Auckland Philharmonia at the Auckland Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART

This year's Philharmonia programmes might not have the adventurous edge of previous seasons but, even when the composers' names are familiar, the works still can hold some surprises.

Last Thursday, with Marc Taddei conducting a programme of Tchaikovsky, Mozart and Beethoven, we experienced one such concert.

Tchaikovsky's Second Symphony was the perfect curtain-raiser and the work's combination of visceral energy and melancholic poetry seemed to galvanise the players.

This so-called Little Russian Symphony has an immediacy to it (possibly because of the composer's unapologetic use of folk melodies) and the orchestra did it proud. The constantly shifting colours and textures of the first movement can so easily become too fragmented but the blend was perfect. And there was no holding back the fury of the strings when their Allegro vivo opportunity came up.

The Andante marziale that followed had a playful strut, with some particularly shapely wind playing; the Scherzo was as gossamer. Much of the Finale was splendidly and flagrantly extrovert but Taddei also allowed space for the more wistful string theme to bloom.

After this high-powered dose of Russian adrenalin, Mozart's G major flute concerto might have proved overly decorous. However, there was no danger of this with English soloist Paul Edmund-Davies revealing himself to be a stylish Mozartian. Taddei's tempi were crucial here, ensuring that the Adagio non troppo remained buoyant, as well as allowing for a certain impish humour in the Menuetto final movement.

With the reduced contingent of players (half the orchestra seemed to leave the stage after the Tchaikovsky) the tang of oboes and horns against strings was a treat.

The evening ended with Beethoven's Fifth. A few weeks ago James Judd and the NZSO rounded off their Saturday concert with a rather flashy account of this hardy perennial.

This time around, Taddei brought something more earthy to the work, along with an obvious affection for some of Beethoven's melodic curves, not that this stood in the way of a blistering account of the tumultuous Finale.