A pared-down New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, of 36 string and percussion players is performing "Carmen Suite" in Dunedin on Tuesday.
Unusually, there is no conductor so concertmaster Vesa-Matti Leppänen will direct the performance from his seat, as well as playing some tricky virtuosic lines and conducting the lights for Takemitsu's Rain Tree.
Composed in 1981, Rain Tree, scored solely for marimba, vibraphone and crotales, is based on the title of the novel The Ingenious Rain Tree by Kenzaburo Oé. The lights are beneath the players and create a striking effect through the percussion instruments themselves, like rays of light on to the tree.
In contrast, the austere beauty and spiritual depth of Arvo Pärt's Fratres evokes a world of sublime mystery.
Written in 1977, it is one of the composer's earliest works to explore tintinnabulation and was the first to explore the concept using dissonant intervals.
Opening the eclectic concert is the premiere of New Zealand composer and conductor Kenneth Young's new commission Portrait, which uses four percussion, timpani, harp and violin. To complete the concert, Shchedrin's witty and entertaining Carmen Suite for Strings and Percussion sparkles with the original tunes from Bizet's opera.
The concert uses almost every percussion instrument the NZSO owns, and the truck is so full of them they can hardly fit in the music stands, according to publicity manager Janina Nicoll.
Catch them
• The NZSO Soloists will give their concert, "Carmen Suite," at the Regent Theatre on April 3 at 6.30pm.
