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One of New Zealand’s most internationally lauded conductors will lead the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in southern performances this month.
The NZSO’s "Serenade” Dunedin concert will be held next Wednesday, October 21, from 7.30pm at Dunedin Town Hall.
Chinese-born New Zealander Tianyi Lu will conduct an evening of music by classical giants Haydn and Brahms, along with 19th-century Swedish composer and pioneering women’s rights campaigner Elfrida Andree.
The NZSO principal cellist Andrew Joyce is guest soloist for the concerts, performing Haydn’s Cello Concerto No.1 — one of the first concertos to treat the cello as a virtuoso instrument.
In a statement, Joyce said it was always “an absolute joy for me to return to Haydn’s C major concerto”.
“The piece is full of charm, beauty and a sparkling energy that makes it so appealing both to play and to listen to,” he said.
Haydn wrote the concerto between 1761 and 1765, and it was believed lost for nearly two centuries until it was rediscovered in 1961. It has since become one of the most popular cello concertos ever written.
The concert’s other previously lost work is Andante Recitative by Andree, written in 1878 and rediscovered in the 1980s.
The evening will conclude with Brahms’ magnificent Serenade No.1, inspired by Mozart’s serenades — a favourite with audiences for its character and lyrical charm.
Tianyi Lu, a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the first female conductor-in-residence for the Welsh National Opera, made her international debut at the prestigious BBC Proms in 2024. She had previously conducted the NZSO National Youth Orchestra.
— Allied Media