KEY POINTS:
Schubert's Rosamunde Overture provided charm by the bucketful launching the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Thursday concert. Conductor Marko Letonja made this Schubert sparkler come across like the missing musical link between Rossini and Arthur Sullivan.
Letonja's sure hand behind Dvorak's Violin Concerto also ensured that soloist Feng Ning had solid orchestral support, from the violinist's gypsy-style flourishes to the runaway good spirits of the closing Allegro giocoso.
Ning's greatest asset is the pliant lyricism that pours from his violin, and few violinists can rival his spinning of a lighter-than-air scherzando.
Dvorak's second movement was unimpeachable in its shadings with Letonja creating a setting of rapturous stillness, while the frisky Finale dealt out all the fun of the fair.
After interval, Ross Harris's new symphony proved to be the orchestra's most ambitious commission to date. Fuelled by the art of Chagall and the composer's own klezmer tunes, the Symphony's 40 minutes teemed with incident.
Chagall, who once claimed that all colours are the friends of their neighbours and the lovers of their opposites, would have been won over by the quicksilver iridescences of Harris's soundworld.
Unexpected colours ranged from a belligerent timpani solo under a klezmer ditty to a mournful aside for a cluster of bassoons. The first of a number of scaled-down passages introduced the bitter-sweet klezmer sonorities of accordion, clarinet and solo violin.
Harris is a bold symphonist. He is not afraid of tapping Shostakovich's side-drum or joining the dance for a landler a la Mahler. Flagrant major chords hold no fears at all, although the spiky criss-cross of his lines lends an individual peppery tang to the music.
Dimitri Atanassov's noble violin soars over a vast score that sometimes threatens to sprawl, flowing from one mighty climax to yet another spellbinding interlude. Indeed, its many diversions and frequent jump-cuts recall cinematic montage as much as a symphonic working out. This brave, compromising score inspired a mighty performance from Letonja and his musicians. Let us hope it receives another airing in the not too distant future.
