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.
Orchestra Wellington: a memorable performance of Britten’s War Requiem
Orchestra Wellington’s performance of Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem will remain in the memories of those present for a long time.
Composer Eve de Castro-Robinson: premieres, a revelation and a touch of defiance
Composer Eve de Castro-Robinson has had two major premieres in the past two months. She’s also had a revelation about how and why her composing has changed over her career.
Wellington Opera’s Tosca: brilliant casting and gripping pace
Wellington Opera's production of Puccini's Tosca pleased its opening night audience with a brilliant, all-New Zealand cast of singers, gripping momentum and a versatile, stylish design.
Orpheus Choir and Haydn’s The Creation: fine singing and radiant music
Orpheus Choir Wellington provided a welcome opportunity to experience Haydn's The Creation, a work the composer and others believed was one of his greatest masterpieces.
Orchestra Wellington and Marc Taddei: a story that ends in triumph
Orchestra Wellington and conductor Marc Taddei offered Beethoven’s triumphant 9th Symphony in a programme with context, novelty, and brilliance.
Pianist Jian Liu: a way of living through music
Pianist Jian Liu is having a busy 2024, but his career from China to New Zealand via America has prepared him for this life in music.
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.
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..
NZ Opera’s Così fan tutte: sparkling, sophisticated artifice
New Zealand Opera’s sparkling Così fan tutte has an outstanding cast, clever direction, comedic highlights and an increasingly fantastic design. Just what was in those cocktails?
Composer Briar Prastiti: artist on the edge
Composer Briar Prastiti, currently living in the Lilburn Residence, has called her new work for Orchestra Wellington, Akri, a Greek word meaning “edge”. She talked to Five Lines about the dissonance between her Greek and New Zealand identities.
Wellington Opera’s Lucia: all about the singing
Wellington Opera’s Lucia di Lammermoor brings together a consistently fine cast of New Zealand singers, thrilling the opening night audience.
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.
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.
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”.
John Psathas The All-Seeing Sky: the inspiration of friends
Orchestra Wellington’s “Circle of Friends” includes their composer-in-residence John Psathas and his percussionist friends Fabian Ziegler and Luca Staffelbach from Switzerland. Psathas’ new double percussion concerto may be one of his finest compositions.
Who’s afraid of big bad opera?
A new opera for children, RED! by New Zealander Lucy Mulgan, delights the Wellington audience.
When the curtain suddenly falls
What does it really mean to the performing arts when the curtain comes down without notice?
Artistry in virtuosity
Amalia Hall dazzled the audience with her performance in Paganini’s 2nd Violin Concerto with Orchestra Wellington. It was much more than virtuosity.
Raising the curtain on Wellington Opera
Mozart’s Don Giovanni is the premiere production of a new opera company in Wellington. On opening night the applause was whole-hearted.
Mozart live – nourishing the invisible
Orchestra Wellington was quick off the mark with one of the first live concerts in New Zealand after lockdown.