This weekend, Wellington Opera premieres Mate Ururoa, a chamber opera by Dame Gillian Whitehead (Ngai Te Rangi, Tuhoe).
Photo: © 2019 National Library Imaging Services, Department of Internal Affairs
Photo: RNZ
Dame Gillian and Wellington Opera Artistic Director, Matthew Ross, spoke with RNZ Concert host David Morriss about the work, which originally was to have its first performance in 2021 at New York's Carnegie Hall.
With both libretto and music written by Dame Gillian, the chamber opera tells the true WWI story of the heroism and humiliation of Captain Roger Dansey, a Māori soldier on the frontline of a European war.
It's performed in English and te reo Māori by Māori-American baritone David Tahere (who commissioned the work), alongside acclaimed taonga pūoro practitioner and mezzo Ariana Tikao, with director Sara Brodie and Aotearoa's leading new music ensemble, Stroma, conducted by Hamish McKeich.
Photo: Supplied / Wellington Opera
Gillian Whitehead: Mate Ururoa
Ross Harris: Notes from the Front
The Hannah, Wellington
7.30pm, Friday 11, Saturday 12 July
2.30pm, Sunday 13 July
