By HEATH LEES Herald music reviewer
It would be nice to say that the first year of the new millennium was also a banner year for Auckland's music, but the view from the end of the year doesn't bring anything electrifying leaping to mind.
True, the complete Beethoven cycle by the New Zealand String Quartet was outstanding. The 50th-birthday present of Chamber Music New Zealand, it started tentatively, but the group matured by leaps and bounds through the six concerts, progressively revealing Beethoven's public and private world in a memorable way. As usual, Auckland audiences woke up to what they were being offered only by the last concert.
Also in the Concert Chamber (where would we be without its genial size and warm acoustics?) the Purely Piano series had its highs (Leslie Howard, Chenyin Lee) and lows (Michael Kieran Harvey). Again, the half-full house for Howard, a world-class Liszt specialist, was baffling.
Even this year's International Chamber Music Festival was not consistently top-range, with an out-of-its-depth Canadian group and some uneven soloists; though it also brought the stunning voice of Maria Keohane and her partner with the golden trumpet, Niklas Eklund.
A few home-produced bright spots did appear, first with the Ogen Trio, which gave three fine concerts and put itself firmly on the country's musical map with excellent programmes and sparkling playing.
The Auckland Chamber Orchestra has come of age, too, with re-arranged leaders for violins and cellos and a much firmer musical grasp of programmes that consistently beat the band for imagination and flair.
On a bigger scale, the Auckland Philharmonia cranked up its flagship Royal SunAlliance Series to 15 concerts and the programmes were imaginative. There was excellent playing when heights had to be scaled, as in a glistening Scheherazade, and an impressive Song of the Earth.
What they still lack is the quality of their "middle-game" playing - those occasions when the repertoire is good but not special, and demands real professional effort to raise the standard to first-class every time.
One day this orchestra will have the funds to be able to rotate its overworked players.
No matter what, the Auckland Philharmonia has made itself into the one identifying symbol of music in Auckland.
And the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra had a good, but not spectacular year in Auckland. Still, there was a fantastic Elgar Cello Concerto with soloist Rafael Wallfisch, a vigorous introduction of Charles Ives into the repertoire, a composer's competition, and lashings of Gareth Farr.
2000: Year in review
2000: Month by month
<i>The year in classical music:</i> Digging deep to find some gems
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