The Auckland Philharmonia: at the Auckland Town Hall

By WILLIAM DART

Miguel Harth-Bedoya knows his Strauss. He made his Auckland debut with Thus Spake Zarathustra and on Thursday night, he gave us a magnificent Don Juan. There was no chance of Teutonic torpor with these tempi; the strings were on high energy alert, the horns whooped with exultation.

Australian violinist Dene Olding was predictably superb in Ross Edwards' Maninyas and it was a privilege to hear this work played by the artist for whom it was written. Launched by a reassuring, dominant seventh, Maninyas seemed to echo those Strauss horns in its gentle trombone lines, until soloist and orchestra were swept up in Edwards' rhythmic cut-and-thrust.

At more than one point the music evoked an angst-free, Pacific Bartok, nowhere more so than in the slow movement as Olding's violin soared above the still chorale of the lower strings.

These were hard acts for Jonathan Besser's Falling in Love to follow. In this short piece, the usually energetic Besser chose not to aim at the broader sweep. However, tackling what sounded like a quirky Mahlerian march with over-fussy, Webernesque scoring meant that it lacked coherence outside of its orchestral protagonists.

Conductor and orchestra caught all that there was to catch in Dvorak's G major symphony. There was gusto aplenty in the first movement and a frank, searing emotionalism in the Adagio. A wistful Elgarian strain in the Finale was also noted.

Less than 24 hours later, in the second of the orchestra's Happy Hour concerts, a rapt audience was offered substantial extracts from this concert, including the complete Strauss. TV3's Sarah Bradley was MC, managing a neat dig at the comparative sums our Government spends on arts and railways (provoked by the fact that Dvorak was a trainspotter).

Olding and Harth-Bedoya fielded audience questions with wit and good advice, including a number from youngsters.

There were audible collective gasps when Olding's Guarnerius was discussed, but for me the thrill was sitting in the second row and seeing the intense concentration of the musicians as they gave their all to the music and the audience.