Allegro Largo Scherzo Finale

Actually, that’s a bit harsh. After all, Nelson ostensibly has an orchestra (or did that finish up with that thieving conductor?), and yet I was still astonished early last month to discover that Winnipeg not only has an orchestra, but that orchestra is running a new music festival (which started on the 6th of this [...]

I managed to mix up the programmes for the final NZSO tour, which meant that I missed the concert with the premiere of Leif Segerstam’s Symphony No. 191 Presumably it will turn up on RNZ Concert sometime, but right now I can only comment on the attention that the concert has received in the Dominion [...]

Well, my hopes/predictions really could not have been further off the mark. The elephant in the room is the absence of any opera (unless you count Simon O’Neill’s Wagner recital). There is a reasonable amount of chamber music on hand – almost all on the weekend of the 6th-7th of March’, but nothing really outside [...]

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. Verklaerte [...]

Take a look at the brochure
I’m actually quite flabbergasted by the dullness of the NZSO’s subscription programme for next year. There is very little New Zealand music on display – and less that I really want to hear. Of course, if you’re the kind of person looking out exclusively for repertoire symphonies, then you’re in [...]