The title of Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s RACH2 concert had an agreeably hip insouciance to it, boldly appropriating a familiar nickname for Rachmaninov’s uber-popular Second Piano Concerto. And it was this work that doubtlessly
William Dart review: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s RACH2 concert
William Dart
Lise de la Salle joined the orchestra for Rachmaninov’s concerto. Photo / Adrian Malloch Photography
To some this middle movement would have rightly been the highlight of the evening; the sentimental was kept well at bay, as de la Salle dealt out the purest poetry alongside lyrical woodwind and passionate strings.
![Soloist Lise de la Salle. Photo / Adrian Malloch Photography.](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/PCUS6RCXJZFRJGP3MMBDEWBIOY.jpg?auth=ab720faadcfd7c21b594a263a3bedc31f5197b1e8ef2ca5337f124b8f5c7674b&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
Elsewhere, pianist and conductor pursued more dramatic confrontations, and excitingly so, only momentarily marred by the soloist’s panicked passage work.
Her encore was the soul of simplicity and topicality; an almost reverent transcription of Schubert’s To Music, dedicated to the hope for world peace.
Schumann’s symphonies are strange beasts, in which one feels a radical romantic spirit struggling within a restrictive, symphonic straitjacket. Nevertheless, visionary moments still outnumber the awkward.
In the Spring Symphony, Kalmar did not quite make one overlook the repetitive dotted rhythms and four-bar phrases of its first movement, although he did inject a much-appreciated sense of the fanciful elsewhere. The Larghetto was the epitome of wistful longing and Schumann’s eccentric touches in the scherzo registered with an inarguable rightness.
![The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra filled the Auckland Town Hall. Photo / Adrian Malloch Photography](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/QYSC5G2BVVGGLIYNZM6MYINTCI.jpg?auth=d89492850f32fb2bf2c5088c208c05bb6db4c502e1fd0b5c0f40c11fdc81e013&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
What: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Where: Auckland Town Hall
When: Thursday
Reviewer: William Dart