Auckland Philharmonia’s Totally Trumpet concert put the lie to that hardy old cliche that contemporary music is inevitably box office poison.
A full town hall was palpably captivated by Penderecki’s 2015 Trumpet Concertino, delivered with grace and humour by its charismatic soloist, Tine Thing Helseth.
Admittedly this is a much more audience-friendly affair than the Polish composer’s early avant-garderie. Moments of frothy geniality had Helseth roving over and beyond the stave with athletic abandon, including an effortless cadenza poised over sumptuous orchestral chords.
![Auckland Philharmonia at Auckland Town Hall. Photo / Sav Schulman](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/L5QF42QBGZBTPOAKICESURU7L4.jpg?auth=15705e0bfa0c82d724a32a1ea77c60859aaaa5296916a98c30d54282b1f57b51&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
At its most disarmingly approachable, it occasionally echoed the ironic cafe music that the late Nino Rota composed for so many Fellini films; at its coolest, a Larghetto section showcased Helseth, on moody flugelhorn, in delicious dialogue with orchestral woodwind soloists.