Five Lines is a collection of writings about music in Aotearoa New Zealand by Elizabeth Kerr. It features short articles, artist profiles and reviews of concerts, operas and albums. You can subscribe - it’s free - at the bottom of any story.
The media merger has been scrapped - what’s ahead for RNZ Concert?
The proposed merger of RNZ and TVNZ into the entity Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media has been completely scrapped by the government. What does this mean for RNZ Concert?
Soprano Morag Atchison’s debut album: The Distance
Morag Atchison’s debut album features the songs of composer David Hamilton in a beautifully performed recital.
NZ Opera’s Ihitai ’Avei’a - Star Navigator: a journey to understanding
NZ Opera’s production Ihitai ’Avei’a - Star Navigator boldly crosses artistic, cultural and stylistic boundaries while attracting new audiences to the art form.
Michael Houstoun plays Brahms: miniature marvels
Pianist Michael Houstoun marks his 70th birthday with an album from Rattle of Brahms’ intermezzi. He says this introspective music “fits with an older player’s psyche.”
The Queen’s Closet at the Cloverton Arms
CLOVERTON: In Love & Wine, a modern semi-opera by The Queen’s Closet, with libretto by Dave Armstrong and music by Henry Purcell, is splendid entertainment.
Composer Reuben Jelleyman: radical transformations
New Zealand composer Reuben Jelleyman recently won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award for his work Catalogue, composed in Paris. What route has he taken to this prestigious Award, and what happens next?
NZSO Requiem: life and death across three centuries
The NZSO’s “Requiem” concert offered music about life and death from John Psathas, Richard Strauss and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Conductor Gemma New brought energetic inspiration to all three works.
NZSO and Mahler’s 4th Symphony: naïve yet profound
Mahler’s 4th Symphony has a genial, naïve quality that belies a profound and sophisticated composition. The NZSO’s recent performance had it all but failed to attract a big audience.
NZTrio: seductive interpretations
The NZTrio are on the road with their Legacy 3 programme.The Wellington performance revealed the Trio at their musical best.
At the World’s Edge: musical bonfire in the mountains
Two violinists have set a musical bonfire alight in the awe-inspiring landscapes of Central Otago. Their second festival was a boldly programmed event in intimate venues, with top-notch international and local musicians.
New Zealand Opera’s Macbeth: opening the gates of hell
NZ Opera’s Macbeth - Verdi’s genius, an outstanding cast of singers, innovative and atmospheric design and contemporary themes make for an unmissable production.
STROMA: Dream Architects
STROMA’s recent Wellington concert, Dream Architects, featured New Zealand composers in a global context alongside the modernist master Xenakis on the 100th anniversary of his birth.
New Zealand Opera’s Macbeth: “blood everywhere”
NZ Opera’s new production of Verdi’s Macbeth explores issues of power and gender and the derangement and paranoia of the 21st century human psyche.
Van Diemen’s Band: a baroque ensemble crosses borders
The Tasmanian Baroque ensemble, Van Diemen’s Band, brought an intriguing boundary-crossing programme called Borderlands to New Zealand for a Chamber Music New Zealand tour.
Psathas’ Leviathan: steel, drums and determination
Humanity’s race to disaster is captured in John Psathas’s high-impact, visceral Leviathan, which will have its NZ premiere with soloist Alexej Gerassimez and Orchestra Wellington this month.
The Tudor Consort and Palestrina: joyous and atmospheric
The Tudor Consort’s performance of Palestrina’s masterpiece, Missa Papae Marcelli, within a liturgical reconstruction offered high quality music-making, thoughtful curation and a joyous spirit.
Bartók - a musical colour-burst
A new album of Bartók’s music for violin and piano by violinist Monique Lapins and pianist Jian Liu has energy, momentum and a forthright passionate approach.
Barley and De Pledge: Dream team
Matthew Barley and Stephen de Pledge are currently touring Aotearoa for Chamber Music New Zealand with a programme of Beethoven, Brahms and other “interesting stuff”.
Reimagining Cinderella: sumptuous, enchanting and high camp
Choreographer Loughlan Prior, composer Claire Cowan and designer Emma Kingsbury have reimagined Cinderella’s rags-to-riches story as a 21st century “happily ever after”.
Podium dynamics
Does gender on the podium matter? Is the issue merely one of equity? Are female conductors measured by a different standard?