Concerts

Guest artist Christopher Cross opened the evening and it was immediately clear that he had a strong fan base in attendance. He was well supported by a talented backing band, featuring Andy Suzuki on wind instruments and three backup female singers. He performed his best-known hits, including Sailing, Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do), Think of Laura, and All Right, culminating in his stunning guitar solo on the smash hit Ride Like the Wind.  

Formed in California in the late 1970s, Toto’s music combines elements of pop, rock, soul, funk, hard rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, and blues. Leader and guitarist Steve Lukather may be the only original member, but this current touring lineup consists of top musicians whose individual musical CVs are too vast to mention. Five of the seven band members shared lead and backing vocals throughout the performance.

The intro music set anticipation levels high for the first song Child’s Anthem. The band was already at full throttle, but it was hits Rosanna and 99 that had the fully engaged crowd singing along. The latter featured the slick bass guitar of John Pierce. Warren Ham on saxophone added a beautiful jazz dimension throughout. For I Will Remember, lead vocalist Joseph Williams got the crowd to sing along with him a cappella to check the venue acoustics! Pamela featured the silky keyboard skills of Greg Phillinganes, whose beautiful solo then led into I Won’t Hold You Back. The funky Georgy Porgy was followed by a solo spot by keyboardist Dennis Atlas – who was brought into the band mid-tour and “had to learn the whole show in two days without any rehearsing”. Lukather’s gorgeous ballad I’ll Be Over You highlighted the striking lighting show and Don’t Chain My Heart showcased his guitar virtuosity. Drummer Shannon Forrest’s blistering solo spot was a highlight. I’ll Supply the Love got the whole crowd up.

Toto’s biggest hits Hold the Line and Africa ended the two-hour-long show on a euphoric high. Rock royalty at its best!

2025 marks 50 years since the death of Soviet composer and pianist Dmitri Shostakovich, considered by many to be the most significant composer of the 20^th century. Orchestra Wellington is marking the occasion with an entire season – The Dictator’s Shadow – dedicated to his life, from his early success as an internationally celebrated teenage prodigy to his censured adult career beset with threats of imprisonment and death during Stalin’s purges. Celebrating Shostakovich’s teenage years, this opening concert also features the work of his fellow prodigies Georges Bizet and Felix Mendelssohn.

Prodigy opens with Bizet’s Symphony No.1 in C Major, written as an exercise while Mendelssohn was a student at the Paris Conservatoire. The orchestra launches into the neat and cheerful first movement with precision and clarity. The horns are maple-syrup toned and perfect. The orchestra draws out the romanticism and contrasting moods of the symphony, but we can still taste the slightly pedantic quality of this schoolboy piece.

This is followed by Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin op. 64 in E minor, a surprising choice, since this is not one of his early works. Concertmaster Amalia Hall takes the stage as our soloist and delivers the kind of performance we have come to expect from her: dynamic, engaging, and technically masterful.

Finally, Shostakovich’s first symphony, which he wrote as a graduation piece from the Leningrad Conservatory at only 18. Symphony No. 1 op. 10 in F minor is famous for its melding of modernist style and classical structure, with a satirical quality that became Shostakovich’s signature. The orchestra accentuates the dynamics of the piece, opening with intensity and almost harsh phrasing. Brass, percussion, and woodwinds spark against each other in the first movement, progressing through moods and colour. The sultry, mournful oboe and stochastic trumpets of the second movement are disturbingly delicious, before we are plunged into the turmoil of the glorious finale. Conductor and music director Marc Taddei leads the orchestra in a dexterous and evocative performance of this masterpiece, which bodes extremely well for the rest of our Shostakovich season.

In a programme of two parts, we were transported from the delights of a Roman holiday to an epic, Romantic masterpiece of Russian longing, magnificently played by Russian virtuoso pianist Daniil Trifonov.

A perfectly crisp start, followed by the smoothest woodwind and then rich, deep, balanced strings built excitedly to the party that is Berlioz’s Roman Carnival. Conductor Umberto Clerici, animated and energetic, perhaps caught up in the mood, brought the orchestra to the final flourish, a piece of precision percussion on two tambourines.

