2009 Concert Series
Chamber Music for Summer
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The 2004 Season
1. Music for Brahms
An afternoon of exquisite chamber music for Brahms lovers. And for clarinet fans, too! From the pen of one of the greatest Romantic composers come three glorious chamber music compositions - a sonata, a trio and a quintet. The music is full of autumnal colouring and lingering melodies.
Brahms, Clarinet Sonata in Eb Op.120 No.2
Brahms, Trio in A minor Opus 114
Brahms, Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op.115
Peter Scholes, clarinet
Katherine Austin, piano
James Tennant, cello
Dimitri Atanassov, violin
Lara Hall, violin
Robert Ashworth, viola
2.Idomeneo
The staging of Mozart's chamber opera masterpiece continues Auckland Chamber Orchestra's ambition of bringing the very best of the art form to the Auckland audiences.
The Trojan war has come to an end. The victorious Greeks, among them Idomeneo, King of Crete, are on their way home after many years in battle. Before Idomeneo's fleet reaches the safety of the Cretan shore, the ships are destroyed in a terrible storm. Idomeneo strikes a fateful bargain with Neptune, the god of the sea: in return for his own life he will sacrifice the first human being he encounters on the shore....
Auckland Chamber Orchestra
The Auckland Opera Studio
Musical Director Peter Scholes
Director Patrice Wilson
Musica Sacra and Indra Hughes
Simon O’Neill as Idomeneo
Anna Leese as Ilia
Sarah-Jane Rennie as Electra
Jack Bourke as Sacerdoti
Shaun Dixon as Arbace
3. The Golden Harp
This family concert offers four evocative and educational tales set to music by Peter Scholes. The Golden Harp is a story from Britain of a young girl who loses her little brother and must make a harp to win him back. The Black Sail is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur from ancient Greece. The Small Samurai is a Japanese tale of a tiny warrior who battles crickets and fire demons to protect the princess. The Tears of the Albatross is a Maori story about Porangahua and his quest for Kumara. The four tales are narrated to the music of a full orchestra. Superb entertainment for children and adults alike!
Narrator Jackie Clarke
Conductor Peter Scholes
Stories adapted by Witi Ihimaera
4. Oiseaux Exotiques
A concert of pieces inspired by birds, their beautiful voices. Ivan Zagni’s "The Koeakoea" the object is the song and migration of New Zealand’s long-tailed cuckoo. Zagni is this year's featured New Zealand composer and several of his works will be performed throughout the year.
Delius On hearing the first cuckoo in spring
Delius Summer night by the river
Messiaen Oiseaux Exotiques
Zagni The Koeakoea
Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Peter Scholes clarinet and conductor
David Guerin piano
5. The Unanswered Question
The concert begins with a Haydn Symphony "The Philosopher", perhaps preparing for the miniature and enigmatic Ives composition, "The Unanswered Question". "The Cospatrick Tragedy" by Ivan Zagni recounts the tragedy of 1875 when the steamship "Cospatrick" on route to New Zealand from London caught fire and sank.
Haydn Symphony no. 22 in Eb major "The Philosopher"
Zagni The Cospatrick Tragedy
Ives The Unanswered Question
Mozart Sinfonia Concertante
Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Peter Scholes conductor
Dimitri Atanassov violin
Robert Ashworth viola
6. Alexa Still
Alexa Still returns as soloist in a performance of the concerto by Lucas Foss based on Renaissance themes. The jazzy "Dances Concertantes" opens the concert and final piece for the year is by Haydn, this time his Symphony "The Hen".
Stravinsky Dances Concertantes
Foss Renaissance Concerto
Haydn Symphony no.83, G minor (La Poule)
Auckland Chamber Orchestra
Peter Scholes conductor
Alexa Still flute