Allegro Largo Scherzo Finale

*written for CMPO202 journal* Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov: Capriccio Espagnol   Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez Claude Debussy: Iberia Manuel De Falla: Three-Cornered Hat Suite No.2 (Three Dances) New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Christoph König with Xuefei Yang (guitar) at the Michael Fowler Centre The NZSO’s Sketches of Spain concert made me rather glad that [...]

Sergei Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 4 Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad” Michael Houstoun (piano) and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Vasily Petrenko at the Michael Fowler Centre My first encounter with Shostakovich’s 7th symphony came with a book about 20th century symphonies which I inherited from my mother. Although not all of [...]

Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Overture Benjamin Britten: Passacaglia and Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes Dmitri Shostakovich: Violin Concerto No. 1 The NZSM Orchestra, conducted by Kenneth Young, with Martin Riseley (violin), at St. Andrew’s on the Terrace, 14 May 2011 Before the concert… After their spectacular interpretation of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 11 [...]

It’s probably terrible of me to make a judgment on the NZSO’s recent Sibelius recording without actually listening to the whole CD, but listening to the recording of the Intermezzo from the Karelia Suite just now was pretty disappointing. While the recording may not feature Pietari Inkinen’s chief fault (his tendency to snort heavily over [...]

Bela Bartok: 44 Duos (excerpts) Katherine Hoover: Kokopeli Tigran Mansurjan: Lachrymae Ludwig van Beethoven: Serenade for Flute, Violin and Viola Karen Batten (flutes), Martin Jaenecke (violin, soprano saxophone) and Victoria Jaenecke, (viola) at the Adam Concert Room The Elios Ensemble’s Friday Lunchtime concert at the NZSM provided a delightful mix of sounds, in terms of [...]