THE TRUSTS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OPERA IN CONCERT 7.30PM, FRIDAY 14 JULY AUCKLAND TOWN HALL AUCKLAND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra is Renowned for its innovation, passion New Zealand’s full-time, professional, and versatility, the APO collaborates with metropolitan orchestra, serving the some of New Zealand’s most inventive country’s largest and most vibrant city with artists. In 2017 the APO performs with a comprehensive programme of concerts, Pop-up Globe, The Dust Palace circus and education and outreach activities. theatre company, and together with Jon Toogood, Julia Deans, Laughton Kora and In more than 50 mainstage performances Anna Coddington in a concert celebrating annually, the APO presents a full season the musical legacy of David Bowie. The of symphonic work, showcasing many APO also supports several New Zealand of the world’s finest classical musicians. concert premieres in 2017, including Recent high-profile artists include Vladimir singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, La Ashkenazy, violinists Ning Feng and Noah La Land film with live orchestra and Harry Bendix-Balgley, horn player Stefan Dohr, Potter Live in Concert. pianist Cédric Tiberghien and cellists Li-Wei Qin and Julian Steckel. Leading international Through its numerous APO Connecting artists in 2017 include composer/conductor (education, outreach and community) Tan Dun, violinists Alina Ibragimova and initiatives the APO offers opportunities to Chloë Hanslip, pianists Kathryn Stott more than 20,000 young people and adults and Behzod Abduraimov, and cellist nationwide to participate in music, ranging Torleif Thedéen. We are also delighted to from hip-hop and rock, to contemporary welcome back conductors Rumon Gamba and classical. and Andrew Gourlay, among others, to 100,000 people hear the orchestra live complement the presence of APO Music each year, with many thousands more Director Giordano Bellincampi. reached through special events, live The APO is proud to support both New streams, recordings and other media. Zealand Opera and the Royal New Zealand Ballet in their Auckland performances, as well as working in partnership with Auckland Arts Festival, the New Zealand International Film Festival and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition. CONTENTS Welcome 2 Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra 2017 5 Puccini’s Manon Lescaut 6 Acknowledgements 18 Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra receives major funding from Please consider others and mind that cough. A hand or handkerchief placed over the mouth greatly reduces the volume. Please turn off all watch alarms and mobile devices before entering the auditorium. It is strictly prohibited to take photographs, visual or audio recordings of any performance. Programme book Visiting international artists Programme notes by Tabatha McFadyen © 2017 Stay at Enjoy Season photography by Adrian Malloch Layout and print management The flowers presented on stage are generously donated Creative design by Scarecrow – Auckland city’s deli, café and florist. Puccini’s Manon Lescaut 2017 1 WELCOME 36 musicians. In this concert, we will present Puccini’s original orchestration, for the first time in New Zealand, with the full complement of 80 musicians. The orchestra and Maestro Giordano Bellincampi are excited to be taking on this timeless work with such a phenomenal line up of singers. This includes Italian soprano Serena Farnocchia in the title role and Italian tenor Massimo Giordano as her hapless lover Des Grieux. We are also delighted to be collaborating Since our first Opera in Concert one again with our friends from New Zealand composer has appeared more frequently Opera and grateful for the continued than any other. support of the Trusts Community Foundation in presenting our fourteenth Manon Lescaut was Puccini’s break-through Opera in Concert. success and at its 1893 premiere received 30 curtain calls. It is impassioned and Barbara Glaser addictive, much like the title character herself. Chief Executive Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Tragic heroines are a common theme in Puccini’s work. A master of operatic realism, he has created some of opera’s most memorable moments – think Turandot’s Nessun dorma, and the respective deaths of his two heroines in La Bohème and Madama Butterfly. Perhaps this is what drew him to Prévost’s novel, from which Manon Lescaut is adapted? Manon Lescaut was last performed in Auckland in 1984, at the Mercury Theatre, with a reduced orchestra of approximately 2 apo.co.nz The APO plays a vital role in the trustees’ arts strategy, delivering a programme for West Auckland secondary schools to attend the annual Connecting with Music concert; APO Adventures West, an open orchestra event at The Trusts Arena; and APO 4 Kids Christmas, an annual concert for young children