First up was the "Legacy" concert, held on Friday at Dunedin Town Hall, showcasing giants of musical history Mozart and Brahms, alongside brand new music from Dunedin’s own Dame Gillian Whitehead.
The concert began with Whitehead’s otherworldly and rhythmically complex soundscape, beautifully played by the orchestra, and bringing cello and cor anglais to the fore.
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 featured visiting pianist Gabriela Montero in masterful form, accompanied with sensitivity by the NZSO, and was followed by an incredible improvised encore around the melody of Now Is the Hour.
Brahms monumental four-movement Symphony No. 1 gave the full magnificence of the NZSO a chance to shine in what was a superb concert.
Saturday’s concert offering, "Bright Sparks — Shayne Carter and the NZSO", was a fascinating showcase of some of the Dunedin musician’s favourite short classical pieces, introduced from a rock musician’s point of view by Carter himself.
Composers showcased included Prokofiev, Sibelius, Liszt, Stravinsky, Mozart, Handel, and Mahler, with Schubert lieder sung by baritone Robert Tucker, and visiting organist Joseph Nolan making the walls shake with two Messiaen works played on Norma, the town hall organ.
Carter also stepped up to join the NZSO in performing several of his own songs, arranged for orchestra by Tane Upjohn-Beatson, a fascinating showcase of musical transformation with I Know Not Where I Stand a particular highlight.
Sunday’s afternoon concert, "Fantastic Voyage", was a shorter programme offering two works — Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor and Philip Glass’ extraordinary Symphony No 12 Lodger.
Organist Joseph Nolan returned to give a thrilling performance of the famous Bach piece, giving Norma a high-speed workout and making the walls resonate.
The Glass symphony was a remarkable, epic and thoroughly impressive experience, bringing a fabulous weekend of music-making to a satisfying conclusion.
