From Carmen to Carmina

For two nights only two of New Zealand's premier arts companies will share the Aotea Centre stage in a gala concert that promises an exuberant evening of opera, choral and orchestral works featuring many opera highlights and one of the most exhilarating cantatas ever written.

The evening is broken into two parts with part one featuring well-known opera highlights including excerpts from Bizet's sensuous Carmen, Saint-Saën's tempestuous Samson et Dalila, the choral brilliance of Borodin's Polovtsian Dances and the intoxicating Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana.

The second part will be a performance of one of the 20th century's most widely recognised works - Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, a timeless work meshing words, music and centuries together. Blending medieval and modern, Orff revitalises the provocative and profane poetry belonging to a lost world of rebellious Benedictine clergy, into rousing songs of earthly desire, fate and fortune. With powerful orchestration and invigorating choral forces, Carmina Burana embodies the classical and contemporary, spiritual and pagan into a timeless masterpiece.

Bringing together this powerful and passionate array of work - performed by the Auckland Philharmonia, the NBR New Zealand Opera's 70-strong Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus and guest soloists Jared Holt, Helen Medlyn, James Meng and Jenny Wollerman - is esteemed English conductor, Jonathan Grieves-Smith.

Starring

Auckland Philharmonia and Chapman Tripp Opera Chorus
Jonathan Grieves-Smith - conductor
Jared Holt (2000 Mobil Song Quest winner) - baritone
Helen Medlyn - mezzo
James Meng - tenor
Jenny Wollerman - soprano