Auckland Philharmonia at the Auckland Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART

Miguel Harth-Bedoya welcomed us to yet another adventurous concert from the Auckland Philharmonia on Thursday night and, with three Concertos for Orchestra on offer, it was certainly that.

John Rimmer's Transcend, his second major commission as the orchestra's resident composer, lived up to its name.

This was a virtuoso piece that made no concessions to its players but was, nevertheless, brilliantly delivered.

As a score, Transcend impresses with its lucidity. It opens mysteriously, but those initial three breaths of sound introduce us to the seminal chord that generates the work.

Carefully layered, these harmonies transport the worlds of Scriabin and Schoenberg into the South Pacific, while glittering outbursts from percussion make us conscious of Asia.

Rimmer knows his orchestra - textures are immaculately balanced. Every note has its measured life; some linger over proceedings like a sonic veil while others are mere pointillist moments. With a solid contribution from brass, the climaxes were among the most thrilling that the town hall has hosted this year.

It was cheering to see the players respond so warmly to the composer with whom they have worked for the past two years. How nice it would be to feel that this eminently approachable work had a concert life after this exciting premiere; and nicer still to imagine that a CD recording might be a possibility.

Ginastera's Variaciones Concertantes was less satisfactory. The Argentinian composer's transparent scoring made every blemish apparent and there were quite a few, especially from the string soloists - a shame when, overall, this had the makings of a crackerjack performance.

The evening ended with an exhilarating account of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra. Like the Rimmer work, the Bartok steals into our consciousness with some subtlety - the onslaught of the Allegro vivace never fails to surprise.

I found it interesting that the conductor let the word "funky" slip into his spoken introduction, in connection with the fourth movement. For my money, it was the second which fitted that bill, as the two bassoons, synchronised in both movement and music, set up a funky stroll that their colleagues eagerly took up.