A not-to-be-missed event with our brilliant UK cellist Matthew Barley threading his way through Bach, improvising, Tavener and waltzing to singing in Sollima. Audience be warned - expect to be part of the action!

Matthew Barley

Improvisation
Bach - Suite no.1 in G for solo cello
Tavener - Threnos
Mark O'Connor - Appalachian Waltz
Giovanni Sollima - Lamentatio

Note this is the same programme Matthew will perform in his Up Close excursion on Tuesday 7th February.

Our special Bach concert is, once again full of highlights - Andrew Goodwin's golden voice in glorious renditions of some special arias, Monique Lapin's NZ concerto debut in the A minor violin Concerto, a new take on Bach's 5th cello suite and the effervescent 6th Brandenburg Concerto will guarantee a joyous musical evening for everyone.

Andrew Goodwin (tenor), Goldner Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, the Troubadours, Matthew Barley (cello), Douglas Mews (harpsichord/organ), Justine Cormack (violin), Ashley Brown (cello), Ian Rosenbaum (marimba), Joan Perarnau Garriga (double Bass)

Aria from Cantata 171 for tenor and 2 violins
Aria from Cantata 97 for tenor and violin
Suite no.5 in C minor for solo cello performed on marimba
Violin Concerto in A Minor
Aria from Cantata 148 for tenor and violin
Aria from Cantata 41 for tenor and cello
Brandenburg Concerto no. 6

A festival first - not 1 but 2 marimbas on stage together! Enjoy the exotic sounds and rhythms of Argentinian Viñao’s "Dance Groove Drifting" alongside Beethoven‘s mature C major cello sonata and the fantasy pieces Schumann wrote based on Grimm’s Fairy Tales. We end with a bang with Jack Body’s energetic "Fire in the Belly".

Rolf Gjelsten (cello), Dénes Varjon (piano), Ian Rosenbaum (marimba), Naoto Segawa (marimba), Gillian Ansell (viola), NZTrio

Beethoven - Cello Sonata in C Major opus 102/1
Alejandro Viñao - Dance Groove Drifting for two marimbas
Schumann - Fairy Tales for viola and piano op. 113
Jack Body - Fire in the Belly for piano trio

We begin with the beloved A Major cello sonata of Beethoven, with the famous solo-cello opening melody. Then two of our special guests team up in Canadian composer Alexina Louie’s dramatic, highly-charged Cadenzas. The concert ends with the grand sweep and soaring melodies of Brahms’ first trio.

Matthew Barley (cello), Dénes Varjon (piano), James Campbell (clarinet), Ian Rosenbaum (marimba), Helene Pohl (violin), Rolf Gjelsten (cello)

Beethoven - Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Major op 69
Alexina Louie - Cadenzas II for clarinet and marimba
Brahms - Trio in B Major opus 8

A magic double bill - Borodin's famous love song to his wife on their 20th wedding anniversary and the amusing, quixotic and virtuosic clarinet quintet by Francaix. James Campbell and the Goldners are sure to delight!

James Campbell (clarinet), Goldner Quartet

Note this is the programme that will be performed in the ‘Up Close’ excursion on Thursday 9th February.

We are particularly excited to present two world premieres in this programme! Starting with Kevin Puts' stirring and uplifting trio, one of Ian Rosenbaum's favourite chamber music pieces, continuing with two hot-off-the-presses NZ works, by up-and-comer Natalie Hunt and the effervescent Gareth Farr, and ending with one of Mozart's most sublime creations.

Goldner Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, James Campbell (clarinet), Matthew Barley (cello), Justine Cormack (violin)

Puts - Trio for marimba, clarinet and violin
Natalie Hunt - Quartet for clarinet, violin, viola and cello (Festival commission - *World Premiere)
Gareth Farr - String Octet (Festival commission -*World Premiere) - performance dedicated to Denis and Verna Adam
Mozart - String Quintet in C K515

The first of what will be a stunning Waitangi Day double-header - the NZ Trio shares some of their favourite music with us, and then we delve into the tragic life of NZ poet Robin Hyde in Dame Gillian Whitehead's new one-woman opera "Iris Dreaming" in a special adaptation for our Festival.

David Hamilton - The Faraday Cage
Claire Cowan - Ultraviolet
Dame Gillian Whitehead - Iris Dreaming (NZ Premiere)

Joanne Roughton-Arnold, NZTrio

Our wonderful Hungarian virtuoso opens his solo recital with Beethoven’s divine E Minor Sonata and continues with the remarkable Fantasy Pieces of Schumann. The second half is entirely Hungarian - come and hear his special angle on some of the most colourful music of Liszt and Bartok!

Dénes Varjon (piano)

Beethoven - Sonata in E Minor, Op.90
Schumann - Fantasiestücke, Op.12
Liszt - Schlaflos! Frage und Antwort (Sleepless! Question and Answer)
Liszt - Valse oubliée No.1. (Forgotton Waltz)
Liszt - The Fountains at the Villa d'esme
Bartók - Improvisations, Op.20
Bark - Three Hungarian Folk Songs from Csík, Sz.35a
Bark - Old Hungarian Dance Tunes (15 Hungarian Peasant Songs, BB 79: Nos 7-10, 12, 14-15)

The intriguing sounds of South African composer Peter Klatzow's mysterious Adagio Espressivo for violin and marimba open the concert and are followed by Beethoven's wonderful G minor cello sonata in one of many cross-Tasman collaborations in the Festival. Australian Ross Edwards' "Shekina" (the female soul of God) is a synthesis of dance, plainsong and sounds from the natural and cultural environments of Australia and South East Asia. What a journey!

Naoto Segawa (marimba), Monique Lapins (violin), Julian Smiles (cello), Sarah Watkins (piano), Goldner Quartet

Marimba/Violin Duo
Beethoven - Cello Sonata opus 5/2
Ross Edwards - String Quartet Shekina Fantasy (NZ premiere)

Double cellos = double delight! Both in the fresh and vital Vivaldi Double Concerto and in the lusciously romantic Glazunov Quintet, enjoy seeing pairs of cellists sing together. The Goldner Quartet share their masterly interpretation of Mozart’s groundbreaking "Dissonance" Quartet and the NZSQ premiere Helen Fisher’s new quartet, celebrating her birthday and coincidentally, also Rolf's!

Goldner Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, Matthew Barley (cello), The Troubadours, Joan Perarnau Garriga (double Bass)

Mozart - Quartet in C Major K 465 Dissonance
Helen Fisher - Luminous Night ( World Premiere)
Vivaldi - Concerto for 2 cellos in G minor
Glazunov - Quintet in A Major op.39

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