24 Jun 2010
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra takes a journey through two centuries of Viennese music to celebrate the elegance and energy of the city’s legendary composers this winter.
In a four-concert series, Splendour of Vienna showcases the musical greats that Vienna has given the world. The series begins with ‘Ode to Joy’ on Thursday 15 July and repeated on Friday 16 July, followed by Imperial Elegance on Thursday 22 July and Song of the Earth on Thursday 29 July with all concerts at Auckland Town Hall.
Ode to Joy pays tribute to Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 – one of the most recognisable pieces of symphonic music in the world. Beethoven broke all boundaries with this piece by introducing singers into an orchestral work. Auckland Choral together with tenor Richard Greager, 2009 Lexus Song Quest winner and soprano Aivale Cole, and alto Anna Pierard join the APO to bring this great work to Auckland for the first time in more than five years.
Conductor and APO music director Eckehard Stier says Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 was the dawn of a new age in music. “There is nothing to compare with its humanity and exaltation.”
This concert also features Schoenberg’s deeply moving piece A Survivor from Warsaw with actor Stuart Devenie as the narrator.
Imperial Elegance celebrates Mozart and his great fourth symphony – a work of drama, joy and consolation expressed with the incomparable elegance and refinement that is Mozart’s hallmark.
Also featuring in this concert is Richard Strauss’ Oboe Concerto played by the APO’s principal oboist, Canadian Bede Hanley.
The third concert in the series, Song of the Earth, features Mahler – a composer known for his passionate, nostalgic and melancholy pieces and his great song cycle Das Lied von der Erde together with Schubert’s beautiful and enigmatic Unfinished Symphony.
Song of the Earth features Stuart Skelton, a performer who is widely considered to be one of the finest heldentenors to have emerged in recent years.
The APO Splendour of Vienna opens with Ode to Joy on Thursday 15 & Friday 16 July; Imperial Elegance on Thursday 22 July and Song of the Earth on Thursday 29 July at the Auckland Town Hall, THE EDGE at 8pm. Tickets are available by phoning 0800 BUY TICKETS (0800 289 842) or online at www.buytickets.co.nz
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