Music Alive
Starts at 8:00 pm on Friday, 1 June 2012
NZTrio: Higdon, Bailey, Turina, Greenbaum, Schumann
Recorded in the Auckland Town Hall
This concert from the NZTrio recorded in the Auckland Town Hall includes Piano Trio by Higdon, So Many Rivers by Bailey, Piano Trio No 1 by Turina, Schumann’s Piano Trio No 2 and The Year Without a Summer by Stuart Greenbaum. Greenbaum based his composition on the eruption of Mt Tambora on the island of Sumatra which he says was four times as big as the eruption of Krakatoa, later that century, but not as well known.
“The ash and dust thrown up into the earth’s upper atmosphere further resulted in ‘the year without a summer’ in 1816. This was by all accounts a devastating ecological event that caused unseasonal cold temperatures and widespread famine.
“The first movement is short and fast. It imagines a dark cloud of dust approaching from the distance, not knowing where it came from. Did it seem a premonition? How long did they think it would last? The longer second movement shifts forward to 1816 and contemplates the upheaval of people’s lives – of having their world turned upside down in one way or another and having to regroup and adjust to new circumstances.”
Violinist Justine Cormack, cellist Ashley Brown and pianist Sarah Watkins first joined forces in 2002 and were Ensemble in Residence at The University of Auckland from 2004-2009. Recent highlights have included an exciting collaborative performance with Finnish bass/accordion duo Lepisto & Lehti at the WOMAD festival in New Plymouth, the première of a joint composition by Gareth Farr and Richard Nunns for piano trio and taonga puoro (traditional Maori instruments), a new commission by composer/filmmaker David Downes at the New Zealand International Arts Festival and a series of performances at the Shanghai World Expo in July.
(Source: Chamber Music New Zealand)
This concert was recorded in the Auckland Town Hall by Radio New Zealand
