Lera Auerbach’s Icarus vividly caught the doomed flight of its young hero, showcasing the NZSO at its high-octane best. The musical content may have been less than challenging for some of us, but there was no denying the magic in its theremin-laced airborne sequences.
The concert’s title, “Alexander Gavrylyuk plays Rachmaninov”, was shrewdly chosen, with the popular Australian pianist taking on the Russian composer’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.
We were not disappointed, especially with Petrenko so palpably enjoying the brilliant orchestral colours he unleashed. Gavrylyuk, having spoken of how he sees the players almost as chamber music colleagues, pursued that relationship, with solemn chords accompanying the bassoons in the seventh variation and rippling deliciously under Vesa-Matti Leppanen’s cool, sweet violin in the 16th.
This pianist’s virtuosity was swoon-inducing, weaving the 11th variation into a gossamer blur; and how one appreciated the humour of a simple major chord after his melting toccata in the 15th. Was I right, too, in detecting his distinct determination that the popular 18th variation not be too sentimental?
After interval, Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra had Petrenko flaunting his virtuosity with a baton, whether in the cascading surges of its great opening movement or the mysterious night music of its elegia.
And what could have been a more glorious transfiguration than its rushing finale, in which one could well imagine the European exile celebrating the freedom and raw energy of his new American home, with bracing, bluesy fanfares to fit?