Respighi’s Fountains of Rome was a slightly more sedate but still majestic tour around the city. From the early morning start, past majestic sights, Clerici skilfully led the audience and orchestra on a joyous and delightful excursion.

The Times described Trifonov as “the most astounding pianist of our age” and after hearing him play Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor, an almost full house of more than 2000 people wholeheartedly agreed.

A lyrical start, briefly overwhelmed by the lower strings, picked up as the complexity this concerto is famous for grew into something intense, rich, and gorgeous. Trifonov brought a tangible sensitivity to the movement and flow. He took full control in the ferocious, intricate passages and incredible cadenza.

The second movement started with strong, quiet intensity before the piano came rumbling in, then the melody came forward, clear but still intense and especially light over the lower register. The confluence of strings and piano in the third movement created a huge sense of freedom and richness.

There is more to this concerto than a showpiece of a pianist’s technique. At times it almost seemed as if Trifonov was listening to his piano breathe, reflecting on the relationship between them. This piece demands the right musical interpretation and balance between the piano and the orchestra. The NZSO, Clerici, and Trifonov absolutely nailed it on the night.

Timeless Beauty is a foray into Baroque, presenting the works of the period’s luminaries George Frideric Handel and Georg Philipp Telemann alongside their lesser-known forerunner Matthew Locke. Featuring a reduced orchestra of 26 musicians, the evening opens with the Overture and Sinfonia from Handel’s Occasional Oratorio. The NZSO deliver the technical mastery and precision that befits Handel, and as usual make it sound easy.

We then move further back in time. Locke’s The Tempest Suite accompanied a revival production only 60 years after Shakespeare’s The Tempest premiered. Before delving into the storm, Vesa-Matti Leppänen (director and violin) places the work in its historic context, describing innovations in string instruments during this period. It is a lovely touch when he draws attention to the profound age of one of the violins on stage, which was made around 1690, just over a decade after Locke’s death. The little instrument is held aloft, prompting the audience to break into delighted murmurs.

The inclusion of the Locke in the programme is an inspired choice, adding interest and giving us fresh perspective on the otherwise overly familiar Handel and Telemann. The Tempest Suite is new to most of us, including Leppänen, who confesses to never having played Locke’s work before. We feel included in the orchestra’s exploration, which melds sounds from what we categorise as the early Modern period with emerging Baroque modes. The Tempest Suite is evocative, dramatic, and pacey. The orchestra seems less assured in this music than with the more familiar works, but this feels like fellowship with Locke, who was innovating with new, unfamiliar instruments and compositional possibilities.

When we move back into the familiar territory of Telemann, it is with recalibrated ears. His Concerto for 3 Trumpets and Timpani in D Major sounds edgy. A warm, almost sultry oboe leads us through the piece, most prominently in the middle section. All principals shine in this performance, and by the concluding Vivace we are fully enraptured.

Some things in life are reassuringly predictable. Every year seems to pass more quickly than the last, Christmas arrives before we are ready, and summer is later than we hope. The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s Messiah comes round every year too but, as this performance showed, familiar does not always mean as predictable as we might expect. The story, the music, solo voices, choir, and orchestra combine in a glorious whole. It’s magnificent, with so much scope for musical interpretation that this year’s concert was only predictable in its scheduling.

The Tudor Consort specialises in performing early music and their enduring reputation for excellence and meticulous attention to period detail were surely behind the very high bar Thomas Blunt set for his musicians. In what is generally thought of as a choral work, Blunt was not afraid to use his small orchestra of only 32 performers and lift them from liturgical accompaniment to equals in the storytelling. Surges in dynamics, unexpected accents, lyrical phrasing, shifting tone and tempo, and specific placement of performers on the stage gave this Messiah a refreshing and enjoyably different sound.

The four distinct styles of the soloists contrasted well with each other. Filipe Manu’s rich tenor soared operatically through Comfort Ye in a way that perhaps shouldn’t have worked but did. Anna Pierard’s He Was Despised was heavy with grief and sorrow without overly dramatic emotion. Madison Nonoa’s soprano voice has a surprising, delicate purity that lent more variety to this extraordinary performance. Hero of the hour, bass-baritone Samuel McKeever, did a remarkable job coming into this production at short notice to cover for the unwell Benson Wilson.

