The APO perform in their Baroque and Beyond concert series at Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell. Photo: Adrian Malloch
Benjamin Morrison Photo: Michael Schnabl
Welcome to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell, Auckland. A stripped down Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra has gathered to play a special concert in their Baroque and Beyond series. Today they play music by Bach and go beyond to baroque-inspired pieces by Igor Stravinsky.
The APO are directed by visiting violinist Benjamin Morrison. The Kiwi musician moved to Vienna in 2007 and is a member of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna State Opera orchestras. He also tours with his string quartet, the Nicolai Quartet. We’re very pleased to welcome him home for this Bach Stravinsky concert.
Bede Hanley Photo: ©Adrian Malloch
Two APO players feature as soloists as well. To start with you’ll hear Liu-Yi Retallick on violin and principal oboe Bede Hanley in Concerto for Violin and Oboe by Johann Sebastian Bach. It’s a baroque concerto in three movements which copies the Italian style that was en-vogue at the time.
Next, we have Eight Instrumental Miniatures by Igor Stravinsky. Although a lot of his output from the early 20th century was revolutionary and modern, a significant amount of his pieces are neoclassical and return to the style of Baroque and early Classical music.
Liu-Yi Retallick Photo: APO
We return now to music from the Baroque era. More Bach! Concerto for Two Violins. This concerto is also in three movements. The two violins are played by Liu-Yi Retallick and Benjamin Morrison.
To finish this programme the APO play another neo-classical highlight by Igor Stravinsky. Dumbarton Oaks, or more formally Concerto in E flat, was composed while Stravinsky was in a phase of immersing himself in Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos. Stravinsky borrowed the metrical writing of the Baroque era pieces and undeniably infused his own concerto with his genial spirit.
The work takes its title Dumbarton Oaks from the home of Mr and Mrs Woods Bliss, who commissioned the work for their thirtieth wedding anniversary. The American diplomat’s home is notable for being the venue in 1944 for the conference that prepared the foundations of the United Nations.
Here again is Benjamin Morrison leading the APO from the first violins. Dumbarton Oaks by Stravinsky.
Producer & Engineer: Adrian Hollay
