William Dart review: Auckland Philharmonia’s Vengerov & Sibelius

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Auckland Philharmonia’s Vengerov & Sibelius concert. Photo / Sav Schulman
OPINION

Soloist and composer rightly shared star billing on Thursday night for Auckland Philharmonia’s “Vengerov & Sibelius” concert. But how many in the audience, overflowing to the choir stalls, were there to be swept
away by Russian-Israeli violinist Maxim Vengerov?

However, the first half of this all-Sibelius programme belonged to the evening’s third star, veteran Finnish conductor Okko Kamu, who forged a dramatic if longish overture from the symphonic poem En saga.
Wagnerian sheen and occasional bombast were balanced by the occasional hints of something more primal and Nordic, a unique Sibelian voice revealed in the final mournful song of Jonathan Cohen’s clarinet over shimmering cymbal and strings.
The composer’s own description of his Symphony No. 6 as sombre with pastoral overtones might well have informed Kamu’s measured restraint in bringing cohesion to its visionary symphonic writing.
The utter serenity of the opening strings bewitched, and telling hints of familiar hallmarks – searching scales, chirruping woodwinds and stern brass – were soon upon us. There was wry humour, too, when the finale toyed with emulating that of the extroverted Symphony No. 5 but signed off in cool understatement.
After interval, Maxim Vengerov took the stage for Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D. Minor, and all anticipation was fully rewarded.
Within seconds, his noble, full-voiced Stradivarius invested just the right power and poetry in the opening theme, amply satisfying the composer’s demands for both sweetness and expressivity.
With Kamu and an energised orchestra alongside him, the first movement became a thrilling, almost theatrical canvas, with passionate double-stopped climaxes and a cadenza that was an adrenaline-drenched drama all by itself.
In the intensely soulful slow movement, Vengerov boldly emerged from the cover of dark woodwind sonorities to take iridescent and brilliant flight. The finale was a breath-stopping blast of exhilaration.
The uber-genial soloist, after a few niceties, including a gentle reference to our mysterious weather, charmed us with a sentimental romance from Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2.
After this, a jubilant Finlandia, bordering on the belligerent at times, might have been the orchestra’s own encore.
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