Houstoun plays Rachmaninov

Houstoun plays Rachmaninov

Michael Houstoun, piano
Marc Taddei, conductor

Wellington Town Hall
Saturday 17 November 7.30pm
Pre concert talk 6.30pm

Haydn Symphony No 44 "Trauer"
Rachmaninov Piano concerto No 2
Schmidt Symphony No 4

One of the greatest Romantic piano concertos ever written marked the young Rachmaninov’s triumph over a depression that had blocked his creativity for nearly three years.

While the great tolling bell chords of the opening set a serious mood, the music immediately breaks free with a tremendously energetic cascade of beautiful melodies. The pianist creates a waterfall of notes weaving around the rich, surging sounds of the orchestra. By turns tender, nostalgic, and filled with hope, this concerto never fails to move audiences. It’s a perfect vehicle for a powerhouse performer such as Michael Houstoun.

Recently music director Marc Taddei has been exploring the great Haydn symphonies. Regular listeners to the VWO have heard them clear the dust off Haydn favourites with performances that are vital and sympathetic. Their performance of Haydn’s well-known “Trauer” or “Mourning” symphony should be no exception. Written in 1772 during his Sturm und Drang (“storm and stress”) period, its dramatic contrasts and high emotion make it one of Haydn’s most operatic works.

The Fourth Symphony by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Schmidt has never before been heard in New Zealand. Taddei is not alone in calling it “one of the great symphonies of the 20th century”. As a cellist, Schmidt was a colleague of Mahler in the Vienna Opera; as a composer he was an exact contemporary of Schoenberg.

But Schoenberg’s 12-tone experiments held no attraction for Schmidt. He wrote lushly Romantic music in the tradition of Beethoven, Schubert and Bruckner.

His Fourth Symphony was written in 1933 as a Requiem for his daughter, who died in childbirth. It opens with a brooding trumpet solo stating an elegiac theme. That theme pervades the whole tightly-structured piece. Like the Rachmaninov, the music is full of tenderness, longing and hope.

• Tickets from Ticketek 0800 842 538 Service fee will apply
• Youth (16 years and under): $15
• Student: $20 w/valid ID (best available seats)
• 17-35 years: $25 w/valid ID (best available seats)
• Concession (senior/unwaged 65+) A Reserve: $53
• Concession (senior/unwaged 65+) B Reserve: $43
• Adult A Reserve: $58
• Adult B Reserve: $48

/ENDS

© Scoop Media