2014 · beethoven’s fifth ‘da da da dum…’ four notes. and the most recognisable beginning...
TRANSCRIPT
Meet the Music
Wednesday 19 March 2014
Thursday Afternoon Symphony
Thursday 20 March 2014
Tea & Symphony
Friday 21 March 2014
BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH
2014
* Selected performances. ^Booking fees of $7.50 – $8.95 may apply. #Additional fees may apply.
TICKETS FROM $39*
Tickets also available at sydneyoperahouse.com 9250 7777 Mon-Sat 9am-8.30pm Sun 10am-6pm cityrecitalhall.com# 8256 2222 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
march – april
BEETHOVEN’S FIFTH
VINE Smith’s Alchemy for strings WIENIAWSKI Violin Concerto No.2* BEETHOVEN Symphony No.5*
Pinchas Steinberg conductor Karen Gomyo violin
Meet the Music
Wed 19 Mar 6.30pmThursday Afternoon Symphony
Thu 20 Mar 1.30pmTea & Symphony
Fri 21 Mar 11am*
Pre-concert talk by Andrew Aronowicz (Wed & Thu)
MOZART & HAYDNMOZART Symphony No.27 HAYDN Sinfonia concertante in B flat MOZART Symphony No.7
Andrew Haveron violin-director Shefali Pryor oboe Matthew Wilkie bassoon Catherine Hewgill cello
Mozart in the City
Thu 27 Mar 7pm City Recital Hall Angel Place
Tea & Symphony
Fri 4 Apr 11am
Pre-concert talk by David Garrett (Thu)
HEAVENLY SCHUBERTCHERUBINI Médée: Overture SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No.2 SCHUBERT Symphony No.9 (Great C Major)
Oleg Caetani conductor Lynn Harrell cello
Thursday Afternoon Symphony
Thu 10 Apr 1.30pmEmirates Metro Series
Fri 11 Apr 8pmGreat Classics
Sat 12 Apr 2pm Pre-concert talk by David Garrett
SSO PRESENTS
GLADIATOR LIVE WITH THE SSO
Powerful, spine-chilling, epic and live. Ridley Scott’s award-winning blockbuster Gladiator, with breath-taking music by Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, comes to Australia for the first time.
Experience the full movie with the surround sound of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and special guest vocalist Lisa Gerrard.
Justin Freer conductor
Thu 3 Apr 8pm Fri 4 Apr 8pm Sat 5 Apr 2pm
FOR COMPLETE DETAILS OF THE 2014 SEASON VISIT
SYDNEYSYMPHONY.COM NO FEES WHEN YOU BOOK CLASSICAL CONCERTS ONLINE WITH THE SSO
CALL 8215 4600^ MON-FRI 9AM-5PM
CLASSICAL
For detailed information visit www.renaissancetours.com.au call 1300 727 095 or contact your travel agent
Bella Italiawith Andrea Hull
MUSIC FESTIVALS OF UMBRIA AND TUSCANY04–16 July 2014 (13 days)
In some of Italy’s most beautiful countryside, enjoy two exclusive summer music festivals in the hill towns and lakesides,
villas and castles of Umbria and Tuscany.
MUSIC LOVERS’ TOURS 2014
Angela Hewitt recital
San Gimignano
SSO-RT-BellaItalia_Ad_150x240.indd 1 3/02/14 12:01 PM
2014 concert season
MEET THE MUSICWEDNESDAY 19 MARCH, 6.30PM
THURSDAY AFTERNOON SYMPHONYTHURSDAY 20 MARCH, 1.30PM
TEA & SYMPHONYFRIDAY 21 MARCH, 11AM
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE CONCERT HALL
BEETHOVEN’S FIFTHPinchas Steinberg conductor Karen Gomyo violin
CARL VINE (born 1954) Smith’s Alchemy for strings
HENRYK WIENIAWSKI (1835–1880) Violin Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.22Allegro moderato – Romance (Andante non troppo) Allegro con fuoco – Allegro moderato (à la Zingara)
INTERVAL
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827) Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67Allegro con brio Andante con moto Allegro – Allegro
Pre-concert talk by Andrew Aronowicz in the Northern Foyer on Wednesday at 5.45pm and Thursday at 12.45pm Visit sydneysymphony.com/talk-bios for speaker biographies.
Estimated durations: 18 minutes (Vine), 19 minutes (Wieniawski), 20-minute interval, 35 minutes (Beethoven) The concert will conclude at approximately 8.15pm (Wed), 3.15pm (Thu) and 12.05pm (Fri)
Friday’s Tea & Symphony concert will include the Wieniawksi and Beethoven only, performed without interval.
For detailed information visit www.renaissancetours.com.au call 1300 727 095 or contact your travel agent
Bella Italiawith Andrea Hull
MUSIC FESTIVALS OF UMBRIA AND TUSCANY04–16 July 2014 (13 days)
In some of Italy’s most beautiful countryside, enjoy two exclusive summer music festivals in the hill towns and lakesides,
villas and castles of Umbria and Tuscany.
MUSIC LOVERS’ TOURS 2014
Angela Hewitt recital
San Gimignano
SSO-RT-BellaItalia_Ad_150x240.indd 1 3/02/14 12:01 PM
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The first page of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, in the composer’s handwriting, showing that famous opening motif.
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INTRODUCTION
Beethoven’s Fifth
‘Da da da dum…’ Four notes. And the most recognisable beginning in classical music. What follows is one of Beethoven’s richest and most innovative compositions. From its stormy opening to the triumphant final movement, the symphony is fuelled by a striking sense of tension. With the thundering notes of that now famous opening motif, Beethoven set off on a musical journey that would transform the way drama could be achieved in instrumental music.
Henryk Wieniawski’s second violin concerto begins completely differently, strings suavely entering over a pulsing accompaniment. Its drama lies not in rhetorical chords and terse motifs but in the traditional tension between soloist and a full orchestra. This is a showpiece by a violinist-composer – one of the great virtuosos of his generation – and you’ll hear how his own playing must have combined supreme technical mastery with an irresistible lyricism.
If it’s Wednesday or Thursday then the program holds a further treat: Smith’s Alchemy by Carl Vine. This powerful and nuanced piece for string orchestra pulses with energy and lively dance figures – an exciting way to begin a concert – but it also features lyrical melodies of compelling beauty. In some ways it echoes both the impassioned string writing of the concerto and the turmoil of Beethoven’s symphony.
