Music Week
Music Week
by Fiona Rae
MONDAY OCTOBER 29
Music Alive, Radio New Zealand Concert, 8.00pm. In 1829, Felix Mendelssohn arranged and conducted a performance of J S Bach’s St Matthew Passion, the first time the work had been performed since Bach’s death in 1750. Bach’s music had fallen into relative obscurity by the turn of the 19th century, and the performance – Mendelssohn was just 20 at the time – helped revive it in Germany and throughout Europe. It also did wonders for Mendelssohn, whose lifelong obsession with the music of Bach is explored in two programmes featuring the New Zealand String Quartet. They juxtapose Bach’s famous Art of Fugue and the monumental Goldberg Variations with the chamber music of Mendelssohn that celebrated Bach’s influence.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31
Music Alive, Radio New Zealand Concert, 8.00pm. Forget flash Harrys like Nigel Kennedy, it’s Nikolaj Znaider upon whom praise is being heaped: “Not since the young Gideon Kremer burst upon the violin world in 1970 has a violinist caused quite the stir of Nikolaj Znaider,” said the Chicago Tribune; “His playing is a model of scrupulous observation and profound musicality”, said Gramophone. Tonight’s concert was recorded in Copenhagen and features violin sonatas by Beethoven, Schumann and Brahms, performed by Znaider, with Robert Kulek on piano.
Composer of the week
Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Sunday, October 28, 9.00am: William Dart marks the centenary of Grieg’s death (1843-1907) (R Mon 7.00pm) (RNZ); Funeral March for Rikard Nordraak, Brass Choir of the Central Band of the Royal New Zealand Airforce/Graham Hanify; Ave Maris Stella, Girl Choristers & Lay Clerks of Winchester Cathedral/Sarah Baldock; Before a Southern Convent, Barbara Bonney (sop), Randi Stene (contralto), Gothenburg SO, Women’s voices of the Gothenburg Symphony Chorus/Neeme Järvi
Monday, October 29, 9.00am: Poetical Tone Pictures, Geir Henning Braaten (pno); Symphony in C minor, Bergen SO/Karsten Andersen
Monday, October 29, 7.00pm: A repeat of Sunday’s programme; Cello Sonata in A minor Op 36, Marie Hallynck (cello), Cédric Tiberghien (pno)
Tuesday, October 30, 9.00am: In Autumn, Overture, Gothenburg SO/Neeme Järvi; Intermezzo, Julian Lloyd Webber (cello), Bengt Forsberg (pno); Sigurd Jorsalfar incidental music, Håkan Hagegård (bar), men of the Bergen Philharmonic Choir, Bergen Phil/Ole Kristian Ruud
Wednesday, October 31, 9.00am: Bergliot, Lise Fjeldstad (narrator), Trondheim SO & Choir/Ole Kristian Ruud; String Quartet No 1 in G minor Op 27, Petersen Quartet
Thursday, November 1, 9.00am: Peer Gynt incidental music, Peter Mattei (Peer Gynt), Camilla Tilling (Solveig), Charlotte Hellekant (Anitra), Arvo Leibur (vln), Rain Vilu (vla), Ellerhein Girls’ Choir, Estonian National Male Choir & SO/Paavo Järvi
Friday, November 2, 9.00am: Holberg Suite, Geir Henning Braaten (pno); At Gjaetle Brook; Kid’s Dance, from The Mountain Maid Op 67, Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo), Bengt Forsberg (pno); Old Norwegian Romance with Variations, Malmö SO/Bjarte Engeset
