The present recital, featuring violinist Martin Riseley and pianist Jian Liu, was one of a series of concerts organized this year by the New Zealand School of Music. Martin Riseley has on at least one previous occasion given me short-term lockjaw in the open position, when he played the 24 Caprices of Niccolo Paganini at a concert I attended in Wellington a little over three years ago. Playing those works... read more

After two changes of programme, the concert ended up as a solo recital.  The connection with the original advertised performers, Ensemble Futuna, seems to be that Simon McLellan is one of the Trustees of the Friends of Futuna Society.  So we are still in the dark as to the make-up of the Ensemble, and were sorry not to hear Hone Tuwhare’s... read more

This was the last for this year of the Hutt City lunchtime concert series.  Since early June, numerous worthwhile concerts have taken place, and the organisers are to be commended for their efforts in putting the series together. Both the performers in the duo migrated to New Zealand – one from England; one from Germany – to teach in Nelson.  They now contribute to the musical life of Wellington, with... read more

The lunch-time concert was more than usually dramatic, with an earthquake occurring while Julian Baker was playing his Bach, but he carried right on, and showed no sign of discomposure. First on the programme, though, was Annabel Drummond, a first-year student, playing the Brahms movement.  This is a long movement, marked vivace ma non troppo.  There were a few slight intonation glitches, but the expressive playing and superb tone Annabel... read more

The ‘Full Circle’ of the title of the concert was due to the fact that this was the 20^th anniversary concert of the choir, and the programme being performed was virtually the same as that performed at the initial concert. The choir was founded by Professor Peter Godfrey at the request of two local singers: Paddy Nash and Pat Barry.  Peter Godfrey was present at the concert, as was his... read more

Rarely does a concert begin more poetically than when Schubert's music is involved - or so it always seems at the time. The opening exchanges between piano and, in this case, viola, of the intriguingly-named "Arpeggione" Sonata brought their own resonance and warmth to the somewhat ungrateful acoustic of the Lower Hutt Little Theatre, thanks to both pianist Michael Houstoun's and violist Sergey Malov's lyrical, deeply-felt playing. Schubert's "Arpeggione" Sonata... read more

Though it has become conventional not to perform individual movements of extended works of music, it often works quite well. This admirable recital did that very successfully, with the first movement – the Adagio – from Bach’s solo Violin Sonata No 1 in G minor, and again with the first two movements – Allegro and Adagio – from Brahms’s Third Violin Sonata. Only those quite familiar with the works... read more

What these recitals demonstrated was the very high standard of musicians emerging from university today.  All have had performance experience (once much harder to obtain than now), and have emerged fully rounded recitalists. It is sad that few members of the public attended the violin recital compared with those at the vocalists’; singers have more glamour and appeal, obviously. Tabea Squire played the Ciaconna from Bach’s Partita no.2 for solo violin... read more

Tasmin Little is in New Zealand as one of the adjudicators for the Michael Hill International Violin Competition, but she has also played the Sibelius Concerto with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and a solo concert in Christchurch in the place of a concert with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra since the earthquake damaged the Town Hall.

Her Naked Violin performances was arranged in Hamilton and Wellington through the chamber... read more