute was a magnificent salute to the celebrated English maestro who, had he not passed away in April, would have graced the podium on Thursday night.
At the helm instead was Karl-Heinz Steffens who, earlier this year, treated us to a Brucknerian immersion fest, when he replaced an unavailable Johannes Fritzsch.
In Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No 3 one easily succumbed to the meticulous detail of the German conductor’s Adagio, wild swelling crescendos hinting at a compelling Allegro ahead.
Steffens’ finesse with the same composer’s Third Piano Concerto transformed its initial exposition into a game of compulsive logic; his orchestral wrap-around soloist Ingrid Fliter in the Largo stressed the unfolding of a remarkable organic unity.
The Argentinian pianist, like Steffens, obviously enjoyed the structural clarity of this score, its humour and surprises, as well as the high drama of its cadenza, her eerie trilling textures almost taking us into another century.
