Zoltan Kodaly's Peacock Variations was a lacklustre opener for the final concert of the Auckland Philharmonia's Vero series.
Despite a distinguished provenance - having been commissioned for Mengelberg and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw in 1939 - this is a score that positively creaks under the weight of its 28 minutes running
time.
Its conservative idiom, with self-consciously stirring climaxes and tiresome pentatonic ramblings, makes you realise the infinite superiority of Bartok's voice in 20th-century Hungarian music.
However unpromising the work, conductor Rodolfo Fischer and his players gave it their best and Kodaly himself could not have wished for more piquant contributions than those offered by the woodwind section.
By contrast, Poulenc's 1932 Concerto for Two Pianos, with Michael Houstoun and John Chen, was a joy. How fearlessly Poulenc dashes from salon to Big Top, chic one minute and, within a few chords, rowdily rumbustious. This is music that toys with our expectations and how easy it is to succumb to such an urbane cocktail of sentiment and wit.
Houstoun and Chen were the epitome of style in what amounted to a dazzling musical tennis match. While the older pianist brought the discretion of experience to the Mozartian second movement, Chen's contribution was his exuberance, the glitter of his youth. An encore from this dream team would have been appreciated.
Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade is always a double treat for all but the most jaded of concertgoers. As well as the chance to luxuriate in its sumptuous orchestration, you can sit back and pick the many uncanny premonitions of Rimsky-Korsakov's most famous pupil, Stravinsky.
Bumpy ensemble playing, which had already set Poulenc on his way with a lamentable split chord, lingered. Early on, woodwind chords were simply not together and, in general, Fischer succeeded best when the music was in full and confident flow.
Phrases cried out for more subtle shaping and shading, as Marco Zuccarini had done with the orchestra two weeks ago. In the second movement, thanks to the sinuous phrasing of Martin Lees oboe line, this was achieved and even the most obdurate of sultans would have found Dimitri Atanassov's violin totally irresistible.
What: Auckland Philharmonia
Where: Auckland Town Hall
