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Simon Holden

Simon Holden

Simon is an operaphile based in Auckland, New Zealand. He wrote his dissertation on Japanese popular music. With a background in piano and classical music retail, he spends his time attending as much opera or vocal concert as he can and blogs at irishenceaway.blogspot.com.

Author:Simon Holden

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Joyce DiDonato’s Berlioz takes flight in Auckland as NZSO is grounded in Wellington

By Simon Holden, 29 November 2025

The unexpected grounding of Airbus A320s across the globe has musical consequences in Auckland, but Joyce DiDonato’s Berlioz saves the day.

****1

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Joyce DiDonato’s Berlioz takes flight in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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NZTrio and Emma Pearson: Strauss reimagined in gold and light

By Simon Holden, 08 October 2025

The NZTrio, joined by soprano Emma Pearson for a programme largely focused on female composers, ending with Salina Fisher's arrangement of Strauss’ Four Last Songs.

****1

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NZTrio and Emma Pearson: Strauss reimagined in gold and light

By Simon Holden

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A tale of two Stabat Maters in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 03 October 2025

Heard side by side, these two Stabat Maters, neither of which is a typical example of its kind, make for an evening of striking contrasts under conductor Valentina Peleggi.

***11

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A tale of two Stabat Maters in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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Into the labyrinth: opera and community in The Monster in the Maze

By Simon Holden, 19 September 2025

Director Anapela Polata’ivao handles her mixed forces of amateurs and professionals with seamless assurance, the crowds’ movements across the stage showing both clarity and intent.

****1

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Into the labyrinth: opera and community in The Monster in the Maze

By Simon Holden

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Gemma New conducts the NZSO in a superb Mahler 6 in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 06 September 2025

A key feature of New’s Mahler is the ability to keep everything cohesive across the long span of the works as witnessed in this account of the Sixth Symphony.

*****

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Gemma New conducts a superb Mahler 6 in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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Bruno Ravella's stunning direction elevates New Zealand Opera's La bohème

By Simon Holden, 29 May 2025

New Zealand Opera's new production impresses with its stunning set design and art direction, and its restrained emotional tone.

***11

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Stunning direction elevates New Zealand Opera's La bohème

By Simon Holden

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Masaaki Suzuki and the NZSO take on classical music’s legends

By Simon Holden, 10 May 2025

In invigorating performances of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven in Auckland, Suzuki's interpretative approach evokes the sensibilities of historically informed performance.

*****

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Masaaki Suzuki and the NZSO take on classical music’s legends

By Simon Holden

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Astonishing Rachmaninov from Daniil Trifonov

By Simon Holden, 12 April 2025

Daniil Trifonov takes New Zealand by storm with a performance of Rachmaninov's Third Piano Concerto of technical command and musical artistry.

*****

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Astonishing Rachmaninov from Daniil Trifonov

By Simon Holden

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In Auckland, Piers Lane finds diversity of mood in Chopin's Nocturnes

By Simon Holden, 09 March 2025

It was clear that there is much more to Lane’s conception of these works than mere surface beauty.

****1

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Piers Lane finds diversity of mood in Chopin's Nocturnes

By Simon Holden

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The orchestra shine in NZSO's Puccini Arias programme

By Simon Holden, 26 October 2024

The NZSO are on sparkling form in Puccini arias and other operatic orchestral passages; Eliza Boom shows her potential as a Puccini singer of the future.

***11

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The orchestra shine in NZSO's Puccini Arias programme

By Simon Holden

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Fine singing but messy production of Le Comte Ory from New Zealand Opera in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 30 May 2024

Director Simon Phillips takes the opportunity to reshape the setting of Rossini's comic opera to modern-day New Zealand.

***11

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Fine singing but messy staging: Le Comte Ory at New Zealand Opera

By Simon Holden

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Disappointing Bach in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 02 May 2024

David Fray's mannered Bach is a let-down, but Karl-Heinz Steffens brings out the spacious majesty in Bruckner's Ninth Symphony.