Turn to page 27 to read Bravo! – musician profiles, articles and news from the orchestra. There are nine issues through the year, also available at sydneysymphony.com/bravo
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ABOUT THE MUSIC
Carl Vine Smith’s Alchemy for strings
Smith’s Alchemy is a dynamic exploration of string texture and technique. The base materials for the music came from Carl Vine’s own third string quartet (1994), originally commissioned and performed by London’s Smith Quartet. As the composer writes:
The work more or less disappeared from view until 2000, when the Goldner String Quartet played it at the opening of the Angel Place Recital Hall in Sydney. It was this performance that caught the ear of Richard Tognetti, Artistic Director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and he asked whether it could be arranged for his band.
The intention of the original work was to transform four stringed instruments into a single ‘super’ instrument while capitalising on their natural singing qualities. A kind of aural alchemy. I honour the commissioners of the original quartet in renaming the arrangement ‘Smith’s Alchemy’.
...The potential to “share” difficult techniques across more than one instrument has in many ways liberated the music, allowing greater emphasis on its lyrical qualities.
Organised in three distinct sections, Smith’s Alchemy is rich and complex, and at times ferocious. The piece opens with two chromatic thread-like figures (one plucked, one bowed), zigzagging back and forth through the ensemble. These gestures build into a stomping dance with the violins accompanied by relentless stabbing in the lower strings, before a solo violin takes the lead. Following a return of the opening texture, the swirling chromatic figures gather like a storm, building to a climax of shocking chords in complete unison that then dissipate into the slower second section.
This middle section exploits the lyrical potential of each stringed instrument, offering solos of song-like beauty in turn to the cello, viola, and then the violins. The accompanying ensemble is directed to play flautando (‘like a flute’), in which the players move their bows further down the string away from the bridge, creating an airy, hollow tone. Flickering echoes stir from this peaceful dream state, rocketing into the third section’s brutal, high-energy dance of pulverising chords and jagged melodies.
ANDREW ARONOWICZ © 2014 2013 AYO MUSIC PRESENTATION FELLOW
Smith’s Alchemy calls for string orchestra but reveals its string quartet origins with solos for two violins, viola and cello.
The SSO was the first of the Australian symphony orchestras to perform Smith’s Alchemy, in 2005 with conductor Ola Rudner. This is the orchestra’s first performance since then.
KeynotesVINEBorn Perth, 1954
Carl Vine studied at the University of Western Australia before moving to Sydney, where he worked as a freelance pianist and composer with many ensembles, theatre and dance companies over the following decades. He first came to prominence in Australia as a composer of music for dance, and he has 25 dance scores to his credit, including The Silver Rose (The Australian Ballet). His catalogue includes seven symphonies and eight concertos; music for film, television and theatre; electronic music and numerous chamber works. Although primarily a composer of modern ‘classical’ music, he has undertaken tasks as diverse as arranging the Australian National Anthem and writing music for the Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (the ‘Sydney 2000’ presentation). Since 2000 he has also been the Artistic Director of Musica Viva Australia. The Australian Youth Orchestra and SSO concertmaster Dene Olding premiered his Violin Concerto in the SSO’s 2011 concert season and Piers Lane premiered his Piano Concerto No.2 with the orchestra in 2012.
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KeynotesWIENIAWSKIBorn Lublin, Poland, 1835 Died Moscow, 1880
Henryk Wieniawski was one of the greatest violinists in history, touring throughout Europe and America, garnering success from public audiences and royal patrons alike. During his lifetime he was hailed as the successor to the great Italian violin virtuoso, Niccolò Paganini, and became known for his combination of dazzling showmanship and tender lyricism. In addition to his highly successful performance career, Wieniawski also composed for his instrument, producing 24 published works, among them the second violin concerto of 1862.
Henryk Wieniawski Violin Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.22Allegro moderato – Romance (Andante non troppo) Allegro con fuoco – Allegro moderato (à la Zingara)
The Young Prodigy: ‘Le Petit Polonais’
The history of music is full of prodigies, but Wieniawski took ‘young talent’ to a whole new level. The Polish violinist applied to the Paris Conservatoire when he was just eight years old, and had graduated before he was even old enough to enrol (the starting age was 12). ‘The Little Pole’ blitzed through the academy under the guidance of renowned Belgian violinist and teacher, Joseph Lambert Massart, eventually winning the final competitive examination against his older peers. At the age of ten and four months, Wieniawski became the youngest-ever graduate of the Paris Conservatoire.
He had grown up in a musical home in Lublin, Poland. His mother, Regina née Wolff, had studied piano in Paris, and her brother, Edouard, was an accomplished pianist and teacher (as well as a friend of fellow Polish émigré, Frédéric Chopin). The young Henryk had an ideal start for a virtuoso-in-the-making, living in a thriving creative environment with early exposure to some excellent teachers.
In 1848, he travelled to Russia to perform for Tsar Nicholas in St Petersburg. The esteemed violinist, Henri Vieuxtemps, was in the employ of the Tsar at the time, and was suitably impressed by the young violinist’s skill and technique, saying: ‘There is no doubt that this child is a genius, for at his age it would otherwise be impossible for him to play with such passionate feeling, and moreover with such understanding and such a well conceived plan.’
A Family Act: The Wieniawski Bros.
Henryk returned to Paris in 1849 to develop his skills in composition and theory. His younger brother Jósef had completed piano studies at the Conservatoire in 1847 (the year Henryk published his first composition, the Grand Caprice fantastique), so the brothers joined forces and embarked on a rigorous three-year concert tour of Russia in 1851. The pair charmed audiences all over the country, continuing their tour throughout Europe in 1853.
Eventually the brothers outgrew their double act; their individual characters becoming too strong to sustain the partnership. Henryk had already shown a penchant for fame and, eager for more performance opportunities, departed for London in 1858. While there, his good friend Anton Rubinstein,
Henryk Wieniawski
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the celebrated Russian pianist, composer and conductor, introduced Wieniawski to the Hampton family (and to Henryk’s future bride, Isabella).
Finding Love
Isabella’s father was dubious of his daughter entering into the financially uncertain position of a musician’s wife. The story goes that he was finally convinced only after hearing Wieniawski’s moving performance of his beautiful Légende (dedicated to Isabella). More likely he was convinced after a life insurance policy had been drawn up and the composer promised to fully devote himself to married life. Wieniawski’s love for Isabella was never in question; he called her the ‘woman whom I love more deeply than the finest Stradivarius or Guarneri’. They married in August 1860, with Rubinstein, Vieuxtemps, and Italian opera composer Gioacchino Rossini all present.
The Russian Appointment Wieniawski needed a regular job if he was going to meet the financial responsibilities of marriage. With Rubinstein’s help he was able to secure tenure as a soloist at the St Petersburg court (the original three-year contract was renewed, twice). It was during this period that he composed the second violin concerto in 1862, dedicated to renowned violinist and composer, Pablo de Sarasate.
