Spanish conductor Jaime Martin and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra offered us a substantial symphonic meal on Saturday night, comprising a Shostakovich entrée and main, separated by a mid-programme Grieg dessert.
The conductor and musicians had immense fun with the delirious vulgarity of Shostakovich's 1954 Festive Overture; imagine a vodka-fuelled knees-up at a Soviet victory parade.
At the other end of the evening, the composer's Tenth Symphony, dating from the previous year, was something else altogether.
Martin gave us a 14-minute introduction to the piece, introducing coded themes to listen for and wittily summarising its second movement as having 50 crescendos in four minutes, with only two diminuendos.
![Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski. Photo / Supplied](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/VLRJ76RHVDM3X6JO5MJGU3NKLM.jpg?auth=0913bb744a0fe46bd145e5593fd43ec2d1a3138696fda4137217b70074a8a16d&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)