Auckland Chamber Orchestra at the Town Hall

The Auckland Chamber Orchestra promised us "exotic birds" at its first concert of the season and came up with an aviary.

Two miniatures by Frederick Delius, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring and Summer Night on the River, were subdued, occasionally furry in sound and didn't realise their potential, despite the buoyant tempi set by conductor Peter Scholes.

While the stage was being set for Messiaen's Oiseaux Exotiques, Scholes gave us a bonus. On sopranino recorder, he played the songs of the East India nightingale, wood lark and sparrow from the 18th-century publication The Bird Fancier's Delight. And what a delight.

Oiseaux Exotiques is one of many scores that grew out of the French composer's fascination with birdsong.

Scholes and his musicians did Messiaen proud and, in between whooping horns and clangorous tam tam, guided us through the forests of the world. David Guerin's piano cadenzas were exquisitely laid out, hypnotic when catching catbird and bobolink, as was the dazzling ensemble work of flute and clarinets with guest percussionists Bruce McKinnon and Lenny Sakofsky.

After interval, Ivan Zagni's The Koekoea tested the resources of the orchestra. With Marc Taddei picking up the baton and Scholes as clarinet soloist, it was a mighty achievement.

My concerns for opening pages that take too long to set the scene and a second movement that loses momentum before its time is up were minor misgivings alongside Zagni's engrossing palette. When it comes to invention, his ingenuity seems ceaseless, roving from English pastoral through Gil Evans' cool to the Ligeti-like chatter of six singers.

It would be difficult to imagine a finer soloist than Scholes, whether sparring with Diana Cochrane's violin or laying out cantillations against the blur of birdwing strings.

This concert launched what promises to be the best ACO season yet. The next instalment comes on June 26 when the orchestra tackles Haydn and John Adams.

Review

* What: Auckland Chamber Orchestra
* Where: Town Hall Concert Chamber