New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Town Hall

By HEATH LEES

As though to compensate for leaving Elgar out of the two cello concertos performed last Friday and Saturday, the orchestra included two of his other works - the symphonic study Falstaff and the Enigma Variations.

Neither piece was completely successful, though for opposite reasons. Falstaff was so much just a playing of the notes that the fat knight's rich, kaleidoscopic character remained elusive.

By contrast, the notes of the Enigma Variations needed more attention, especially in their details of articulation, which lacked agreement among a number of the players.

It was nice to see the organ console all lit up for the big finale of the last variation, but a shame that it couldn't be heard above the orchestra.

Still, there was an earlier, magnificent grandeur to the "Nimrod" variation, and a fine homage to Elgar's cellist friend through David Chickering's warm solo-playing, which had also lit up parts of Falstaff.

The major cello contribution was given over to Lynn Harrell, who matches vividly expressive playing with vividly expressive features in a total musical immersion that grips the audience and is exciting to share.

The two cello concertos were marvellously contrasted, Friday's Dvorak being more of a symphonic work with solo cello to the fore, while Saturday's Shostakovich - the rarely played Number Two in G - has its brooding colour and soul-searching very much generated by the soloist, with a scaled-down orchestra providing a sombre, often uneasy environment.

Each concerto demands a different kind of virtuosity from the soloist. Dvorak calls for grand gestures, thrilling passage-work, and warm melodies, in which the famous, singing-style "Harrell sound" shone.

Shostakovich tries to undermine the singing basis of the cello. Following an agonised first movement and biting sarcasm in the second, there is a riveting cadenza by the cellist (played against scary trills in the tambourine), after which the instrument manages to re-assert a songful if somewhat sentimental voice.

A huge, very personal work this, but in the hands of Harrell and conductor James Judd, it had great emotional power.

At its start, the concert had showcased the young Christchurch composer Alwyn Westbrooke's short piece "Facets" - impressively well-conceived for orchestra, fluid and intriguing.

The concert finished with Brahms' Second Symphony, big and beefy, with some stunning horn solos.

This was the orchestra's final visit of the season, and the party spirit was not far away.

At Friday's interval, Harrell threw his bouquet deep into the foot-stamping stalls audience. At the end, Judd flexed his conductor's right arm and sent a fine overarm flower delivery right up into the balcony.