Classical music reviews from Wellington, New Zealandhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/en-nzhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/nature-and-art-architecture-and-philosophy-orchestra-wellingtons-epic-revelations/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/nature-and-art-architecture-and-philosophy-orchestra-wellingtons-epic-revelations/This latest Orchestra Wellington concert, even during such an enterprising presentation year as 2026, will resonate in the memory as a special event for a long time to come – it was conductor Marc Taddei’s inspirational idea to invite the…Thu, 29 Oct 2026 12:00:44 GMTchoralconcertocontemporary musicNew Zealand musicorchestralstudentsyouth orchestraPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/a-significant-birthday-concert-of-decades-schuberts-schwanengesang-from-roger-wilson-and-terence-dennis/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/a-significant-birthday-concert-of-decades-schuberts-schwanengesang-from-roger-wilson-and-terence-dennis/St Andrew’s on-The-Terrace Wellington’s remarkable Lunchtime Concert Series continued to delight its regular attendees besides scoring notably extra interest in its latest Wednesday concert – this was a complete performance of Franz…Sun, 25 Oct 2026 09:55:41 GMTsong recitalSt Andrew's lunchtime concertvocalPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/spirit-of-youth-effervesces-and-overflows-at-wellington-youth-orchestras-combined-2026-concert/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/spirit-of-youth-effervesces-and-overflows-at-wellington-youth-orchestras-combined-2026-concert/“Spirit of Youth” was this concert’s banner heading on the frontispiece of the programme I collected at the Memorial Hall’s entranceway – an illustration worth reproducing, here, as it conveyed the overall atmosphere, excitement and…Thu, 22 Oct 2026 22:03:41 GMTconcertoorchestralstudentsviolinPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/richard-strauss-and-johannes-brahms-music-of-free-and-sonorous-measure/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/richard-strauss-and-johannes-brahms-music-of-free-and-sonorous-measure/What a glorious concert! – firstly, in the space of less than an hour and across the span of two otherwise unconnected compositions, we were caught up in a contrivance of enchantment, thanks to composer Richard Strauss and his…Thu, 08 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTorchestralvocalPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/wellingtons-vu-nz-school-of-musics-piano-extravaganza-concert-lives-up-to-its-name/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/10/wellingtons-vu-nz-school-of-musics-piano-extravaganza-concert-lives-up-to-its-name/A stimulating and heart-warming experience – four of the Victoria University School of Music’s most talented and proficient young piano students performing for us in turn, each demonstrating the various aspects of their musicianship in…Sat, 03 Oct 2026 12:00:09 GMTNew Zealand School of MusicpianoSt Andrew's lunchtime concertstudentsPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/50th-anniversary-tribute-to-benjamin-britten-and-his-heroes/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/50th-anniversary-tribute-to-benjamin-britten-and-his-heroes/Somehow I had missed out on hearing the previous “The Long Hall” concert in Roseneath, one that had featured a new string quartet ensemble – the “Amada Quartet”, who, on all accounts had played a wonderful programme that included a…Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:00:53 GMTbaroque musiccellochamber musicoboePeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/wellington-city-orchestra-spinning-musical-tales-of-adventure-love-and-vengeance/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/wellington-city-orchestra-spinning-musical-tales-of-adventure-love-and-vengeance/None of these three works are likely to be the ones that the average concertgoer would straightaway think of if asked to name pieces of music associated with each of these three composers – and yet they’re all entirely worthy of…Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:00:58 GMTconcertoorchestralpianoPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/nz-trio-continues-to-enchant-and-with-plenty-of-sonorous-help-from-friends/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/nz-trio-continues-to-enchant-and-with-plenty-of-sonorous-help-from-friends/Though obviously pure coincidence, each of two consecutive Thursday concerts which I recently attended at Old St.Paul’s Cathedral in Mulgrave St, was beset by bad weather – the real pity was that the first of them – Quang Hong Luu’s…Sun, 20 Sep 2026 12:00:24 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicNew Zealand musicpiano trioPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/quang-hong-luu-piano-brilliantly-personifying-composer-and-music-and-their-times/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/quang-hong-luu-piano-brilliantly-personifying-composer-and-music-and-their-times/Vietnamese-born pianist Quang Hong Luu made a welcome “return to life” on behalf of Wellington’s concert-goers in an Old St.Paul’s “lunchtime concert” presentation, after an earlier indisposition prevented him from giving a promised…Fri, 18 Sep 2026 15:08:56 GMTpianoPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/orchestra-wellingtons-colossal-triumphantly-ticks-all-the-descriptive-and-presentation-boxes/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/orchestra-wellingtons-colossal-triumphantly-ticks-all-the-descriptive-and-presentation-boxes/With the confidence, surety and irrepressible flair that has characterised his work with Orchestra Wellington over the past few years, conductor Marc Taddei brilliantly succeeded in both masterminding and spearheading an event which…Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:04 GMTbrass ensemblechoralcontemporary musicNew Zealand musicorchestralPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/the-dolfin-lin-duo-positively-tingling-with-spontaneous-re-discovery/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/the-dolfin-lin-duo-positively-tingling-with-spontaneous-re-discovery/This partnership of ‘cello and piano made a profound impression with the Duo’s strongly-projected, in places “larger-than-life” realisations of the works chosen, with those I’d heard before (the Bartok and Brahms pieces) giving a…Wed, 09 Sep 2026 12:00:07 GMTcellochamber musiccontemporary musicNew Zealand musicpianoPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/space-jump-an-exhilarating-listening-leap-from-nztrio-into-firmament-like-territories/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/09/space-jump-an-exhilarating-listening-leap-from-nztrio-into-firmament-like-territories/Composers over the course of time have often demonstrated a fondness, and, indeed, a facility, for writing descriptive music representing people, animals, objects or events. As early as the Renaissance, there was a penchant for imitating…Fri, 04 Sep 2026 05:16:05 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicpiano trioPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/orchestra-wellingtons-creation-concert-boldly-crosses-cultures-and-genres/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/orchestra-wellingtons-creation-concert-boldly-crosses-cultures-and-genres/Orchestra Wellington’s latest presentation spanned fascinating varieties of time, place and human expression in bringing together different manifestations of creative impulse ranging from the trans-Atlantic cosmic (Milhaud) through…Sat, 29 Aug 2026 12:00:04 GMTballetconcertomusic theatreorchestralPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/a-feast-of-classic-and-contemporary-finnish-music-from-piertari-inkinen-and-the-nzso/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/a-feast-of-classic-and-contemporary-finnish-music-from-piertari-inkinen-and-the-nzso/I’d already become reacquainted with Pietari Inkinen’s rostrum presence in front of the NZSO the previous evening in the orchestra’s spectacularly-delivered Wagner concert “Radiance” – so this evening’s “Myths and Legends” concert was…Thu, 20 Aug 2026 12:00:35 GMTconcertocontemporary musicorchestralviolinPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/radiance-from-the-nzso-with-simon-oneill-tenor-and-pietari-inkinen-conductor-two-glimpses-of-richard-wagners-youth-to-ma/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/radiance-from-the-nzso-with-simon-oneill-tenor-and-pietari-inkinen-conductor-two-glimpses-of-richard-wagners-youth-to-ma/Two significant players in recent worldwide Wagner presentations returned to Wellington last week with the NZSO – tenor Simon O’Neill and conductor Pietari Inkinen. Together they presented an innovative programme with the generic title…Tue, 18 Aug 2026 12:00:54 GMToperaorchestralvocalPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/new-zealand-string-quartet-bring-to-us-music-with-the-beauty-of-loneliness-pain-strength-and-freedom/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/new-zealand-string-quartet-bring-to-us-music-with-the-beauty-of-loneliness-pain-strength-and-freedom/We are seated in the glowing wooden wood panelled warehouse structure of Prefab Hall, ensconced down a laneway in Wellington’s Mt.Cook, a full audience for the New Zealand’s String Quartet’s second chapter of their Storytellers tour. The…Fri, 14 Aug 2026 12:00:07 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicNew Zealand musicstring quartetPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/beethoven-in-kelburn-resounding-in-st-michaels-beautiful-church/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/beethoven-in-kelburn-resounding-in-st-michaels-beautiful-church/A