The NZSO was absolutely excellent and the star of the show was The Tudor Consort. Their precision, clarity, perfect diction (an essential part of the storytelling), and a flawlessly balanced and controlled sound produced too many perfect moments to name but many to remember. A glorious end to the year.

Orchestra Wellington crowned its year with Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem, a towering work of the 20^th century, deeply felt by the pacifist Britten and full of emotional impact for contemporary audiences in the current global conflicts. It is an inspired, spine-tingling, heart-wrenching work and the assembled musicians did it proud.

The work uses massive resources. A large choir, soprano soloist, and orchestra perform the Latin mass for the dead. A smaller orchestra accompanies two further soloists – baritone and tenor – who thread through the mass the disillusioned and bitter words of the First World War poet and soldier Wilfred Owen. The contrast between the sentiments of each component could hardly be more stark. And adding to this dramatic contrast is a smaller choir of children’s voices suggesting the innocence so harmed by war.

The music was variously reverential, mournful, beseeching, and consoling. But the dramatic and terrifying sense of war and disillusionment were omnipresent. The opening Requiem Aeternam, for example, started with a soft choir joined by ghostly children’s voices. But then, suddenly, an angry tenor voice was injected asking “What passing bells for these that die as cattle?” That dramatic juxtaposition continued throughout the work.

The soloists were soprano Morag Atchison, tenor Daniel Szesiong Todd, and baritone Benson Wilson. Atchison’s voice was dramatic and soaring, while Todd’s and Wilson’s were more intimate and restrained. The Orpheus Choir, marvellously prepared as usual by their director Brent Stewart, sang infinitely softly when needed and elsewhere thundered angrily.

Orchestra Wellington’s current composer-in-residence, Eve de Castro-Robinson’s impressive Hour of Lead preceded the requiem. She said that she thought of the piece as a prelude to Britten’s work. It reflected Britten very well, contrasting warlike instrumentation (including the orchestra’s tramping feet) with two exquisitely sweet well-known hymns.

Thank you Orchestra Wellington and Orpheus Choir for a very memorable concert.

After a busy international season, principal conductor Gemma New is at home on the podium with the NZSO and it was a pleasure to see her expressive, expansive style again.

We know a lot about what the universe looks like, but the resonances of space have to be enormously augmented by technology before we can hear a sound wave in a vacuum. Music often settles in this absence of sound and Kaija Saariaho’s Asteroid 4170: Toutatis is unquestionably what my contemporary experience tells me space sounds like. Wonderful orchestration of slow and eerie sounds of strings and harps punctuated with blasts of brass and percussion left us in no doubt there is a lot to listen to in that vacuum.

Christian Tetzlaff tackled Elgar’s Violin Concerto in B Minor with absolute mastery. His rich, confident, emotional tone contrasted with technical excellence where the combination of speed, double stopping, and huge shifts with the bow didn’t faze him at all. After Toutatis, this was musically more Earth bound but also sky high.

Gustav Holst’s The Planets is epic, evocative, and vivid. New’s sense of drama is well suited to bringing these astrological characters to life. The quality of the interpretation between conductor and orchestra was absolutely on point. Holst’s composition, rhythm, and orchestration is of course critical and brings the characters to the stage – Mars, the Bringer of War; Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age; Neptune, the Mystic and so on – but the conductor and musicians must make them real. Musical excellence gave each of the planets their individual nature, the section principals were brilliant as usual, and the tone and volume of the Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir were flawless. There was also something extra going on in this performance. New somehow linked the heartbeats of the planetary cousins to create connection and an awe-inspiring sense of the whole universe.

The huge, urgent string opening was the surge of adrenaline and excitement Icarus might have felt when he took flight on the wings his father made for him. Lera Auerbach’s Icarus flew through the orchestral gamut, exploring melody, dissonance, rhythm, movement, tone, and some superb instrumental arrangements. The flute might often represent flight but Auerbach somehow did the same with just the brass and reed woodwind.

