Take a musical trip from Aotearoa to Italy with the NZSO

NZSO music director emeritus James Judd and the orchestra. Photo / Latitude Creative

The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra is coming to Taupō next month.

The NZSO promises to takes audiences “on a musical journey from Aotearoa to Italy”, with performances in Kāpiti, Wairarapa, Hastings, Taupō (Great Lake Centre, June 8) and Hamilton in June.

NZSO music director emeritus James Judd conducts a breathtaking collection of music in Stravinsky & Mendelssohn Portraits of Italy as part of the orchestra’s popular Setting Up Camp winter tour.

The concert begins in the deep south of Aotearoa New Zealand with Anthony Ritchie’s Whakatipua, a musical portrait of the awe-inspiring landscapes around Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown.

Igor Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite brings to life the famed, and often naughty puppet Punch, a comical character of early Italian theatre. Based on Stravinsky’s 1920 ballet of the same name, the Pulcinella Suite is a feast of catchy neo-Baroque dance tunes.

German composer Felix Mendelssohn was inspired by his travels across Italy in 1830 when he wrote the concert’s grand finale Italian Symphony. Mendelssohn himself declared the symphony as “the jolliest piece I have ever done”.

Cheerful and toe-tapping, it’s music that will leave audiences feeling as if they’ve bathed in Italian sunshine.

Maestro Judd is no stranger to NZSO concerts with an Italian theme. Wellington’s The Post praised his Travels in Italy concert in 2017 as “strong, full-bodied and shimmering with conviction”, while The Press was captivated by “an imaginative and enthralling programme, magnificently played by an exceptional orchestra”.

As part of Setting Up Camp, the orchestra stays in each centre for up to three days to present concerts and community events for the whole whānau.

Along with Portraits of Italy, the 2023 tour includes Side-by-Side concerts, where community orchestras perform on stage with the NZSO.

This year Hawke’s Bay Community Orchestra, Hawke’s Bay Training Orchestra and Hawke’s Bay Youth Orchestra will each have a memorable session with the NZSO in Hastings on June 7.

Side-by-Side is also in Taupō on June 8 and in Hamilton on June 9, where the latter features Youth Orchestra Waikato and Trust Waikato Symphony Orchestra.

Tickets are available via Eventfinda (Paraparaumu, Hastings), cartertonec.co.nz (Carterton), Ticketek (Taupō, Hamilton).