Pekka Kuusisto performing with NZSO Photo: Phoebe Tuxford/NZSO
A one-of-a-kind virtuoso and global phenomenon in his Aotearoa debut with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. Finnish violinist and conductor Pekka Kuusisto performs one of music’s best-loved works, Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and he leads the NZSO for its first ever performance of a glorious symphony by pioneering 19th-century composer Louise Farrenc.
Watch here:
Video by Lattitude Creative, sound by RNZ Concert.
Programme
FARRENC: Symphony No 3 in G minor
VIVALDI: The Four Seasons
Pekka Kuusisto on Three to Seven
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/ Pekka Kuusisto
Louise Farrenc’s rediscovered Third Symphony is now regarded as one of the finest French compositions of the Romantic era.
During her lifetime Farrenc, the only woman appointed a professor at the Paris Conservatory in the 19th century, was well known and admired for her music and teaching. Two of her biggest fans were composers Hector Berlioz and Robert Schumann. However, after her death she fell into obscurity until the late 20th century.
Music writer Tom Service says her Third Symphony “deserves a place… in the repertoires of every orchestra. Farrenc’s symphony is as impressively energetic and structurally satisfying as any of Mendelssohn’s or Schumann’s symphonies.”
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra/ Pekka Kuusisto (violin/director)
Finnish violinist, conductor, and composer Pekka Kuusisto, is renowned for his artistic freedom and fresh approach in performing the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. Its musical depictions of lazy summer afternoons and brisk winter winds continue to delight.
Kuusisto says his interpretation of The Four Seasons will be distinct and exciting. For one, he plays violin throughout the performance while at the same time directing the orchestra—a demanding feat for any musician.
He also knows that The Four Seasons popularity means audiences come with a variety of expectations.
“If it would be possible to measure what people expect stylistically, my guess is something rather ‘round and soft, gentle’ is still what most people think Vivaldi should sound like. Who am I to say that’s wrong? [But The Four Seasons] is not in a museum. This is like super-active, explosive, aggressive music. Sometimes it needs to be exactly that… I can only play it convincingly the way I think and feel it.”
Pekka Kuusisto (violin/vocals)
Producer: David McCaw
Sound Engineer: Darryl Stack
Recorded 9 October 2025 at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington by RNZ Concert
Finnish violinist and conductor Pekka Kuusisto Photo: Bard Gundersen