Touring the United States
Following the end of his contract with the St Petersburg court, Wieniawski accepted a position touring alongside Rubinstein in America. Henryk became frustrated that his friend was receiving more attention (the posters had already been printed with Rubinstein labelled as the star), made worse by Wieniawski receiving half the fee. He became increasingly unreliable, turning up to performances only when it suited him, and eventually the partnership fell through.
Illness and Decline
In the following years, Wieniawski’s health deteriorated badly. A serious heart condition made it increasingly difficult for him to perform. He once had to stop during a performance of the second concerto in 1878 during a tour to Berlin, being close to fainting. Wieniawski’s condition was made worse by a gambling problem and financial issues. After more hospital visits and interrupted performances, too sick to perform, Wieniawski was finally taken in by Nadezhda von Meck (best-known as the patron of Tchaikovsky). His friends arranged a
Portrait of Anton Rubinstein by Ilya Repin
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benefit concert in St Petersburg to raise funds to support his family. Wieniawski died of a heart attack in 1880, a few months before the birth of his youngest daughter.
Listening GuideThis concerto is in three movements, and is the perfect vehicle for displaying the skill, dexterity and musicianship of the soloist. The first movement opens with a dark, brooding melody in the strings. A sombre horn introduces a contrasting theme that is taken up by the woodwind. The two themes are interchanged, developing into a full orchestral statement that eventually gives way to the soloist restating an extended version of the original theme, though an octave higher and with a more lyrical character. A challenging array of techniques follows, from rich, double-stopped chordal passages to quick, light finger work in the instrument’s top register. A broader, richer middle section built on the second theme demonstrates the soloist’s ability to perform with deeply felt emotion. The fast music resumes, with the soloist ending in an exhibit of technical prowess. The orchestra takes over, before melting into the second movement: a beautiful, slow Romance. This movement features long, lyrical phrases, with its deeply expressive tone achieved through playing in high positions on the lower strings. The final movement’s spritely off-the-string passagework and gypsy (à la Zingara) style interludes make for a thrilling conclusion.
ANDREW ARONOWICZ © 2014
Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No.2 calls for an orchestra with pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets; three trombones; timpani and strings.
The SSO was the first ABC orchestra to perform this concerto, in 1938 with Percy Code conducting and Vaughan Hanly as soloist. The most recent performance in Sydney under the auspices of the ABC was in a Special concert presenting the Warsaw Philharmonic in 1970. The soloist was Konstanty Kulka with Withold Rowicki conducting.
TRICKS OF THE VIOLINIST’S TRADE
Wieniawski’s concerto is like a fireworks display of violin techniques. If you’ve never picked up a fiddle before, here’s a guide to some of the challenges it presents the soloist:
n Drawing the bow across two strings at once produces a type of chord called a double stop. The first and third movements are full of them (even triple and quadruple stops). Listen for a theme in the final movement that sounds like two violinists playing at once.
n Bouncing the bow rapidly off the string is the bread and butter of the virtuoso violinist. Spiccato is a spikier effect, while saltando is more like a quick skimming on the surface of the string. Both techniques feature in the outer movements.
n How do violinists achieve that rich, ultra-romantic sound? Playing in higher positions (where the left hand reaches closer to where the bow plays) and using a full vibrato (left hand vibrating on the string) makes for a really expressive tone.
Some of these techniques can be tricky to pull off in performance. For a virtuoso to succeed, he or she needs a certain level of daring. As Wieniawski said, ‘Il faut risquer!’ (It is necessary to take risks!).
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Beethoven 1 & 2 12, 13, 14 Jun
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David Robertson and acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax perform Beethoven’s five piano concertos. Revel in the works of a sovereign master played with consummate mastery.
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Robertson & Ax
Beethoven Piano Concertos
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KeynotesBEETHOVENBorn Bonn, 1770 Died Vienna, 1827
Beethoven is one of the best-known and most influential composers of symphonies. He pushed musical boundaries, making the symphony bigger in scope, introducing new forms, and experimenting with ways to achieve greater thematic unity. His Fifth Symphony was completed in 1808 when he was 28 and belongs in his so-called ‘heroic’ period of composition.
FIFTH SYMPHONY
This symphony has become a standard of the orchestral repertoire. Its opening four-note motif is instantly recognisable, pervading the first movement and becoming a rhythmic feature of the whole symphony. The simple, lilting melody that begins the second movement provides stark contrast to the stormy tension of the first. The strings open the third movement with a sneaky melody offset by raucous outbursts from the brass section, who reintroduce the four-note motif of the first movement.
Beethoven runs the third movement into the fourth without a break, but there’s no mistaking the beginning of the finale: the entry of the trombones (their first appearance in the entire symphony) and thundering chords signal the tonal shift that has been brewing for the previous three movements, leading the symphony from its stormy opening to victorious finale.
Sign up for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s 30 Under 30 email newsletter to receive exclusive $30 ticket offers available only to customers aged 30 and under. You will receive regular email alerts inviting you to purchase $30 tickets to select SSO concerts throughout the year.
FOR MORE INFO GO TO SYDNEYSYMPHONY.COM
UNDER 30
Beethoven 1 & 2 12, 13, 14 Jun
Beethoven 3 & 4 16, 18 Jun
Beethoven’s Emperor 20, 21 Jun
David Robertson and acclaimed pianist Emanuel Ax perform Beethoven’s five piano concertos. Revel in the works of a sovereign master played with consummate mastery.
TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE AT SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM 9250 7777^ MON–SAT 9AM–8.30PM SUN 10AM–6PMSYDNEYSYMPHONY.COM
PHONE 8215 4600^ MON-FRI 9AM-5PM
BOOK NOW! TICKETS FROM $39*
Robertson & Ax
Beethoven Piano Concertos
* Selected performances. ^Booking fees of $7.50 – $8.95 may apply.
No booking fees when you book classical concerts online at
Ludwig van Beethoven Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67Allegro con brio Andante con moto Allegro – Allegro
The most famous four notes in all music are just the beginning. The striking motto that opens Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is the first of two portentous phrases that launch a compelling emotional and musical journey. The journey is a familiar one now – this is the best-known symphony in the repertoire – but at its premiere Beethoven’s contemporaries would have boarded the trusted vehicle of the Classical symphony only to discover new and noisy sounds, fresh sights along the way, and an unexpected destination.
Even the modern listener can sense the shock value of this music, responding to its no-longer startling but still powerful innovations. It’s apparent from the start: the rapid repercussions and dramatic pauses of the opening theme might be surface features – musical rhetoric – but, in the words of musicologist Joseph Kerman, ‘they release primal, unmediated emotional energies’ that had previously been buried in the traditional Viennese Classical style.