chance to revisit the ineffable beauties of the ambience and atmosphere of St. Michael’s Church in Kelburn, a place I’d actually discovered for myself earlier this year as a venue for music-making, came with the announcement of a concert…Thu, 13 Aug 2026 12:00:08 GMTchamber musicpiano trioPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/classics-and-commemoratives-from-the-splendid-aroha-quartet/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/classics-and-commemoratives-from-the-splendid-aroha-quartet/This was a beautiful and revelatory concert from the Aroha String Quartet,as near to a “something for everybody” presentation as one might reasonably wish for!Tue, 11 Aug 2026 12:00:35 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicNew Zealand musicstring quartetPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/manon-an-operatic-journey-of-turmoil-and-struggle-for-survival/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/08/manon-an-operatic-journey-of-turmoil-and-struggle-for-survival/Manon is probably composer Jules Massenet’s most famous work, a five-act opera comique which premiered in Paris in 1884, and which has been a staple of the opera repertory ever since. My first encounter with this work’s name (and that of…Fri, 07 Aug 2026 12:00:00 GMToperaPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/ozan-biner-mcgrath-at-st-andrews-a-piano-recital-of-music-to-delight-in-and-savour/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/ozan-biner-mcgrath-at-st-andrews-a-piano-recital-of-music-to-delight-in-and-savour/The St. Andrew’s Lunchtime Concert series in Wellington has consistently delighted us this year with a number of extraordinarily exciting concerts, both performance- and repertory-wise – and this week the series came up with yet another…Fri, 31 Jul 2026 12:00:58 GMTpianoPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/nszos-let-there-be-light-illuminates-saariaho-prokofiev-and-tchaikovsky/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/nszos-let-there-be-light-illuminates-saariaho-prokofiev-and-tchaikovsky/This concert by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra was given the title “Let There Be Light”, a quotation from Genesis 1:3 in the Bible, depicting the creation of light upon the earth and its division from darkness – a theme which took…Mon, 27 Jul 2026 12:00:00 GMTconcertocontemporary musicorchestralpianoPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/music-of-celebration-and-of-mourning-from-the-aroha-string-quartet-international-music-academy/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/music-of-celebration-and-of-mourning-from-the-aroha-string-quartet-international-music-academy/The Aroha String Quartet’s International Music Academy meets every year in Wellington for six days of intensive music-making, involving workshops, coaching and rehearsals, an event organised and run by the Quartet members themselves and…Tue, 21 Jul 2026 12:00:35 GMTchamber musicSt Andrew's lunchtime concerttwentieth century musicPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/elouan-quartet-and-bridget-douglas-stellar-performance-and-partnership/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/elouan-quartet-and-bridget-douglas-stellar-performance-and-partnership/I’d not heard the Elouan String Quartet play together before (and they were formed in 2024, so goodness knows where I had been!) However, I was familiar with three of the quartet members in different performing contexts, violinists Jessica…Fri, 17 Jul 2026 12:00:44 GMTchamber musicflutestring quartetstring trioPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/deliciously-unfamiliar-but-eminently-listenable-music-from-little-known-composer-michel-corrette/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/deliciously-unfamiliar-but-eminently-listenable-music-from-little-known-composer-michel-corrette/“In the spirit of friendship between ‘cellists, we hope listeners will enjoy this lively conversation between instruments” writes ‘cellist Miranda Wilson in her notes accompanying a delightful recording that has come my way, of music by a…Sun, 12 Jul 2026 12:00:49 GMTbaroque musiccellochamber musichistorically informedPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/music-that-unfurls-the-colours-of-karoris-splendid-futuna-chapel/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/music-that-unfurls-the-colours-of-karoris-splendid-futuna-chapel/Sitting in Futuna Chapel, in Karori, on a recent Sunday afternoon, listening to a concert of music given by a trio of extremely talented performers (flutist, violist and soprano vocalist), I found myself thinking at various stages of the…Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:00:08 GMTbaroque musicchamber musiccontemporary musicflutehistorically informedNew Zealand musicRenaissancethumb piano (Mbira - African)violavocalPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/papaioea-piano-trio-offers-exotic-out-of-town-flavourings-for-st-andrews-lunchtime-fare/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/papaioea-piano-trio-offers-exotic-out-of-town-flavourings-for-st-andrews-lunchtime-fare/For those Wellingtonians and others who may not know, the name Papaioea refers to a particular location in the city of Palmerston North – in fact I grew up there being told that it was a Maori name for the city’s once-beautiful but now…Sat, 04 Jul 2026 06:32:14 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicpiano trioPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/orchestra-wellingtons-celebration-of-the-capitals-individual-and-interactive-instrumental-brilliance/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/07/orchestra-wellingtons-celebration-of-the-capitals-individual-and-interactive-instrumental-brilliance/This concert was replete with memories of formative music-listening experiences which have sung and danced throughout my musical life for almost fifty years – so the reader must forgive what seems like a self-indulgent bias regarding these…Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:00:42 GMTcelloconcertoorchestralstring quartetPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/a-world-encircling-winter-solstice-concert-compendium-from-the-wellington-city-orchestra/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/a-world-encircling-winter-solstice-concert-compendium-from-the-wellington-city-orchestra/Winter Solstice day in Wellington! and with it a venturesome programme of music from the Wellington City Orchestra! True, there was little or no ostensible relationship as regards the pieces’ content to the Solstice date and its marking of…Thu, 25 Jun 2026 12:00:40 GMTconcertocontemporary musicNew Zealand musicorchestraltubaPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/at-last-nz-operas-2021-take-on-mozarts-the-marriage-of-figaro-makes-it-to-wellington/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/at-last-nz-operas-2021-take-on-mozarts-the-marriage-of-figaro-makes-it-to-wellington/This was an opera audience that bubbled with pleasurable satisfaction long after the bringing down of the curtain at Wellington’s St.James Theatre on Wednesday evening earlier this week. NZ Opera’s eagerly-awaited (and at that time…Sun, 21 Jun 2026 02:16:35 GMToperaPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/aotearoa-and-china-a-musical-dialogue-presented-by-jian-liu/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/aotearoa-and-china-a-musical-dialogue-presented-by-jian-liu/What a thoughtfully curated concert by Associate Professor Jian Liu of Te Koki New Zealand School of Music Victoria University of Wellington. This was a brilliant piano journey through both the place and the culture of New Zealand and…Mon, 15 Jun 2026 12:00:34 GMTcontemporary musicmusic from ChinaNew Zealand musicpianoPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/orchestra-wellington-in-full-swing-with-escapist-new-york-jazz/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/orchestra-wellington-in-full-swing-with-escapist-new-york-jazz/Liebermann’s Concerto for Jazz Band and Orchestra, accompanied by the Te Koki Jazz Band, delivered a vibrant dance-hall sound. The pacy cymbals and trombone (the latter led by Jakob Elijas) had the audience toe-tapping and…Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:55 GMTchoralJazz-bandpianovocalPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/nota-bene-brings-them-in-for-some-mellifluous-music-making-at-st-andrews/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/06/nota-bene-brings-them-in-for-some-mellifluous-music-making-at-st-andrews/What an inspirational title for a concert! – words obviously intended to quicken the interest and activate any curiosity! And it all seemed to have worked a treat, as St.Andrew’s-on-The-Terrace Church proceeded to fill up with people…Thu, 04 Jun 2026 12:00:03 GMTchoraltwo-piano duoPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/the-korimako-trio-culmination-of-a-miraculous-weekend-in-the-capital/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/the-korimako-trio-culmination-of-a-miraculous-weekend-in-the-capital/I’ve already acclaimed the occasion of this concert given by the Korimako Trio in Middle C’s previous review ( https://middle-c.org/2026/05/nztrios-sensational-dreamscape-concert-sweet-relief-for-wellington/ ), regarding it as one of an…Wed, 27 May 2026 23:56:40 GMTchamber musicpiano trioPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/nztrios-sensational-dreamscape-concert-sweet-relief-for-wellington/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/nztrios-sensational-dreamscape-concert-sweet-relief-for-wellington/Oh, to be in Wellington! – annus mirabilis 2026! How ironic that, when we’re in the throes of an unprecedentedly savage institutionalised