Alexander Gavrylyuk brought his virtuosic piano talent to the work of another virtuoso and proved himself more than equal to the task. With 24 variations to play with, conductor Vasily Petrenko held the orchestra perfectly in its complex supporting role. Sergei Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini must cover every key the piano has. Gavrylyuk’s touch is equally wide ranging. In a slower, perhaps even mournful variation, he conveyed an incredible weight of emotion through the piano keys with enormous sensitivity. In the showpiece cadenzas and livelier movements, he proved he could combine great technical skill with that same sensitivity to give each variation on the theme its own distinct character and style.

Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra lived up to its somewhat confusing title as the orchestra stepped into the limelight for its own solo performances. In five movements Bartók gave every section of the orchestra their 15 seconds of fame. The strings had us captured from their slowly building start, Petrenko drew an impressively delicate and transparent sound from the brass section, the clarinet solo was prominent, the piccolo had lots of perfectly executed exposure, and my favourite, the violas, did a superb job of their solo passage. The final movement built to fever pitch before its sudden but joyous end. Earlier in the evening Petrenko had told us this was “funky, and fun to play” and the NZSO always seem to add an extra something when they’re clearly having fun.

After almost 40 years since he formed Crowded House with bassist Nick Seymour and drummer Paul Hester, Neil Finn’s voice sounds almost unchanged. What has changed, however, is that his two sons Liam (guitar) and Elroy (drums) play alongside him – and it’s obvious that this means a lot to him.

It may just be because this was the first of 16 concerts in Australasia, but the band was clearly excited to play to their home crowd again. Neil and Nick are the sole constant members, but Mitchell Froom (keyboards) actually produced the first three Crowded House albums – the first in 1986! This is a band with longevity.

They came on to the stage in the dark with lanterns, leading into the raging When You Come, a surprise starter. The follow-up World Where You Live had the audience rocking. Teenage Summer was the first song from the new album Gravity Stairs – the new songs mixing seamlessly with the classics. For Oh Hi, Neil got the audience to sing on the chorus and though the verse was almost too high for him, he had strong backing-vocal support from Liam, Nick, and Elroy. To the Island, featuring lead guitar by Liam and Mitchell’s ethereal keyboards, received special applause.

Four Seasons in One Day had the phone-waving crowd singing along, followed by It’s Only Natural, which got some up dancing. The light show was stunning – especially when highlighting the stage props, which looked like giant pipe cleaners!

Neil then switched to piano for a selection of songs, including the languid Night Song – which segued cleverly into Message to My Girl. Private Universe, driven by percussionist Paul Taylor, rose to a crescendo. Elroy then switched to acoustic guitar, with Taylor on drums, for Thirsty.

This was one of the most interactive concerts I have seen. The audience needed no coaxing to join in singing the choruses on the classics: Four Seasons in One Day, the first encore Weather With You, and the finale Better Be Home Soon. This iconic New Zealand band, playing vital new music and much-loved classics, showed their adoring audience the meaning of being entertained. Legends.

Marc Taddei’s choice of George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess to illustrate the part jazz has in the history of music was inspired. The music combines classical, jazz, gospel, spiritual, and blues idioms and is full of energy, colour, and sheer beauty. This performance was a 1956 arrangement of the opera by Russell Garcia for full orchestra, a choir, and three solo vocalists, including one who narrates offstage action.

The orchestra was on fire throughout, the large brass section having a particularly good time with the jazz idioms. Soprano Deborah Wai Kapohe, playing all the female characters including Bess, was outstanding, her voice flexible, with an excellent range, and both sweet and strong. Bass Eddie Muliaumaseali’i, as both Porgy and Crown, his villainous rival for Bess, was equally impressive. He had an imposing presence and his wonderfully integrated voice was rich, smooth, and dramatic. Tenor Siliga Sani Muliaumaseali’i (Eddie’s brother in real life) provided the narration and sang the role of drug-dealer Sportin’ Life with convincing menace. The audience was treated to characterful performances of arias such as Summertime, I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’, It Ain’t Necessarily So, and Bess, You Is My Woman Now. The choir complements the soloists in creating the drama and pathos of the opera. An outstanding group of Pasifika singers from the award-winning, Wellington-based Signature Choir provided this component of the performance very sympathetically. Jacqueline Coats’ staging of the opera was minimal, clever, and amusing.

