Southern Sinfonia 2010 Concert Programme
AMI Last Night of the Proms
Friday 19 February, 7:30pm at Dunedin Town Hall
Featuring a dazzling line-up! Master of Ceremonies David McPhail, soloists Deborah Wai Kapohe and Rebecca Ryan and the City of Dunedin Choir with conductor Kenneth Young.
Dig out your party-best, and warm up those vocal chords. The Last Night of the Proms will be a night to remember!
Southern Sinfonia's already popular annual Last Night of the Proms will draw the crowds with the dazzling line-up of the fabulous sopranos Deborah Wai Kapohe and Rebecca Ryan, who will perform The Cat Duet - a very funny altercation between two cats - I wonder which will win!
Master of Ceremonies David McPhail of "McPhail and Gadsby" fame will be joined by one of New Zealand's leading conductors, Kenneth Young returning after his popular reception at last year's Proms. Also performing will be this year's most outstanding university performance student Bassoonist Joe Donnelly. And, as usual, the Southern Sinfonia and The City of Dunedin Choir will be decked out in red, white and blue, reflecting the original British Last Night of the Proms colours.
Traditional Proms items will feature in the second half: Rule Britannia, Jerusalem, Fantasia on British Sea Songs, and Pomp and Circumstance. And of course there are prizes for the best-dressed Promenaders, kindly donated by the Scenic Circle Southern Cross Hotel (dinner, bed and breakfast for two). The competition for the "Guest Conductor" will be run at the Regent Booking Office as usual - the winner of which will conduct the orchestra for an item during the concert.
Sponsors
Dvořák's New World
International Series One
Saturday 6 March, 8:00pm at Dunedin Town Hall
Nicholas Braithwaite - Conductor
Eugene Mursky - Piano
Borodin: In the Steppes of Central Asia
Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No. 3
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9, From the New World
Only pianists of the calibre of our soloist from Uzbekistan, Eugene Mursky, excel in the technical demands of Prokofiev's most popular piano concerto. The performance of this concerto is acknowledged as a major pianistic feat. Dvořák's magnificent From the New World Symphony reflects the folk music from his homeland Bohemia as well as his newly-found knowledge of what he called "Negro melodies".
Russian Masters
International Series Two
Saturday 1 May, 8:00pm at Dunedin Town Hall
Brett Kelly - Conductor
Vesa-Matti Leppänen - Violin
Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
Prokofiev: Violin Concerto No. 2
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7
Tchaikovsky's soaring melodies combine with a characteristically Russian sense of impending doom, creating an unforgettable and dramatic opening work. Following this will be Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 2, performed by Vesa-Matti Leppänen (NZSO's Concertmaster). Its biting irony in the outer movements is complemented by the slow movement's exquisite melody. Wagner is reported to have described Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 as "the apotheosis of the dance", perhaps because of its sprightly rhythms and driving energy. Beethoven himself referred to it as "one of my best".
A Triple Birthday Extravaganza
International Series Three
Saturday 29 May, 8:00pm at Dunedin Town Hall
Werner Andreas Albert - Conductor
Modi Deng - Piano
Ashley Brown - Cello
Emma Fraser - Soprano
Chopin: Variations on 'La ci darem la mano'
Schumann: Cello Concerto in A Minor
Mahler: Symphony No. 4
A triple celebration of birthdays: 200 years for Chopin and Schumann, and 150 years for Mahler, all under the baton of Principal Guest Conductor Werner Andreas Albert. Ashley Brown, the New Zealand Trio's Cellist, is the winner of national and international prestigious awards, and he will perform the Cello Concerto, one of Schumann's more daring and adventurous works which broke with many established compositional conventions. Our first performance of a Mahler symphony will mark a milestone for the Southern Sinfonia. This mighty work concludes our final concert in the Town Hall until our return in 2011, following the completion of its refurbishment.
Horn Magic
Matinee Series One
Sunday 18 July, 3:00pm at King's and Queen's Performing Arts Centre
Dane Lam - Conductor
Jeff Nelsen - French Horn
Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 4
David Hamilton: The Ripe Breath of Autumn
Mendelssohn: Symphony No. 1
A double treat! Canadian horn-player Jeff Nelsen performs Mozart's Horn Concerto, made famous in 1963 when Flanders and Swann set the rondo movement to words. He also is the soloist in David Hamilton's work. The opening work, Stravinsky's Pulcinella Suite, was inspired by the commedia dell'arte. Stravinsky has arranged music by Pergolesi and other 18th century composers, making the music distinctively his own. Our final delicious "dessert" is the first of Mendelssohn's much-loved symphonies. Young Australian Dane Lam, described as an "electrifying musician", will conduct the orchestra at his first concert in Dunedin.
Vive La France!
Matinee Series Two
Sunday 29 August, 3:00pm at King's and Queen's Performing Arts Centre
Werner Andreas Albert - Conductor
Andreas Brantelid - Cello
Poulenc: Sinfonietta
Saint Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1
Gounod: Symphony No. 1
Three French composers bring Gallic flair to the final concert of this series. Poulenc's Sinfonietta, his only symphonic work, opens the concert on a light, lyrical note. Many composers, including Shostakovich and Rachmaninov considered Saint Saëns' Cello Concerto No. 1 to be the greatest of all cello concertos. The incredibly demanding solo part will be performed by virtuoso Scandinavian cellist Andreas Brantelid. Gounod's first symphony, although little known, will provide a compelling and charming conclusion to the concert.