New Zealand Symphony Orchestra brings music of ‘classical giants’ to the stage

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is bringing the music ‘of classical giants’ to parts of New Zealand.

The orchestra is bringing the works of 18th century composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri to audiences in Palmerston North, Wellington, Invercargill, Dunedin, Oamaru, and Ashburton in March.

Mozart and Salieri would be led by concertmaster and violinist Vesa-Matti Leppänen.

“This unmissable live experience also features spectacular music by their contemporaries Franz Joseph Haydn and Johann Neopmuk Hammel,” an orchestra spokesperson said.

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Each composer would have works displayed – Haydn’s overture to L’infedeltà delusa, Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major, Salieri’s 26 Variations on La folia di Spagna, and Hummel’s Eight Variations and Coda on O du lieber Augustin.

The spokesperson said the concert would open with Haydn’s uplifting and enchanting overture from his short comic opera L’infedeltà delusa.

The origins of Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, also known as Sinfonia concertante for Winds, is surrounded in mystery and debate continues to this day.

Regardless, its melodious charm has made it an audience favourite.

Salieri’s 26 Variations on La folia di Spagna, written late in his career, is one of his finest works.

The Austrian composer’s 26 Variations are based on ‘La Folia’, one of the oldest European musical themes, believed to has arisen in the 15th century.

For those who will hearing Salieri’s work for the first time, it will sound familiar as La Folia has been adapted and interpreted by many composers, including Handel’s famous Keyboard Suite No. 4 in D Minor Sarabande.

Hummel’s Eight Variations and Coda on O du lieber Augustin is based on a popular Viennese song

Oh, you dear Augustin. It’s another tune, which may be familiar, as it was adapted in the English-speaking world for children’s folk song Did You Ever See a Lassie?

The four composers featured in the Mozart and Salieri concert all knew each other and were intertwined in different ways.

Mozart was friends with Haydn and – unlike the fictionalised account in the film and play Amadeus – was on good terms with Salieri. Hummel was a student of Mozart, Haydn and Salieri, the spokesperson said.

“A highlight of the concert at Regent on Broadway in Palmerston North will be breathtaking performances with the Orchestra by NZSO featured artists section principal oboe Robert Orr, associate principal bassoon Justin Sun and section principal Horn Samuel Jacobs.”