Jubilation: Strauss & Shostakovich

Henry Meng Fanfare
Richard Strauss Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
Sai Natarajan We Long For An Adventure
Shostakovich Symphony No. 9

NZSO’s Music Director Emeritus James Judd is a familiar face to audiences after his eight year stint as the Orchestra’s Music Director. During that time, he lifted the Orchestra’s profile internationally, leading the NZSO on tours to Japan, Korea and Europe and conducting them in acclaimed recordings. He returns to conduct Strauss’s orchestral suite Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, from the Seventeenth-century play about a man's attempts to appear as someone he is not, and the foolish reality of who he is. Its jolly atmosphere is well matched by Shostakovich’s Ninth Symphony.

Though its iconic fourth-movement bassoon solo provides an oasis of deeply swelling anguish, overall, the Ninth is Shostakovich at his wittiest and most entertaining. Finally, Judd shows his characteristic generosity and support of Kiwi music by conducting two works by young Kiwi composers. Henry Meng and Sai Natarajan were both 2022/2023 TODD Composer Awards finalists, and their respective pieces are celebrations of both youth and the spirit of adventure.