Full sail ahead for Philharmonia

By WILLIAM DART

Few people may realise it but some of the Auckland Philharmonia's best work happens outside its main concert series. From composers' workshops for the Lilburns of tomorrow to Kiwi Kapers and Baby Proms for youngsters and its stylish Telecom Pop Series, there's no reason every Aucklander shouldn't have had at least one inspirational Philharmonia experience.

Anne Rodda, the Philharmonia's general manager, hopes for new punters at Friday night's Symphony of Sails, a project that has been "a lot of time in the making".

"The orchestra considered it three years ago and when we won the America's Cup, the musical tribute suddenly became a real possibility. We wanted something that would celebrate the tradition of sailing in this country."

Rodda is a hands-on manager. She is a musician and turned up in the cello section for the recent Mahler Resurrection Symphony. This time she's in the background, fine-tuning the marketing.

A CD of highlights will be available on the night, so if you've thrilled to those surging seas in Wagner's Flying Dutchman Overture and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, they can continue in your car on the way home.

New Zealand composers have not been forgotten in the line-up. The CD includes Lilburn's Aotearoa Overture and Gareth Farr's From the Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs (Part 1), with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya relishing Farr's Pacifica rhythms.

Rodda feels the recording will be an accessible and appropriate souvenir for visitors who take the opportunity to hear the best the city can give.

Also on the bill on Friday but not on the CD are singers Tina Cross and Tim Beveridge. Cross spent much of last year brassing it up as Roxie Hart in the touring production of Chicago. She has been associated with the orchestra since 1996 and describes it as "wonderful".

"There's no way you can equal the sheer excitement of singing with 65 musicians. Chicago was a hard grind, with so many performances, week in week out, having to pull the same thing out of the bag. Friday's concert is a oncer. It's spontaneous, which I love, and I can get all hyped up and enjoy it."

She prefers "energy ballads, something meaty. I suppose I feel closest to Bassey and Minnelli. I like wearing the long gowns and making a statement."

Tina's silent partner on Friday is ace arranger Penny Dodd, whom many Aucklanders know as Helen Medlyn's piano-playing cabaret partner. Dodd gets to douse three Broadway showstoppers in all the colours the Auckland Philharmonia can splash about.

"It's a real buzz - a little like being given a box of paints and being allowed to go mad. It's often a matter of taking the well-known sound of the song and then getting it to make sense for a symphony orchestra."

Don't Rain on My Parade features woodwind and xylophone sections in the middle that she has borrowed from Ravel, and Sailing, which Tim Beveridge sings after the interval, is "rather Vaughan Williams, stately galleon, storm at sea and all".

Who knows, with those teasers, some of Friday night's first-timers might be checking out the Philharmonia's 2003 programme to see whether there's any Ravel and Vaughan Williams on offer.

* Auckland Philharmonia's Symphony of Sails, conducted by Marc Taddei, Aotea Centre, Friday, 7.30pm.