WAR REQUIEM

AUCKLAND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA (AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND)

Conductor: Eckehard Stier

Soprano: Orla Boylan

Tenor: Timothy Robinson

Baritone: Ivan Ludlow

with

Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir

New Zealand Youth Choir

Choir director: Karen Grylls

Saturday 23 March, 2013

Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

ONE NIGHT ONLY

One hundred years since the birth of its composer, Benjamin Britten, the magnum opus War Requiem is coming to life at Auckland Arts Festival 2013. Conducted by Eckehard Stier, the full Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) is joined by fêted soprano Orla Boylan, tenor Timothy Robinson and baritone Ivan Ludlow, as well as Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir, New Zealand Youth Choir and a combined children's choir.

This is a rare event that brings the spirit, genius and force of Britten's masterpiece - one of the finest choral and orchestral works of the 20th century - to the Auckland Town Hall for one tremendous evening.  Monumental in scope, this bold and inspired work is interwoven with powerful recitations from Missa pro defunctis (Mass for the Dead) and nine magnificent poems by the Great War poet, Wilfred Owen. War Requiem responds sensitively yet determinedly to the horrors and devastation of war and the futility of man's inhumanity to man - a message which still resonates now as strongly as it did when Britten wrote it.

On the collaboration between Auckland Arts Festival and the APO, Artistic Director Carla van Zon said, "A work of this size and scale could only be realised with a lot of manpower, and we knew this magnificent work would be in the right hands with Maestro Stier and the very talented APO. That's the beauty of an arts festival - providing opportunities to bring works and collaborations like this to life.

"It's also a very significant occasion when we can experience three superb international soloists and New Zealand's very best choirs working together to make this huge artistic statement. It's been 50 years since War Requiem was first performed in New Zealand yet the material and message are as sharp as ever."

War Requiem was commissioned to mark the re-consecration of Coventry Cathedral, rebuilt after a 1940 German air raid almost completely destroyed it. After the first performance of War Requiem in 1962, a moment of reverential silence fell upon the audience; not a single clap was heard.  Fifty years later, Auckland Arts Festival and the APO welcome three of the world's most in-demand soloists to take on the momentous composition.

Irish soprano Orla Boylan made her role debut last season as Senta (The Flying Dutchman) for English National Opera. Other roles have included Aufseherin (Elektra) at the Salzburger Festspiele and Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) for Teatro Communale di Bologna. A series of title roles (Arabella, Ariadne auf Naxos and the British stage-premiere of Die Liebe der Danae) for Garsington Opera established Boylan as a respected interpreter of Strauss's repertoire.

A previous member of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, British tenor and Britten specialist Timothy Robinson has appeared with English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, the Glyndebourne Festival and the Paris Opera. His recent opera engagements include Captain Vere in Billy Budd for both English National Opera, Hamburg Opera and in Bilbao. He sang Peter Quint for Leipzig Opera, Salzburg, Innsbruck Opera and English National Opera, Aschenbach (Death in Venice) in Salzburg and Walther (Tannhauser) at the Royal Opera House.

British Baritone Ivan Ludlow is a regular guest at some of Europe's most prestigious opera houses, including Naples, Spoleto, Paris, Lyon, Athens, Toulouse, Welsh National Opera, Strasbourg, Marseille, Bordeaux, Metz, Casa da Musica (Porto), Vlaamse Oper (Antwerp) and Lausanne. He has, amongst other roles, sung Don Giovanni, Guglielmo, Onegin, Iarba (La Didone), Escamillo, Nevers (Les Huguenots), the Count (Capriccio), Marcello, Shadow (The Rake's Progress), Danilo, Belcore, Aeneas and Demetrius.

Eckehard Stier is the Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, General Music Director of the Görlitz Opera, and Chief Conductor of the Neue Lausitz Philharmonic Orchestra in Germany. He has made many international guest appearances including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Duisburger Philharmoniker and the Staatskapelle Dresden. With the APO he has conducted numerous New Zealand premieres including John Corigliano's Mannheim Rocket and Symphony No.1,  John Adams's The Wound Dresser, Paul Schoenfield's Four Parables for Piano and Orchestra and Duke Ellington's tone poem Harlem.

One of the most revered choirmasters in the world, Dr Karen Grylls ONZM is a national treasure. Also Associate Head of Undergraduate Studies and Associate Professor in Conducting and Head of Choral Studies at the University of Auckland, Karen was appointed Musical Director of the New Zealand Youth Choir in 1989 and she founded Voices New Zealand in March 1998 - she is now Artistic Director of both these highly regarded and internationally renowned national choirs. As a result of her musical directorship, the New Zealand Youth Choir has enjoyed notable international successes including: the Silver Rosebowl in the "Let the Peoples Sing" radio competition in 1992, "Choir of the World" at the 1999 International Eisteddfod in Llangollen and the "Grand Prix Slovakia" also in 1999. With equal success Voices New Zealand won first and second placings in the mixed choir section of the Tolosa International Choral Competition in October 1998. With these choirs, she has participated and won further prizes and accolades in Gorizia 2004, Marktoberdorf 2005, and Cantonigros, Spain in 2007.

www.aaf.co.nz

The mere mention of Britten's War Requiem occasioned cheers from the hall. - William Dart, NZ Herald

The Irish Soprano (Orla Boylan) is in sensational form. - The Times

The production moves thanks to Timothy Robinson's superb assumption of Peter Pears's last Britten role, sung with searing tone and cut-glass diction, and played with eloquent restraint - Sunday Times

Ivan Ludlow's powerful and beautiful voice was able both to illuminate the proud and masculine sides of this song cycle as well as to delve in to the subtler semantics of the poems. - Music and Vision

CONCERT DETAILS

Show War Requiem

Where Great Hall, Auckland Town Hall

When Saturday 23 March, 8pm

Duration 1h 20min no interval

Pre-concert talk Saturday 23 March

Price Deluxe $139 / Friend/Conc/Group/APO subscriber $124; Premium $118 / Friend/Conc/Group/APO Subscriber $108; A Res $98 / Friend/Conc/Group/APO subscriber $89; B Res $75 / Friend/Conc/Group/APO subscriber $69; C Res $45

Bookings Book at THE EDGE: www.buytickets.co.nz / 09 357 3355 / 0800 289 842

Group bookings: groups@the-edge.co.nz / 09 357 3354

Information www.aaf.co.nz

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Media enquiries Siobhan Waterhouse, Publicist. P: +64 (0)9 374 0317 | M: +64 (0) 22 126 4149|E: siobhan.waterhouse@aucklandfestival.co.nz

In association with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

With support from Creative New Zealand and the Wallace Arts Trust