Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra

Conductor - Alan Buribayev Piano - Sylvia Jiang Melody Eötvös - The Saqqara Bird Prokofiev - Piano Concerto No.2 Rimsky-Korsakov - Scheherazade Audience favourite Alan Buribayev takes the podium as Sylvia Jiang returns to join her home-town orchestra with Prokofiev’s steely, ferociously difficult concerto. Written when its composer was only 22 years old, it’s a suitable foil for this prodigiously gifted pianist. Australian composer Melody Eötvös found her imagination sparked by a model of a bird, carved of sycamore 2000 years ago and discovered in an Egyptian tomb. Its purpose is totally unknown. Rimsky-Korsakov, sparked by the Tales of the 1001 Nights, wrote a piece that was ‘a kaleidoscope of fairy-tale images’. His much-loved suite is a fabulous orchestral showpiece.