With the spectre of central and local government cuts looming, the recently rebranded Auckland Philharmonia – the word “orchestra” apparently an early victim of the new budgetary climate – has produced an austerity programme. It will hope that a good proportion of classical music staples will be reflected at the box office. Carrying the weight, however, are New Zealand composers and fans of contemporary classical music. The orchestra, which has a rich tradition of supporting local artists, plays about 30 minutes of Kiwi music in total across its entire mainstage season. It’s not enough. A spokesperson for the philharmonia says other works were initially programmed but the numbers didn’t work, and that there is music in the pipeline for coming seasons.
The stars
The biggest classical artist to visit New Zealand this year is Maxim Vengerov. The violinist, who turns 50 while here, has been a star since the early 1990s and plays the Sibelius concerto in Auckland with the Philharmonia, and in Wellington with the NZSO in August. A pair of other major drawcards are reschedules, having missed 2022 concerts through illness. Pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, who was struck down by Covid the day before he was supposed to play here, performs Bartók’s second concerto in October, and the marvellous Norwegian trumpeter, Tine Thing Helseth, has been given the all-clear after cancer treatment. She gives us a pair of rarities in concertos by Pakhmutova and Penderecki (May). Among the conductors is Andrew Davis (November). As well as tackling Beethoven, he’ll swing the stick at Vaughan Williams’ Job, one of his signature pieces.
If you can only go to one
Pictures at an Exhibition (October 17) is the Bavouzet concert mentioned above. Although you wouldn’t necessarily pick him for a Bartók player, any opportunity to see and hear the Frenchman should be grasped. You also get Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and another piece based on artworks, The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca by Martinů, a composer this orchestra has previously excelled in. Guest principal conductor Shi-Yeon Sung has never let the audience down either.
Also consider
Tristan und Isolde (August 10). It’s a lot of opera, but if you can sit still for the four hours of music – plus a further 90 minutes for interval and dinner break – Wagner’s masterpiece should not be missed. Manuela Uhl, who made an impression in the orchestra’s 2023 performance of Die Tote Stadt, returns as Isolde, and Tristan couldn’t be more up Simon O’Neill’s alley. Joie de Vivre (September 12). An unashamedly personal choice, this concert could have been laser-targeted to hit my pleasure centres. Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Takemitsu and Poulenc? Yes, please.
Richard Betts is a former employee of the AP(O) and continues to do some contract work for the orchestra.
