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Civic Theatre
Review: Tara Werner
The decision to stage one of the world's premier orchestras at the refurbished Civic rather than the Auckland Town Hall must be questioned.
Yes, the theatre may look splendid in its restored 1930s garb, but this is no venue for musicians.
Despite the sound shell that should have projected the music, a lot of notes floated upwards, lost in the cavernous space.
What a pity to have Mozart swallowed up by dull acoustics. This should have been a special occasion. After all, it's not often that the Philharmonia visits these shores and even rarer to hear Vladimir Ashkenazy double as both pianist and conductor.
Playing with great attention to stylistic detail, both soloist and orchestra performed a gentle and thoughtful interpretation of the Concerto No 17 K453.
It was a performance marked by a measured more than an extroverted approach and only in the finale, with its sparkling variations, did Ashkenazy give himself a bit more latitude.
Interestingly, the same process appeared to recur in the Brahms. The composer may have taken 15 years over his first symphony but that was no excuse for the music to have seemed so drawn out.
In fairness to the Philharmonia this was no fault of the musicians, nor of Ashkenazy - just that the work takes a while to warm up despite its inexorable opening with its steady beats for the timpani.
The Andante Sostenuto - with its luscious melody for oboe and, later, solo violin and flute - had moments of rhapsodic lyricism.
But it was the Scherzo and finale that truly impressed with the pinpoint accuracy of all sections of the orchestra.
For sheer musicality and professionalism this concert surpassed expectations - despite the lifeless acoustics.
Performance: <i>Philharmonia Orchestra of London </i>
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