Fate knocks at the door…Beethoven is reported to have said later of the opening: ‘Thus Fate knocks at the door.’ This story might be dubious, but it’s completely in character with Romantic sensibility and lasting perceptions of the symphony. ‘Beethoven’s music sets in motion the lever of fear, of horror, of suffering,’ wrote E.T.A. Hoffmann in his famous 1810 review of the symphony, ‘and wakens just that infinite longing which is the essence of Romanticism. He is accordingly a completely Romantic composer…’
But in one respect, the opening of Beethoven’s Fifth is completely classical. An assertive unison opening was a common way of commanding the attention of an audience – Mozart used the device to great effect in his Paris Symphony. But where Mozart’s opening assures the listener of a clear D major, Beethoven undermines the very convention he is observing with deliberate ambiguity. Are we in E flat major or C minor? There is no way of knowing from the opening motif. Only seven bars into the music, when the cellos deign to offer the tonic note C, can we orient ourselves to the defiant and sometimes terrifying expression of C minor.
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Transforming journeyThe choice of key was significant for Beethoven. Abandoning the languishing, pathétique sentiments of earlier C minor works such as the Opus 13 piano sonata, he began using the key again and again in music of a heroic or threatening nature: the Eroica funeral march, the Coriolan Overture, and now the Fifth Symphony. In this, Beethoven is again the innovator: one of the first to take the idea of the ‘heroic’ manner – tempestuous and ridden with conflict – and fuse it with cool, Classical forms.
But despite the turbulent and disintegrative forces that dominate this music, the Fifth Symphony conveys an unprecedented sense of unity. From the first it was recognised that Beethoven had transformed the multi-movement symphony into an organic whole. Hoffmann described his admiration for Beethoven’s ability to ‘relate all the secondary ideas and all transition passages through the rhythm of that simple [opening] motif’. It is the motif’s very ambiguity (rhythmic as well as tonal) that provides the impetus for development – the motif becomes the protagonist, metamorphosing during the course of the symphony to emerge in a noble and heroic guise.
It is in this evolutionary and transforming journey – beginning in one key (C minor) and ending in another (C major) – that the Fifth Symphony was truly innovative. It is as if the joy and triumph of the finale can be expressed only against the background of fear and awe that Beethoven creates in the first movement and in the ‘dream of terror which we technically call the scherzo’ (Tovey). The Fifth Symphony enacts Schiller’s laws of tragic art: the first to represent suffering nature, the second to represent the resistance of morality to suffering.
Triumph over despairThe expression of triumph over despair through a transition from minor to major is familiar today – the Ninth Symphony and subsequent symphonies by other composers ensure that we no longer assume a symphony will end in the key in which it began – but it would have astonished Beethoven’s contemporaries. The struggle for supremacy between major and minor begins early in the symphony, with the tonal ambiguity of the opening preparing the way for an appearance of C major in the recapitulation of the first movement. The Andante second movement – a double variation in which we hear Beethoven-student-of-Haydn – begins in a poised and lyrical A flat major, only to be interrupted by forceful C major fanfares with martial trumpets and drums. The provocative and gloomy scherzo with its ‘spectral’ double basses returns
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‘…radiant, blinding sunlight which suddenly illuminates the dark night…’
E.T.A. HOFFMANN
to the home key of C minor, but the struggle continues: its entire central trio section is a good-humoured but impatient C major.
Beethoven further emphasises the sense of unity in the Fifth Symphony with a seamless link between the scherzo third movement and the finale. This stunning transition provides a moment of hushed suspense with menacing and insistent drum beats underneath sustained string writing. Berlioz recognised that such an unusual device, stark and arresting in its impact, provided a hard act to follow: ‘To sustain such a height of effect,’ he wrote, ‘is already a prodigious effort.’
Yet this is precisely what Beethoven does, releasing the accumulated tension in a C major march, likened by Hoffmann to ‘radiant, blinding sunlight which suddenly illuminates the dark night’. But the gloom has not been entirely dispelled and Beethoven introduces a fragment of the scherzo in the middle of the finale – a ghost of scherzos past that must be swept away a second time by the march theme. (This was not a completely new idea; Haydn had done something similar nearly 40 years earlier with the minuet of his Symphony No.46. But where Haydn was almost certainly aiming for a witty surprise, Beethoven’s gesture intensifies the implied drama of the music in a new way.)
And better noise at that!It is in the finale that the trombones – taken from the church and the theatre (think Mozart’s Requiem and Don Giovanni) – appear in a symphony for the first time in musical history. Beethoven counted on those trombones (together with the contrabassoon and a shrill piccolo) to ‘make more noise than six timpani, and better noise at that’. The noise, of which Beethoven would have heard virtually nothing, contributes to a resplendent and festive march, all the more triumphant for the struggle that has gone before.
YVONNE FRINDLE © 2002/2010
Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony calls for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings, introducing in the finale a piccolo, contrabassoon and three trombones.
The SSO’s earliest known performance of the Fifth Symphony was in 1936 with conductor Maurice Abravanel. The most recent performance was in 2010 with David Robertson conducting.
This program book edited by Andrew Aronowicz as part of the AYO Music Presentation Fellowship.
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MORE MUSIC
CARL VINESmith’s Alchemy has been recorded by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra with Ola Rudner conducting. This energetic music is matched with the Vine Oboe Concerto (with SSO principal Diana Doherty as soloist) and The Tempest Suite.ABC CLASSICS 476 2267
If you’d like to hear the piece in its original form, Vine’s String Quartet No.3 was recorded on the Tall Poppies label by the ‘house’ quartet, an ensemble with strong SSO connections: former concertmaster John Harding, first violinist Georges Lentz and former principals Esther van Stralen (viola) and David Pereira (cello). The piece appears with other chamber music by Vine.TALL POPPIES 120
Carl Vine’s symphonies can be heard in a recording by the SSO. The conducting is shared between Stuart Challender (symphonies 1–3), and Edo de Waart (symphonies 4–6 and Celebrare Celeberimme), with Synergy Percussion featuring in Symphony No.5 and the Sydney Philharmonia Motet Choir in Symphony No.6.ABC CLASSICS 476 7179
And for all things Vine, check out his website: www.carlvine.com
WIENIAWSKINearly every virtuoso has recorded Wieniawski’s brilliant second violin concerto, so chances are you can find your favourite fiddle player performing it. We recommend Joshua Bell’s performance with Vladimir Ashkenazy conducting the Cleveland Orchestra. The 2-CD set includes three more violin concertos – Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Schumann – the last two conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi.DECCA 4756703
Itzhak Perlman has an all-Wieniawski disk on the EMI label, featuring the two violin concertos with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa. Samuel Sanders also accompanies Perlman on the piano in a number of Wieniawski’s best-loved concert works, including the dazzling Scherzo-Tarantelle in G minor, Op.16.EMI CLASSICS 5660592
BEETHOVEN’S FIFTHThere are more recordings of Beethoven’s Fifth than of any other of his symphonies, so choosing just one is near-impossible. Osmo Vänskä’s recording with the Minnesota Orchestra is especially well-regarded, praised for its dynamic and emotional range, attention to interpretative detail and cogent drama. Available paired with the Fourth Symphony or in a set of all nine symphonies.BIS 1416 (4th and 5th)
BIS 1825/6 (5-CD set)
Among older recordings of the Fifth, it’s worth seeking out Carlos Kleiber’s “articulate and incandescent”
recording, made in 1974 with the Vienna Philharmonic and re-issued on Deutsche Grammophon with the irrepressible Seventh Symphony.DG THE ORIGINALS 479 1106
PINCHAS STEINBERG In 2010 Pinchas Steinberg conducted the SSO in a program that included Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique – hear him conduct the same piece with the Bratislava Radio Symphony Orchestra.NAXOS 8.550093
His more recent recordings include La Wally by Catalani, with soprano Eva Martón in the title role and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.SONY 75892
Or look for the video of his Rienzi, with tenor Torsten Kerl in the title role, the Toulouse Capitole Orchestra and Chorus and the Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus. The gripping production is directed by Jorge Lavelli. OPUS ARTE 1110 (DVD), 7125 (blu-ray)
KAREN GOMYOVisit Karen Gomyo’s website to hear her play Bach, Piazzolla and movements from concertos by Mendelssohn, Prokofiev and Barber. karengomyo.com/music/
She has recorded the Bo Linde violin concerto with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Sundkvist.NAXOS 8.557855
And her performances of the music of Astor Piazzolla are especially heartfelt and exciting: try searching YouTube for «Karen Gomyo Piazzolla» to discover some real delights, including a performance of the Tango-Étude.
