Performer: Giordano Bellincampi

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

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

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

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. 

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

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.