APO | The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: Mozart 40

Conductor Eivind Aadland
Violin Ilya Gringolts
Andrea Tarrodi Lucioles
Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.1
Mozart Symphony No.40

'Lucioles' is French for 'fireflies', and the Swedish composer Andrea Tarrodi was influenced by a haiku about insects. In her brief tone-poem, the orchestra flickers and buzzes engagingly.

Another sparkling work is Prokofiev's tremendously entertaining concerto, with which Ilya Gringolts makes a welcome return to dazzle us.

Mozart's second-to-last symphony is one of his most urgent, impassioned utterances. It's leavened with dancing shafts of light, but its essence is tragedy and anguish.