Broadcast DiaryApril
Friday 11 April, 8pm HEAVENLY SCHUBERTOleg Caetani conductorLynn Harrell celloCherubini, Shostakovich, Schubert
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2014 Tuesday 8 April, 6pmMusicians, staff and guest artists discuss what’s in store in our forthcoming concerts.
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SSO Live RecordingsThe Sydney Symphony Orchestra Live label was founded in 2006 and we’ve since released more than a dozen recordings featuring the orchestra in live concert performances with our titled conductors and leading guest artists, including the Mahler Odyssey cycle. To purchase, visit sydneysymphony.com/shop
Glazunov & ShostakovichAlexander Lazarev conducts a thrilling performance of Shostakovich 9 and Glazunov’s Seasons. SSO 2
Strauss & SchubertGianluigi Gelmetti conducts Schubert’s Unfinished and R Strauss’s Four Last Songs with Ricarda Merbeth. SSO 200803
Sir Charles MackerrasA 2CD set featuring Sir Charles’s final performances with the orchestra, in October 2007. SSO 200705
Brett DeanBrett Dean performs his own viola concerto, conducted by Simone Young, in this all-Dean release. SSO 200702
RavelGelmetti conducts music by one of his favourite composers: Maurice Ravel. Includes Bolero. SSO 200801
Rare RachmaninoffRachmaninoff chamber music with Dene Olding, the Goldner Quartet, soprano Joan Rodgers and Vladimir Ashkenazy at the piano. SSO 200901
Prokofiev’s Romeo and JulietVladimir Ashkenazy conducts the complete Romeo and Juliet ballet music of Prokofiev – a fiery and impassioned performance. SSO 201205
Tchaikovsky Violin ConcertoIn 2013 this recording with James Ehnes and Ashkenazy was awarded a Juno (the Canadian Grammy). Lyrical miniatures fill out the disc. SSO 201206
Mahler 1 & Songs of a Wayfarer SSO 201001
Mahler 2 SSO 201203
Mahler 3 SSO 201101
Mahler 4 SSO 201102
Mahler 5 SSO 201003 Mahler 6 SSO 201103
Mahler 7 SSO 201104
Mahler 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) SSO 201002
Mahler 9 SSO 201201
Mahler 10 (Barshai completion) SSO 201202
Song of the Earth SSO 201004
From the archives: Rückert-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder, Das Lied von der Erde SSO 201204
LOOK OUT FOR…Our second release featuring music by Brett Dean and our new recording of Stravinsky’s Firebird with David Robertson.
MAHLER ODYSSEYDuring the 2010 and 2011 concert seasons, the SSO and Vladimir Ashkenazy set out to perform all the Mahler symphonies, together with some of the song cycles. These concerts were recorded for CD and the set is now complete, together with a special disc of historical SSO Mahler performances. Available individually or as a handsome boxed set.
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SSO Online
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Pinchas Steinberg is Chief Conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra and a regular guest conductor at most of the leading opera houses and concert halls throughout Europe and in the United States. In 2001 he made a triumphant debut with the Cleveland Orchestra and since then has returned to Cleveland regularly. He made his La Scala di Milano debut in 2010 conducting Schumann’s Szenen aus Goethes Faust. More recent engagements have included concerts in Budapest, Rome, Cincinnati, Turin, Naples, Prague and Moscow and at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. He also appears regularly with the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and has conducted at other festivals including Salzburg, Berlin, Prague, Tanglewood and the Richard Strauss Festival, Garmisch.
Born in Israel, Pinchas Steinberg studied violin under Joseph Gingold and Jascha Heifetz in the United States, and composition under Boris Blacher in Berlin. In 1974 he made his conducting debut with the RIAS Symphony Orchestra, Berlin. A series of engagements followed with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Czech Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia Roma, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre de Paris.
He was Chief Conductor of the Radio Symphony, Vienna (1989–1996) and Music Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (2002–2005).
He has conducted opera at leading houses around the world, including Covent Garden, Paris, Munich, San Francisco, Berlin, Rome and Madrid, and was Permanent Guest Conductor at the Vienna State Opera (1988–1993). Following his most recent visit to Sydney in 2011, he opened the 2011–12 season at the Opéra Bastille Paris with a production of Strauss’s Salome. In 2012 he made a triumphant return to the Vienna State Opera, conducting Giordano’s Andrea Chenier. Other recent opera engagements include Parsifal (Helsinki), Madama Butterfly and Verdi’s La battaglia di Legnano (Rome), and Korngold’s Die tote Stadt (Paris and Madrid).
His acclaimed recordings include Der fliegende Holländer, La Wally (Catalani) and Die schweigsame Frau (Richard Strauss), and his recording of Massenet’s Chérubin was awarded the Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, German Critics Prize and Caecilia Prize Bruxelles. Most recently he recorded Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito live with the Munich Radio Orchestra.
Pinchas Steinbergconductor
THE ARTISTS
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Karen Gomyo was born in Tokyo and grew up in Montreal and New York, where she studied at the Juilliard School. She subsequently studied at the University of Indiana Bloomington and the New England Conservatory of Music, and in 1998 became, at the age of 16, the youngest artist to be presented in the Young Concert Artists Series in New York. In 2008 she was the recipient of the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.
