Vector Wellington Orchestra presents "Eroica"

Vector Wellington Orchestra "EROICA" 

Saturday 17 APRIL 7.30pm Wellington Town Hall

Free pre-concert talk one hour prior to the performance

Few symphonies stir the heart and mind as powerfully as Vector Wellington Orchestra’s first offering for 2010, Beethoven’s Eroica. Two centuries after its premiere, the Eroica still has the power to draw audiences into a symphonic world that spans the depths of despair and the heights of ecstasy. Beethoven’s bold, innovative Eroica had an almost shocking effect on its first listeners. Today, audiences still experience a tremendous impact from its bold harmonies and dramatic pulse. Heroic and emotionally intense, Beethoven’s Third Symphony ushered in the reign of Romanticism

For 2010, Vector Wellington Orchestra presents a freshly-completed work from popular New Zealand composer John Psathas. Psathas wrote the ceremonial music for the 2004 Olympic Games, and his View from Olympus toured to Beijing with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at the time of the 2008 Olympics.

Psathas has written his new work, a marimba concerto called Djinn, for Portuguese percussion virtuoso Pedro Carneiro. Carneiro is familiar to Wellington audiences who saw his dazzling technique performing View From Olympus.

Carneiro’s playing was the inspiration behind Djinn, Psathas says. “I aimed in this piece to exploit his intense energy and expression. Pedro’s playing is refined and nuanced, but he is also capable of sudden and explosive energy.”

Djinn reflects both high and pop culture across the centuries. Psathas cites influences including include Homer’s Iliad, ancient Greek myths of the Labyrinth and Pandora’s Box, Greek and Persian traditional music and modern themes drawn from familiar childhood TV shows.

Djinn was commissioned by the VWO with funding from Creative New Zealand, and its performance in April will be a world premiere.

The VWO’s April concert starts with Stravinsky’s lively Danses Concertantes. Imagine Haydn dancing with a Russian bear for this short, tuneful piece of Neoclassical fun.

“Marimba player Pedro Carneiro … appeared to be a superman from another galaxy.” Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Germany)

“EROICA”

Stravinsky                   Danses Concertantes

Psathas                       Concerto for Marimba and Small Orchestra “Djinn”

Beethoven                  Symphony No 3 in E flat major Op 55, “Eroica” 

Soloist                                     Pedro Carneiro

Conductor                               Marc Taddei