Latest news with #SeventhSymphony
Scoop
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Music Stars Join With The NZSO In Wellington And Christchurch
Sensational Hungarian conductor Gábor Káli leads the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for the first time in Wellington and Christchurch, featuring a folk-inspired masterpiece by his country's legendary composer Béla Bartók. Joining the accomplished maestro and NZSO is acclaimed New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall for an unforgettable performance of Bartók's evocative Second Violin Concerto. Echoes of Home: Bartók & Dvořák (Wellington, 23 May and Christchurch, 25 May) opens with a homegrown masterpiece: Douglas Lilburn's Aotearoa Overture, a tribute to New Zealand's sweeping landscapes and unique cultural heritage. Rounding out the evening is Antonín Dvořák's Seventh Symphony, a haunting expression of the composer's deep love for his Czech roots. Hall, one of Aotearoa's most celebrated violinists, made her NZSO debut in 2022 to critical acclaim. 'I had the pleasure of working with Gábor in Macao last year and was so inspired by his deeply committed approach to music. I'm looking forward to performing with my fellow Kiwi musicians in the NZSO once again, as it is always a joy to collaborate with this fabulous orchestra,' says Hall 'Bartók's second Violin Concerto is a compelling work, filled with lush orchestral textures and virtuosity from all corners. Written in 1939, it was a time when Bartók was becoming increasingly concerned with growing fascism. A fascinating blend of Hungarian folk music, quarter tones and volatile shifts in mood, this concerto is one of my absolute favourites. 'Performing with our country's national symphony orchestra is always an experience that fills me with pride, and I look forward to seeing you at the concert!' Maestro Káli played piano and violin at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest before studying conducting. His career skyrocketed after a celebrated debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 2019. 'Every piece is different, and every orchestra is different,' Maestro Káli has said. 'The challenge is always to find a new way or different way with new musicians to cooperate – that's important.' While he began conducting at age 18, his dream to become a conductor was sparked when he was just eight years old. '[That wish] came from instinct. My parents took me to the opera house in Hungary to listen to classical music and I asked 'what is a conductor? What is he doing?' I felt I could do it.' A recipient of the prestigious Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award, he's recognised as one of the most promising conductors of his generation. His profound expertise in Bartók's works has earned him accolades and invitations to conduct major orchestras and operas worldwide, cementing his reputation as an innovative and compelling leader in classical music. Amalia Hall appears with support from Jason Boyes and Nickie Van Der Beek. Tickets to Echoes of Home are from $22 (NZSO Members) and $26 (non-members). For more information go to COMING UP Masterworks: Mozart, Beethoven & Haydn – conductor James Judd, violinist Vesa-Matti Leppänen. Wellington (31 May), Blenheim (5 June), Nelson (7 June), Manukau (10 June), Kerikeri (13 June). – conductor Adam Johnson, soprano Madison Horman. Wellington (5 July), Auckland (6 July). Echoes of Home: Bartók & Dvořák GÁBOR KÁLI Conductor AMALIA HALL Violin LILBURN Aotearoa Overture BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 2 DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 TE WHANGANUI-A-TARA WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre| Friday, 23 May| 6.30pm ŌTAUTAHI CHRISTCHURCH | Town Hall| Sunday, 25 May| 2pm
Scoop
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Music Stars Join With The NZSO In Wellington And Christchurch
Sensational Hungarian conductor Gábor Káli leads the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for the first time in Wellington and Christchurch, featuring a folk-inspired masterpiece by his country's legendary composer Béla Bartók. Joining the accomplished maestro and NZSO is acclaimed New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall for an unforgettable performance of Bartók's evocative Second Violin Concerto. Echoes of Home: Bartók & Dvořák (Wellington, 23 May and Christchurch, 25 May) opens with a homegrown masterpiece: Douglas Lilburn's Aotearoa Overture, a tribute to New Zealand's sweeping landscapes and unique cultural heritage. Rounding out the evening is Antonín Dvořák's Seventh Symphony, a haunting expression of the composer's deep love for his Czech roots. Hall, one of Aotearoa's most celebrated violinists, made her NZSO debut in 2022 to critical acclaim. 'I had the pleasure of working with Gábor in Macao last year and was so inspired by his deeply committed approach to music. I'm looking forward to performing with my fellow Kiwi musicians in the NZSO once again, as it is always a joy to collaborate with this fabulous orchestra,' says Hall 'Bartók's second Violin Concerto is a compelling work, filled with lush orchestral textures and virtuosity from all corners. Written in 1939, it was a time when Bartók was becoming increasingly concerned with growing fascism. A fascinating blend of Hungarian folk music, quarter tones and volatile shifts in mood, this concerto is one of my absolute favourites. 'Performing with our country's national symphony orchestra is always an experience that fills me with pride, and I look forward to seeing you at the concert!' Maestro Káli played piano and violin at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest before studying conducting. His career skyrocketed after a celebrated debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 2019. 'Every piece is different, and every orchestra is different,' Maestro Káli has said. 