The Planets

Edo de Waart - Conductor
Susan Graham - Mezzo-soprano
Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir.

Anna Clyne - Abstractions: II, III, IV
Berlioz - La Mort de Cléopâtre (The Death of Cleopatra)
Holst - The Planets

Let the music paint pictures as you journey to Baltimore, Egypt and the edge of the Solar System in this awe-inspiring concert conducted by the NZSO Music Director Edo de Waart.

Composer Anna Clyne has collaborated with choreographers, artists, orchestras and musicians worldwide. One such collaboration, Abstractions II (Auguries), III (Seascape) and IV (River) was inspired by several artworks from the Baltimore Museum of Art.

La Mort de Cléopâtre (The Death of Cleopatra) by Hector Berlioz is a dramatic cantata, with text by French poet and playwright Pierre-Ange Vieillard.

It was composed when Berlioz was just 25 years old. Featuring leading American mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, whose operatic appearances include the Paris Opera, The Met, Milan’s La Scala and Covent Garden Royal Opera House.

English composer Gustav Holst’s most famous work, The Planets, finds inspiration not only in the planets of our solar system, but their astrological character. Written in seven movements (one for each of the known planets at the time) The first, Mars, inspired the composers of both the Star Wars and Gladiator movies. The last, Neptune, deploys an off-stage female choir. We are delighted to welcome Voices New Zealand to join us in this dramatic work.