The Auckland Philharmonia announces an artist change to its upcoming Opera in Concert, Tristan und Isolde, on Saturday 10 August 2024.
Soprano Ricarda Merbeth will step in as the replacement Isolde in the orchestra’s performance of the epic Tristan und Isolde, one of Wagner’s best loved operas. Ms Merbeth is one of the world’s leading interpreters of Isolde, and has previously sung Isolde in Amsterdam, Hamburg, and at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she will reprise the role next season. She has been granted the title Kammersängerin at the Vienna State Opera, the most prestigious distinction for singers in Germany and Austria.
An outstanding ensemble cast will be joining Ricarda Merbeth to explore this sublime and powerful score with the Auckland Philharmonia, including Katarina Karnéus, and New Zealand heldentenor, Simon O’Neill. They will be complemented by the New Zealand Opera Chorus.
Ricarda Merbeth will replace the previously advertised Isolde, Manuela Uhl, who is no longer able to join us for this concert. The concert title, music programme and other cast are unchanged.
Opera in Concert: Tristan und Isolde
4.00pm, Saturday 10 August
Auckland Town Hall
Conductor Giordano Bellincampi
Tristan Simon O’Neill
Isolde Ricarda Merbeth
Brangäne Katarina Karnéus
Kurwenal Johan Reuter
King Marke Albert Dohmen
Melot Jared Holt
Sailor/Shepherd/Steersman Andrew Goodwin
with The New Zealand Opera Chorus
Stage Director Frances Moore
As Auckland Philharmonia prepares for Respighi’s Roman trilogy, Amber Read takes a deep dive into the composer’s love/hate affair with the Italian capital.
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936) had a fraught relationship with the Eternal City. He struggled to compose amidst the thrum and tumult of daily life in Rome, being driven out of an otherwise comfortable apartment by the constant din of street musicians playing below his window as he tried to write. But it brought him career opportunities; he relocated to the city from Bologna in 1913 to take up a professorship in composition at the prestigious Liceo Musicale Santa Cecilia.
It was in these first years in Rome, too, that his relationship blossomed with the young Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, a composer and singer – and Respighi’s pupil – who became his wife after her graduation. She outlived Respighi by 60 years, and it is from her memoirs that we get an insider’s view to the trilogy of Roman inspired works Respighi composed across his mature career.
The first of the trilogy, Fountains of Rome, was composed soon after his arrival in the Italian capital: “It is in a way a synthesis of Respighi’s feelings, thoughts and sensations during those first few months of life in Rome,” Elsa wrote. “Like a lover afraid of not being loved in return, he vented his spleen on the object of his passion,Rome, restless and unsettled, biased and ungrateful, until the idea of the symphonic poem Fountains of Rome formed in his mind and he found relief in the joy of creation.”
Our Boogie Wonderland: Disco Ball fundraising event was a dazzling night of 70s glamour and groovy tunes. Everyone shone in their best disco outfits, strutting their stuff on the light up dancefloor beneath many glittering disco balls. Dillon Rhodes, Lou'ana and Annie Crummer had everyone singing along to classic hits, while the orchestra added an electrifying touch with their disco-infused performance. A huge thank you to everyone that helped make this such a wonderful night including Auckland Live, Little Wolf, DB Breweries and Zeffer. Check out photos from the night below.
Photo Credit - Thomas Hamill
Bringing together our diverse communities from across Tāmaki Makaurau to celebrate Matariki, Auckland Philharmonia’s Matariki with Ché-Fu & The Kratez will be an unforgettable evening of hip hop and symphonic musical fusion. For this special concert presented by KBB Music & The Trusts Community Foundation, Kiwi hip hop pioneer, Ché-Fu, and his band, The Kratez, will join forces with Auckland Philharmonia’s full strength orchestra on 27 June in the Auckland Town Hall.
This will be an exciting opportunity to see hip hop and classical music genres combine into one evening of exceptional music-making. Ché-Fu & The Kratez will perform many of their classics that Kiwis know and love, including ‘Fade Away’, ‘Misty Frequencies’, ‘Hold Tight’ and many others, reimagined with full symphonic styling and the power of a 70-piece professional orchestra.
