Andreas Scholl with Musica Sacra

In what promises to be one of the most exciting musical events of 2011, superstar countertenor Andreas Scholl makes his first appearance in New Zealand for a concert of music by Bach and Handel. The concert is presented by Musica Sacra in association with THE EDGE International Arts Season.

The programme includes virtuoso countertenor arias from Handel’s operas Rodelinda and Xerxes, including the famous Ombra mai fù. In extracts from Handel’s oratorio Solomon, Scholl will be 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, is one of his greatest compositions.

As a bonus for ticket-holders for this concert, there will be a free half-hour concert on the Town Hall Organ, to be given by Indra Hughes with music by Bach and Handel, starting at 6.15pm.

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).

Event listed by Indra Hughes

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