Auckland Philharmonia at the Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART



The opening item on the Auckland Philharmonia's programme was a welcome reminder that this year is the Dvorak centenary. Two of the Czech composer's Legends sprang to airy, graceful life under the baton of Michael Christie.

A pair of Slavonic Dances or the boisterous Carnival Overture would have been an easier choice, no doubt, but once again this orchestra revealed the special care it takes to keep repertoire fresh and appealing.

Last year Henry Wong Doe gave us a coruscating Prokofiev Third Concerto when he appeared with the AP; on Thursday it was Rachmaninov's turn. This composer's Third Concerto is a magnificent, brooding score and Wong Doe proved a charismatic soloist from the moment he teased out its opening lament.

However, the moment semiquavers came into earshot, one could sense a certain tension in the ensemble between orchestra and soloist which admittedly would make for an edge-of-the-seat Finale in which the conductor seemed to be directing most of his attention at Wong Doe.

The young pianist has technical assurance aplenty; he can deal out Slavic fire and fury with the best of them and, when he relaxes, he understands the saturated emotionalism of the Russian soul.

To balance these two states and move convincingly from one to the other is the test of this piece, and this was not always achieved in an otherwise exciting performance.

The same transparent wind colours that illuminated Rachmaninov's Intermezzo returned after interval in the first movement of Dvorak's Sixth Symphony.

Christie's Allegro was perfectly non tanto and, with horns and violas setting their syncopated backing, it might have seemed we were in for resolutely sunny times. But the American conductor clearly had no time for jovial complacency as he led the orchestra through the piece's many and dramatic mood swings.

In the Adagio, the elegant wind clustered around luscious strings and the Furiant was appropriately earthy, piercingly clear in the open scoring of its Trio, especially when piccolo dances over guitar-strummed strings. The Finale, which starts in deceptively stolid mode but soon breaks into a kaleidoscope of sounds and colours, was a fitting conclusion to another winning concert.