attack by the Coalition Government on our city’s lifeblood of productive public employment activity,…Mon, 25 May 2026 12:00:33 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicNew Zealand musicpiano trioPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/nzso-reaches-for-mahlers-titan-via-ades-and-korngold/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/nzso-reaches-for-mahlers-titan-via-ades-and-korngold/The evening opened with promise, with a bright and warm introduction from Gemma New, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s conductor and Artistic Advisor. As the first woman to hold the post of principal conductor at NZSO, New never fails to…Sat, 23 May 2026 12:00:22 GMTconcertocontemporary musicorchestralviolinPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/trio-obscura-singular-tones-and-timbres-bringing-to-life-old-and-new-music-with-verve-and-sensitivity/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/trio-obscura-singular-tones-and-timbres-bringing-to-life-old-and-new-music-with-verve-and-sensitivity/Trio Obscura’s name reminded me somewhat of TS Eliot’s wonderfully idiosyncratic poem “The Naming of Cats”, in which the poet describes a cat’s reverie when contemplating “…his ineffable, effable, effanineffable, deep and inscrutable,…Wed, 13 May 2026 12:00:20 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicNew Zealand musicoboepiano trioviolaPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/tales-of-the-new-zealand-string-quartet-2026/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/tales-of-the-new-zealand-string-quartet-2026/Concerts never cease to amaze! – even when the music is familiar, performers can illuminate what one thought was familiar territory and revitalise one’s responses with freshly-wrought approaches and energies. But there’s nothing like…Sat, 09 May 2026 12:00:44 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicNew Zealand musicstring quartetPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/wellington-youth-orchestra-with-mark-carter-serves-up-an-orchestral-feast/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/wellington-youth-orchestra-with-mark-carter-serves-up-an-orchestral-feast/“Pines to Pastures” was the Wellington Youth Orchestra’s programme-title for its first 2026 concert – it succinctly described the book-ends containing the action-packed musical journey we were taken upon by the orchestra and its…Tue, 05 May 2026 12:00:23 GMTorchestralyouth orchestraPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/echoes-of-woodland-scenes-rubbing-shoulders-with-companionable-coffee-houses-an-echt-viennese-musical-lunchtime-experien/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/05/echoes-of-woodland-scenes-rubbing-shoulders-with-companionable-coffee-houses-an-echt-viennese-musical-lunchtime-experien/Every now and then in a concert one encounters music one has never before heard, or even heard of, and sometimes even whose composer has a name one doesn’t know. On certain occasions audiences sit primly and attentively and at the end…Sat, 02 May 2026 12:00:28 GMTchamber musicFrench hornpianoviolinPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/bright-capricious-and-colourful-arohanui-strings-benefit-concert-at-roseneath-wellington-s-long-hall/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/bright-capricious-and-colourful-arohanui-strings-benefit-concert-at-roseneath-wellington-s-long-hall/One of the more delightful aspects of concert-going is the singular pleasure of encountering “new music” on the programme – by “new”, I mean in this instance music that one has never before encountered, rather than something…Thu, 30 Apr 2026 12:00:33 GMTchamber musicPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/scriabin-and-rachmaninov-from-tony-lee-a-piano-fanciers-ultimate-dream-concert/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/scriabin-and-rachmaninov-from-tony-lee-a-piano-fanciers-ultimate-dream-concert/Perhaps the use of the word “ultimate” in the heading unfairly inflates the overall impact of what was, in anybody’s language, a sensational recent display of piano-playing in all aspects of the art-form. This was delivered by Australian…Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:00:47 GMTpianoSt Andrew's lunchtime concertPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/gary-wily-to-those-who-dwell-in-realms-of-day/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/gary-wily-to-those-who-dwell-in-realms-of-day/Gary Wilby himself regards his sound-creations as “miniatures and intimate”, echoing in a real sense something of poet William Blake’s respect for small things, with the latter’s words “a world in a grain of sand”, reflecting Wilby’s own…Sun, 26 Apr 2026 12:00:53 GMTcellocontemporary musicelectric pianoNew Zealand musicrecordingviolinPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/two-far-flung-universalities-from-the-orpheus-choir-mozart-and-christopher-tin/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/two-far-flung-universalities-from-the-orpheus-choir-mozart-and-christopher-tin/Music can readily speak to us from across the ages, especially with word-settings of frequently-performed choral works, from Renaissance and Baroque times, throughout the classical and romantic eras and into and including works up to the…Wed, 22 Apr 2026 12:00:29 GMTchoralcontemporary musicPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/saxophone-opening-up-the-chamber-vistas-simon-brew-with-the-amici-ensemble-at-st-andrews/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/saxophone-opening-up-the-chamber-vistas-simon-brew-with-the-amici-ensemble-at-st-andrews/The saxophone as a musical instrument has made quite a journey – its inventor, Adolphe Sax, intended his instrument as a kind of “missing link” between winds and brass in the symphony orchestra, wanting to combine the power of brass…Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:00:22 GMTchamber musiccontemporary musicsaxophonePeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/resonances-from-the-new-zealand-symphony-orchestra-suggestive-ravel-effusive-dessner-and-harrowing-shostakovich/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/resonances-from-the-new-zealand-symphony-orchestra-suggestive-ravel-effusive-dessner-and-harrowing-shostakovich/The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra’s latest concert brought together three disparate works under the generic title ”Resonance”, demonstrating orchestral music’s well-nigh infinite variety of evocation in drawing from both specific and…Wed, 15 Apr 2026 01:23:15 GMTPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/pianist-otis-prescott-mason-an-unexpected-but-precious-gift-for-us-of-schuberts-heavenly-g-major-sonata-d-894/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/04/pianist-otis-prescott-mason-an-unexpected-but-precious-gift-for-us-of-schuberts-heavenly-g-major-sonata-d-894/Firstly, a bit of background, which I gleaned from the concert’s programme leaflet – pianist Otis Prescott-Mason has recently completed his undergraduate studies with Dr.Jian Liu at the New Zealand School of Music here in Wellington.…Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:00:59 GMTpianoSt Andrew's lunchtime concertPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/music-from-the-memory-in-the-air-and-on-the-wing-all-from-wellington-city-orchestras-opening-2026-concert/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/music-from-the-memory-in-the-air-and-on-the-wing-all-from-wellington-city-orchestras-opening-2026-concert/This opening Wellington City Orchestra concert of 2026, brought to its audience a truly engaging and stimulating programmme. Conductor Justus Rozemond and his WCO musicians here followed up their enterprising 2025 concert of works by…Tue, 31 Mar 2026 12:00:00 GMTconcertocontemporary musicNew Zealand musicorchestralviolinPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/still-more-musical-miracles-reported-and-evidenced-in-wellington-this-time-at-roseneaths-the-long-hall/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/still-more-musical-miracles-reported-and-evidenced-in-wellington-this-time-at-roseneaths-the-long-hall/The creative spirit continues to work wonders in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa – (“Kei te ora tonu te wairua auaha ki Te Whanganui-a-Tara o Aotearoa”)Tue, 24 Mar 2026 12:00:47 GMTbenefit concertcellochamber musicclassicalcontemporary musicNew Zealand musicstring quartetviolinPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/masterpieces-from-masterly-musicians-shafts-of-gold-in-the-gloom-a-st-andrews-lunchtime-concert-from-rolf-gjelsten-and-n/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/masterpieces-from-masterly-musicians-shafts-of-gold-in-the-gloom-a-st-andrews-lunchtime-concert-from-rolf-gjelsten-and-n/“Two masterpieces for the ‘cello-and-piano repertoire, delivered by a pair of musicians regarded as among the country’s top players of their respective instruments” – well, it sounds like nothing less than a dream prescription for a…Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:00:39 GMTcellochamber musicpianoSt Andrew's lunchtime concertPeter Mechenhttps://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/an-anniversary-concert-with-delights-aplenty-from-performers-music-and-venue-benjamin-brittens-les-illuminations/https://middle-c.pages.dev/2026/03/an-anniversary-concert-with-delights-aplenty-from-performers-music-and-venue-benjamin-brittens-les-illuminations/The last time I heard Benjamin Britten’s haunting song-cycle “Les Illuminations” make an appearance in a Wellington concert programme was in 2009, featuring tenor Benjamin Fifita Makisi , with Marc Taddei conducting the Orchestra…Tue, 10 Mar 2026 12:00:37 GMTPeter Mechen