Auckland Philharmonia:at Auckland Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART

Marco Zuccarini made his debut with the Auckland Philharmonia last year, revealing passions in Schubert's Unfinished Symphony that may have remained undreamed of in some interpretations.

Last Thursday, it seemed the dramatic canvas of Weber's Der Freischutz overture might have been created for the Italian conductor.

Zuccarini brought all the excitement of an opening night to the piece, totally appropriate for its place in the programme.

Such was the zest involved that the violins' ragged surges made less impact than they might have otherwise.

The orchestral demands of Chopin's F minor Concerto are less rigorous - for much of the work the strings underpin the solo part with the placid obedience of session musicians on a Richard Clayderman recording. The woodwind were an unfailing delight, introducing the second theme of the opening Maestoso with a true Chopinesque rubato.

American pianist Robert Thies was alert to the rhythmic and textural subtleties of the score. The second movement, in particular, managed to transform artifice into the grandeur that Liszt so admired. The graceful turns and phrases of the Finale were invitingly sleek.

How good it is to have the music of Ivan Zagni once more in our concert halls.

This Aucklander, who was the AP's first resident composer just over a decade ago, has contributed what is the orchestra's most startling "snapshot" to date in his piece Mokehu.

Inspired by the birth of a fern and the death of the son of close friends, Mokehu compresses so much so beautifully and naturally into a mere six-and-a-half minutes.

From the elegiac string opening, with its searching scales through dancing specks of woodwind to a powerful March in which elegy darkens into anger, this was music that stirred the soul.

It would be a powerful slow movement in the context of a larger work.

The concert ended with a characterful Jupiter Symphony which would have caught Mozart's ear, despite untidy moments.

Zuccarini once again rang vigorous changes. The opening movement strove not for the monumental but had a rather jolly skip to it, and the Finale wore its fugal intricacies with nonchalance, graced by some spry wind playing.