11 May 2016

Piano genius to accompany NZSO in mighty concerto

From Upbeat, 1:00 pm on 11 May 2016
Pianist Stephen Hough

Pianist Stephen Hough Photo: Sim Canetty-Clarke

A pianist declared as one of the 25 greatest of all time, and a rising conducting star join the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for its latest offering this month.

Virtuoso Stephen Hough is set to perform Johannes Brahms' mighty Piano Concerto No. 2 with the NZSO, under guest conductor Gustavo Gimeno.

Hough was recently named among 20 Living Polymaths by The Economist and is a composer, poet, painter and columnist for the Daily Telegraph.

In 2014 he received a CBE for services to music.

Conductor Gustavo Gimeno

Conductor Gustavo Gimeno Photo: Marco Borggreve

Meanwhile guest conductor, Spaniard Gustavo Gimeno, has taken up the baton after leaving his post as Principal Percussionist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands.

The NZSO says Gimeno is the ideal talent to lead the orchestra in a 20th anniversary performance of New Zealander Gareth Farr's From The Depths Sound the Great Sea Gongs Part 1.

The NZSO ends the performance with Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No 1.

The tour began in Wellington, Friday May 13th (which RNZ Concert broadcast live from the Michael Fowler Centre) followed by Dunedin, 7pm Wednesday 18 May; Christchurch, 7pm Thursday 19 May and Auckland at 7:30 pm on Saturday, 21 May.