**111

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Disappointing Bach in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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Blissful Mansfield Park in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 21 April 2024

Dove’s masterful adaptation, combined with an ebullient and characterful rendition by New Zealand Opera, make for a very effective and at times, very moving, afternoon at the opera.

*****

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Blissful Mansfield Park in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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Brandenburg Echoes in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 18 April 2024

With all soloists demonstrating charming ornamentation, a wonderful sense of fun and ease pervades the APO's performance.

****1

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Brandenburg Echoes in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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Gemma New and the NZSO travel through twentieth century music

By Simon Holden, 27 October 2023

Centred around Scriabin’s mystical Poem of Ecstasy, a thrilling journey through the byways of twentieth century music takes in New Zealand, Finland and France.

****1

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Gemma New and the NZSO travel through twentieth century music

By Simon Holden

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Gluck reimagined: (m)Orpheus in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 06 September 2023

Gareth Farr re-orchestrates Gluck in Neil Ieremia's imaginative reinterpretation of the Orpheus myth for New Zealand Opera.

****1

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Gluck reimagined: (m)Orpheus in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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A masterful Così fan tutte in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 31 May 2023

Lindy Hume directs a refreshingly uncomplicated new staging for New Zealand Opera, supported by fine musical performances.

****1

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A masterful Così fan tutte in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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Bach and Stravinsky lack clarity in Auckland's Holy Trinity Cathedral

By Simon Holden, 28 April 2023

Cavernous acoustics hamper individual lines in the latest concert in the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's “Baroque and Beyond” series.

**111

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Bach and Stravinsky lack clarity in Auckland's Holy Trinity Cathedral

By Simon Holden

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A sublime Mahler 3 from Gemma New and the NZSO in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 01 April 2023

The strings brought gleaming tone to their long phrases, the cellos particularly gorgeous in tone and deeply felt in phrasing, and New built each restatement to glorious and emotional crushing climax.

****1

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A sublime Mahler 3 from Gemma New and the NZSO in Auckland

By Simon Holden

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The Wishing Tree: the Gesualdo Six at the Auckland Arts Festival

By Simon Holden, 15 March 2023

From the oppressed Catholic minority of 16th-century England to contemporary settings, The Gesualdo Six bring their Wishing Tree programme to Auckland.

****1

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The Wishing Tree: the Gesualdo Six at the Auckland Arts Festival

By Simon Holden

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A triumphant final chapter in the Auckland PO's Beethoven cycle

By Simon Holden, 02 March 2023

Much delayed by the pandemic, Giordano Bellincampi's Beethoven symphony cycle with the Auckland PO finally reaches its conclusion with a triumphant closing concert.

*****

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A triumphant final chapter in the Auckland PO's Beethoven cycle

By Simon Holden

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The Auckland Philharmonia takes audience to the New World

By Simon Holden, 23 February 2023

New Zealand-born violinist Geneva Lewis soars in Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto, framed in Giordano Bellincampi's programme by Korngold and Dvořák.

****1

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The Auckland Philharmonia takes audience to the New World

By Simon Holden

Unearthing New Zealand's lost art-song tradition

By Simon Holden, 14 August 2022

In this part-concert and part-lecture, Michael Vinten chronicles the history or New Zealand art song through the lives of the composers and poets featured, stories alternately hilarious and tragic.

****1

Unearthing New Zealand's lost art-song tradition

By Simon Holden

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The highest beauty imaginable: astonishing Prokofiev from Hilary Hahn and the NZSO

By Simon Holden, 05 August 2022

Hahn balanced tranquility and ferocity in Prokofiev's First Violin Concerto, and conductor Gemma New drew out an especially nuanced reading of Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony.

