Last Night of the Proms: a concert for Aucklanders
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's performance next week features Benjamin Britten and Vaughan Williams.
Qantas Last Night of the Proms
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
Benjamin Northey (conductor)
Helen Medlyn (mezzo-soprano)
Auckland Town Hall
July 11
Next Friday at the Royal Albert Hall in London will be the First Night of the Proms, which features a surge sea-inspired works by Benjamin Britten and Vaughan Williams, the latter combining the 300-strong Proms Youth Choir and the BBC Symphony Chorus.
The night before the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra will present its Last Night of the Proms with a concert which also features Williams and Britten.
The Last Night of the Proms is always an event in which the orchestra, conductor and soloists let their down their hair just a little bit as old favourites are brought out.
The all-English music programme (there is one foreign interloper) features some memorable works such as Sir Edward Elgar's Nimrod, which is often used at British funerals and other solemn occasions.
The featured Britten work is A Charm of Lullabies, which has been arranged by Colin Matthews, and the Williams piece is his English Folk Song Suite arranged by Gordon Jacob.
There are also a couple of Gilbert and Sullivan songs from The Pirates of Penzance and Iolanthe. These will be sung by Helen Medlyn, the recent recipient of an MNZM in the Queen’s birthday honours and long a favourite of APO concertgoers for her unrivalled ability to rouse an audience.
The concert also includes William Walton’s Portsmouth Point Overture, Jules Massenet’s Thais Meditation and Elgar’s Nimrod from his Enigma Variations.
Rounding off the evening will be the usual three rousing works: Rule Britannia, Jerusalem and Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March.
John Daly-Peoples
Tue, 02 Jul 2013
Tue, 02 Jul 2013
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Last Night of the Proms: a concert for Aucklanders
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