A major New Zealand work telling the story of the Mataatua wharenui will be heard in concert this month, when Opus Orchestra brings The Journey of Mataatua Whare to stages in Rotorua and Tauranga.
Pianist Stephen De Pledge.
Written by Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead, the opera recounts the true history of Mataatua, built at Whakatāne in 1875 by Ngāti Awa and taken overseas without consent soon after. The wharenui spent decades touring internationally before being returned home in 2011.
Presented in concert form, The Journey of Mataatua Whare explores themes of cultural dislocation, identity and restoration through Whitehead’s distinctive musical language. The opera will be performed by three emerging New Zealand singers – soprano Katherine Winitana, baritone Tomairangi Henare and bass Samuel McKeever – each representing different voices within the story, including Te Ao Māori, the colonial perspective and the wharenui itself.
Opus Orchestra artistic advisor Peter Walls will conduct the performances, with the Waikato University Voice Programme Ensemble joining the orchestra.
The programme also includes Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, widely known as the Emperor Concerto. New Zealand pianist Stephen De Pledge will appear as soloist, performing one of the composer’s most expansive and demanding works.
For De Pledge, the concerts carry personal significance.
“I am delighted to be making my debut with the orchestra of my home region,” he says.
“The Emperor has long been a favourite concerto for me – it’s a work of great scale and imagination.”
The pairing of a New Zealand opera rooted in regional history with a cornerstone of the European classical repertoire is intended to offer audiences contrasting perspectives within a single programme.
- Opus Orchestra will perform at the Sir Howard Morrison Centre in Rotorua on Friday May 15, followed by a matinee concert at Baycourt in Tauranga on Saturday May 16 and in Hamilton at the BNZ Theatre on Sunday May 17.
Celebrating the music, from left composer Gillian Whitehead, violinist Tessa Petersen and conductor Peter Walls. Photo: Richard Lummus
