Christopher’s Classics Autumn Series

Christopher’s Classics Autumn Series presents on Tuesday 23rd May 2017 Pianist Diedre Irons teams up with NZ Symphony Orchestra concert master, Vesa-Matti Leppanen on violin with NZSO principals Julia Joyce (viola) and Andrew Joyce (cello).  This marvelous quartet will perform Schubert, Mahler, Schnittke and Brahms.

Mahler – Piano Quartet in A minor

Schnittke – Piano Quartet in A minor

Brahms – Piano Quartet Op 25 in G minor

In this concert, well loved pianist Diedre Irons is joined by her friends from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra – NZSO Concert Master Vesa-Matti Leppanen, Principal Viola Julia Joyce and Principal Cello Andrew Joyce.

Their chosen repertoire includes Schubert’s brilliant Adagio and Rondo Concertante, designed as a showpiece for the pianist.  It is not only one of the few works the composer wrote in this style, but it is his first composition for piano and string ensemble, preceding the Trout Quintet by three years.

The Piano Quartet in A minor is an early work of Gustav Mahler, composed when he was 15 or 16 and apparently never completed. It was rediscovered by Mahler’s widow in the 1960s and premiered in New York by Peter Serkin and the Galimir Quartet in 1964. Schnittke wrote his Piano Quartet in A minor as a companion piece to Mahler’s single movement in 1988.

The concert ends with the Brahms Piano Quartet Op. 25, premiered in 1861 with Clara Schumann as pianist.  The is one of Brahm’s happiest compositions.

Tickets $40; full-time students with ID, $15 Door sales: Cash. Eftpos: Cash can be withdrawn using eftpos from The Piano drinks bar. Online tickets: www.eventfinda.co.nz Additional fees apply.

For information: contact Diana Moir (03) 355 2691; 021 126 5738; dhmoir@xtra.co.nz