Latest news with #AucklandPhilharmonia
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe captivates at Auckland Philharmonia concert
Perianes unfurled billowing waves of semiquaver sparkle, occasionally melting into more romantic moods, during which both orchestra and conductor were totally at one with the pianist's supple rubato. A hint of American cakewalk didn't go unnoticed in the uber-lively finale, while the central movement effectively explored darker, more dramatic territory, bringing in Spanish, African and other exotic elements. An Albeniz encore took us to Seville, the Spanish pianist framing its evocative middle section with the most infectious dance imaginable. Spanish pianist Javier Perianes brought elegance to Saint-Saens' concerto. Photo / Marco Borggreve Ravel's complete music for Daphnis et Chloe marked a very special achievement for Auckland Philharmonia and its musicians. Inspired by maestro Markl, they illuminated one of the 20th century's monumental scores with cinematic flair. It was impossible not to submit to just under an hour of Ravel's orchestral wizardry, realising, too, as melodies and themes reoccurred, that this is indeed a score of symphonic weight. From an opening page in which one can almost hear a curtain lifting, we were taken through the love story of a young shepherd and his nymph. Scored with the precision of a master painter, Daphnis et Chloe offered a host of piquant solos, chamber music sighs and dances of almost Stravinskian wildness, not to mention the sonorous wordless voices of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. While one can sit back and sink into this splendid soundscape, I suspect that surtitles projecting the ballet's detailed stage directions would not have gone amiss. How else might one realise that a sinuous pairing of clarinets is introducing the voluptuous dance of the temptress Lyceion?
RNZ News
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
Coming in from the wilderness
This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions. At home on the podium. Photo: Supplied Ravel's ballet Daphnis & Chloe is many things: a late romantic masterpiece, a brilliant orchestral and choral score. But for the conductor Jun Märkl, more than anything else, it represents a "wonderful connection with music, Nature and love". Märkl is in New Zealand to conduct Ravel's complete ballet score with the Auckland Philharmonia and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in a concert marking the 150th year since the composer's birth. The story of Daphnis, a goat herder, and Chloe, a shepherdess, goes back over two thousand years to classical Greece. Basically, they meet, fall in love, but have to overcome all sorts of obstacles (including pirates) to get it together. But also right at home here... Photo: Ignacio Yufera / Biosphoto The love story is a big part of Ravel's richly romantic music, but so too is his evocation of Nature, something conductor Märkl is right in sync with. Märkl spoke with RNZ Concert ahead of his performance with the Auckland Philharmonia, where he told Three to Seven host Bryan Crump that his love of nature goes way beyond its depiction in music. When not directing orchestras in concert halls, Märkl has another life, working as a ranger in national parks, especially in southern Africa. He's spent time learning about animal behaviour, and the circle of life: "who eats whom". "When I'm conducting, I'm always the centre of cities and usually big cities, and so just to refresh myself and my mind I just go places where there are very few, if any, people." It's not that Märkl dislikes people. More that, in getting away from the big city hustle and noise, he finds he likes people - and music - more. "I just go out and do something different which gives me then inspiration for making music again." Born 150 years ago. Photo: Public Domain Written for the remarkable Russian ballet company Ballets Russes, which the impresario Diaghilev brought to Paris in the early 20th century, Daphnis & Chloe is Ravel's longest and richest orchestral work. Ravel asks not just for a very large orchestra, but a large chorus, which doesn't sing any words. Instead, the singers intone vowel sounds. "Which means the chorus doesn't have to worry about learning French," jokes Märkl. As for Ravel's score, there are so many highlights. But one which really sticks in Märkl's mind is Ravel's depiction of a dawn. "I think in my opinion from all sunrises written in music, this is the most starts really from the very dark, and you hear the glittering like the first rays of light on the surface of water, so you can really hear it in the woodwinds and then it rises up and it is so grandiose, very tender and very noble". If you can't make it to the Auckland Town Hall for the gig, you can hear it live on RNZ Concert from 7.30 tonight.
NZ Herald
23-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
NZTrio tour strikes a family chord
Is this another example of New Zealand's two degrees of separation? The day before we speak, cellist Callum Hall played Beethoven with the Auckland Philharmonia. Hall's section leader for that concert was Ashley Brown. The last time Brown featured in the Listener was to mark his. This interview with Hall is about his forthcoming tour with NZTrio. It's like musical chairs, except that when the playing stops every seat is filled by a cellist.
NZ Herald
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
William Dart review: Auckland Philharmonia delivers magical Nightscapes concert experience
Auckland Philharmonia's wind principals – Bede Hanley, Ingrid Hagan, Gabrielle Pho and Jonathan Cohen – take centre stage in a charismatic performance of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. Photo / Sav Schulman THE FACTS The Auckland Philharmonia's Nightscapes may well be one of the most downright enjoyable concerts of this season. With maestro Giordano Bellincampi on the podium, we were transported from the dazzling sophistication of a Viennese ballroom to a soul-baring tryst in a dark, mysterious forest, creating the sort of
NZ Herald
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Auckland Philharmonia deliver powerful La Traviata performance
Auckland Philharmonia's annual Opera in Concert holds a special place in our musical calendar, sometimes offering works unlikely ever to be fully staged, such as 2024's triumphant Die Tote Stadt.
