Friday night at the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, began with a tour of the ground floor art exhibition of local artworks which included many temptations.

This was the first time I’ve been to one of the pre-concert talks – if you have a chance in the future – definitely go – they are free and so informative.  The conductor Ben Northey was interviewed by David Gilling – providing an informative insight into conducting (as Ben Northey is now training other conductors), and a lot of background into the very talented 2011 Tchaikovsky Competition winner Narek Hakhnazaryan who plays cello in the Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme.

The cello solo was so well received by the audience that Narek performed another 2 pieces solo before leaving the stage.  It was a spectacular show – with the final pieces of Greig Holberg Suite and Greig Peer Gynt Suite No. 1 well known to most people – seemed somewhat anti-climatic after the first half.