Her engagements as a concerto soloist have taken her throughout North America, including appearances with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, St Louis Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra and Toronto Symphony Orchestra. In Asia she has performed with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, and in Europe with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Royal Scottish National Symphony Orchestra, Salzburg Camerata, Orchestre National de Lille, Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Residentie Orkest in The Hague, among others.
She has worked with such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Neeme Järvi, David Robertson, David Zinman, Gilbert Varga, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Hannu Lintu, Andrey Boreyko, Hans Graf, Louis Langrée, James Gaffigan, Andrew Grams, Pinchas Zukerman, Thomas Dausgaard, Vasily Petrenko, Robin Ticciati and Jakub Hrůša.
As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has performed in festivals in America (Aspen, Ravinia, Caramoor, Mostly Mozart), Canada, Austria, Germany, France, Norway, Ukraine, Holland, Spain, Italy and Japan, collaborating with such artists as Heinrich Schiff, Lynn Harrell, Alisa Weilerstein, Christian Poltéra, Donald Weilerstein, Isabelle van Keulen, Antoine Tamestit, Kathryn Stott and Anton Kuerti.
In 2008 she performed at the First Symposium for the Victims of Terrorism held at the United Nations in New York, and in 2009 was the guest soloist for the New York Philharmonic’s Memorial Day concert at the Cathedral of St John the Divine. She is deeply interested in the Nuevo Tango music of Astor Piazzolla, and in 2012 she toured a program of Piazzolla and the classical composers who influenced him.
She made her Sydney Symphony Orchestra debut in 2011, performing Brahms’s Double Concerto with cellist Alban Gerhardt.
Karen Gomyo plays a Stradivarius violin bought for her exclusive use by a private sponsor.
Karen Gomyo violin
JOS
E-LU
IS C
OR
TES
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SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Founded in 1932 by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra has evolved into one of the world’s finest orchestras as Sydney has become one of the world’s great cities.
Resident at the iconic Sydney Opera House, where it gives more than 100 performances each year, the SSO also performs in venues throughout Sydney and regional New South Wales. International tours to Europe, Asia and the USA have earned the orchestra worldwide recognition for artistic excellence, most recently in the 2012 tour to China.
The orchestra’s first Chief Conductor was Sir Eugene Goossens, appointed in 1947; he was followed by Nicolai Malko, Dean Dixon, Moshe Atzmon, Willem van Otterloo, Louis Frémaux, Sir Charles Mackerras, Zdenĕk Mácal, Stuart Challender, Edo de Waart and Gianluigi Gelmetti. Vladimir Ashkenazy was Principal Conductor from 2009 to 2013. The orchestra’s history also boasts collaborations with legendary figures such
as George Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, Otto Klemperer and Igor Stravinsky.
The SSO’s award-winning education program is central to its commitment to the future of live symphonic music, developing audiences and engaging the participation of young people. The orchestra promotes the work of Australian composers through performances, recordings and its commissioning program. Recent premieres have included major works by Ross Edwards, Lee Bracegirdle, Gordon Kerry, Mary Finsterer, Nigel Westlake and Georges Lentz, and the orchestra’s recordings of music by Brett Dean have been released on both the BIS and SSO Live labels.
Other releases on the SSO Live label, established in 2006, include performances with Alexander Lazarev, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Sir Charles Mackerras and Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 2010–11 the orchestra made concert recordings of the complete Mahler symphonies with Ashkenazy, and has also released recordings of Rachmaninoff and Elgar orchestral works on the Exton/Triton labels, as well as numerous recordings on ABC Classics.
This is the first year of David Robertson’s tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director.
DAVID ROBERTSON Chief Conductor and Artistic Director
PATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir ac cvo
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MUSICIANS
David RobertsonCHIEF CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR SUPPORTED BY EMIRATES
Dene OldingCONCERTMASTER
Jessica CottisASSISTANT CONDUCTOR SUPPORTED BY PREMIER PARTNER CREDIT SUISSE
Andrew HaveronCONCERTMASTER
FIRST VIOLINS Andrew Haveron CONCERTMASTER
Kirsten Williams ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER
Sun Yi ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER
Fiona Ziegler ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER
Jenny BoothBrielle ClapsonSophie Cole Amber Davis Georges Lentz Alexander Norton Léone Ziegler Elizabeth Jones°Emily Qin°Vivien Jeffery*Dene OldingCONCERTMASTER
Lerida Delbridge ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER
Marianne Broadfoot Jennifer Hoy Nicola Lewis Alexandra Mitchell
SECOND VIOLINS Marina Marsden Emma Jezek ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Emily Long Emma Hayes Shuti Huang Stan W Kornel Benjamin Li Nicole Masters Philippa Paige Maja Verunica Rebecca Gill*Belinda Jezek°Kirsty HiltonMaria Durek Biyana Rozenblit
VIOLASTobias Breider Anne-Louise Comerford Rosemary Curtin Jane Hazelwood Graham Hennings Stuart JohnsonJustine MarsdenFelicity TsaiAmanda VernerLeonid VolovelskyRoger BenedictJustin WilliamsASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Sandro Costantino
CELLOSUmberto ClericiHenry David Varema Fenella Gill Elizabeth Neville Christopher Pidcock Adrian Wallis David Wickham Rowena Macneish*Catherine Hewgill Leah Lynn ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Kristy Conrau Timothy Nankervis
DOUBLE BASSESKees Boersma Alex Henery Neil Brawley PRINCIPAL EMERITUS
David Campbell Benjamin Ward Josef Bisits*Steven LarsonRichard Lynn David Murray
FLUTES Janet Webb James Fortune*Chelsea Witham*Emma Sholl Carolyn Harris Rosamund Plummer PRINCIPAL PICCOLO
OBOESShefali Pryor David Papp Diana Doherty Alexandre Oguey PRINCIPAL COR ANGLAIS
CLARINETSLawrence Dobell Craig Wernicke PRINCIPAL BASS CLARINET
Francesco Celata Christopher Tingay
BASSOONSDavid Mitchell*Fiona McNamara Noriko Shimada PRINCIPAL CONTRABASSOON
Matthew Wilkie
HORNSBen Jacks Marnie Sebire Robert Johnson Geoffrey O’Reilly PRINCIPAL 3RD
Euan HarveyRachel Silver
TRUMPETSDavid Elton Rosie Turner*Paul Goodchild Anthony Heinrichs
TROMBONESRonald Prussing Nick ByrneColin Burrows*Scott Kinmont Christopher HarrisPRINCIPAL BASS TROMBONE
TUBASteve Rossé
TIMPANIMark Robinson ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL
Richard Miller
PERCUSSIONRebecca Lagos
HARP Louise Johnson
BOLD = PRINCIPAL
ITALICS = ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL
° = CONTRACT MUSICIAN
* = GUEST MUSICIAN† = SSO FELLOW
GREY = PERMANENT MEMBER OF THE
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA NOT
APPEARING IN THIS CONCERT
The men of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra are proudly outfitted by Van Heusen.
