Orchestra Wellington makes Mozart a matter of life and death

ORCHESTRA WELLINGTON presents MOZART 1791
Saturday 20 August 2016, 7:30PM, Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

Orchestra Wellington makes Mozart a matter of life and death

Orchestra Wellington and the Orpheus Choir are combining this month to perform Mozart's final masterpiece before his life was tragically cut short.

Music Director Marc Taddei will conduct Mozart's Requiem with a stunning quartet of international soloists on Saturday 20th August at the Michael Fowler Centre. Acclaimed Hong Kong clarinetist Andrew Simon will join Orchestra Wellington as soloist to play Mozart's divine clarinet concerto before the interval.

As well as continuing their fruitful collaboration with Orpheus Choir in the 'Mozart 1791' concert, Orchestra Wellington unites three of the soloists who were so warmly received for their performance together in Carmina Burana a couple of years ago: Emma Fraser, Henry Choo, and James Clayton, as well as Elisabeth Harris, recently heard in Beethoven’s Ninth.

Orchestra Wellington further explores its Last Words theme for 2016 by performing works composed by Mozart in his final year. The serenely profound Ave Verum Corpus will be sung by the Orpheus Choir to open the concert.

Orchestra Wellington Music Director Marc Taddei says that by his final year, Mozart had long since mastered technical perfection. These three works, with their expressive humanity, look forward to Beethoven, Taddei says.

The Requiem is one of Mozart’s most famous works, and justly so. It is a work of heart-rending beauty. Mozart died before completing it, and a number of composers have tried to fill in the blanks from their knowledge of Mozart’s habitual practices, beginning with Mozart’s pupil Sussmayr.

New-York born principal clarinet of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Simon, is acclaimed for his brilliant musicianship and performs worldwide. Simon and Taddei have known each other since they were teenagers and Taddei says he has always found his artistry inspirational.

ORCHESTRA WELLINGTON presents MOZART 1791
SATURDAY 20 AUGUST 2016, 7:30PM
MICHAEL FOWLER CENTRE, WELLINGTON

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756–1791)

Ave Verum Corpus K. 618
Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622 Andrew Simon, Clarinet
Requiem in D Minor, K 626

Emma Fraser, Soprano
Elisabeth Harris, Alto
Henry Choo, Tenor
James Clayton, Baritone

Orpheus Choir of Wellington

Marc Taddei, Conductor

OrchestraWellington.co.nz

/ENDS

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