Praised by Liszt but slated by Copland, Grieg's Piano Concerto stands secure as one of the nineteenth century's star turns; and on Thursday night, it gave a title to Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's Grosvenor plays Grieg.
English pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, at 30 with almost two decades of concerts behind him, stillhas youth on his side. From the unerring heft with which he delivered Grieg's opening cascade of chords to a particularly spirited folk-fired finale, he made the too often over-familiar fresh once again.
Conductor Alpesh Chauhan exerted a quiet presence as Grosvenor wove exquisite dialogues with individual players. Yet his baton was very much felt in the expressive moulding of orchestral textures, the slow movement's biggest surge being graced with a gravitas worthy of Brahms.
Grosvenor gave us one of his favourite encores, a portrait of a young girl by Alberto Ginastera, elegantly cool in its outer sections, but unexpectedly fiery in between.
The concert had opened with Chauhan's brilliance on full display in Thomas Ades' Three-Piece Suite from his controversial opera Powder Her Face.
Dazzlingly laid out for a large orchestra, the three dances foxtrotted, tangoed and waltzed away, with blowsy brass and wild string glissandi.
APO's Thursday concert showed conductor Alpesh Chauhan exerting a quiet presence with the expressive moulding of orchestral textures as English pianist Benjamin Grosvenor wove exquisite dialogues with individual players. Photo / Adrian Malloch
It was a deliciously astringent amuse-bouche, even if these pieces work their wiles more effectively in a smaller-scale chamber opera context.
After interval, William Walton's First Symphony burst forth with almost frightening intensity.
This is the music of a young Englishman intent on proving himself during one of his country's darkest decades, inspiring Chauhan and his players to pursue the taut symphonic threads of its first movement beyond any Sibelian surfaces.
A mercurial scherzo, malicious in intent, came with pinpoint accuracy, while a melancholic Andante kept irony at bay and achieved a profound emotional engagement.
Even if Walton's finale somehow stands apart from the previous three movements, it was, with its two thundering timpani players, a spine-tingling celebration of this orchestra's consistently inspired programming.
