APO Gets Inspired by Bach

APO Gets Inspired by Bach

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra reveals the scope and influence of Bach’s genius in three concerts this July.

The Splendour Series: Inspired by Bach takes place on consecutive Thursdays from 7 July, and features not only music written by the great master himself, but also explores how the tendrils of his work can be sensed throughout the music of the composers who followed.

Rising American conductor Jayce Ogren takes the podium for the first two concerts. On July 7, in an evening dubbed ‘From Brandenburg to Bartok’, he leads the orchestra through a pair of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, and is joined by regular guest John Chen and APO Concertmaster Dimitri Atanassov in Schnittke’s dramatic Concerto Grosso No.6. The concert concludes with Bartok’s sparkling Concerto for Orchestra.

Concert two, ‘Framed by a Fugue’ offers an iPod shuffle of 10 short works ranging from established greats Bach and Beethoven to latter day masters like Barber and Pärt. The concert is bookended by differing versions of Bach’s famed Toccata and Fugue, beginning with the original work played on the Auckland Town Hall organ by John Wells and closing with Leopold Stokowski’s thrilling orchestration.

In ‘Cantatas and Chorales’ on 21 July the APO welcomes back Music Director Eckehard Stier, and the singers Emma Roxburgh, Claire Barton, Andrew Grenon and Chalium Poppy who, with Terence Maskell and the Graduate Choir, perform Bach’s Cantatas 60 and 80. It’s also a welcome return for 2003 Michael Hill International Violin Competition winner Natalia Lomeiko, who plays Berg’s masterly concerto. Keen-eared listeners will hear the way Berg cleverly intertwines quotations from the preceding Cantata No.60. To conclude the series, Maestro Stier and the orchestra play a work that references the other of the evening’s vocal pieces: Mendelssohn’s Symphony No.5, ‘Reformation’.

All three concerts are ushered in by a 30-minute organ recital from 6.30pm, with the Town Hall organ played on successive weeks by Paul Tarling, John Wells and Indra Hughes. There is no extra charge for these recitals; patrons need only present a ticket for the evening’s main concert to gain admittance.

The Splendour Series is proudly supported by Pub Charity.

WHO: Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra
WHAT: Splendour Series: Inspired by Bach
WHERE: Auckland Town Hall
WHEN: 8pm, Thursday 7, 14 and 21 July
BOOKINGS: Tickets available from THE EDGE, www.buytickets.co.nz, ph 0800 BUY TICKETS
MORE INFORMATION: www.apo.co.nz
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