in West Auckland. TTCF’s support also helps to ensure that the APO can attract and retain musicians of the highest calibre, which is why we are proud of our commitment to a violist’s chair held by Greg McGarity and a trombonist’s The Trusts Community Foundation (TTCF) is chair held by Mark Close. delighted to be a strong supporter of Opera in Concert, the cornerstone of the Auckland We very much hope that you will enjoy Philharmonia Orchestra’s annual programme. tonight’s operatic masterpiece, Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, performed by wonderful TTCF’s partnership with the APO was guest artists and Auckland’s own world- established in 1998, a relationship that class orchestra, conducted by Music continues to grow and develop. We Director, Maestro Giordano Bellincampi. increasingly value the role that the APO plays. It delivers not only world-class main Ross Clow stage concerts but also APO Connecting, Chairman an extensive community and education The Trusts Community Foundation programme for toddlers through to aspiring professional musicians – a programme also supported by TTCF. TTCF is proud to have West Auckland’s Portage and Waitakere Trusts as foundation members and it is the Portage trustees’ consistent recommendations that ensure TTCF’s ongoing support of APO’s Opera in Concert is an easy decision. Puccini’s Manon Lescaut 2017 3 Proudly helping the APO bring you the best international talent. www.malcolmpacific.com 4 apo.co.nz AUCKLAND PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA 2017 MUSIC DIRECTOR CELLOS TRUMPETS Giordano Bellincampi Eliah Sakakushev-von Bismarck β Huw Dann β David Garner + Jonah Levy + CONCERTMASTER Liliya Arefyeva # Norman McFarlane + Andrew Beer James sang-oh Yoo # TROMBONES ASSOCIATE Katherine Hebley Douglas Cross β CONCERTMASTER You Lee Mark Close # Liu-Yi Retallick Callum Hall BASS TROMBONE ASSISTANT BASSES Timothy Sutton * CONCERTMASTER Gordon Hill β Miranda Adams Annabella Zilber + TUBA Evgueny Lanchtchikov # Tak Chun Lai * FIRST VIOLINS Matthias Erdrich Artur Grabczewski # Michael Steer TIMPANI Mark Bennett Steven Logan β Elzbieta Grabczewska FLUTES Ainsley Murray Emma Gerstein β PERCUSSION Alexander Shapkin Kathryn Moorhead + Eric Renick β Jennifer Raven # Caroline von Bismarck PICCOLO Shane Currey Yanghe Yu Jennifer Seddon-Mori * Lucy Qi Zhang HARP Yuri Cho OBOES Rebecca Harris * Satomi Suzuki Bede Hanley β Camille Wells + Guest Musicians for this event SECOND VIOLINS First Violin – Rosemary Harris Dianna Cochrane β COR ANGLAIS Second Violin – Charmian Keay, Xin (James) Jin + Martin Lee * Jiwon Lee, Irina Lgotkina William Hanfling # Viola – Wen Chuan Lin, Mary Wilson Rae Crossley-Croft = CLARINETS Cello – Jacky Siu Sarah Hart Bridget Miles (Bass Clarinet) + Bass – Hamish Gullick Jocelyn Healy Alexei Dupressoir (Bass Clarinet) + Principal Clarinet – Lionel Andrey Rachel Moody James Fry (Eb Clarinet) + Trombone – Benjamin Zilber Milena Parobczy BASSOONS Celeste – David Kelly Ewa Sadag Ingrid Hagan β Katherine Walshe Yang Rachel Guan Ebbett + COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE Esther Kim ~ Karlo Margetić CONTRABASSOON VIOLAS Ruth Brinkman * Proudly helping the APO bring you the best international talent. Robert Ashworth β David Samuel + HORNS β Section Principal Christine Bowie # Nicola Baker β = Section Leader Emeritus Anne Draffin # Emma Eden * * Principal Helen Bevin Carl Wells # + Associate Principal Ping Tong Chan Simon Williams # # Sub-Principal Gregory McGarity David Kay ~ APO Orchestral Fellow Susan Wedde www.malcolmpacific.com Puccini’s Manon Lescaut 2017 5 THE TRUSTS COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OPERA IN CONCERT PUCCINI’S MANON LESCAUT Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in association with New Zealand Opera Conductor Giordano Bellincampi Manon Lescaut Serena Farnocchia Des Grieux Massimo Giordano Lescaut Dalibor Jenis Geronte Pelham Andrews Also featuring Matteo Falcier Bianca Andrew James Ioelu The Freemasons New Zealand Opera Chorus 6 apo.co.nz SYNOPSIS Manon returns to enjoying the admiration of Geronte and his friends. ACT I After they have departed, Des Grieux Amiens, France, around 1720 appears, initially admonishing Manon for her A group of carefree students and their infidelity, but quickly succumbing to her pleas girlfriends are revelling in the summer for forgiveness. Geronte returns to see them evening outside an inn. Chevalier Des locked in a passionate embrace. He berates Grieux joins them and sings a tongue-in- Manon for having treated him so poorly cheek serenade to the girls. A carriage after he had so loved her; Manon retaliates arrives, bearing a young man (Lescaut), a by mocking his age, underestimating how clearly wealthy, old gallant (Geronte) and severely he will react to such a slight. After a very beautiful young woman. Des Grieux he leaves, Lescaut bursts in, telling them that is