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 Adam Festival: chamber music heaven
Audiences from around Aotearoa, Australia and elsewhere gathered in Nelson for the star-studded lineup of chamber musicians at the biennial Adam Festival.
Sergey Malov: tradition and rebellion
When Sergey Malov performs at the 2024 Adam Chamber Music Festival, he’ll play violin, viola, and the lesser-known violoncello da spalla. And he’s bring his loop pedals.
Brahms, Hristova and Houstoun: magical unanimity
Pianist Michael Houstoun and violinist Bella Hristova bring their effortless rapport to a new album of Brahms Violin Sonatas.
NZTrio: folksongs, dances and dreams
The NZTrio’s Homeland Three concert Dumky, toured throughout New Zealand, delighted the Wellington audience with energy and intensity.
NZ String Quartet: Unique counterpoints of Aotearoa
In their new album Notes from a journey ll, Te Haerenga, the New Zealand String Quartet continues its journey through the music of Aotearoa.
Orchestra Wellington’s Wozzeck: triumphant capture of Berg’s conception
Orchestra Wellington’s production of Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck, a New Zealand premiere, was nothing short of astonishing.
Jenny McLeod: calling the tune
In the biography Jenny McLeod: A Life in Music, Norman Meehan captures the composer’s eloquent, witty and individual voice.
Anthony Ritchie’s Symphony No 6: love, death and the afterlife
Anthony Ritchie’s Symphony No 6, performed by the NZSO, is released by Rattle. The composer reflects on personal and global events in a dark-hued work full of deep emotions.
Voices New Zealand: Mozart’s Requiem tells a tragic story
In Mozart Reimagined: Requiem, created for Voices New Zealand by Robert Wiremu, the tragic Antarctic aircraft crash on Mt Erebus is remembered in a profoundly moving concert.
At the World’s Edge Festival: electrifying ensembles
Violinists Benjamin Baker and Justine Cormack have created something special with their At the World’s Edge Festival in Central Otago. AWE 2023 was an exhilarating event in many ways.
Bolcom’s Cabaret Songs by a brilliant New Zealand double-act
The essence of cabaret is captured with delicious ease by singer Stephanie Acraman and pianist Liam Wooding in a new album of The Complete Cabaret Songs by American composer William Bolcom.
Madeleine Pierard: “sumptuous singing” at home and away
After singing Strauss’s Four Last Songs for English National Ballet, soprano Madeleine Pierard is back in Aotearoa for two operatic roles and an NZSO tour. She talks about vocal fitness and the young stars of TANZOS..
(m)Orpheus: death and dreams in a stunning dance-opera
(m)Orpheus by NZ Opera and Black Grace is a stunning fusion of opera, dance and storytelling, in “a world where dreams can conquer death”.
Woven Pathways: the NZ String Quartet reflects on the human experience
The concerts of the NZ String Quartet’s national tour, Woven Pathways, showed the power of a string quartet to explore emotions and experiences.
Violinist Benjamin Baker and the birth of a chamber music festival
New Zealand-born violinist Benjamin Baker is bringing the success of his international career to his leadership of a new chamber music festival in an awe-inspiring landscape.
1919 Coda: Janáček, Boulanger, Debussy, Elgar - expressive accord
Music by composers working during World War 1 features on “1919 CODA: Janáček, Boulanger, Debussy and Elgar”, beautifully played by violinist Benjamin Baker and pianist Daniel Lebhardt.
STROMA: intimate musical dialogues
STROMA paid tribute to composers Jenny McLeod and Kaija Saariaho, presented new works by young composers of Aotearoa and ended a superbly-played concert with a theatrical work by Norma Beecroft.
(m)Orpheus: grief, art and truth
NZ Opera and Black Grace Dance have an outstanding creative team to reimagine Gluck’s masterpiece Orpheus and Eurydice. (m)Orpheus, combining Greek myth with Pasifika storytelling, opens this week.
Bluebeard’s Castle: a bold, brilliant reimagining of Bartók’s opera
A contemporary reimagining of Bartók’s opera Bluebeard’s Castle is brought to audiences in Wellington and Christchurch by NZSO and NZ Opera.
NZSO and conductor André de Ridder: total immersion
The NZSO’s three-concert Immerse Festival offered three very different concerts under the baton of boundary-crossing conductor André de Ridder.