The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Beethoven Immersion Weekend took us through 14 crucial years of the composer’s career in style, courtesy of English pianist Paul Lewis and conductor Gemma New.

A cycle
of five piano concertos may not encompass the span of a quarter century of nine symphonies, but a fascinating journey culminated in a superb Sunday afternoon Emperor.

Even the Second Concerto – ironically the first written – never lost the thrust that New injected into the opening bars. Its rushing finale was one of many instances where orchestra and soloist seemed to be fighting for territory, creating breathtaking drama and making it clear that the classical 18th century was now history.

Lewis’ subtly nuanced Largo in the first concerto, leading to a delightful interaction between piano and orchestra, underscored the fact that Beethoven had indeed found his individual voice. A similar enchantment occurred in the first movement of the Fourth Concerto through the brilliant brilliance of the seemingly inexhaustible magic of the soloist’s keyboard.

The pianist and conductor were determined to make dance the key to much of this music.

The A minor episode of the First Concerto finale was insidiously contagious; the Emperor’s carefree finale, a joyful frolic, begging to be danced, intertwined, perhaps, with Schubertian yodels.

However, in the slow movement of this last concerto, we became aware of Beethoven as the missing link between Mozart’s serenity and the dreamlike universe of Chopin’s Nocturnes.

The weekend was not entirely Beethoven’s weekend. Tabea Squire’s Variations show that the young composer from Wellington is an accomplished colourist. The brass and timpani swayed, like a fanfare, at the start, the strings rushed like ghostly hurricanes, and, oddly enough, its “theme” held until the end.

Starting on Sunday, an ultra-powerful Scheherazade allowed us to enjoy New’s catwalk style without a Steinway lid in the way. How many, I wonder, like me, have become young again, enthused by Rimsky-Korsakov’s magic palette for the first time?

What: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Where: Auckland City Hall
When: Friday to Sunday
Reviewer: William Dart