UPDATE 27 Apr 2023

Programme notes

NZSO programme notes are now available to view online. Read programme information, artists' bios and more by simply clicking here or scanning one of the QR codes displayed at the venue on the night of the concert.

Pre-concert Talk

There isn’t a pre-concert talk before Bloch & Shostakovich: Enduring Spirit. Pre-concert talk details for upcoming concerts will be published at the NZSO What to Expect page in advance of each concert.

 

Aaron Jay Kernis Musica Celestis
Bloch Schelomo
Shostakovich Symphony No. 10 in E Minor

Renowned for his inspirational music-making, we are thrilled to finally welcome Maestro Donald Runnicles to Aotearoa New Zealand for his NZSO debut.

Runnicles is justly celebrated as a superlative interpreter of Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire, and his artistry will combine with that of cellist Nicolas Altstaedt was praised in The Australian for “the directness of his communication [...] one hung on every note as if they were the words of a master storyteller.” Together they present Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo, in which Bloch celebrated his Jewishness by casting the solo cello as the voice of King Schelomo (Solomon).

Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony similarly portrays a singular man, but this time, the man portrayed is the hellish dictator Stalin. Conversely, Aaron Jay Kernis’s work Musica Celestis was inspired by the medieval idea of angels singing in praise of a Heavenly Father.