Dvorak’s ‘New World’ is the centrepiece of season finale

Orchestra Wellington is saving the best of its Great and Noble 2018 season for last.

The capital’s very own orchestra will end the year with Dvorak’s much-loved New World Symphony on Saturday 1st December.

Written by the Czech composer while he was living and teaching in the United States, the New World, is both a tribute to America’s seemingly boundless resources and energy, and a homesick love letter to his beloved Bohemia.

At its core is the beautiful Largo, with an unforgettable melody inspired by African American spiritual singing, constantly voted by classical music lovers as one of the most beautiful tunes ever
written.

Dvorak, who directed New York’s top music school from 1892 to 1894, was ahead of his time in predicting African Americans would have a major role in the nation’s musical future.

Other Americans scoffed, but time proved Dvorak right, first with the rise of the blues, then jazz, and finally rock, which all have African rhythms and harmonies at their core.

But Dvorak’s ears were also open to the music of indigenous Americans, and the nation’s many European settlers, and the result is a symphony full of melody, colour, and drama – just like America.

Orchestra Wellington’s final 2018 concert, also gives fans another chance to hear its brilliant young leader, Amalia Hall, in solo mode, as she performs a new violin concerto by Wellingtonian Michael Norris, specially written for the concert.

Those who saw Amalia take on Bartok’s monumental concerto earlier this year, will know her world class playing is not to be missed.

And kicking off a night that’s bound to be full of surprises, the orchestra will perform the overture to Mozart’s greatest and darkest opera, Don Giovanni, the story of a ladies’ man who rides his luck too far. Although, even in his darkest moments, Mozart’s music will still get your feet silently tapping.

Orchestra Wellington’s New World is on Saturday 1st December, 7.30pm at the Michael Fowler Centre, conducted by Marc Taddei.

Orchestra Wellington presents
New World - Saturday 1 December, 7.30pm
Michael Fowler Centre

Amalia Hall, violin
Marc Taddei, conductor

Mozart – Overture from Don Giovanni (arr.Busoni)

Michael Norris – Violin Concerto
Amalia Hall, violin

Dvorak – Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”

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