Review: NZSO at Auckland Town Hall

American violinist Hilary Hahn is something special.

A "FULL HOUSE" sign outside the town hall last Friday was hardly surprising, with Hilary Hahn playing Sibelius with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

On stage, there was a subtle chemistry at work between the American violinist and conductor Pietari Inkinen as Hahn laid out the cool beauties of this most Nordic of violin concertos.

Understatement was the order of the evening, as her sleek opening theme emerged over shimmering strings. What are celebrated outbursts of passion with other soloists, such as the largamente surge of double stops, were dispensed with telling precision.

It was fascinating to follow Hahn as she insinuated herself into the often intricate orchestral tapestry of the Adagio or led a Finale that was vivacious without even a hint of the blustering rowdiness that this movement can inspire.

The American is much given to Bach encores, and the Loure from the E major Partita was immaculate in every aspect imaginable.

The concert's opener, Sarka, a lesser-known instalment from Smetana's Ma Vlast cycle, was jolly, rollicking fun and, after interval, Inkinen gave us a Tchaikovsky Pathetique with a healthy injection of 21st century attitude.

The work almost growled in its opening pages, with the conductor, later on, transforming decrescendos into sighs of despair. Eccentric voicings emphasised the unexpected in the lopsided waltz of the Allegro con grazia. The march of the third movement was so bracing that unwanted applause covered the first bars of the Finale, where Inkinen sharpened the sense of tragedy with vibrant, energetic pacings and the total avoidance of sentimentality or melodrama.

On Saturday night, the hall was noticeably less populated. Had prospective punters been frightened off, I wondered, by the Bruckner Seventh Symphony being incorrectly timed at 1 hour and 40 minutes in the programme notes, when in fact it is a good 30 minutes shorter than that?

Richard Strauss's Metamorphosen was expertly delivered by 23 solo string players, standing (with the exception of cellos). The composer's lament for a world that he saw collapsing around him in 1945, a score with significant quotes from Beethoven and Wagner, was given a noble reading with only passing minor weaknesses in its musical weave.

Bruckner's Seventh proved to be the highlight of the weekend. Inkinen defined the spirit of the piece from its spacious opening theme.

By the Finale, a certain sense of tiredness was seeping through in the occasional detail, but not enough to compromise the exultant glow of its closing bars.