New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at the Auckland Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART

Even in a concert dominated by dynamic batonmeister Alexander Lazarev, and the virtuoso pianist Peter Donohoe, a short piece by a young New Zealand composer more than held its own, although perhaps the Russian conductor's unflinching advocacy had not a little to do with its success.

Craig Utting's Cirrus, the second entrant for the NZSO's Lilburn Prize, blazed with a full palette of colours. With a cryptic paragraph about alien spaceships abducting a blond-curled child acting as a programme note, it seemed at times that the composer was taking to the heavens in full pursuit.

Great waves of sound wrapped themselves around passages which explored the funky potential of piano and percussion.

Both evenings reflected Lazarev's championship of his own Russian music. On Saturday, the conductor, barely on the podium, stormed into action with Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty suite.

So galvanising was the work's Introduction, the audience broke into applause at the first available break, with one desperate cry for an encore.

The "encore" from a good-humoured conductor, was to be the rest of the work, including a lilt-laden Waltz.

Later, conductor and players gave Tchaikovsky's Tempest their considerable best, but the score is pale, journeyman stuff alongside the composer's Romeo and Juliet.

There were two superb symphonies. With Lazarev, the mood swings of Prokofiev's Sixth had just the right inevitability, reaching a peak in the expansive Largo, crowned by Cheryl Hollinger's searing trumpet. Twenty-four hours later, Shostakovich's Ninth was, in turns, wry and circus-like, with the musicians doing full justice to the intricate detail of the score, especially in the Presto.

Peter Donohoe delivered the sort of no-fuss, good old-fashioned virtuosity that we don't see too much of these days. Tchaikovsky's First Concerto might not have had the nuances younger players bring out in it, but this was classic powerhouse.

The Shostakovich Second, a scamp of a work with a slow movement that could draw tears from the Kremlin walls, was the perfect balance of intensity and energy.

On both evenings the British pianist was generous with encores, two Debussy Estampes on the Friday, and Brahms and Bach on Saturday.

Wellington is privileged to have a bonus recital from Donohoe on Wednesday, as well as a special NZSO Rachmaninov concert with the pianist on the following evening.

The good news for the rest of the country is that the Thursday programme is being broadcast live on Concert FM. Don't miss it.