Porgy and Bess was preceded by the annual appearance of Arohanui Strings, a group of Wellington and Hutt Valley youngsters grasping the opportunity to learn and make music. This always heartwarming event featured A Kalahari Eclogue, an attractive composition by Keith Moss, supplemented by simpler pieces that even smaller children participated in. “Adorable”, said Taddei, and they were.

In sum, with Taddei’s imaginative programming and natural ebullience, Orchestra Wellington triumphed again.

Verdi’s Overture to La forza del destino was a very accessible entry to this concert. Its familiar themes, moments of drama, and ‘proper’ ending – i.e. one that went on for a few bars and was obvious about when it was finished – were perfect for ‘almost, but not quite the end of the week’ at 7:30pm on a Thursday.

Soprano Eliza Boom, tenor Paul O’Neill, and conductor José Luis Gómez led us through some of the best of Italian pop music of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The programme covered four composers and 10 operas. Those with an interest in opera would have recognised the composers: Verdi, Puccini, Mascagni, and Leoncavallo. Those less familiar with the opera, but with an ear for melody, would have easily recognised enough of the programme from soundtracks and advertisements to feel quite at home.

With so many separate items on the programme, Gómez provided a valuable and light-hearted narrative throughout. Context about the time when the composers were working, and scene setting so we knew what the aria was stating, gave the audience an understanding and additional pleasure that should not be underestimated.

Two soloists alone on stage is a far cry from a performance with their fellow cast members, chorus, costumes, lighting, and scenery. Despite missing all these usual extras, Boom and O’Neill did well to convey the full opera experience. They were most comfortable when on stage together and a nice touch was O’Neill (Rodolfo) escorting Boom (Mimi), arm in arm, into the wings, as if they were on stage in a full performance.

As ever, the orchestra was in very fine form, working with and responding well to Gómez. Together they directed and played with energy, emotion, and an obvious respect for the music despite their undoubted familiarity with much of what they had in front of them.

Esperanza Spalding’s music has been described as “weaving jazz, soul, funk, rock and improvisation – defying categorisation”. For the final night of the Wellington Jazz Festival, we were privileged to have this five-time GRAMMY®-winning vocalist, bassist, and pianist performing here. Joining her were GRAMMY-winning guitarist, bassist, and producer Matthew Stevens, with drummer and producer Eric Doob rounding off this multi-talented trio.

The addition of two incredible dancers from New York City’s Antonio Brown Dance company, Tashae Udo and Kaylim Horrigan, provided another dimension and gave depth to the work. Backing vocals by Udo, Horrigan, Stevens, and Doob enhanced the songs further by adding layers of rich harmonies – complementing Spalding’s at times ethereal vocals.

The complex rhythmic changes of the first track I Want It Now, with Spalding on piano, showcased her extreme vocal dexterity and range. We were in awe of an artist seemingly at the height of her creativity but, as she mentioned, she only turned 40 two days earlier! So, hopefully she still has a long musical and spiritual journey ahead for us to look forward to.

Five songs from Spalding’s complex and multifaceted 2018 album 12 Little Spells followed. The title track 12 Little Spells expounded the virtues of the thoracic spine! Dancing The Animal was a deep-themed, meandering work about the mind. On the very catchy Thang, about hips, Spalding joined the dancers to showcase hers – cue ecstatic applause! 

Starting with a virtuoso four-minute drum solo, I Know You Know was an electric-bass-driven song about ‘a suitor playing coy’. With Others, about ears, was followed by Black Gold, featuring beautiful a capella singing and scatting. The lighting and sound crews deserve a shoutout here for creating a special ambience for the occasion.

For the first encore, the band and dancers (sitting on mats) moved to the very front of the stage for the gorgeous ballad Formwela 4, featuring all five voices and Stevens’ hypnotic acoustic guitar. To finish the concert, and with the audience humming along, was the final song Satisfied.… and from our standing ovation, it was clear that we were!