Performance: Auckland Chamber Orchestra

Concert Chamber

Review: Tara Werner

The Auckland Chamber Orchestra seems to have gone from strength to strength, not only with its performances but the way it appears to be attracting a new audience to chamber music.

There were a number of younger faces at the concert on Sunday, and this can only bode well for the future of Peter Scholes' group.

As founder and musical director he must take a lot of credit for the orchestra's artistic success, and it is clearly apparent that there is room in Auckland for a chamber orchestra of this size.

But depending on freelance musicians has both its positive and negative sides.

On the one hand, specialists can be used, but an ever changing lineup means a sense of ensemble is difficult to maintain.

These factors were apparent in the programme of music from Germany and Austria.

Excerpts from Handel's Water Music highlighted the abilities of the horns and high trumpets, while the woodwind seemed also in their element. But at times the selection sounded quite uncoordinated.

Mozart's melodious Piano Concerto No 23 K488 posed few difficulties for soloist Richard Mapp, who approached the first movement in a crisp manner, followed by some beautifully lyrical playing in the adagio. And there was plenty of joie de vivre in the allegro assai.

There were, nonetheless, balance problems in the orchestra, with the woodwind sounding too dominant in the opening allegro.

Meanwhile, New Zealand composer Maria Grenfell's Clockwerk was given a confident reading by the strings. Strongly influenced by Bartok, the music had a highly energetic quality and a carefully thought-out contrapuntal structure.

Schubert's Symphony No 5 was equally likeable.

All sections of the orchestra were much more coordinated, creating a purposeful finish to the programme.