Ngā Pātaka Kōrero - Auckland Libraries

By 1923 the Jazz Age was in full swing in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, with a variety of venues to listen and dance to jazz. The Dixieland, Trades Hall, Cafeteria, and the Click Clack Cabaret were all popular destinations. Join us as Dr Aleisha Ward takes us on a digital tour of these venues. She will explore the bands, audiences, and scandalous behavior that had morality campaigners concerned for th...

Portrait of George Lewis Becke [cropped], ca. 1900, by unknown, vintage gelatin silver print, State Library of New South Wales, DL PX 158. Public Domain. Join expert Allegra Marshall as she helps us learn about the life and work of author Louis Becke. At the turn of the nineteenth century, he was the most prolific, significant, and internationally renowned Australian-born writer of the South Pacif...

In this track, we hear exhibition curators Jane Wild and Renee Orr share impressions, selections and insights into medieval manuscripts currently on display in the Gallery - Level 2 Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero | Central City Library. "For most of the medieval period, from the 5th to the 15th century, books were copied out and decorated by hand. These are the books we call medieval manuscripts. For this e...

In this session we get up close with the 15th Century French manuscript the Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, followed by a discussion of some fragments of very early medieval manuscripts found as part of the binding of a bible printed in 1480. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou katoa - welcome to this podcast celebrating our Auckland Libraries Rare Books and Manuscripts collection. This track was reco...

I o Tatau Hapori : The Voice and the People of Our Neighbourhood This playlist supports an exhibition on display for August 2023 at the Franklin Hub. Oral histories often include great family history content and interesting social history. In these clips we hear some examples of different types of memories and recording. 0”45 – 2”05 The first recording was made in 1961 and is read as part of her f...

I o Tatau Hapori : The Voice and the People of Our Neighbourhood This playlist supports an exhibition on display for August 2023 at the Franklin Hub. In this track we hear stories of transport and places. 0”45 – 3”45 Sometimes it’s great to have places identified from old photos in oral history and sound recordings. In this interview we can hear the school playground in the background. Mr Bilkey a...

I o Tatau Hapori : The Voice and the People of Our Neighbourhood This playlist supports an exhibition on display for August 2023 at the Franklin Hub. Pukekohe and the wider district are best known for the rich soils for growing and agriculture. In these clips we hear voices of experience related to the business of farming and market gardening. 0:45 – 1:90 In the first track we hear John Johns, rec...

I o Tatau Hapori : The Voice and the People of Our Neighbourhood This playlist supports an exhibition on display for August 2023 at the Franklin Hub. Listen to a range of voices related to school and schooling. This track draws on a variety of oral history recordings. Search Kura Heritage Collections Online. Voices on this track include: 0:45 - 1:45 Violet Keith, 1884-1971, recalls her school year...

Alison is joined in the studio by author Josie Shapiro discussing her debut novel Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts. This beautiful coming of age story of young runner Mickey Bloom and her determination to achieve her dreams is also a love letter to Auckland. This interview was recorded for Auckland Council Libraries' We Read Auckland festival of Auckland's readers and writers, celebrat...

Alison is joined in the studio by author Dominic Hoey discussing his action-packed and darkly funny novel, Poor People with Money. A fighter with a face covered in scars, a life full of debt and a brother who has mysteriously disappeared, Avondale local Monday Woolridge goes looking for income and answers in some dark places. Poor People with Money can be borrowed from Bestie collection displays i...

Alison is joined over Zoom by author Dr. Emma Espiner, discussing her poised and candid memoir, There’s a Cure for This. From quietly perceived inequities of her early life, Espiner's stories trace her hard-won revelations as a Māori medical student and junior doctor during the Covid-19 pandemic. There’s a Cure for This can be borrowed from Bestie collection displays in all Auckland Council librar...

In this track we talk with Poukōkiri Whakaaturanga Taonga Kahurangi Goulton about the exhibition of ngā mōteatea in the Kura Tūturu | Real Gold exhibition case for Hōngongoi and Matariki. Kahurangi explains how te reo Māori was originally only transmitted orally and as such Māori crafted and perfected the art of mōteatea. Mōteatea refer to all forms of traditional waiata or songs. These waiata wer...

