Tuesday 29th March 2011, 8.00pm, Auckland Town Hall
Handel Coronation Anthem, Let thy hand be strengthened
Bach, Cantata 170, Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust
Handel, Arias, duets & choruses from Solomon, Rodelinda & Xerxes
Review of Andreas Scholl in concert with Musica Sacra and AK Barok (Reviewer: David Squire on RNZ Concert Upbeat Mon 5th April 2011)
“…a wonderful festive evening of fantastic baroque music performed very stylistically” ” AK Barok had a very, very important role…they kept it very simple which enabled Scholl’s voice to really come through” “…the whole concert was really well done…it was just a pleasure to be there.” “…wonderful playing from the baroque orchestra.”
In what was one of the most exciting musical events of 2011, superstar countertenor Andreas Scholl made his first appearance in New Zealand for a concert of music by Bach and Handel. The concert was presented by Musica Sacra in association with THE EDGE International Arts Season.
The programme included virtuoso countertenor arias from Handel’s operas Rodelinda and Xerxes, including the famous Ombra mai fù. In extracts from Handel’s oratorio Solomon, Scholl was joined by Musica Sacra and well known Wellington baroque soprano Pepe Becker for a thrilling selection of arias, duets and choruses, as well as The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba for orchestra; and Bach’s glorious Cantata 170 Vergnügte Ruh, for solo countertenor and orchestra, one of his greatest compositions.
Since his 1998 operatic debut at Glyndebourne in Handel’s Rodelinda, which won unprecedented praise from the British press, Andreas Scholl has consistently collected the top international awards for his many recordings and for his singing career. He appears in the world’s foremost festivals, opera houses and concert halls and has worked with the finest orchestras and conductors including Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, William Christie and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. “Andreas Scholl has the world’s most cultured countertenor voice. And during his three Handel arias some 6000 people scarcely dared breathe.” – Richard Morrison in The Times (2005, reviewing the Last Night of the Proms).
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