Review: Auckland Chamber Orchestra at Raye Freedman Arts Centre - William Dart

The wind quintet (left to right): Luca Manghi (flute), Peter Scholes (clarinet), Sam Brough (bassoon), Simon Williams (horn) and Gemma Pilchen (oboe). Photo / Lydia Sewell

OPINION

Auckland Chamber Orchestra is known for its versatile programming, tackling works off the beaten repertoire and balancing music for fuller orchestral forces with offerings on a more intimate scale.

Its “Bagatelles” concert was a top-notch evening of chamber music written for a wind quintet, delivered by some of our city’s finest musicians.

American composer Elliott Carter once commented on how the very individual sounds of flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon create a special virtue out of their inability to blend completely.

Yet the moody slow movements of Ross Harris’ opening Jazz Suite for Wind Quartet were as smooth as a big-band melt of reeds and horns - all this as Gemma Pilchen’s snaky oboe tune slipped over to Luca Manghi’s flute.

Here was Harris, our country’s foremost symphonist, taking a saunter on the lighter side, with the players relishing every frothy syncopation.

Continuing with local composers, there was much to admire in the accomplished craft of Anthony Young’s Firmament, with its complex weave of undulating semiquavers. Striking moments included clear, sustained ensemble chords over Sam Brough’s cool and measured bassoon solo.

Leonie Holmes’ Ritual focused on tonal contrasts - particularly between Manghi’s alto flute and Peter Scholes’ bass clarinet. Simon Williams’ horn was a strong, anchoring presence and, towards the end, Manghi’s outburst of flutter-tongued freedom was a welcome touch of the adventuresome in a concert that had to this point been relatively conservative.

After interval, we were treated to two major works by Gyorgy Ligeti and Paul Hindemith.

Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles reflect the spirit of his countryman Bartok, who was tributed poignantly in the penultimate short piece. Pithy and winningly whimsical, the Hungarian composer’s friskier pages were punched out with infectious ebullience.

Hindemith’s Kleine Kammermusik, another classic, was a welcoming finale, written originally and rendered on Saturday night with a bubbling fluency and sureness. What else might one expect from a composer who, later in America, would delight in making his own Christmas cards and develop a fondness for Disney movies?