Conductor Giordano Bellincampi at the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra City Lights concert at the Auckland Town Hall. Photo / Thomas Hamill
Conductor Giordano Bellincampi at the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra City Lights concert at the Auckland Town Hall. Photo / Thomas Hamill
I don’t remember Auckland Philharmonia ever signing off its town hall season with quite the gusto and unbridled jubilation of Thursday night’s City Lights concert.
Nothing was held back in an all-American programme that had the tang of jazz coursing through its veins; imagine the Fourthof July and Thanksgiving being mashed together for a celebration to end all celebrations.
On the orchestral side, how refreshing it was to be bowled over by the sheer brio and chutzpah of Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from West Side Story.
The groundbreaking musical has attained a valued concert hall life in this compelling orchestral showcase. Giordano Bellincampi took its many dramatic turns with flair, from cool, finger-snapping tensions through dances of frightening intensity to a hushed and poignant finale.
Bellincampi most recently put his stamp on Gershwin’s An American in Paris in 2019 with an impeccably measured interpretation that acknowledged the huge and admirable ambition of its composer.
On Thursday night, Gershwin’s breezy opening set the scene as cinematically as Stravinsky’s Petrushka, unleashing a veritable flood of melodies. The climax would come in that gloriously bluesy outburst, so sinuous on solo trumpet, yet positively stirring when taken up by soaring AP strings.
Violinist Andrew Beer plays during the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra City Lights concert. Photo / Thomas Hamill
The orchestra’s indefatigable concertmaster Andrew Beer, long treasured for bringing us concertos by the likes of Ligeti, Szymanowski and Gillian Whitehead, took on soloist duties again for the New Zealand premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ Violin Concerto.
This major score might allow itself to party in its final hootenanny movement with orchestral foot-stomping and hand-clapping, but it introduces itself with beautifully gauged romantic vein.
Beer’s vibrant tone and mastery were never in doubt, especially in a rondo capriccioso, where his gripping cadenza moved into a piquant duet with colleague Eric Renick on drum kit.
Marsalis effortlessly navigates his various musical worlds, peaking for me in the blues of the third movement, its subtle shifts and shapely phrasings connecting well with Beer’s much appreciated encore — a transcription of Gershwin’s But Not For Me, with a luscious Jonathan Tunick arrangement.