Nau mai haere mai - Welcome to a session from the Reading Room of Tāmaki Pātaka Kōrero, Central City Library, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. In this podcast, we are delighted to share the recording of Greg Doran’s visit to the Auckland First Folio in June 2023. Greg Doran, artistic director emeritus of the Royal Shakespeare Company is on a tour of surviving first folios sponsored by the British Council...

Two treasures in the chamber music repertoire that involve eight players feature in this first concert of our Autumn Series - Bach’s Concerto for two violins in D minor & Mendelssohn’s celebrated String Octet in E-flat Major. Written when he was just sixteen, and as a gift to his then violin teacher, Mendelssohn’s Octet overflows with some of the most iconic and captivating melodies. He had alread...

In this concert Christopher Everest explores the hidden world of the classical guitar and its history through works written by New Zealand composers. John Ritchie’s Whimsies reflects upon William Shakespeare, each movement a reimagining of a well known sonnet. Wellington based composer Amanda Riddell’s Vanya’s Lament, is a homage to Russian playwright Anton Chekhov’s tragic comedy Uncle Vanya, its...

Trio Eclectica will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor and Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Trio No. 4 in E minor, subtitled “Dumky”. Both pieces Ebb and flow in character with fluctuating major and minor themes, or alternating fast and slow passages, or in tragic and celebratory themes. Trio élégiaque No.1 is a single movement piece interspersed with variations. Dvořák’s Dumky Tr...

Michael Cai and William Sun are both students of Richard Mapp at the University of Auckland.  Michael is a Masters student who is also an accomplished percussionist, playing with the Auckland Youth Orchestra and other ensembles.  William is a second year student who also plays the trumpet in a number of ensembles.  Together they present a programme of works by beloved composers for the piano, incl...

Visiting Irish pianist, Daniel Kearney, concludes our series with an exploration of the unique and creative ways in which composers have used music and the piano to describe the sights and sounds of nature. Utilizing the perspectives of many different genres including baroque, romanticism, impressionism and folk music, the performer and listener will go on a journey together through time and place...

For nearly 100 years, playing music in a public bar was illegal. Gareth Shute explored how this, and other laws affected the music scene in an article for the music history website www.audioculture.co.nz. In this talk, Gareth expands on his findings, illustrating how booze often slipped into music venues even when it was still illegal. Learn why so many venues in the ‘70s were in hotels and how th...

Auckland Libraries have recently acquired, digitised, and catalogued four chromolithographic posters from the late nineteenth century. In this track we hear Andrew Henry, Principal Aotearoa NZ Collections, share the story behind the creation of these artful 1890s advertising newspaper supplements. The posters feature views, taken from different elevated spots around the Tāmaki Makaurau central ist...

Alison is joined in the studio by graphic novelist Chelsey Furedi who talks about her book Project Nought – a fast paced time travel adventure with a hint of romance. This book can be requested from the Auckland Libraries catalogue using the link below – it is available in multiple formats. https://bit.ly/3Bx6UoN Find out more at https://www.chelseyfuredi.com/

In this track we hear guitarist Chris Everest play the Three Whimsies by John Richie, with permission of Anthony Ritchie. 'Whimsies', composed in 1985, are three pieces based on contrasting texts by William Shakespeare: ‘Full fathom five’ from The Tempest ‘Tell me where is fancy bred’ from The Merchant of Venice ‘Blow, blow, thou winter wind’ from As You Like It This was recorded at an Auckland Li...

In this track we hear the final speakers from our Auckland Libraries World First Folio Day event - reading Sonnet 60 from Nga Waiata Aroha A Hekepia - a translation of Shakespeare in Te Reo Māori by Merimeri Penfold. Read by Robert Eruera and Andrew Henry. The publication of Nga Waiata a Hekepia / love sonnets by Shakespeare in 2000 marked a first on the world Shakespearean timeline. Holloway Pres...

In Auckland, Michael Hurst from the Auckland Theatre Company, is strongly identified with Shakespeare. In this track Michael discusses performing Shakespeare. This session was recorded live on First Folio Day, April 2023. You can view a digital copy of the Auckland Libraries' First Folio here: https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/rarebooks/id/12779/rec/1 or check digital compa...

Dr. Sophie Tomlinson, Senior lecturer in English and Drama at the University of Auckland offers her insights into the decades of Summer Shakespeare productions, the performers and the performances. Recorded live on World First Folio Day, 23 April 2023. You can view a digital copy of the Auckland Libraries' First Folio here: https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/rarebooks/id/127...