A Grand Opening

Li-Wei Qin Photo: The APO

The exceptional Australian cellist Li-Wei Qin begins the season with a rarely heard masterwork. William Walton’s lyrical concerto embodies the soul of the cello: now slow and meditative, now dashing and sardonic.

Mahler’s huge Fifth Symphony is an extraordinary experience. It begins with a grand, terrifying funeral march, and a storm-tossed scherzo. Suddenly everything changes: a high-spirited waltz, a passionate love song (the justly famous Adagietto), a boisterously joyous finale. This symphony is music of love and death – and of the love of life.(Text courtesy of the APO)

Live broadcast from the Auckland Town Hall by RNZ Concert