NZSO makes history with live concert link

Pietari Inkinen. Photo / APN

Last night Pietari Inkinen and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra brought Verona to Auckland with their Romeo and Juliet package.

Tonight brings the next instalment of the conductor's continuing Mahler cycle with the Austrian composer's Sixth Symphony.

The 31-year-old Finn can now smile at his decision, three years ago, to make this country one of his centres of operation. "It seemed a bit far away from home," he says, "but it's been going very well."

When Inkinen accepted the appointment he was still in his 20s and part of a global trend that saw youthful conductors taking over major posts, the most celebrated being the Venezuelan Gustavo Dudamel who, at 31, now presides over the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

For a man who faced his first professional orchestra at the age of 15, "it's always been the most natural thing to stand before people many times my age, although now it's getting to even out," he smiles. "Finally, new players coming into the orchestra are quite often younger than me."

Herbert von Karajan's name comes up more than once when Inkinen talks about conductors he admires, describing the Austrian maestro as "having everything so well prepared that he just had to press 'play' and turn to the camera".

But with names such as Paavo Berglund, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Inkinen's teacher, Leif Segerstam, to its credit, Finland also had much to offer.

"We were trained to make everything readable from your body language," he explains. "Everything's very clear and that works fantastically when rehearsal time is limited.

"Finland was also an environment in which you could develop your own thing and not just preserve the so-called tradition, which can be such a weight."

On the other side of the world, his New Zealand musicians have been "very, very responsive, quick and flexible".

"Now we just have to bring some more weight and depth to the sound itself so we get an absolutely effortless resonance in all the sections of the orchestra," he adds.

One senses this is a man constantly striving for perfection, the result, he feels, of his years studying violin. Even the orchestra's sometimes exhausting touring schedule brings with it the opportunity for self-improvement.

"Doing the same programme in different halls develops something between the orchestra and me. The massive difference in acoustics is a great chance to develop a spontaneous response to another level."

The NZSO's recent European tour, which gave both the players and conductor their first chance to play in Vienna's revered Musikverein, was "a special night for me, the orchestra and the whole country".

Even if Ross Harris' short piece Vienna was mysteriously absent from the programme on that occasion, the orchestra proved itself "a unique ambassador".

The NZSO's highly regarded CDs, mostly on Naxos, also have ambassadorial value. As he comments, "We may not be able to tour internationally every year, but the CDs mean we can be heard around the world."

Naxos' cycle of Sibelius Symphonies is garnering particularly good reviews and this project was "a natural consequence of having played this repertoire together a lot", says Inkinen.

"This is one of the countries where Sibelius' music really speaks. The orchestra has a nice touch and really connects with it."

Tonight's Mahler makes a Sibelian connection for him. "The Sixth Symphony has a roughness and a darkness of mood. It almost speaks with a Finnish kind of sad melancholy and, like Sibelius, there's a certain rawness with which New Zealanders can identify."

With 110 players on stage, Auckland Town Hall "may not be the biggest venue", Inkinen says. "But then that's the point of the piece, its force and its power."

History is made tonight too, as the NZSO mounts its first digital broadcast of the event through links on the orchestra's and Radio New Zealand's websites. However, no cyber marvel can replace the thrill of experiencing this monumental work live, in similarly enthralled company, in acoustic and architectural splendour.

Performance

What: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

Where and when: Auckland Town Hall, tonight at 8pm.

Live online: see nzso.co.nz or radionz.co.nz from 8pm