Needing little introduction, Ché-Fu is one of the New Zealand’s most successful and beloved recording artists, with more top ten songs than any individual in the country’s music history. He is considered a pioneer of hip hop and Pasifika music in Aotearoa. Last year, Auckland Philharmonia’s Matariki concert sold out, and with one of Aotearoa’s best-known hip hop, R&B and reggae artists performing with them this year, it’s sure to be just as popular.
Che-Fu’s excited to perform alongside a full symphony orchestra for the first time on his hometown Auckland stage and says, “Having 70 professional classical musicians playing beside us on stage is such a special experience, and I can’t wait for the people of Tāmaki Makaurau to feel the power and unity of the sound we create when our musical genres collide. Bring your friends and whānau along and join us as we groove together and celebrate Matariki 2024,” he says.
For those that want a premium concert experience, limited VIP tickets are available that include access to the best seats in the house and an exclusive VIP Lounge with a private bar, two complimentary drinks and delicious platters.
Get your tickets now to Matariki with Ché-Fu & The Kratez and make this Matariki one to remember.
Join a hilarious hunt for a wolf on the loose at Auckland Philharmonia’s newest children’s production, Peter and the Wolf with Dynamotion. For this family-friendly retelling of the beloved musical classic, Peter and the Wolf, super-talented comedy dance troupe, Dynamotion, reunites with Auckland Philharmonia’s full professional orchestra. Over two unmissable performances on 8 June in the Auckland Town Hall, Peter and the Wolf with Dynamotion combines the best of comedy and live music into one fun, riotous production.
Audiences will be hooting and howling as Dynamotion’s Lara Fischel-Chisholm, Tom Sainsbury, plus some of the finest dance comedians Aotearoa has to offer, narrate Prokofiev’s symphonic tale, Peter and the Wolf. Prokofiev’s well-loved musical classic has delighted tamariki for generations and this comical, interactive production gives it a Kiwi twist. The Auckland Philharmonia will play alongside Dynamotion and illustrate the story using different instruments to play the well-known themes that represent each character.
Dynamotion’s Lara Fischel-Chisholm and Tom Sainsbury are excited to bring their trademark joy, humour, and quirky interpretation to this special children’s production and say, “We are thrilled to get our creative paws on such a well-loved story and score... and to bring the joy of Dynamotion to a show fit for the whole fam.”
Following on from the success of 2023’s Carnival of the Animals, these Auckland Philharmonia concerts in partnership with Dynamotion have become a must-see for primary-aged children and are sure to have their parents and caregivers chuckling along too.
Expect silly costumes, funny characters and Prokofiev’s beloved score as Dynamotion and the Auckland Philharmonia bring Peter and the Wolf to life. Pick your favourite characters and dance and howl along to support them at this creative storytelling that will entertain the whole whānau. There will also be free, fun pre-concert family activities on offer ahead of the show.
Don’t get caught (like you know who) without tickets to Peter and the Wolf with Dynamotion. Head to aucklandphil.nz/peter-and-the-wolf for event information and booking.
Trumpet sensation Tine Thing Helseth talks to Richard Betts about life as a prodigy, choosing to play and surviving cancer.
Tine Thing Helseth has had an odd day. The evening before we speak, Norway’s main television station screened a documentary about the trumpet star, and since then she’s had strangers greeting her in the street.
With a population only slightly larger than ours, Norway, like New Zealand, is a place where you can become very famous, very fast. But Helseth was a public figure before the documentary. She’s always on TV and radio, and then there’s the small matter of being one of the world’s leading brass players.
“It’s good [the documentary showed] that classical musicians can also be normal people,” she says. “So when people come up to me and say things, it’s because they think I’m famous for what I do, and not just because I’m someone they see on TV; it’s not like I’m a celebrity for being a celebrity.”
It’s rare for a classical musician to be a celebrity at all, but then Helseth is a rare classical musician. From childhood she seemed destined for greatness, and she always dreamed of being one of the few brass players to make it as a touring soloist. When did she know she was good enough?
“I don’t know,” she admits. “I mastered it fast and people said I was good, and at a young age I realised that not everyone could do what I did. But mostly I remember the feeling I got when I played: this is what I’m supposed to do in life, the sense that this is my purpose and I get to express myself and music is the place I get to be me.”
