APO Season Brochure 2023

RACH 2
7.30pm, Thursday 4 May
Auckland Town Hall
Conductor Constantin Trinks
Piano Lise de la Salle
Korngold (arr. Russ) The Sea Hawk: Suite
Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No.2
Schumann Symphony No.1 ‘Spring’
Korngold’s spectacular score for that ultimate swashbuckler
epic, the Errol Flynn movie The Sea Hawk, is a pure musical
sugar hit. It will be some of the best fun that audiences will
have all year.
Rachmaninov’s concerto, with its achingly tender slow
movement, is a perennial favourite. The soloist must have
fingers of steel and a poetic heart, and Lise de la Salle is just
such a musician.
In the early months of his marriage, a jubilant Schumann
sketched a symphony in just four days. ‘Spring’ is the perfect
nickname for music of such exuberant, uncomplicated joy.
MIGHT &
MAJESTY
Photo: Stéphane Gallois
7.30pm, Thursday 20 July
Auckland Town Hall
Conductor Giordano Bellincampi
Violin Benjamin Beilman
Weber Euryanthe: Overture
Bruch Violin Concerto No.1
J.S. Bach (arr. Webern) The Musical
Offering: Ricercar
Mendelssohn Symphony No.5
‘Reformation’
Described by its composer as a ‘Grand
Heroic-Romantic Opera’, Euryanthe
flopped in the theatre. Its overture,
however, has always appealed to
audiences, perhaps because it lets us
hear the music from the opera without
the burden of its preposterous plot.
Another work that was an instant hit
was Bruch’s First Violin Concerto. And
rightly so, with its infectious blend of
romance and gypsy vivacity. In Benjamin
Beilman’s hands this will be a treat.
Webern’s loving setting of J.S. Bach is
followed by Mendelssohn’s tribute to
Martin Luther, ending with the sturdy
chorale ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God’.
18 APO.CO.NZ
Photo: Stefan Ruiz