Auckland Philharmonia at Auckland Town Hall

Reviewed by WILLIAM DART

An all-Beethoven programme can usually be counted on to fill a hall and, sure enough, the audience stretched to the choir stalls for Thursday's Auckland Philharmonia concert.

For some, the attraction might have been the first New Zealand visit by violinist/conductor Shlomo Mintz. But one suspects that the ultimate drawcard was the composer.

Mintz, who is noted for his broadly conceived interpretations, opened with an unruffled Coriolan Overture.

He drew thoughtful, measured playing from the musicians and, although one missed the edge-of-the-seat excitement that the work is able to generate, Mintz gave unexpected weight to the spaces between the sounds: this was Coriolanus as statesman rather than warrior.

The composer's Violin Concerto was also deliberately paced, particularly in the first movement - there was even the occasional sacrifice of momentum.

Although Mintz's intonation was not impeccable, his authority was unquestionable in the lyrical inevitability of the Larghetto and, above all, his unflinching delivery of the brilliant first movement cadenza (Kreisler's was chosen rather than Joachim's because, as Mintz would tell you, Kreisler makes more integral use of Beethoven's thematic material).

Kreisler was remembered in the encore with a possessed account of his Recitative and Scherzo-Caprice, featuring the sort of double-stopping that had the orchestra's string players looking on in hushed admiration.

The second half of the programme was taken up by the Fourth Symphony - the least known and most persuasive of Beethoven's nine symphonies.

Chronologically, it may sit between the Eroica and the Fifth, but there is none of their rhetoric here.

Its clear textures, immediacy and good humour have far more in common with the later Pastoral.

Indeed, this is music that looks ahead to the later Schubert.

Mintz was attuned to the infectious humour of the score from the outburst of the first Allegro vivace.

This was a prime performance, the stars being the woodwind section who, with the conductor's cool encouragement, scampered and scurried with style and precision.

The first three concerts of the AP's Royal and SunAlliance series have augured well for a most successful season.

For many, it will be a long wait for the next instalment on May 1.