Auckland Chamber Orchestra at the Concert Chamber

By TARA WERNER

Combining two clarinet quintets of the calibre of those from Mozart and Brahms was a happy choice for this concert. Not only was there plenty of depth to the programme but the music provided a stylistic challenge clearly enjoyed by the musicians.

Musical director of the Auckland Chamber Orchestra, Peter Scholes, wore his clarinettist hat on this occasion, playing with violinists Dimitri Atanassov and Haihong Liu, viola-player Christine Bowie and cellist James Tennant.

All well-known names in the concert circuit in Auckland, the five impressed by their focus, although they do not yet have the seamless blend and rapport of groups that perform regularly . This was most evident in Mozart's Clarinet Quintet in A major K.581, which sounded a little thin at the beginning, as if they were playing on crystal glass.

While each of the voices was clear, the approach was too cautious. Luckily, this element dissipated by the second movement, an adagio of heartfelt intensity. Here Scholes' clarinet positively glowed in a smooth vocalise.

The following menuetto lilted along nicely, but only in the finale did the group achieve a totally unified mix. All the variations flowed skilfully, with an improvisatory touch by Scholes giving one an interesting twist.

In comparison with Mozart's classical elegance, the Brahms Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op 115 comes from the opposite end of the spectrum: mellow, dramatic, highly passionate, and definitely not a score for the faint-hearted. Throwing themselves headlong into the music may have been brave, but a shrill quality crept into the strings. The adagio, modelled closely on Mozart's ethereal offering, caused a few mishaps in intonation.

But by the andantino and the finale everyone had relaxed enough to let the intensity of the music speak for itself. These two movements rounded off the concert and indicated the real potential of the group to become a force to be reckoned with.