To see photographs of the full roster of permanent musicians and find out more about the orchestra, visit our website: www.sydneysymphony.com/SSO_musiciansIf you don’t have access to the internet, ask one of our customer service representatives for a copy of our Musicians flyer.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
MANAGING DIRECTOR
Rory Jeffes
EXECUTIVE TEAM ASSISTANT
Lisa Davies-Galli
ARTISTIC OPERATIONS
DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PLANNING
Benjamin Schwartz
ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGER
Eleasha Mah
ARTIST LIAISON MANAGER
Ilmar Leetberg
RECORDING ENTERPRISE MANAGER
Philip Powers
LibraryAnna CernikVictoria GrantMary-Ann Mead
LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT
DIRECTOR OF LEARNING AND ENGAGEMENT
Kim Waldock
EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM MANAGER
Mark Lawrenson
EDUCATION MANAGER
Rachel McLarin
CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER
Amy Walsh
ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT
DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT
Aernout Kerbert
ORCHESTRA MANAGER
Chris Lewis
ORCHESTRA COORDINATOR
Georgia Stamatopoulos
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Kerry-Anne Cook
PRODUCTION MANAGER
Laura Daniel
STAGE MANAGER
Courtney Wilson
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Tim Dayman
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Ian Spence
SALES AND MARKETING
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING
Mark J Elliott
SENIOR SALES & MARKETING MANAGER
Penny Evans
MARKETING MANAGER, SUBSCRIPTION SALES
Simon Crossley-Meates
MARKETING MANAGER, CLASSICAL SALES
Matthew Rive
MARKETING MANAGER, WEB & DIGITAL MEDIA
Eve Le Gall
MARKETING MANAGER, CRM & DATABASE
Matthew Hodge
DATABASE ANALYST
David PatrickSENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Christie Brewster
MARKETING COORDINATOR
Jonathon Symonds
SENIOR ONLINE MARKETING COORDINATOR
Jenny Sargant
ONLINE MARKETING COORDINATOR
Jonathan Davidoff
Box OfficeMANAGER OF BOX OFFICE SALES & OPERATIONS
Lynn McLaughlin
BOX OFFICE SYSTEMS SUPERVISOR
Jacqueline Tooley
BOX OFFICE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR
John Robertson
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES
Karen Wagg – Senior CSR Michael DowlingKatarzyna OstafijczukTim Walsh
PublicationsPUBLICATIONS EDITOR & MUSIC PRESENTATION MANAGER
Yvonne Frindle
EXTERNAL RELATIONS
DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS
Yvonne Zammit
PhilanthropyHEAD OF PHILANTHROPY
Luke Andrew Gay
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Amelia Morgan-Hunn
PHILANTHROPY COORDINATOR
Sarah Morrisby
Corporate RelationsHEAD OF CORPORATE RELATIONS
Jeremy Goff
CORPORATE RELATIONS MANAGER
Janine Harris
CommunicationsPUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER
Katherine Stevenson
DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER
Kai Raisbeck
SOCIAL MEDIA AND PUBLICITY OFFICER
Caitlin Benetatos
BUSINESS SERVICES
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
John Horn
FINANCE MANAGER
Ruth Tolentino
ACCOUNTANT
Minerva Prescott
ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT
Emma Ferrer
PAYROLL OFFICER
Laura Soutter
PEOPLE AND CULTURE
IN-HOUSE COUNSEL
Michel Maree Hryce
John C Conde ao ChairmanTerrey Arcus am
Ewen Crouch am
Ross GrantJennifer HoyRory JeffesAndrew Kaldor am
David LivingstoneGoetz Richter
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA COUNCIL
Geoff Ainsworth am
Andrew Andersons ao
Michael Baume ao
Christine BishopIta Buttrose ao obe
Peter CudlippJohn Curtis am
Greg Daniel am
John Della BoscaAlan FangErin FlahertyDr Stephen FreibergDonald Hazelwood ao obe
Dr Michael Joel am
Simon JohnsonYvonne Kenny am
Gary LinnaneAmanda LoveHelen Lynch am
David Maloney am
David Malouf ao
Deborah MarrThe Hon. Justice Jane Mathews ao
Danny MayWendy McCarthy ao
Jane MorschelDr Timothy Pascoe am
Prof. Ron Penny ao
Jerome RowleyPaul SalteriSandra SalteriJuliana SchaefferLeo Schofield am
Fred Stein oam
Gabrielle TrainorIvan UngarJohn van OgtropPeter Weiss ao HonDLittMary WhelanRosemary White
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA BOARD
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA STAFF
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Through their inspired financial support, Patrons ensure the SSO’s continued success, resilience and growth. Join the SSO Patrons Program today and make a difference.
sydneysymphony.com/patrons (02) 8215 4674 • [email protected]
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PATRONS
MAESTRO’S CIRCLESUPPORTING THE ARTISTIC VISION OF DAVID ROBERTSON, CHIEF CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Peter Weiss ao Founding President & Doris WeissJohn C Conde ao ChairmanGeoff Ainsworth am Tom Breen & Rachael KohnIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonAndrew Kaldor am & Renata Kaldor aoVicki Olsson
Roslyn Packer aoDavid RobertsonPenelope Seidler amMr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy StreetWestfield GroupBrian & Rosemary WhiteRay Wilson oam in memory of the late James Agapitos oam
CHAIR PATRONS
06 Kirsty Hilton Principal Second Violin Corrs Chambers Westgarth Chair
07 Robert Johnson Principal Horn James & Leonie Furber Chair
08 Elizabeth Neville Cello Ruth & Bob Magid Chair
09 Emma Sholl Associate Principal Flute Robert & Janet Constable Chair
10 Janet Webb Principal Flute Helen Lynch am & Helen Bauer Chair
01 Roger Benedict Principal Viola Kim Williams am & Catherine Dovey Chair
02 Lawrence Dobell Principal Clarinet Terrey Arcus am & Anne Arcus Chair
03 Diana Doherty Principal Oboe Andrew Kaldor am & Renata Kaldor ao Chair
04 Richard Gill oam Artistic Director, Education Sandra & Paul Salteri Chair
05 Catherine Hewgill Principal Cello The Hon. Justice AJ & Mrs Fran Meagher Chair
FOR INFORMATION ABOUT THE CHAIR PATRONS PROGRAM,
CALL (02) 8215 4619.
