Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's most recent instalment of Tchaikovskian splendour saw its mid-winter season striding from strength to strength.
Whether it was the presence of soloist Natalia Lomeiko or the inclusion of two of the composer's most popular orchestral scores, the audience was heartier in numbers and more vociferous in its
enjoyment.
From the start, music director Eckehard Stier ensured that the Romeo and Juliet overture caught the tragedy of Shakespeare's star-crossed lovers from ominous chorale to final whiplashing chords.
Stier knows how to inject tension into the lean sinew of its opening; every pungent dissonance counted. Later, the work's celebrated love theme positively glowed with passion.
Natalia Lomeiko came to us not with a Concerto, but with the more modest Souvenir d'un lieu cher, a sort of mini-concerto orchestrated by Glazunov from its violin and piano original. The first piece, Meditation, was the greatest test, having its origins as the projected slow movement of Tchaikovsky's concerto. From her first lustrous phrase, Lomeiko invested it with both gravitas and emotional substance.
Later, when the mood intensified, Lomeiko's sweeping scales and passagework inspired the players around her to new heights.
The final Melodie, a guileless waltz in the shade of Borodin, was a lesson from both soloist and orchestra in effortless grace.
Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 5 is a work wrenched from the composer's very soul, a score that its creator described as so sincere that it might have been written with his own blood.
Stier did not flinch from its emotions, even at their most robust. After a perfectly measured Andante, the first movement explored the musical potential on the borders of its resolute march.
Following on from the mellow second movement, its character defined by Nicola Baker's exemplary horn solo, the Scherzo was a waltz to remember. Here, too, Stier showed an uncanny ability to make the familiar sound new, stressing its curious horn sonorities.
This is a symphony that ends with a roar, and Stier had his forces revelling in its triple-forte sign-off. The virtuosity of the orchestra and Stier's individual touch with tempi ensured no Tchaikovskian thrill was denied us.
