The New Zealand Herald Premier Series: Bach & Bruckner

Conductor Karl-Heinz Steffens
Piano David Fray

J.S. Bach Keyboard Concerto No.5, BWV 1056
J.S. Bach Keyboard Concerto No.4, BWV 1055
Bruckner Symphony No.9

Bruckner never finished his last symphony. It consists of a massive opening statement, a shocking blast of demonic fast music, and then a slow movement which is a timeless meditation on eternity. Yet this titanic structure somehow does not have the feel of a fragment; it is entire in itself.

This sublime music is perfectly twinned with J.S. Bach, a composer touched by the divine but also a composer of ineffable humanity. The lithe French pianist David Fray, a Bach authority, unveils music that's the perfect blend of the playful and the profound.

Notes Fund - Music for this concert has been supported by Anne Hargreaves and Mathew Mercuri

Please Note: Karl-Heinz Steffens will replace the previously advertised, Johannes Fritzsch who has been forced to withdraw from this concert because of an injury he recently sustained in Europe.