The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: Musical Landscapes: CANCELLED

Conductor: Carlos Miguel Prieto
Guitar: New Zealand Guitar Quartet

Michael Abels: Global Warming
Rodrigo: Concierto andaluz
Copland: Appalachian Spring: Suite
Ginastera: Variaciones concertantes

Writing at the end of the Cold War, the American composer Michael Abel was seized by the warming of international relations, and his piece springs from the optimism of that time.

Rodrigo’s flamenco-inspired concerto, for the unusual combination of four guitarists and orchestra, takes us to Andalucía to bask in the sun while breathing fragrant flowers. Open skies and rolling hills too in Copland’s timeless masterpiece, but this time in rural Pennsylvania.

And from Ginastera, another folk-inspired work for multiple soloists. This time, however, twelve members of the orchestra step briefly into the spotlight, one variation for each.