'The challenge is always to find a new way or different way with new musicians to cooperate – that's important.' While he began conducting at age 18, his dream to become a conductor was sparked when he was just eight years old. '[That wish] came from instinct. My parents took me to the opera house in Hungary to listen to classical music and I asked 'what is a conductor? What is he doing?' I felt I could do it.' A recipient of the prestigious Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award, he's recognised as one of the most promising conductors of his generation. His profound expertise in Bartók's works has earned him accolades and invitations to conduct major orchestras and operas worldwide, cementing his reputation as an innovative and compelling leader in classical music. Amalia Hall appears with support from Jason Boyes and Nickie Van Der Beek. Tickets to Echoes of Home are from $22 (NZSO Members) and $26 (non-members). For more information go to COMING UP Masterworks: Mozart, Beethoven & Haydn – conductor James Judd, violinist Vesa-Matti Leppänen. Wellington (31 May), Blenheim (5 June), Nelson (7 June), Manukau (10 June), Kerikeri (13 June). – conductor Adam Johnson, soprano Madison Horman. Wellington (5 July), Auckland (6 July). Echoes of Home: Bartók & Dvořák GÁBOR KÁLI Conductor AMALIA HALL Violin LILBURN Aotearoa Overture BARTÓK Violin Concerto No. 2 DVOŘÁK Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 TE WHANGANUI-A-TARA WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre| Friday, 23 May| 6.30pm ŌTAUTAHI CHRISTCHURCH | Town Hall| Sunday, 25 May| 2pm
Russia Today
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Russia Today
The long-forgotten concert that helped defeat Hitler – and it didn't happen in Moscow
As the world celebrates the 80th anniversary of the defeat of the Nazi Germany by the Red Army and its allies, there is a little-known story waiting to come to light about music masterpiece that helped raise funds in Africa for Soviet Russia during the Second World War. On 9 July 1944, Dmitri Shostakovich's Seventh Symphony, a work that became a music manifesto of resistance to Nazism, was premiered at the Metro Theatre of Johannesburg, South Africa. In a concert hall filled to capacity, conductor Jeremy Schulman raised his baton, and the orchestra began playing the opening theme: a mechanical march that exemplified the stomping sound of Nazi boots. That's how South Africa joined the world premiere of a symphony written during the siege ofLeningrad (presently – St. Petersburg, Russia's northern capital), which lasted almost 900 days: from 8September 1941 up to 27 January of 1944. By the time of its South African debut, the Leningrad Symphony had already acquired the status of a legend. Shostakovich began to compose it in September 1941 when the Germans were about to encircle Leningrad. He finished the first three parts under Nazi shelling, completing the score after evacuation from the city. The premiere took place on 5 March 1942 in the city of Kuibyshev (now Samara), and on 9 August of the same year – in Leningrad itself. Musicians had to be urgently rotated from the frontline to perform in the besieged city; some of them died of exhaustion and malnutrition. The symphony was not only a work of art – it was also an act of psychological warfare. German and Finnish soldiers deployed on the outskirts of the city realized: it is impossible to crush Leningrad's will for resistance. The musical score was brought to South Africa via Iran and Egypt as a part of cultural diplomacy of the USSR. Solomon 'Solly' Aronowsky, a Russian Empire-born Jewish violinist, helped to organize the concert. He saw the symphony as an instrument for uniting the voices of millions fighting for freedom. Eventually, the symphonic masterpiece was performed in Johannesburg and Cape Town. Johannesburg, 9 July 1944. The concert opened with the first performance of the symphony in Africa. Jeremy Schulman conducted the orchestra. One of South African newspapers described it this way: 'The first movement is the most outstanding, with its stirring and fascinating intermingling of themes, expressive of battle clashes and warm human suffering, and the exaltant determination to beat back the ominous threat of tyranny. The second and third movements are more subdued, but the fourth recaptures the spirit of triumphant resurrection.' The program also included arias from Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky operas sung by soprano Xenia Belmas. The proceeds from the ticket sales were donated to the Medical Aid for Russia, a prominent South African charity. Two month later, on 11 September 1944, the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra conducted by Dr William Pickerill played the symphony at the Cape Town City Hall. Organizing such events turned out to be a challenge for South African society, then divided by racial and ideological contradictions. At that time the Non-European majority was raising its voice through resistance campaigns and trade unions, while everyday life remained riven by degrading segregationist laws that excluded most black Africans, Indians, and Coloureds from fair land ownership, political representation, and public education. Such policy of racial discrimination laid the foundations of the apartheid regime that lasted in South Africa until 1994. Who supported the premiere? The Friends of the Soviet Union (FSU), a left-leaning formation ofwhite intellectuals and black activists, that used the symphony to promote anti-fascist ideas. FSU pamphlets calling for solidarity with Soviet Russia were distributed at the concerts. Who opposed it? The National Party of South Africa. Its leaders called the symphony 'communist propaganda.' However, despite these disputes, all shows were sold out. In Cape Town, during the celebration of Russian national day on 7 November 1944, the City Hall was full. After the German capitulation, the symphony did not lose its relevance. In 1945, it was included in the program of a concert to raise funds for a hospital in Stalingrad. The Cape Town Municipal Orchestra performed the first part, and violinist Ralph Koorland captivated the audience with Tchaikovsky's 'Serenade'. In January 1946, the symphony was performed again as part of the 'Russian Evening' in Johannesburg. Thus, Shostakovich sent a message to the post-war world: even though the war is over, the ideas of Nazism may still be smoldering.
