NZSO | Firebird (Christchurch)

J Ritchie | Papanui Road Concert Overture
de Falla | Nights in the Gardens of Spain
Ravel | Piano Concerto in G major
Stravinsky | Suite from The Firebird (1945 version)

Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, able to “make the piano sing and glitter with alert, polished brilliance” (Sydney Morning Herald), joins us for two virtuoso masterworks. Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G explores both Ravel’s Spanish Basque roots and the enlivening rhythms of jazz, while de Falla’s portrait of Andalusian Spain is darker, dramatic, and seductive. Meanwhile, Stravinsky’s Firebird conjures images of the magical glowing bird of Russian myth, but John Ritchie brings us back to earth with the clanging tramcar bell and 1950s hustle of Christchurch’s Papanui Road.

Leading our tour of these pictorial works is Joana Carneiro, described by the Edinburgh Music Review as “a giant of musicality.”

Additional performances:

• Wellington: 17 July

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