Acclaimed German pianist and conductor Lars Vogt will be adding his flair to the classics this week when he performs with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.
Lars Vogt Photo: Giorgia Bertazzi
Vogt will be playing and conducting for the first time in Wellington and Auckland, and although he’s performed the works hundreds of times before Kiwi audiences can expect something a little different.
Risk taking and spontaneity will be a big part of Vogt’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 21. “That’s one essential thing in music making – that one spontaneous moment,” he says. “Performing is a balance between head and heart. Both… are incredibly important."
The concerto will be known to many. The second movement has featured in numerous television advertisements over the years and been sampled by the likes of Neil Diamond.
The concerto is sometimes referred to as the Elvira Madigan, named after the 1967 Swedish film it appeared in.
Each time Vogt performs it with an orchestra, he provides a different perspective. “What might seem unsettling can be a great thing,” he says. “Everyone tunes into that and it can be …wonderful.”
The pianist was identified as a potential conducting talent at the age of 20, by none other than Sir Simon Rattle. This followed his victory at the Leeds International Piano Competition. Rattle told Vogt recently that he had a “gut feeling” that the pianist would become a successful conductor too.
Now he plays and conducts and sometimes it can be a hard balance. “Sometimes I have stop myself from waving my arms around,” he laughs. “I’ve always been a physical soloist.”
LARS VOGT Piano, conductor with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
BEETHOVEN The Creatures of Prometheus Op 43, Overture
MOZART Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major K467
WEBERN orch Gerard Schwarz Langsamer Satz
MOZART Symphony No 36 in C major K 425, Linz
WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre| Friday 26 October| 6.30pm
AUCKLAND | Town Hall| Saturday 27 October| 7.30pm
