The Amici String Ensemble, comprising principal players with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and leading chamber musicians on the classical music scene, provided the programme for yesterday's lunchtime concert at Marama Hall.
Their repertoire, which includes CDs and radio performances, is varied and they have premiered many new works by notable New Zealand composers.
The hour recital opened with Sextet from Capriccio, Op 85 (1942), by Richard Strauss. Romantic in vein, the solo violin dealt splendidly with the emotional melodic themes, upheld by thickly textured resonant harmonic variety from doubled lower-string instrumentation.
Amici then premiered a new Anthony Ritchie work Ants: Sextet for Strings (2015) Op 185. This one-movement work moves through scenes of the ant world: "Hatching'', "Work'', "Anteater'', "Self-impaling'' and "Survival''.
Ants are busy little creatures, scurrying to and fro, and the nine-minute piece certainly portrayed thousands of little legs and a frantic work ethic, with instrumental individuality and a sense of urgency throughout. Strident desperation marked the "Anteater'' section.
The final work of four contrasting movements was Souvenir De Florence, Op 70, by Tchaikovsky, inspired and dedicated to the woman in the composer's life at that time.
The opening allegro con spirito was full of energy, with a beautifully expressed fugal section highlighting the conversational artistry of this particular chamber group.
The contrasting andante cantabile comprised themes of wistful beauty standing strong against a unified pizzicato fabric. The final movements, scherzo and allegro vivace, showed glimpses of Gypsy and Slavonic colour.
This half-hour work was indeed a physical and musical workout for Amici, comprising Donald Armstrong, Malavika Gopal (violins), Julia Joyce, Andrew Thomson (violas) and Andrew Joyce and Ken Ichinose (cellos).
-By Elizabeth Bouman
