APO offers wide-ranging musical programme in 2012

The Auckland Philharmonia’s programme for 2012 provides a feast of classical music as well as some great contemporary works.

One of the highlights of the APO’s season will be a concert version of Verdi’s Nabucco. This was Verdi's first successful opera, written in 1842, and tells the Biblical story of the captivity of the Hebrews in Babylon.

In the opera, the chorus "Va, pensiero" is sung by the exiles on the banks of the Euphrates, lamenting the loss of their homeland. The chorus soon became a popular anthem for the Italian people, expressing their desire for political freedom from Austria.

The cast for this performance includes Boris Statsenko in the title role along with Paoletta Marrocu, Helen Medlyn and Ben Makisi as well as the Chapman Tripp Chorus from the NBR New Zealand Opera.

Wagner lovers will also get to hear soprano Deborah Voigt singing Lieberstod from Tristan and Isolde as well as selected Strauss lieder.

The orchestra will also be performing Bach’s great B Minor Mass with soloists Sara Macliver, Kate Spence and Jared Holt.

The major symphonic works on the programme include: Haydn’s Symphony No 44, Brahms’ Symphony No 1, Sibelius’ Symphony No 5, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 4, Beethoven’s Symphony No 5, Mendelssohn's Symphony No 4, Dvorak’s Symphony No 9 and Mahler’s Symphony No 5.

Dame Evelyn Glennie will be performing Christopher Rouse’s showpiece for percussionist and orchestra, Der Gerettete Alberich. The work can be seen as a companion piece to use of the "Ride of the Valkeries" in the opening of the film Apocalypse Now.

The composer says of the work that it is his take on the fate of Alberich, the villainous dwarf who sets in motion the apocalyptic cataclysm which concludes Götterdämmerung with the composer returning him to the stage, to wreak further havoc.

The same concert “The American Experience” will feature three major American work with John Adams’ “The Chairman Dances” from his opera Nixon in China, Copland's “Appalachian Spring Suite” and Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess: Symphonic Picture” arranged by Robert Russell Bennett.

Piers Lane returns to New Zealand to perform Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor and Sergey Malov the winner of the 2011 Michael Hill International Violin Competition will play Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.2.

There are a host of favourite works in the programme as well; Elgar’s “Enigma Variations”, Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique”, Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet Suite” and a couple of works by Piazzolla.

Works in the APO’s 2012 season that have never been played here include Messiaen’s “L’Ascension” and the yearning violin concerto “Distant Light” by Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks, which will be performed by violinist Anthony Marwood.

The APO has also announced that Jack Body will be the orchestra’s Composer-in-Residence for 2012/13.

One of this country’s most admired composers, Jack Body, has been at the forefront of New Zealand music since the 1960s. He has numerous commissions and performances to his name and in 2001 became an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in acknowledgement of his services to music and photography.

Just retired from his teaching post as Associate Professor of Instrumental/Vocal Composition at the New Zealand School of Music, Professor Body has offered inspiration to generations of New Zealand composers not only by his example but also through his teaching; and, as well as composing music for the APO, Professor Body will play an integral role in the orchestra’s educational programme.

“I am very much looking forward to my association with the APO,” he says. “So many of my composer friends have had the pleasure of being in residence with this orchestra, and without exception they have told me how rewarding the experience has been, not only for the privilege of having their music performed, but also the sense of being welcomed in to a open, lively and thoroughly creative musical community. The bold, imaginative programming of the APO is admired throughout in the country.

“My most formative period as a musician occurred during the 15 or so years I lived in Auckland and so I see this as a fabulous opportunity to reconnect with the city's cultural life. Having just retired from teaching I am enjoying the prospect of engaging again with young, aspiring composers through the various educational programmes the APO runs. Let the fun begin!”

Members of the public can experience highlights of the APO’s 2012 season in a free preview concert at Auckland Town Hall on October 20. Register by phoning (09) 623 1052.