*****

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The highest beauty imaginable: astonishing Prokofiev from Hilary Hahn

By Simon Holden

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Requiem opens the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra's miniature Verdi Festival

By Simon Holden, 07 July 2022

An excitingly theatrical Verdi Requiem under Giordano Bellincampi, benefitting greatly from a mostly stunning line-up of solo singers.

***11

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Requiem opens the APO's miniature Verdi Festival

By Simon Holden

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Christian Li displays stunning virtuosity in Saint-Saëns and Ravel in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 21 April 2022

An astonishing showcase, with Christian Li tackling both works with technical skill and swagger that belied his tender age.

****1

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Christian Li displays stunning virtuosity in Saint-Saëns and Ravel

By Simon Holden

A taste of Vienna with the Auckland Philharmonia

By Simon Holden, 08 July 2021

The slow movement is gorgeous in an unashamedly romantic fashion and Morrison, some moments of uncertain intonation aside, gave a poetic rendition, at times fining his sound down to the most exquisite filigree of sound.

****1

A taste of Vienna with the Auckland Philharmonia

By Simon Holden

A meeting of cultures in NZSO's Matariki concert

By Simon Holden, 02 July 2021

A combination of Western orchestral tradition and traditional Māori culture proves a fascinating and a worthwhile contribution to New Zealand’s orchestral repertoire.

****1

A meeting of cultures in NZSO's Matariki concert

By Simon Holden

A refreshing new Nozze di Figaro from New Zealand Opera

By Simon Holden, 08 June 2021

Lindy Hume directs a new production of Mozart's masterpiece which proves a constant delight.

****1

A refreshing new Nozze di Figaro from New Zealand Opera

By Simon Holden

Simon O'Neill and the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra standouts in Fidelio

By Simon Holden, 08 May 2021

Giordano Bellincampi presides over a fleet and crisp performance of Beethoven's only opera, performed in Auckland Town Hall.

***11

Simon O'Neill and the APO standouts in Auckland Fidelio

By Simon Holden

Inside out: Eight Songs for a Mad King in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 11 March 2020

The vocal part requires a range covering over five octaves, from the lowest bass notes to a high falsetto and Robert Tucker coped amazingly with the score’s lyrical elements and the various shrieking, whispering and clucking noises he was called upon to create.

****1

Inside out: Eight Songs for a Mad King in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Juilliard 415 excels in French and Italian Baroque in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 28 February 2020

In each brief and catchy excerpt, the ensemble played with infectious vitality and admirable precision.

****1

Juilliard 415 excels in French and Italian Baroque in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Edo de Waart signs off with awe-inspiring Mahler in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 23 November 2019

De Waart once again showed a formidable grasp of the musical structure so that the occasional outbursts of violence made thematic sense and a strong feeling of tension led up to the final cry of despair.

*****

Edo de Waart signs off with awe-inspiring Mahler in Auckland

By Simon Holden

NZSO's enthralling Salonen and Schubert

By Simon Holden, 09 November 2019

Edo de Waart and the NZSO thrill with the old warhorse that is Schubert's ninth as much as in an insightful and exciting rendition of Salonen's Violin Concerto.

****1

NZSO's enthralling Salonen and Schubert

By Simon Holden

Ambiguity rules in New Zealand Opera's Turn of the Screw

By Simon Holden, 18 October 2019

Astonishingly vivid performances from an ensemble cast made it one of the most outstanding of their recent productions, an auspicious sign as de Mallet Burgess takes over the General Directorship of the company.

****1

Ambiguity rules in New Zealand Opera's Turn of the Screw

By Simon Holden

Grotesquery and cowhorns: HK Gruber and Håkan Hardenberger bring “pan-demonium” to Auckland

By Simon Holden, 11 October 2019

It was an altogether riotous and highly enjoyable performance of a wacky work, one long overdue to be heard in this country.

