NZSO Soundscapes – 2 September 2010

NZSO with Collin Currie (percussion), conducted by Alexander Shelley at the Michael Fowler Centre Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring Suite Jennifer Higdon: Percussion Concerto Lyell Cresswell: Landscapes of the Soul Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral” First of all, I have not yet forgotten about the NYO. At some point I’ll hopefully write something about [...]

What Went Wrong? Part Three

Part three of a series examining the curious lack of new symphonies. Part Two is here. Culprit #5: Musical Directors Throughout much of the early 20th Century, European audiences knew American composers as specialists in short orchestral works full of charming folk tunes; it was widely believed that there was no such thing as an [...]

NZSO Season 2010 – Part Two

7. Schoenberg: Verklaerte Nacht; Schumann: Cello Concerto; Brahms arr. Schoenberg: Piano Quintet It will certainly be interesting to see how the combination of Schoenberg and Schumann succeeds here. Although it might seem as if the NZSO is moving somewhat out of the repertoire comfort zone with the one-and-a-half doses of Schoenberg, this is somewhat misleading. [...]