Auckland Philharmonia’s Robin Lane caught up with acclaimed New Zealand vocalist Annie Crummer ahead of her performance with the orchestra for Boogie Wonderland: Disco Ball.
When it is time to get a boogie on, what are your go-to disco favourites for filling the dancefloor?
If I’m at a party, I’m not leaving until they play ‘Don’t Stop 'Till You Get Enough’ by Michael Jackson. I will hang around until they play it because I want to dance and a party is not a party until you play that song! I got the chance to support him on his New Zealand tour in November 1996, which was an amazing time.
Are there any hidden gem disco records you love that more people should know about?
Peter Brown's 'Dance with Me' is the first one that comes to my head. It really strips down exactly what makes a disco song. You hear everything in the mix - the high-hat, all the strings (which are such a big part of disco music) and bass. You have the mamas singing the backing vocals and the lead singing about dancing, it is a real 101 disco song. But I don’t think it became as popular as it should have been because it is quite sparse…but that’s what I like about it!
The disco period was known for some rather bold fashion choices. Which style do you think should come back into vogue today and which should stay firmly locked away in the past where it belongs?
In preparation for this concert, I’ve been watching clips of Earth, Wind and Fire and I was just struck by their optical poptitude. But I say bring it all back! Actually, if you look at some of the fashion these days a lot of it is already coming back. Who doesn’t love a bit of razzle dazzle, sparkle, sequins, and lycra? (RL – I pointed out to Annie that if I were to go out in public wearing lycra it would be cause for a public incident. She responded with her trademark infectious laugh and a gentle push of ‘Go on, maybe some Kylie Minouge hot pants?’)
This is not your first time performing with the Auckland Philharmonia; you joined the orchestra for a previous disco concert back in 2018. What are your memories of that night?
As a non-classical singer, it is so rare to share a stage with an orchestra and I feel so blessed to have done it a number of times over the years. Hearing all those strings played live, I just stand there and stick my head into the sound and soak it all up. It is so delightful to hear disco music with a full string section and the luxuriousness of the brass, it’s hypnotic to be inside that mosh pit of sound. There are no synthesisers, everything is real and so organic. It is a real buzz to be in there amongst it.
What has been a high point of your career so far?
I get asked this a lot and I have so, so many, but my one go-to answer that always comes to mind is performing with Sting. Back when I was supporting him on his tour of Australia and New Zealand, he came out and watched my full set. After that first set, he grabbed me and asked me to sing a duet with him. It was a song called ‘Let Your Soul Be Your Pilot”. There have been so many highlights in my career but that is one of the coolest ones.
Auckland Philharmonia’s Lucy Harris chatted with Sir George Fistonich, Kiwi wine pioneer and founder of our new wine partner, Čuvar Winery, about the exciting next step he’s taken in his viticulture career and the parallels between the art of winemaking and music-making.
Can you please tell us about Čuvar and why this venture was your next step in such a successful viticulture career?
Čuvar means 'Guardian' in Croatian and is the name of my new winery. It honours my family heritage and that of my fellow countrymen, who have contributed so much to establishing the New Zealand wine story. The home of Čuvar Winery is in Hawke's Bay, beside the terraced vines I planted three decades ago, formerly known as Esk Valley Winery. I launched Čuvar Winery as the flagship brand of Fistonich Family Vineyards. It is a continuation of my life’s work and passion to discover exceptional vineyards, craft benchmark New Zealand wines, and develop world-class brands.
Do you see any parallels between winemaking and music making?
In winemaking, like in music, there is a composition involved. Just as a musician carefully selects notes and rhythms to create a harmonious piece, a winemaker selects grape varieties, fermentation methods, and ageing processes to craft a balanced and flavourful wine. Both pursuits involve a keen sense of timing, knowing when to intervene and when to let nature take its course.
The parallels between winemaking and music-making can be striking, and those who excel in one often find appreciation and understanding in the other.
Who’s your favourite composer? And do you take inspiration from them in your winemaking?
Ludwig van Beethoven, what an amazing story, he overcame many obstacles and composed the most outstanding pieces. Beethoven’s Symphony No.5 is one of the most frequently performed symphonies and is one of the best-known compositions in classical music, to this day. Yes of course, great music inspires great wines, we like great music in the winery when we are making wine !
