Performance: Auckland Philharmonia

Town Hall

Review: Heath Lees

It's comforting to know that even when our currency plunges against the United States dollar, it costs no more to listen to American music.

In fact, the way the orchestra opened this concert with Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring, you would have thought they were delivering an added-value package.

Sinuous and sensitive bassoons and clarinets sounded on peak form against Copland's shimmering "open prairie" strings and the famous Shaker tune gradually came into its own, even if it did seem a little self-consciously restrained under En Shao's beautifully precise conducting.

At the other end of the programme, the concluding symphony by Dvorak displayed very few inhibitions, with En Shao effortlessly capturing the music's rise and fall, and managing to make even the long Adagio movement glow with inner life.

In the other movements, wind and brass soloists were in their element, and only the large sweep of upper string sound was absent - a comment on numbers rather than skill; maybe if more money comes this orchestra's way, as seems probable, we will finally see the string numbers move up to the strength they deserve.

It was a pleasure to welcome back Catherine Bowie as flute soloist in the Ibert concerto.

It is a work with which she has come to be associated in our minds since she appeared with such flair in the Young Musician of the Year competition more than 10 years ago.

Her buoyant, flickering colours were thrilling in the opening movement, and there was a delicious, sultry change in the middle andante, but she seemed to lose tone and projection in the busy finale, which eventually gave an impression of being at one and the same time, both agile and fragile.

Given a Chinese conductor, some Chinese music was perhaps to be expected.

Apart from some percussion effects and "eastern" intervals, there was little about Chen Yi's Duo Ye that was determinedly oriental.

Instead, her style skilfully followed the language of today's international, post-Stravinskian sounds, and the work was cast in the classic, fast-slow-fast pattern.

Unremarkable, but enjoyable nonetheless.