Massive forces gather for NZSO tour during REAL New Zealand Festival

A new generation of New Zealand classical stars will join the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for a full-blast concert tour next month, featuring one of the most monumental symphonies ever written.

Internationally-acclaimed Kiwi opera singers Simon O’Neill, Jonathan Lemalu, Madeleine Pierard and Sarah Castle will come home for NZSO: Odes to Joy from September 22, showcasing Beethoven’s epic Ninth Symphony.

The Romantic masterpiece was the composer’s final symphony, with a spectacular finale in the fourth movement combining the full might of a symphony orchestra, four soloists and a massed choir.

The symphony’s theme of universal brotherhood has sealed its status as the anthem of choice for major world events, including the bringing down of the Berlin Wall.

The Orpheus Choir of Wellington, the Auckland Choral Society, the City of Dunedin Choir and the Christchurch City Choir will each join their local performance on the tour, along with singers from Voices NZ.

NZSO Music Director Pietari Inkinen will lead the Orchestra for Odes to Joy, which is proudly supported by the New Zealand government through Manatū Taonga, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage. It is part of the REAL New Zealand Festival that runs alongside Rugby World Cup 2011.

Pietari Inkinen says the Ninth Symphony ends famously, on an emotionally high register: “The music is full of triumph, joy and celebration. It’s the perfect concert series to stage during the Rugby World Cup, and will showcase this country’s finest classical music talent to New Zealanders and international visitors alike.”

Odes to Joy will also unveil Kaitiaki, a new work in the spirit of Beethoven’s Ninth. Commissioned by the NZSO, it is composed by Gareth Farr with words by award-winning fiction writer Witi Ihimaera.

Ihimaera says the work is, for him, a mihi aroha or a greeting of love across space and time to honour Beethoven, the greatest composer the world has ever known.

A free pre-concert talk featuring a question-and-answer session with Gareth Farr takes place 45-minutes before each performance inside the concert venue.

The Christchurch performance of Odes to Joy is part of the Christchurch Arts Festival.