Auckland Chamber Orchestra, under the admirable Peter Scholes, set off tonight with a welcome taste of the local.
Leonie Holmes' Aquae Sulis weaves expansive atmospheres, inspired by mythological mysteries and a resonating landscape.
Smaller forces might not replicate the lushness of the work's New Zealand Symphony Orchestra recording, but an intimate venue brought new focus. Muscular textures had thrust and immediacy; elsewhere there was chamber music clarity and memorable solos from Luca Manghi and Greg McGarity.
Preludes and Fugue by Lutoslawski offered an equally appreciated sampling of the 1970s avant-garde, too little heard.
A circle of 17 string players tore open a Pandora's Box of startling sonorities. Occasionally solo lines were cruelly exposed, but, en masse, the musicians caught its unswerving momentum, through to the slippery slopes of a glissando-laden Fugue.
