Review: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra at Auckland Town Hall

Opening the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Thursday concert with the full orchestral version of Copland's Appalachian Spring, conductor Stefan Lano certainly took his time over this iconic American score.

If the minutes went by slowly, especially in the opening pages when atmosphere built up note by note, Lano was far from laid back when tempi hastened.

There was an urgency and thrust to the first Allegro and the players made the most of the Stravinskian to-and-fro of the Bride's Dance. Perhaps the variations on the famous Shaker melody were paced with more deliberation than some may have wished, but this was a reading that certainly avoided any of the sweetness and sentimentality that Copland so abhorred.

Diedre Irons was soloist in Mozart's C major Concerto, K467, a work no longer burdened with its Elvira Madigan associations, Lano informed us in one of his exemplary introductions.

Here, there was an underplaying of the grace and humour which are so much a part of this sunniest of concertos. There certainly needed to be more cajoling in the second subject of its first movement, and Mozart's intentions were best caught in the frolicsome Finale.

Lano had spoken of being inspired by the composer's operas when tackling the Piano Concertos; if so, tonight we needed more of Figaro and less Giovanni.

Irons is such a consummate professional that one feels churlish for wanting just a mite more buoyancy in phrases here and there, although her choice of Dinu Lipatti's cadenza was a masterstroke, displaying her skill in revealing the dramas that wait to be discovered on musical staves.

After the interval, Lano's take on Elgar's Enigma Variations seemed to fuss rather from the very first phrases of its theme. Emotions were certainly somewhat overloaded towards the end of the first variation, Elgar's tribute to his wife, Alice.

The orchestra was in good form, with particularly eloquent solo work from cellist David Garner, although Vyvyan Yendoll's viola tended to disappear in the orchestral mix.

Alas, an encore of the eternally stirring Nimrod Variation seemed an unnecessary appendage to an already lengthy evening.