International Akaroa Music Festival – Cellissimo

Edith Salzmann, cello
Alexander Gebert, cello
Alvin Wong, cello
Inbal Megiddo, cello
and cello students of the Akaroa Summer School.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Brandenburg Concerto No.6 arr. for cello ensemble

Sergei Rachmaninov
Vocalise

Gabriel Faure
Pavane and Apres un Reve

Philippe Hersant
In Nomine

Kaija Saariaho
Neiges

David Arnold
Casino Royale
arr. James Barralet

Franz Schubert
Die Biene

Gioachino Rossini
Wilhelm Tell Overture

The cello is universally loved for its mellow tenor register, and nothing compares with the warm and powerful sound that results when several cellos play together in rich harmony. A dream-team of international maestri, Edith Salzmann, Alexander Gebert, Alvin Wong and Inbal Megiddo, is joined by the young up-and-coming stars of the PNJA Akaroa Summer School to present a concert of beauty and exuberance. On the programme are arrangements of such melancholy favourites as Rachmaninov’s ‘Vocalise’ and Fauré’s ‘Pavane’ and ‘Après un rêve’, counterbalanced by the energy and vigour of Bach’s rhythmic sixth Brandenburg Concerto and Rossini’s infectious William Tell Overture. Two original works by leading contemporary composers add profundity and abstraction to the programme, while a sensational rendition of the James Bond classic Casino Royale round off a concert that is guaranteed to be spectacularly good fun.