Witness superb symphony
One of the fastest rising American conductors of the decade is coming to Hamilton for the first time this month.
James Feddeck will lead the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) in its fivecity Schumann and Barber concert tour.
The tour also features the much-anticipated return of acclaimed German cellist Daniel Mu¨ller-Schott in a programme that includes Samuel Barber’s universally popular Adagio for Strings.
‘‘We’re honoured to have James Feddeck conduct the NZSO for the first time and New Zealanders will understand why he’s in demand all over the world,’’ NZSO chief executive Christopher Blake said.
Mu¨ller-Schott returns to play Robert Schumann’s achingly romantic Cello Concerto.
Winner of the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians when he was 15, Mu¨ller-Schott has gone from strength to strength since his celebrated concerts with the NZSO in 2013.
‘‘I feel the cello is somehow my instrument, my voice. It should be a part of you,’’ Mu¨ller-Schott said when he last played with the NZSO.
Barber’s Adagio for Strings is one of the most popular classical works by a 20th century composer.
Played at the funerals of John F. Kennedy and Princess Diana and after the September 11 attacks, it is instantly recognisable from its use in film and television.
The programme also features Barber’s ambitious Symphony No. 1, which fuses the four traditional movements of a symphony into a single movement.
The concert will open with Johannes Brahms’ intoxicating Tragic Overture.
Brahms, a close friend of Schumann, wrote the overture while he was being lauded throughout Europe for his first two symphonies.
NZSO’s Schumann and Barber, on at Claudelands Arena, Hamilton, Thursday, June 15, 7.30pm. Two hour running time.