The first concert of the Auckland Chamber Orchestra's 2006 season was like a meeting of old friends. There were familiar faces all around, the usual wine raffle at interval and, it seemed, more than a few new punters who had been tempted by the orchestra's selection of German Romantics.
And,
in case anyone was unsure what Romanticism was all about, conductor Peter Scholes expounded on the subject at some length before his baton was finally raised. A tactical error this, as the conductor's confused thoughts may well have led some of the audience to expect a concert severely lacking in rhythmic impulse.
The musicians launched bravely into Wagner's Siegfried Idyll, an ambitious undertaking for even the most seasoned of ensembles.
Scholes caught the essential freshness of it all with well-gauged tempi. String tone, especially in the violins, was not incisive enough, although the lower strings, with the generous participation of Auckland Philharmonia violists, were most effective.
Woodwind in general were pointed and crisp, especially when the work's molto semplice section took us forward into the world of Mahler.
Spohr's Concerto for String Quartet was the curiosity of the evening and, with the New Zealand String Quartet lined up across the stage, we were initially wooed with a ravishing Rolf Gjelsten solo and an enticing blend of chamber and orchestral textures.
However, it wasn't very long before the paucity of Spohr's invention became apparent, despite the pleasure that the soloists appeared to be deriving from his sentimental melodies and banal marches.
Such enthusiasm was not enough in the final Rondo, savaged as it was by some ugly solo lines.
The evening ended with Schubert's Fifth Symphony. There was no shortage of rhythmic vitality here, but other shortcomings took their toll.
The slow movement in particular called for much more light and shade in its phrases, and one quickly grew weary of the coarse sounds coming from the orchestra's horns.
