The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra presents music by composers of stunning ballets including Daphnis et Chloe, L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune and Romeo and Juliet. Their music for concert hall is just as entertaining.

The Guinness Peat Group Tour sparkles with seascapes and fairytales in performances of Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante, Ravel's magical Mother Goose, Debussy's La Mer, with its orchestral washes and instrumental fogs and the world premiere of Martin Lodge's Winterlight for Bassoon and Orchestra. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra presents music by composers of stunning ballets including Daphnis et Chloe, L'Apres-Midi d'un Faune and Romeo and Juliet. Their music for concert hall is just as entertaining.

The Guinness Peat Group Tour sparkles with seascapes and fairytales in performances of Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante, Ravel's magical Mother Goose, Debussy's La Mer, with its orchestral washes and instrumental fogs and the world premiere of Martin Lodge's Winterlight for Bassoon and Orchestra.Collaborating with the NZSO to perform Haydn's Cello Concerto No 2 and Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante is one of the world's most sought-after cellists - Alban Gerhardt - a performer with a combination of unerring musical instinct, intense emotionality and natural stage presence. German-born Gerhardt's extensive repertoire includes more than 50 different cello concertos which have affirmed him as one of the great musicians of our time.

Described by the Los Angeles Times as "...the model of musical decorum and charisma - his playing is flawless, communicative and relaxed," Gerhardt's gift for communication pervades his whole life. Fans of the dynamic cellist can keep up with his hectic life via his highly readable and up-to-date blog: http://www.albangerhardt.com/english/index.html

The Guinness Peat Group Tour is led by Julia Jones. An English conductor with numerous engagements with European orchestras, Jones has received enthusiastic acclaim from critics and press for her decisive style of music-making, which cultivates a living, breathing texture of exceptional clarity while bristling with energy.

PROGRAMME: THE GUINNESS PEAT GROUP TOUR - Alban Gerhardt

Series 1

Wellington Friday 25 July 6.30pm Michael Fowler Centre
Napier Tuesday 29 July 8pm Municipal Theatre
Hamilton Thursday 31 July 8pm Town Hall
Auckland Friday 1 August 6.30pm Town Hall

HAYDN Cello Concerto No 2
SCHUMANN Symphony No 4

LODGE Winterlight for Bassoon and Orchestra (World Premiere)
JULIA JONES Conductor
ALBAN GERHARDT Cello
PREMAN TILSON Bassoon

Energy, subdued intimacy, and even menace interweave in Schumann's Fourth Symphony, ostensibly in a sombre minor key, only for a major key conquest to prevail. Haydn's Second Cello Concerto, with its once disputed authenticity, achieves symphonic proportions. Undoubtedly easier on audience ears than a performer's technique, it is amiable yet demanding, undeniably a major contribution to the 18th century cello repertoire.

Series 2

Wellington Saturday 26 July 8pm Michael Fowler Centre Preconcert talk 7.15pm
Auckland Saturday 2 August 8pm Town Hall Preconcert talk 7.15pm

PROKOFIEV Sinfonia Concertante
RAVEL Mother Goose
DEBUSSY La Mer
JULIA JONES Conductor
ALBAN GERHARDT Cello

Hearing Rostropovich play his earlier, unsuccessful E minor concerto inspired Prokofiev to produce a total reworking in 1950-52. The finest piece from his ailing last years, it combines gymnastic energy with warm, expressive lyricism. Ravel's Mother Goose provides instant transport from the barbarity of the final years of Stalin's regime into the shimmering beauty of a child's fairytale dream-world. And that imaginative French sensibility also informs Debussy's three evocative impressions of seascapes, encapsulating the ever changing moods of skies, winds and waves in a sensual score.

08/07/08