Next year will see the Auckland Philharmonia present a rich season, which will include four world premieres of New Zealand works, a concert version of Wagner's Das Rheingold as well as performances of Mahler's Symphony No 1 and Symphony No 9.
Next year will see the Auckland Philharmonia present a rich season, which will include four world premieres of New Zealand works, a concert version of Wagner’s Das Rheingold as well as performances of Mahler’s Symphony No 1 and Symphony No 9.
The first of the new New Zealand works is John Psathas’ New Zeibekiko, which will be performed as part of the Auckland Arts Festival. The piece features two of Greece’s traditional musicians, Manos Achalinotopoulos and Vagelis Karypis, as well as celebrate 2500 years of life and history of the Greek dance, the zeibekiko.
Other New Zealand works include Brett Dean’s The Lost Art of Letter Writing and Ross Harris’ Symphony No 4, which was inspired by poetry sent to him by the late Maori folk singer Mahinarangi Tocker.
Canadian violinist Lara St. John, who was recently described as “a high-powered soloist” by the New York Times, debuts with the APO following rave reviews from Europe, Canada and the US. He will perform Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto.
British violinist Tasmin Little and Russian-born violinist Alina Ibragimova also have debuts with the APO. Little plays Sibelius’ Violin Concerto and presents her award-winning project The Naked Violin, in association with Chamber Music New Zealand; while Ibragimova plays Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto.
Debut conductors
New Zealand baritone Paul Whelan performs with the APO for the first time, singing the lead role of Wotan in the orchestra’s Westpac Opera in Concert performance of Wagner’s Das Rheingold, which has not been performed in New Zealand for more than a decade.
Making their debuts with the APO are British conductor Garry Walker who, until recently was the permanent guest conductor with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra; the young Polish conductor Michal Dworzynski and clarinetist Michael Collins, who is conductor and soloist for Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and conducts the orchestra in Holst’s The Planets.
Apart from the two Mahler symphonies there are a number of other major symphonic works, including Elgar’s Symphony No 1, the Brahms Symphony No 3, Beethoven’s Symphony No 6 and Shostakovich's Symphony No 10.
German conductor Andreas Delfs also debuts with the APO, leading the orchestra for two of the three Splendour Series concerts, which focus on the music of, and inspired by JS Bach. Included in the Bach concerts will be two of the Brandenburg Concertos, two of his Cantatas as well as his Toccata and Fugue (arranged by Stokowski) and his Fantasia and Fugue (arranged by Elgar).
Next year APO’s Choral Masterpiece will be Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana featuring Australian soprano Penelope Mills, Kiwi tenor Benjamin Makisi and 2007 Lexus Song Quest winner Philip Rhodes with Auckland Choral and a specially assembled children’s choir.
The APO has a unique collaborations celebrating NZ Music Month in May with APO Amped, which will bring together Warren Maxwell (Trinity Roots, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Little Bushman), saxophone squire Nathan Haines and composer John Psathas.
“We’re very excited about the 2011 programme,” says chief executive Barbara Glaser. “2010 has been an incredible year for us with many of our flagship APN News and Media Series concerts selling out and some fantastic highlights, and 2011 will be even better.”
She says Music Director Eckehard Stier, together with new Artistic Planning Manager Ronan Tighe, have brought together a programme rich in drama, passion and exuberance, aimed at attracting an increasingly diverse audience to concerts and orchestral events.
Church recitals
New for 2011 is the Sanctuary Series, which has APO principals and musicians moving out of the city to present chamber music recitals in churches in Takapuna, Remuera and Howick.
Each recital is themed around a section of the orchestra – woodwind, strings and brass. The concerts take place in the early evening.
Also the APO has six APO4Kids concerts in Auckland city, North Shore and Manukau, three free Open Days for a behind-the-scenes experience of the orchestra, also in Auckland city, North Shore and Manukau, and free Happy Hour concerts at the Auckland Town Hall.
