Thursday night’s Simple Gifts must go down as one of the most memorable of Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra’s concerts, a glowing testament to the vitality and vision of its programming.
To complement the clear, open-air vistas of Copland’s Appalachian Spring with the urban moodscape of the American’s Quiet City was impressive;farewelling us with the fairy-tale dazzlement of Ravel’s Mother Goose, even more so.
American flautist Camilla Hoitenga. Photo / NZH
Best of all, however, was that the evening included a trifecta for our times — a woman conductor and woman soloist tackling a flute concerto by the legendary Kaija Saariaho; a coming together made almost unbearably poignant by her death earlier this month.
Saariaho’s Aile du Songe received a definitive performance from its dedicatee, American flautist Camilla Hoitenga.
Her instrument might have housed a veritable aviary of multifarious birdsong, emerging from a shimmering forest of trilling strings, and delicate washes of percussion. Eventually, the orchestra was coaxed into a spirited dance which, after a short cadenza, turned almost finger-snappingly funky.
Hoitenga effortlessly took ownership of this score, with often impish humour, as her sighing glissandi and chirpy vocalising ventured through webs of iridescent orchestral colour.
An atypically melodic morsel by Stockhausen titled Amour, personally arranged for her by its composer, was a charming encore.
Hoitenga and conductor Elena Schwarz revealed an extraordinary simpatica partnership here while, elsewhere, the young maestra effortlessly asserted her individuality and authority.
Hoitenga and conductor Elena Schwarz revealed an extraordinary simpatica partnership. Photo / NZH
Did she want us to tune into the hushed, breathy opening of Appalachian Spring so that the bright arrival of the Allegro might be more dramatic? Later, Quiet City might have been an Edward Hopper painting caught in music, with strings exquisitely moulded around Huw Dann and Michelle Feng’s lyrical duet on trumpet and cor anglais.
Hoitenga and conductor Elena Schwarz revealed an extraordinary simpatica partnership. Photo / NZH
By Ravel, I had become hypnotised by the precision of Schwarz’s hands, often lifted high as if to pluck magic itself from the air. And magic there was, aplenty, from Beauty and the Beast’s languorous waltz to the glittering jewel box of the Empress Laideronette.
