Feng Ning

"...a master player... his virtuosity is breathtaking but he also possesses a real sense for the poetic, and he makes a wonderfully pure sound as well." John Button, Dominion Post, August 2008

Glazunov’s Violin Concerto Opus 82 in A minor is the perfect showcase for the phenomenal talents of international award winning Chinese violinist, Feng Ning. Winner of dozens of prestigious prizes including the Premio Paganini Violin Competition in Italy in 2006 and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand in 2005, Feng Ning stunned audiences when he appeared with CSO in 2008 and we are delighted he makes his return in this exquisite programme.

It was whilst he was Director of the St Petersburg Conservatory that Alexander Glazunov wrote this Violin Concerto. At the height of his creative powers it is reputed his best works date from that period. The concerto displays his technical brilliance in three movements, which are performed as a single
continuous piece.

Sir William Southgate, CSO Conductor Laureate, continues his long Beethoven association with
this orchestra, with the composer’s Symphony No. 2.

New Zealand composers dominate the second half with Sir William Southgate’s arrangement of Larry Pruden’s Solioguy for Strings, followed by the rhapsodic and romantic Symphony No. 2 by Douglas Lilburn.