APO Season Brochure 2023

Benson Wilson (Photo: Nick MacBain)
SIMPLE GIFTS
Ana de la Vega
7.30pm, Thursday 15 June
Auckland Town Hall
BRAHMS 1
Conductor Elena Schwarz
Flute Ana de la Vega
Copland Appalachian Spring
Kaija Saariaho Aile du Songe
Copland Quiet City
Ravel Mother Goose (complete ballet)
The Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho is particularly fond of
the flute, and in her 2001 concerto Aile du Songe the soloist
is like ‘a lone, high flying bird whose shadow forms different
images’. Outstanding Australian flautist Ana de la Vega soars
in this delicate, ethereal music.
Copland’s meditative Quiet City, and especially his evergreen
Appalachian Spring, are hymns to an America of open air,
small towns, wide horizons.
Ravel’s fairytale ballet is a seamless flow of enchantment,
finishing with a rapturous vision of a magical garden.
SUBSCRIBE
Book all 12 concerts in this series and receive up to 25% off public
ticket prices plus other great benefits. Or mix and match across all
our concerts with a flexible Choose Your Own (CYO) subscription.
7.30pm, Thursday 3 August
Auckland Town Hall
Conductor Giordano Bellincampi
Baritone Benson Wilson
Ross Harris Symphony No.7
WORLD PREMIERE
Mahler Songs of a Wayfarer
Brahms Symphony No.1
Brahms took decades to summon the selfbelief
to write a symphony. It was worth the
wait. It is a mighty work and with Giordano
Bellincampi it will be a mighty performance.
The world premiere of the new symphony
by Ross Harris is the latest chapter in
the long and fruitful artistic relationship
between the APO and one of New
Zealand’s most distinguished composers.
It will be a major occasion in the year’s
concert-going.
Mahler wrote this early song-cycle in
the wake of an unhappy love affair. Its
protagonist, on his love’s wedding day,
walks away to escape the memory of her
blue eyes. New Zealand-born Sāmoan
baritone Benson Wilson is bound to
impress in his APO debut.
12 APO.CO.NZ