Italian music group plays Baroque to Fellini

I Musici Tour
February – March
Chamber Music New Zealand

The acclaimed Italian ensemble I Musici will be touring New Zealand in February and March with their premiere concert in Wellington on Tuesday 28 February as part of the New Zealand International Arts Festival, before the 12-member ensemble heads to Palmerston North, Napier, New Plymouth, Hamilton, Auckland, Invercargill, Dunedin, Christchurch and Nelson.

“We were absolutely thrilled to secure I Musici as our opening artists for the 2012 season and I can’t wait to experience this iconic group,” says Chamber Music New Zealand chief executive Euan Murdoch.

Formed in Rome in 1952, I Musici is one of the longest-running active chamber music ensembles in the world and is well known for its interpretations of baroque works particularly those of Antonio Vivaldi and Tomaso Albinoni.

Their 1955 recording of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons was only the second recording made of the work and the ensemble is widely credited with the work’s enduring popularity – it has featured in films including Spy Games, A View To Kill and What Lies Beneath, and is often heard in advertising and at weddings. I Musici went on to record Four Seasons another five times with different soloists racking up more than 25 million album sales across the different recordings.

I Musici’s programme for the Chamber Music New Zealand tour ‘Serenata Italiana’, takes audiences on a journey of the Italian serenade, with music by Rossini, Respighi, and film composer Nino Rota who composed music more many of the gret Italian films of the 1970’s

Programme
Rossini | Sonata a quattro No 1 in G
Rossini | Une Larme: Theme and variations for cello and strings
Donizetti | Allegro in C for strings
Paganini | Il Carnevale di Venezia, theme and variations for violin and strings
Bossi | 3 Intermezzi Goldoniani, Opus 127
Respighi | Aria for strings
Rota | Concerto for strings (written for I Musici)
Bacalov | Concerto Grosso for I Musici’s 60th Anniversary

WELLINGTON: Michael Fowler Centre |Tuesday 28 February 7.30pm

PALMERSTON NORTH: Regent Theatre | Wednesday 29 February 7.30pm

NAPIER: Municipal Theatre | Thursday 1 March 8pm

NEW PLYMOUTH: Theatre Royal, TSB Showplace

HAMILTON: Gallagher Academy of Performing Arts, University of Waikato

AUCKLAND: Auckland Town Hall, THE EDGE | Monday 5 March 8pm

INVERCARGILL: Civic Theatre | Wednesday 7 March 7.30pm

DUNEDIN: Regent Theatre | Thursday 8 March 7.30pm

CHRISTCHURCH: Aurora Centre, Burnside High School

NELSON: Nelson School of Music | Sunday 11 March 2pm