Review: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at Auckland Town Hall

On Thursday, the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra made the Brahms violin concerto and Schumann's Rhenish symphony sound as if they were written to partner one another.

Much credit must go to English conductor Alexander Shelley, in his first appearance with the APO.

The Brahms concerto is a Titan. Yet Shelley, in his generally spacious take on the work, reminded us that the titanic and the tender need not be mutually exclusive.

Within a few bars of a full-blooded unison, there were pianissimi like the gentlest of zephyrs and his handling of Brahms' sometimes daunting orchestral weave was as if the composer was drawing on the most delicate of silken threads.

Mark Kaplan was an intensely thoughtful soloist, seemingly determined to hear the concerto anew.

There was a melancholy quality to his interpretation, which was not afraid to retreat into the merest whisper. The most successful movement was the central Adagio, in which his sometimes sinewy line offered a nervy response to the autumnal lyricism of Bede Hanley's oboe solo.

If the demanding Joachim cadenza earlier on had been slightly blunted by insecure intonation, Kaplan more than made up for it at encore time. He gave the audience a choice between Bach or Paganini; the Italian proved the winner and his fifth Caprice was dashed off in a gleaming sonic streak.

After interval, the opening movement of the Rhenish was delivered with gusto. You could see the players getting into the swing of the composer's infectious syncopations and Schumann's much maligned orchestration was never an issue, Shelley creating some miraculously evanescent textures.

In the jaunty folk dance of the second movement, with some astounding contributions from the horns, you could sense Mahler in the wings. And the boldest of finales made it apparent that this trip along the legendary river had been first-class all the way.