****1

Grotesquery and cowhorns in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Intense Schubert and Ravel from the Mullova trio

By Simon Holden, 16 September 2019

A case of musical minds being in particularly close interpretative sync, revealing the music not through showy display but through restrained but intense concentration.

****1

Intense Schubert and Ravel from the Mullova trio

By Simon Holden

Viktoria Mullova's intense Sibelius in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 12 September 2019

In the exquisite singing line of the second movement, the appeal was not just in her beauty of tone but in the concentrated feeling Mullova brought to the shaping of each phrase.

****1

Viktoria Mullova's intense Sibelius in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Exploring the fugue with the Brodsky Quartet in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 13 May 2019

This was a true tour de force and a fitting climax to a rather miraculous examination of counterpoint through musical history.

****1

Exploring the fugue with the Brodsky Quartet in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Susan Graham's gripping New Zealand debut

By Simon Holden, 29 March 2019

This was astonishing and gripping vocalism from a true master of Berlioz style.

*****

Susan Graham's gripping New Zealand debut

By Simon Holden

Kosky's mesmerising Magic Flute in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 08 March 2019

The Queen of the Night appeared as a malevolent giant spider, complete with exoskeleton, threatening Tamino with her stabbing limbs and summoning hordes of smaller spiders to writhe over Pamina when the latter hesitated to commit to Sarastro's murder.

****1

Kosky's mesmerising Magic Flute in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Sweeping Bruckner but lacklustre Beethoven from the Auckland Philharmonia

By Simon Holden, 28 February 2019

Bellincampi’s way with this symphony was impressive: he knitted the composer’s sometimes diffuse structural cells into something cohesive, with no loss of tension in the various silences and odd transitional moments.

***11

Sweeping Bruckner but lacklustre Beethoven from the APO

By Simon Holden

Intense Mahler and Schubert from Thomas E. Bauer in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 15 November 2018

The vocal items in this programme were the most successful, driven as they were by Bauer's searing interpretations.

****1

Intense Mahler and Schubert from Thomas E. Bauer in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Stephen Layton leads a nuanced St Matthew Passion in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 04 October 2018

Stephen Layton returns to Auckland to continue his series of Bach's choral masterpieces with the APO.

****1

A nuanced St Matthew Passion in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Talented young cast shines in New Zealand Opera's La bohème

By Simon Holden, 19 September 2018

It was hard not to be drawn in by the romance and tragedy as presented by such a sincere, credible and vocally talented young cast and a conductor with such strong identification with the idiom.

****1

Talented young cast shines in New Zealand Opera's La bohème

By Simon Holden

Ebullience and piquant timbres: Ensemble Zefiro plays Mozart divertimenti in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 18 August 2018

An evening made up of five Mozart divertimentos had its longueurs, but the Italian period instrument ensemble delighted the audience.

***11

Ebullience and piquant timbres: Ensemble Zefiro

By Simon Holden

Stunning Weber from Andreas Ottensamer in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 21 June 2018

The Viennese clarinettist joined the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and Carlos Miguel Prieto in a programme of Copland, Weber and Shostakovich.

****1

Stunning Weber from Andreas Ottensamer in Auckland

By Simon Holden

Simon O'Neill's thrilling Wesendonck-Lieder in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 09 June 2018

The New Zealander Heldentenor makes a welcome return to Auckland for Wagner's erotic song cycle.

***11

Simon O'Neill's thrilling Wesendonck-Lieder in Auckland

By Simon Holden

New Zealand Opera’s L’elisir d’amore: an evergreen charmer

By Simon Holden, 31 May 2018

Charming and hilarious by turn, this production fields a largely young and Kiwi cast.

*****

New Zealand Opera’s L’elisir d’amore: an evergreen charmer

By Simon Holden

Disappointing Candide in Auckland

By Simon Holden, 23 March 2018

Though occasionally entertaining, this production was ultimately unsatisfying as a stage presentation of Bernstein’s work.

**111

Disappointing Candide in Auckland

By Simon Holden