This event has been cancelled.
Giancarlo Guerrero Conductor
Joshua Pearson New Commission (World Premiere)
Shostakovich Shostakovich 7 Revealed
Shostakovich Symphony No. 7 Leningrad
Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony is legendary. Titled Leningrad Symphony, it premiered in 1942 in the midst of the Siege of Leningrad, a brutal blockade of the city by Nazi forces. Written in a white-hot heat in between Shostakovich’s frequent evacuations to bomb shelters, the work was premiered by a cobbled-together orchestra of army recruits and those professional musicians who hadn’t yet starved to death. Despite the incomprehensible misery of the times, the symphony was held up as a defiant symbol of resistance against Nazi invasion. Its premiere was even played over speakers throughout the city to broadcast the Russian people’s refusal to give in. Smuggled in the work’s subtext, however, is Shostakovich’s critique of Stalinist oppression. Today, the work is seen as a heroic expression of the people’s fight against adversity, and against all odds. Shostakovich’s monumental symphony will be performed by the NYO alongside the NZSO.
Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony will be further unpacked in Shostakovich 7 Revealed, an interactive presentation that lets you delve even deeper into this masterpiece.
In addition, a new commission by the 2020 NYO Composer in Residence, Joshua Pearson, will be premiered. Conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero, this concert featuring New Zealand’s finest young musicians will undoubtedly prove to be a landmark event.
$2 per hour to a max of $12 on weekends and a $12 flat rate for weekday evenings at The Civic car park. Find out more.