What do you enjoy about live orchestral performances?
I always enjoy the live performances that are held at the Holy Trinity Cathedral , specially Celebrate Christmas . I can walk to and from the Cathedral, it makes for the perfect evening .
Which Auckland Philharmonia concerts or guest artists are you most looking forward to seeing this year?
The Ché-Fu & The Kratez , I met Ché -Fu and the band when they performed at Villa Maria a few years ago, they are excellent.
Can you please tell us about your wines that are now available from the D Bar at Auckland Philharmonia mainstage concerts in the Auckland Town Hall?
I have made two wine ranges Čuvar and Obliix wines, the D Bar (Town Hall bar) is serving the Obliix wines, they tend to diverge from the straight and narrow, and are perfect to drink now. The three wines they are serving now are the Obliix Hawkes Bay Chardonnay, Obliix Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc, and Obliix Gimblett Gravels Cabernet/Merlot. What is interesting is that they are in half bottles ( 375mls), everyone should try them and you can share a bottle.
Which of these wines do you think pairs best with each of our upcoming May mainstage concerts?
I think the rich full bodied Obliix Gimblett Gravels Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot will be perfect for the Bach & Bruckner concert with it's powerful sounds and the French Pianist David Fray. I recommend Totally Trumpet with Tine Thing Helseth be matched with a Obliix Hawkes Bay Chardonnay which is lighter and brighter to match with the brass.
The Auckland Philharmonia announces changes for its upcoming concert, The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: Bach & Bruckner, on Thursday 2 May 2024.
Acclaimed German conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens will step in as the replacement conductor for this concert with a music programme that includes two works by J. S. Bach and Bruckner’s glorious Ninth Symphony. This performance will mark his Southern Hemisphere debut. Steffens is particularly familiar with Bruckner’s works and is scheduled to perform the same symphony with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra next month.
Karl-Heinz Steffens is currently Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, in eastern Sweden. He originally led a high-level career as a clarinettist before turning his focus to conducting. He was Principal Clarinet of both the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic and has subsequently guest conducted both ensembles.
French pianist, and Bach specialist, David Fray is the highly anticipated soloist for this concert as he returns to Auckland Town Hall and the Auckland Philharmonia to perform Keyboard Concerto No.4 and No.5 by J.S. Bach.
Karl-Heinz Steffens will replace the previously advertised, Johannes Fritzsch who has been forced to withdraw from this concert because of an injury he recently sustained in Europe. We wish Johannes a speedy recovery and look forward to working with him again soon. The music programme and concert title are unchanged.
The Auckland Philharmonia announces changes for its upcoming concert, The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: Totally Trumpet, on Thursday 23 May 2024.
Highly regarded Dutch-Maltese conductor, Lawrence Renes, will step in as the replacement conductor. This will be Renes’ debut with Auckland Philharmonia and will follow his return to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, where he is an audience favourite. He will bring his trademark passion, nuance and style to the Auckland Town Hall stage for Smetana’s spirited Overture to The Bartered Bride and Rachmaninov’s sprawling, generous Symphony No.3.
Stunning Norwegian trumpet phenomenon Tine Thing Helseth will also join the Auckland Philharmonia for the first time at The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: Totally Trumpet. The opportunity to hear Helseth play dazzling concertos by Aleksandra Pakhmutova and Penderecki, with a full-strength Auckland Philharmonia and the masterful flair of Renes, is one not to be missed.
Lawrence Renes will replace the previously advertised, Jonathon Heyward, who has withdrawn from the concert for personal reasons. The music programme has one repertoire change, Smetana’s The Bartered Bride: Overture will replace Dvořák’s Carnival Overture. The concert title is unchanged.
The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: Totally Trumpet
7:30pm, Thursday 23 May
Auckland Town Hall
Conductor Lawrence Renes
Trumpet Tine Thing Helseth
Smetana The Bartered Bride: Overture
Aleksandra Pakhmutova Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra
Penderecki Trumpet Concertino
Rachmaninov Symphony No.3
Early live music experiences offer much more than just a way to entertain children: they can help to develop their resilience and concentration skills and often spark a lifelong love of music or a passion for music that develops later in life. We share ideas for how to introduce children to orchestral music experiences both at home and in the concert hall.
