Review: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at Auckland Town Hall

Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Thursday concert was significantly titled. Poets of their Age presented three first-generation Romantic composers coming to terms with the expressive potential of the symphony orchestra.

Mendelssohn's overture, Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage, has always been overshadowed by his more famous Hebrides, which, it must be admitted, does sail the waves a little more smoothly.

Nevertheless, Roy Goodman realised Calm Sea's elusive poetry, coaxing some effective, almost whispered string sonorities out of its opening pages.

Later, there was a real zest afoot when the tempo picked up and the wind filled the becalmed vessel's sails, although Mendelssohn's inspiration is somewhat tame for the grand Romantic gesture expected.

At the other end of the evening, Schumann's C major Symphony revealed more of its composer's inner soul.

Goodman and his players caught what Schumann himself described as the moody, obstinate struggle of the first movement. There was a spaciousness in its opening pages, perhaps even a hint of Bruckner to come; the composer's trademark dotted rhythms of the Allegro ma non troppo, so often an irritant, seemed to have a new psychological edge.

We were swept through to a majestic Finale, with Schumann celebrating his return to health with a rousing, confident conclusion, but not until the musicians had expertly navigated the mercurial mood shifts of the Scherzo and given us an emotion-drenched Andante espressivo.

Inevitably, the pianist is the focus in Chopin's F minor Concerto, thanks to the composer's awkward and sometimes peremptory orchestration. With a soloist of Peter Jablonski's stature, the limelight is assured.

The first movement was launched by Goodman with an immaculately shaded opening phrase. In due course, Jablonski responded, with generous pedalling, sometimes trembling on the brink of impressionistic, but never compromising the nobility of Chopin's writing.

The Nocturne-like dream world of the Larghetto with its fiery appassionato interlude reminded me of Liszt's description of this movement's "rare dignity of style".

The final dance, with the composer's quirky orchestral touches and fluttering piano ornamentation, was a willowy delight.

Jablonski provided the perfect encore in a thoughtful, moody take on the composer's opus posthumous A Minor Mazurka.