KEY POINTS:
Hakan Hardenberger must be one of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's most eagerly anticipated soloists. The Swedish trumpeter travels north this weekend with three works on offer - two contemporary and the celebrated Haydn Concerto.
The Haydn is a favourite that has not dimmed. "The sign of truly good music," as he puts it, "is that there will always be another stone to turn."
Not so with some of his instrument's other hardy perennials. "If I had to play the Hummel or Arutunian concertos all my life, I think I would be in another profession by now."
Ironically, there is a superb account of the Hummel concerto on Hardenberger's new five-CD Art of the Trumpet set, alongside a range of works from the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria to 20th century scores by Berio, Henze, Takemitsu and Ligeti. Indispensable - and a steal at $70.
Hardenberger is a loyal advocate of the contemporary composer. "Commissioning has become more what drives me forward as an artist," he says. "Sometimes I feel like some sort of vampire. I need fresh blood."
You can hear some full-blooded specimens on Hardenberger's most recent Deutsche Grammophon recording and one of them, Mark-Anthony Turnage's From the Wreckage, is featured in Saturday night's concert.
Hardenberger agrees Turnage's score is jazz-influenced. "A lot of his music is. It was not his intention that it would be such a jazzy piece - it just developed that way. I asked him if I could do this and play something in a particular way. And it became much more jazzy, which suits the harmony and the musical language, especially at the beginning on the flugelhorn."
We digress and talk about jazz. Hardenberger picks favourites and Miles Davis is high on the list. "What appeals is the possibility of being so expressive without using vibrato. I find that magical. He changes style almost like a Picasso."
Hamiltonians and Aucklanders who catch the Friday concert will find Haydn alongside by HK Gruber's 3 MOB Pieces, waggishly described by the Times as "James Last goes neoclassical romp".
Hardenberger laughs at this image. He is close to Gruber, who most recently wrote him a fine concerto titled Aerial. This work is available on his recent Deustche Grammophon CD and has already received around 50 concert hall performances.
"Gruber is a very warm person," Hardenberger attests, "very, very intense and completely marinated in music. I hear a tale of how the composer didn't realise that his Miami hotel was right on the beach until he had surfaced after three days of composing in his room. I am really convinced of his genius."
The 3 MOB Pieces were originally written for a chamber music ensemble. "The MOB movement was a reaction against the Darmstadt composers. The idea was to write music that was full of complications but still appealing to the masses. He made me this arrangement as a little bonus after working on Aerial."
This man exudes charm and has a neat turn of phrase. One of his last gigs was conducting the Camerata Salzburg. "I refer to my conducting as a cactus plant," he says. "It doesn't get much light or water but, if it decides to survive, that's all right. I am not going to kill it."
In fact, the only killing he is contemplating in this country is on the golf course. "I am hoping to get to Cape Kidnappers, which looks incredible. I have golfing friends at home who say if I don't play that while I'm here, they won't speak to me."
