Renowned for his inspirational music-making, the NZSO welcomes Maestro Donald Runnicles to Aotearoa New Zealand for his NZSO debut.
Sir Donald Runnicles (L) and cellist Nicolas Altstaedt (R). Photo: NZSO
The programme:
- KERNIS: Musica Celestis
- BLOCH: Schelomo
- SHOSTAKOVICH: Symphony No 10 in E minor Op 93
Nicolas Altstaedt (cello), New Zealand SO/Donald Runnicles
Broadcast live from the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington 6:30pm Friday 28 May 2023 on RNZ Concert.
Sir Donald Runnicles is celebrated as an interpreter of Romantic and post-Romantic repertoire. His artistry will combine with that of cellist Nicolas Altstaedt who was praised in The Australian for “the directness of his communication [...] one hung on every note as if they were the words of a master storyteller.”
- Listen to our interview with Sir Donald Runnicles ahead of his New Zealand conducting debut
- Listen to our interview with cellist Nicolas Altstaedt
Together they present Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo, in which Bloch celebrated his Jewishness by casting the solo cello as the voice of King Schelomo (Solomon).
Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony similarly portrays a singular man, but this time, the man portrayed is the hellish dictator Stalin. Conversely, Aaron Jay Kernis’s work Musica Celestis was inspired by the medieval idea of angels singing in praise of a Heavenly Father.
