Acclaimed English pianist Paul Lewis will perform Beethoven’s entire Piano Concerto cycle with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Auckland this August.
Lewis, highly regarded for his interpretations of Beethoven’s piano works, joins the NZSO directly from the United
States just days after performing the Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle at the prestigious Tanglewood festival with the
Boston Symphony Orchestra, and a separate solo recital at the Aspen Music Festival.
The concerts on 12, 13 and 14 August will be the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand that all Beethoven Piano Concertos
are performed in the same city over three consecutive days.
American virtuoso violinist Hilary Hahn was to have performed with the NZSO in Auckland on the same three dates. However, due to a change in her personal
schedule, Hahn has had to reduce her time in Aotearoa New Zealand.
The three-time Grammy Award winner will now perform one concert with the NZSO in Auckland on 5 August. To accommodate
the change, Hahn’s concert in Wellington on 5 August moves to 4 August. Hahn’s other Wellington concerts with the NZSO
on 6 and 7 August will still go ahead.
NZSO Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New will lead the Orchestra for all concerts featuring Hahn and Lewis, which are part of the NZSO’s Immerse festival in
association with The New Zealand Herald.
Hahn last performed with the NZSO on its triumphant European tour in 2010. Since then, she has continued to be one of
the most sought-after violinists in world. In 2015 Hahn won her third Grammy Award.
With the NZSO, Hahn will perform Prokofiev’s masterly Violin Concerto No. 1 in Wellington and Auckland, followed in Wellington by performances of Brahms’ stunning Violin Concerto and Ernest Chausson’s Poème, one of the French composer’s best-known works.
Truth and Beauty
in Association with The New Zealand Herald
GEMMA NEW Conductor
HILARY HAHN Violin
JOHN RIMMER Lahar
PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No.1
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5
WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Thursday 4 August| 7.30pm
AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Friday 5 August| 7.30pm
Style and Substance
in Association with The New Zealand Herald
GEMMA NEW Conductor
HILARY HAHN Violin
BRAHMS Violin Concerto
TABEA SQUIRE Variations
JOHN ADAMS Doctor Atomic Symphony
WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Saturday 6 August| 7.30pm
Love Triumphant
in Association with The New Zealand Herald
GEMMA NEW Conductor
HILARY HAHN Violin
RAVEL Ma Mere L'Oye Suite (Mother Goose Suite)
CHAUSSON Poème
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade
WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Sunday 7 August| 2.00pm
Orpheus
in Association with The New Zealand Herald
GEMMA NEW Conductor
PAUL LEWIS Piano
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4
AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Friday 12 August| 7.30pm
Reverence
in Association with The New Zealand Herald
GEMMA NEW Conductor
PAUL LEWIS Piano
TABEA SQUIRE Variations
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 2
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3
AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Saturday 13 August| 7.30pm
Emperor
in Association with The New Zealand Herald
GEMMA NEW Conductor
PAUL LEWIS Piano
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 5
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade
AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Sunday 14 August| 2.00pm