CSO Curator's Series: Haydn, Lardelli

Haydn Symphony No. 51 in B♭ Major, Hoboken I/51

Lardelli Lion's Heart and Brightest Star

Chad Kelly - Conductor

Haydn pulls off a party trick in his inventive Symphony No. 51. Best known for its wild, virtuosic horn writing, where registers swing from high to low, the work is full of surprise, humour, and structural wit. Composed by the prodigious Austrian composer around 1774, this symphony may have poise, but it is built on a real cheek underneath. Featuring two French Horns, with one playing very high and one playing very low, Haydn pushes them to their absolute limits.

Aotearoa New Zealand composer Dylan Lardelli (Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tūhoe) premieres a new work Lion’s Heart and Brightest Star. Dylan's style of composition and technique are innovative and explore gesture, colour, physicality and memory in surprising and unique ways. Lion's Heart and Brightest Star is specifically created around Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation of Leo. It briefly appears at dawn in eastern skies during the start of September, marking the beginnings of Spring, and is lost in the brilliance of twilight.