Opera
Upbeat for Tuesday 24 July
The NZ Secondary Students Choir is stranded in Shanghai, NZSM announces a lullaby competition, Peter Hoar reviews Aida and we meet Lexus Song Quest judge Lisa Gasteen.
Upbeat for Monday 23 July
The Lexus Song Quest finalists have been announced, CSO concertmaster Martin Riseley returns for a dual role and we listen to music inspired by star-crossed lovers.
VERDI: Aida, Act 4
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's "Opera in Concert", recorded Auckland Town Hall, 20 July 2018 Audio
Opera director Stuart Maunder talks about 'Aida'
Stuart Maunder talks with Eva Radich about 'Aida' and the challenges of staging concert performances of opera. Audio
VERDI: Aida, Act 3
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's "Opera in Concert", recorded Auckland Town Hall, 20 July 2018 Audio
VERDI: Aida, Act 2
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's "Opera in Concert", recorded Auckland Town Hall, 20 July 2018 Audio
VERDI: Aida, Act 1
The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's "Opera in Concert", recorded Auckland Town Hall, 20 July 2018 Audio
Ronan Tighe discusses the plot of Aida
Ronan Tighe takes us through the story of Verdi's opera Aida. Audio
Lexus Song Quest: Pianist hits the right notes
We continue our coverage of the build up to the Lexus Song Quest semi-finals this week with long serving pianist Terence Dennis. He speaks about his history with the competition, the importance of… Audio
Upbeat for Wednesday 18 July
A new programme is established to encourage girls to try composing, Terence Dennis gives us an insight into the Lexus Song Quest and we continue celebrating variations.
Madama Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini
Cultures clash when a trusting young woman marries an American naval officer stationed in Nagasaki. Video
Coming up
Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti
Sparkling with virtuosic singing and playful humour, this boisterous comedy pits the miserly Don Pasquale against his nephew Ernesto and Ernesto’s sweetheart, the crafty young Norina Video
Coming up
Aida by Giuseppe Verdi
Verdi’s epic opera is also an intimate love story of an Egyptian military hero and a captured Ethiopian princess.
Coming up
Lots of love in NZ Opera’s Elixir for emerging artist Natasha Wilson
New Zealand Opera’s The Elixir of Love continues at Wellington’s Opera House. NZO’s emerging young artist Natasha Wilson injects energy, sass and warmth into her role has Giannetta – a community… Audio
Upbeat for Tuesday 26 June
New Zealand Opera emerging artist Natasha Wilson, how music helps children grasp language, UK charts recalibrate to include Youtube videos and we continue our Suite of the day.
Andrea Chénier by Umberto Giordano
Under the shadow of the French Revolution and its Reign of Terror, a poet and a servant-turned-revolutionary compete for the affections of a young aristocrat
Coming up
Dream of the Red Chamber by Bright Sheng
One of China’s greatest classical novels, as famous in China as ‘Romeo and Juliet’ is in the West, recounts the love triangle between a young nobleman and two very different women: one his spiritual…
Coming up
Upbeat for Tuesday 12 June
A stable of horses react to the a-mare-zing sounds of Bach, how listening to music at work alters your mind, NZSO with tenor Simon O’Neill is reviewed by Peter Hoar, Jazz Tui winner Umar Zakaria and…
Upbeat for Monday 11 June
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa receives a British Queen’s Birthday honour, Renee Fleming is up for a Tony, the APO goes disco and we celebrate rising stars for the start of Matariki.
Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod
Perhaps the most enduringly successful of the many operatic settings of the world’s greatest love story. Video
Coming up