Renowned English pianist to perform Beethoven cycle with NZSO

News: 8 June 2022

NZSO media release.

Acclaimed English pianist Paul Lewis will perform Beethoven's entire Piano Concerto cycle with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in Auckland this August.

Lewis, highly regarded for his interpretations of Beethoven's piano works, joins the NZSO directly from the United States just days after performing the Beethoven Piano Concerto cycle at the prestigious Tanglewood festival with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and a separate solo recital at the Aspen Music Festival.

Pianist Paul Lewis photo by Kaupo Kikkas, courtesy of the NZSO.

The concerts on 12, 13 and 14 August will be the first time in Aotearoa New Zealand that all Beethoven Piano Concertos are performed in the same city over three consecutive days.

American virtuoso violinist Hilary Hahn was to have performed with the NZSO in Auckland on the same three dates. However, due to a change in her personal schedule, Hahn has had to reduce her time in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The three-time Grammy Award winner will now perform one concert with the NZSO in Auckland on 5 August. To accommodate the change, Hahn's concert in Wellington on 5 August moves to 4 August. Hahn's other Wellington concerts with the NZSO on 6 and 7 August will still go ahead.

Violinist Hilary Hahn photo by Dana van Leeuwen, courtesy of the NZSO.

NZSO Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor Gemma New will lead the Orchestra for all concerts featuring Hahn and Lewis, which are part of the NZSO's Immerse festival in association with The New Zealand Herald.

Hahn last performed with the NZSO on its triumphant European tour in 2010. Since then, she has continued to be one of the most sought-after violinists in world. In 2015 Hahn won her third Grammy Award.

With the NZSO, Hahn will perform Prokofiev's masterly Violin Concerto No. 1 in Wellington and Auckland, followed in Wellington by performances of Brahms' stunning Violin Concerto and Ernest Chausson's Poème, one of the French composer's best-known works.

Truth and Beauty

in Association with The New Zealand Herald

GEMMA NEW Conductor

HILARY HAHN Violin

JOHN RIMMER Lahar

PROKOFIEV Violin Concerto No.1

SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Thursday 4 August| 7.30pm

AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Friday 5 August| 7.30pm

Style and Substance

in Association with The New Zealand Herald

GEMMA NEW Conductor

HILARY HAHN Violin

BRAHMS Violin Concerto

TABEA SQUIRE Variations

JOHN ADAMS Doctor Atomic Symphony

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Saturday 6 August| 7.30pm

Love Triumphant

in Association with The New Zealand Herald

GEMMA NEW Conductor

HILARY HAHN Violin

RAVEL Ma Mere L'Oye Suite (Mother Goose Suite)

CHAUSSON Poème

RIMSKY-KORSAKOV Scheherazade

WELLINGTON | Michael Fowler Centre|Sunday 7 August| 2.00pm

Orpheus

in Association with The New Zealand Herald

GEMMA NEW Conductor

PAUL LEWIS Piano

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 1

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 4

AUCKLAND | Town Hall|Friday 12 August| 7.30pm

Reverence

in Association with The New Zealand Herald

GEMMA NEW Conductor

PAUL LEWIS Piano

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