Woodwind performance at home

TWO FLUTES: New Zealand Symphony Orchestra associate principal flutes Kirstin Eade (top) and section principal flutes Bridget Douglas perform in a free online performance that is part of the NZSO's Play Our Part series. Picture by Bridget Douglas

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra's woodwind musicians and harpist are in the spotlight for another of the orchestra's at-home livestream performance this week.

This week's Play Our Part features NZSO section principal flutes, Bridget Douglas, and associate principal flutes, Kirstin Eade. The pair perform the second movement from Wilhelm Friedemann Bach's Duet No. 4 for two flutes.

WF Bach was Johann Sebastian Bach's eldest son and is considered by many to be the most original and interesting of his composer offspring, says Douglas.

Douglas and Eade played and recorded the duet in their separate homes.

The two musicians normally sit next to each other on stage for every NZSO performance, says Eade.

“Sitting next to each other to play we've probably developed instinctive skills about how to shape and phrase the music together.

“With the live experience taken away, we've had to trust our instincts and inner pulse even more.”

The programme also features section principal bassoonist Robert Week who plays two movements from JS Bach's Cello Suite No. 3, and section principal oboist Robert Orr who performs Telemann's Fantasia No. 1.

NZSO section principal harpist Carolyn Mills will perform New Zealand composer Helen Fisher's Otari. Associate principal clarinettist Ellen Deverall will play a work yet to be announced.

Thousands of people viewed the first two Play Our Part performances and the orchestra is releasing other content online during the Covid-19 lockdown.