We’re going on an interactive trumpet hunt with TVNZ’s Toi Time. Gary Steel chats with Jojo and Buzz about their Auckland Philharmonia collab.
The little ones are so used to digital entertainment in 2024 that it can be hard to know how to begin to explain the analogue magic of the orchestra. In recognition of this thorny issue, Auckland Philharmonia has come up with a clever solution by going straight to the heart of the problem: television.
TVNZ’s popular Toi Time has been entertaining preschoolers since 2022, the programme’s young team of singing, dancing and gently cajoling actors becoming instant friends/celebrities to tiny tots throughout the land. Some wag described it as a Kiwi Wiggles and that’s not wrong, but there’s a refreshing emphasis on our unique culture and language.
So, why not bring Toi Time to the orchestra? Taylor Meihana Rogers, a graduate of Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School, and an effervescent personality who already has a number of theatre and drama credits to her CV, hatched the plan with the Auckland Phil in a move that ties in nicely with their aim to take the Toi Time characters out into the community.
While the show uses the queen of kid songs ‘Aunty’ Anika Moa as a lynchpin between the various subjects explored in song and dance by Taylor Meihana Rogers (as Jojo), Awhimai Fraser (as Māia) and Erroll Anderson (as Tama) – not to mention the out-and-about segments featuring Reuben Butler (as Buzz) – Tunes 4 Tamariki will bring these buoyant characters into a setting familiar to the Auckland Phil’s audience.
As a first introduction to the wonders of that multi-faceted organism known as an orchestra, the Toi Time personalities will sing several numbers familiar to TV viewers but of course, with orchestral accompaniment.
More importantly, this interactive show with loads of audience participation will demonstrate the various instruments that make up a symphony orchestra. “We go on a trumpet hunt, which ties in with our theme song, ‘What’s The Time Mr Wolf?’” says Taylor. “We then meet instruments from different sections of the orchestra along the way.”
There will be a couple of classical pieces, but the show is geared more towards explaining the orchestra and its instrumentation.
“It’s mostly children’s songs that have been revamped into orchestral versions that we sing and dance to. They’re all songs that we know really well and have been in the orchestra’s library of songs but now with a Toi Time twist.”
“A big part of what Taylor’s done,” explains Reuben, “because she’s written the script as well, is highlighting each section of the orchestra, even down to the quality of sound you get from, say, the string section as opposed to the brass section, trying to articulate that in a fun, children’s show way. It’s a nice balance between performing artists dancing and singing, and presenting the orchestral musicians as performers as well as giving mana and respect to the instruments they play.
“It’s really good what Taylor’s done with the script, because it highlights everyone as an artist, and also shows what a superpower weapon an instrument is.” Not that they need worry, given their experience with live theatre, but Taylor admits to a few opening night jitters. “We’re coming from green screen land, and a lot of the magic of Toi Time on TV is in the green screen, so the fear of going live is that some of the magic of the show is lost, but I think there is this magical beast of a thing, the orchestra, that’ll help bring it to life.”
A huge part of it for the Toi Time crew is the sharing of te reo Māori, says Taylor, and she’s thrilled that the orchestra shares their enthusiasm. “All the instruments, when we introduce them, have Māori names as well, and we’re using te reo throughout the show.”
Like What Now before them, the Toi Timers plan to get out and about in the community between shooting their show. Having produced the second season in 2023, by the time of the Tunes 4 Tamariki concerts in April, they will already have wrapped up the third season.
That will screen later in the year, but before then there’s this chance to see the group in the flesh, an opportunity for the under-6s to hear the dynamism of acoustic instruments in a live setting, a phenomenon that hearing a tune through smartphone speakers could never hope to capture.
Reuben: “What is great about a show like this is that it really encourages kids to be involved, dance and sing along. A lot of the children’s theatre we’ve done can feel like ‘we’re performing a show to you’, but this one’s very much like ‘we’re going on this journey together’ and it’s a common understanding between everyone at the start.”
Tunes 4 Tamariki: Toi Time
10am & 11.30am, Sunday 7 April
10am & 11.30am, Saturday 13 April