Scoop
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Virtuoso & Sensational Conductor Join NZSO In Wellington & Christchurch
Sensational Hungarian conductor Gábor Káli leads the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for the first time in two concerts featuring a folk-inspired masterpiece by his country's legendary composer Béla Bartók. Joining the accomplished maestro and the orchestra will be acclaimed New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall for an unforgettable performance of Bartók's evocative Second Violin Concerto. Echoes of Home: Bartók & Dvořák in Wellington (23 May) and Christchurch (25 May) opens with a homegrown masterpiece: Douglas Lilburn's Aotearoa Overture, a tribute to New Zealand's sweeping landscapes and unique cultural heritage. Rounding out the evening is Antonín Dvořák's Seventh Symphony, a haunting expression of the composer's deep love for his Czech roots. Hall, one of New Zealand's most celebrated violinists, made her NZSO debut in 2022 to critical acclaim with The Post and The New Zealand Herald declaring her 'a superb soloist'. Britain's The Strad has praised her performances for their 'blazing insight and dazzling virtuosity.' Such is Hall's versatility; she's also Concertmaster of Orchestra Wellington—a position she earned in 2016 as New Zealand's youngest concertmaster—and as a violinist with NZTrio. Maestro Káli played piano and violin at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest before studying conducting. His career skyrocketed after a celebrated debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 2019. 'Every piece is different, and every orchestra is different,' Maestro Káli has said. 'The challenge is always to find a new way or different way with new musicians to cooperate – that's important.' While he began conducting at age 18, his dream to become a conductor was sparked when he was just eight years old. '[That wish] came from instinct. My parents took me to the opera house in Hungary to listen to classical music and I asked 'what is a conductor? What is he doing?' I felt I could do it.' A recipient of the prestigious Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award, he's recognised as one of the most promising conductors of his generation. His profound expertise in Bartók's works has earned him accolades and invitations to conduct major orchestras and operas worldwide, cementing his reputation as an innovative and compelling leader in classical music. Amalia Hall appears with support from Jason Boyes and Nickie Van Der Beek. Tickets to Echoes of Home are from $22 (NZSO Members) and $26 (non-members). For more information go to – conductor James Judd, violinist Vesa-Matti Leppänen. Wellington (31 May), Blenheim (5 June), Nelson (7 June), Manukau (10 June), Kerikeri (13 June).
Scoop
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Virtuoso & Sensational Conductor Join NZSO In Wellington & Christchurch
Sensational Hungarian conductor Gábor Káli leads the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for the first time in two concerts featuring a folk-inspired masterpiece by his country's legendary composer Béla Bartók. Joining the accomplished maestro and the orchestra will be acclaimed New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall for an unforgettable performance of Bartók's evocative Second Violin Concerto. Echoes of Home: Bartók & Dvořák in Wellington (23 May) and Christchurch (25 May) opens with a homegrown masterpiece: Douglas Lilburn's Aotearoa Overture, a tribute to New Zealand's sweeping landscapes and unique cultural heritage. Rounding out the evening is Antonín Dvořák's Seventh Symphony, a haunting expression of the composer's deep love for his Czech roots. Hall, one of New Zealand's most celebrated violinists, made her NZSO debut in 2022 to critical acclaim with The Post and The New Zealand Herald declaring her 'a superb soloist'. Britain's The Strad has praised her performances for their 'blazing insight and dazzling virtuosity.' Such is Hall's versatility; she's also Concertmaster of Orchestra Wellington—a position she earned in 2016 as New Zealand's youngest concertmaster—and as a violinist with NZTrio. Maestro Káli played piano and violin at the Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest before studying conducting. His career skyrocketed after a celebrated debut with the Budapest Festival Orchestra in 2019. 'Every piece is different, and every orchestra is different,' Maestro Káli has said. 'The challenge is always to find a new way or different way with new musicians to cooperate – that's important.' While he began conducting at age 18, his dream to become a conductor was sparked when he was just eight years old. '[That wish] came from instinct. My parents took me to the opera house in Hungary to listen to classical music and I asked 'what is a conductor? What is he doing?' I felt I could do it.' A recipient of the prestigious Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award, he's recognised as one of the most promising conductors of his generation. His profound expertise in Bartók's works has earned him accolades and invitations to conduct major orchestras and operas worldwide, cementing his reputation as an innovative and compelling leader in classical music. Amalia Hall appears with support from Jason Boyes and Nickie Van Der Beek. Tickets to Echoes of Home are from $22 (NZSO Members) and $26 (non-members). For more information go to COMING UP Masterworks: Mozart, Beethoven & Haydn – conductor James Judd, violinist Vesa-Matti Leppänen. Wellington (31 May), Blenheim (5 June), Nelson (7 June), Manukau (10 June), Kerikeri (13 June).
