NZSO tours the New Zealand heartland

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra: Heroic Beethoven
Associate sponsor: Ryman Healthcare Ltd.

Conductor: Danail Rachev 

Beethoven, The Ruins of Athens Overture
Beethoven, Symphony No 2
Beethoven, Symphony No 5

Whanganui, Royal Whanganui Opera House, August 15

New Plymouth, TSB Showplace, August 16

Gisborne, Gisborne Events Centre, August 20

Whakatane Stadium, August 22

Rotorua, Civic Theatre, August 23

Napier,  Municipal Theatre, August 24

The first four notes of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony comprise one of the most famous moments in the history of music.

In the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Heroic Beethoven concert they complete an evening of heroic music performed by under the baton of the talented Bulgarian conductor Danail Rachev.

Those opening notes were described by the English writer E M Forster as “the most sublime noise that has ever penetrated into the ear of man”.

Heroic Beethoven, which tours to six New Zealand towns next month, is the ideal introduction for music lovers who wish to delve into the rich world of Romantic music.

Opening the concert is the overture to The Ruins of Athens. Composed as a diplomatic celebration of the modern city of Pest, it is the perfect way to begin a celebration of Beethoven.

With dark melodies and searching rhythms, Beethoven begins the overture with a tone of despair as the Greek gods return to Athens to find the ancient city in ruins. However, the mood soon turns, transforming into music that is majestic and gloriously optimistic.

Beethoven’s Symphony No 2 in D major offers an unwavering freshness, with music that is often leisurely and richly expressive. omposed in his 20s, when he battled with hearing problems, this lively work is one of his early triumphs and is an absolute gem of his early period of composition which hints at future glories.

Making his debut with the NZSO is Bulgarian conductor Danail Rachev.

Heralded by critics as “a musician of real depth, sensitivity and authority”, he is in his fourth season in the US as music director and conductor of the Eugene Symphony, Oregon, positions that have previously been held by conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya.