The Romantic Generation

Orchestra Wellington presents the third concert of their 2024 season of THE STORY at 7:30pm on Saturday 17 August at the Michael Fowler Centre, with a free pre-concert talk beginning at 6:30pm.

The Romantic Generation features works which convey the inspiration of the era, so great that it still affects compositional and artistic practices today! This programme features the music of Igor Stravinsky and Paul Hindemith, alongside Erich Korngold’s luscious Violin Concerto performed by one of Aoeteroa's most brillliant and talented violinists, Orchestra Wellington Concertmaster and NZTrio violinist Amalia Hall, with stunning virtuosity.

Igor Stravinsky’s mother pointed out Tchaikovsky at a concert from a distance to him when he was 11. This became a cherished memory for the rest of his life, and his sorrow that the great master was taken away at the peak of his powers speak best to the genesis of The Fairy’s Kiss. In a clear demonstration of the influence of the Romantic era, Stravinsky features in The Fairy’s Kiss his unabashed love letter to Tchaikovsky and Romanticism. This is a work of exquisite beauty based on the great Russian master’s songs and piano music.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold was one of the 20th century’s most interesting child prodigies, hailed as a genius by both Mahler and Strauss. In the 1930s he began composing film scores, and in 1938 an invitation to score the Errol Flynn swashbuckler, The Adventures of Robin Hood, saved Korngold’s life as he left Austria to fulfil that commission shortly before the Anschluss. Placed in a concert dedicated to the inspiration of the Romantic Generation, Korngold’s Violin Concerto will add some “Hollywood Glamour” to works that pay tribute to the greatest Russian composer, and the father of German Romantic opera.

The Neoclassicist Paul Hindemith came to prominence during the Weimar Republic. His Symphonic Metamorphosis on themes of Carl Maria von Weber is deservedly his most popular work. Adapting music from an unfinished ballet project into this suite based on some little-known but very attractive piano duets by Weber, Hindemith managed to honour the source material while retaining his unique modern stylings. Although the themes are Romantic, Hindemith’s adaptation played with earlier forms, employing Baroque counterpoint alongside his modern tonalities and Expressionist tendencies.

Noted by The Strad for her "blazing insight and dazzling virtuosity", New Zealand violinist Amalia Hall is the Concertmaster of Orchestra Wellington, a member of NZTrio, and regularly performs internationally as a soloist. Amalia's international career blossomed from winning the top prize at five international competitions. She is also a major prize winner at numerous others, including the Joseph Joachim International Competition and International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians. As a teenager she won all of the major national music awards in New Zealand before completing studies at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music with Pamela Frank and Joseph Silverstein.

Since making her solo debut aged 9 with the Auckland Philharmonia, Amalia’s solo appearances have included I Virtuosi Italiani, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, United Strings of Europe, NDR Radiophilharmonie, National Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, Mexico State Symphony Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Filarmónica de Querétaro and Filarmónica de Acapulco.

Performances have taken Amalia throughout Europe, Asia, USA, South Africa, Australia, Mexico, Argentina, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Honduras, Lebanon and NZ. She has performed as Guest Concertmaster for l’Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Macao Orchestra, and recorded for Atoll, BIS, Bridge and Rattle Records.