These young New Zealanders have all studied in the United Kingdom, and are currently playing professionally there.  Simonsen and Masters are no strangers to the Messiaen work, having jointly won the Granada Chamber Music Competition in the UK, performing this music.  They have considerable experience playing in chamber ensembles, orchestras, and solo, in New Zealand, UK, and Europe. Their all-French programme revealed how unlike French composers can be from one... read more

Trying to analyze either truth or beauty brings one to despair at the inadequacy of one's own command of language. And faced with the truth and beauty of a body of music such as Claudio Monteverdi's madrigals, I'm conscious that any words I might try to muster up to connect with, describe or explain any aspect of such glorious sounds are not going to match that selfsame glory. The... read more