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PLAYING YOUR PART
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the music lovers who donate to the orchestra each year. Each gift plays an important part in ensuring our continued artistic excellence and helping to sustain important education and regional touring programs. Donations of $50 and above are acknowledged on our website at www.sydneysymphony.com/patrons
DIAMOND PATRONS: $30,000+Geoff Ainsworth am
Mr John C Conde ao
Mr Andrew Kaldor am & Mrs Renata Kaldor ao
In Memory of Matthew KrelMrs Roslyn Packer ao
Paul & Sandra SalteriScully FoundationMrs W SteningMr Fred Street am &
Mrs Dorothy StreetPeter Weiss ao & Doris WeissMr Brian & Mrs Rosemary WhiteKim Williams am &
Catherine Dovey
PLATINUM PATRONS: $20,000–$29,999Brian AbelRobert Albert ao &
Elizabeth AlbertTerrey Arcus am & Anne ArcusTom Breen & Rachael KohnSandra & Neil BurnsRobert & Janet ConstableJames & Leonie FurberIn memory of Hetty &
Egon Gordon
BRONZE PATRONS: PRESTO $2,500–$4,999Mr Henri W Aram oam
The Berg Family Foundation in memory of Hetty Gordon
Mr B & Mrs M ColesMr Howard ConnorsGreta DavisFirehold Pty LtdStephen Freiberg &
Donald CampbellAnn HobanIrwin Imhof in memory of
Herta ImhofRobert McDougallJames & Elsie MooreMs Jackie O’BrienJ F & A van OgtropMarliese & Georges TeitlerMr Robert & Mrs Rosemary
WalshYim Family FoundationMr & Mrs T & D Yim
BRONZE PATRONS: VIVACE $1,000–$2,499Mrs Lenore AdamsonMrs Antoinette AlbertAndrew Andersons ao
Sibilla BaerDavid BarnesAllan & Julie BlighDr & Mrs Hannes BoshoffJan BowenLenore P BuckleMargaret BulmerIn memory of RW BurleyIta Buttrose ao obe
Mr JC Campbell qc & Mrs Campbell
Dr Rebecca ChinDr Diana Choquette &
Mr Robert MillinerMr Peter ClarkeConstable Estate Vineyards Dom Cottam &
Kanako ImamuraDebby Cramer & Bill CaukillMr John Cunningham SCM &
Mrs Margaret CunninghamLisa & Miro Davis
Matthew DelaseyMr & Mrs Grant DixonColin Draper & Mary Jane
BrodribbMalcolm Ellis & Erin O’NeillMrs Margaret EppsPaul R EspieProfessor Michael Field am
Mr Tom FrancisWarren GreenAnthony GreggAkiko GregoryIn memory of Dora &
Oscar GrynbergJanette HamiltonMrs Jennifer HershonMrs & Mr HolmesMichael & Anna JoelAron KleinlehrerMr Justin LamL M B LampratiMr Peter Lazar am
Professor Winston LiauwDr David LuisPeter Lowry oam &
Dr Carolyn Lowry oam
Kevin & Deirdre McCann
Ian & Pam McGawMacquarie Group FoundationRenee MarkovicHenry & Ursula MooserMilja & David MorrisMrs J MulveneyMr & Mrs OrtisMr Darrol NormanDr A J PalmerMr Andrew C PattersonDr Natalie E PelhamAlmut PiattiRobin PotterIn memory of Sandra Paul
PottingerTA & MT Murray-PriorDr Raffi QasabianMichael QuaileyMr Patrick Quinn-GrahamErnest & Judith RapeeKenneth R ReedPatricia H Reid Endowment
Pty LtdDr Marilyn RichardsonRobin RodgersLesley & Andrew RosenbergIn memory of H St P Scarlett
I KallinikosHelen Lynch am & Helen BauerMrs T Merewether oam
Vicki OlssonDavid RobertsonMrs Penelope Seidler am
G & C Solomon in memory of Joan MacKenzie
Westfield GroupRay Wilson oam in memory of
James Agapitos oam
Anonymous (1)
GOLD PATRONS: $10,000–$19,999Doug & Alison BattersbyAlan & Christine BishopIan & Jennifer BurtonMichael Crouch ao &
Shanny CrouchCopyright Agency Cultural
Fund Edward & Diane FedermanNora GoodridgeMr Ross GrantMr Ervin KatzJames N Kirby FoundationMs Irene LeeRuth & Bob Magid
The Hon. Justice AJ Meagher & Mrs Fran Meagher
Mr John MorschelDrs Keith & Eileen OngMr John SymondAndy & Deirdre PlummerCaroline WilkinsonAnonymous (1)
SILVER PATRONS: $5000–$9,999Dr Francis J AugustusStephen J BellMr Alexander & Mrs Vera
BoyarskyPeter Braithwaite & Gary
LinnaneMr Robert BrakspearMr David & Mrs Halina BrettMr Robert & Mrs L Alison Carr Bob & Julie ClampettEwen Crouch am &
Catherine CrouchThe Hon. Mrs Ashley Dawson-
DamerIan Dickson & Reg HollowayDr Lee MacCormick Edwards &
Mr Michael CraneDr Colin Goldschmidt
The Greatorex Foundation Mr Rory JeffesJudges of the Supreme Court
of NSW J A McKernanDavid Maloney am & Erin
FlahertyR & S Maple-BrownJustice Jane Mathews ao
Mora MaxwellMrs Barbara MurphyWilliam McIlrath Charitable
FoundationMr B G O’ConorRodney Rosenblum am &
Sylvia RosenblumDr Evelyn RoyalThe Estate of the late
Greta C RyanManfred & Linda SalamonSimpsons SolicitorsMrs Joyce Sproat &
Mrs Janet CookeMichael & Mary Whelan TrustJune & Alan Woods Family
BequestAnonymous (1)
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Caroline SharpenDavid & Isabel SmithersMrs Judith SouthamCatherine StephenThe Hon. Brian Sully qc
Mildred TeitlerKevin TroyJohn E TuckeyIn memory of Joan &
Rupert VallentineDr Alla WaldmanMiss Sherry WangHenry & Ruth WeinbergThe Hon. Justice A G WhealyMs Kathy White in memory
of Mr Geoff WhiteA Willmers & R PalMr & Mrs B C WilsonDr Richard Wing
Mr Robert WoodsIn memory of Lorna WrightDr John YuAnonymous (11)
BRONZE PATRONS: ALLEGRO $500–$999David & Rae AllenMr & Mrs Garry S AshDr Lilon BandlerMichael Baume ao & Toni BaumeBeauty Point Retirement ResortRichard & Margaret BellMrs Jan BiberMinnie BiggsMrs Elizabeth BoonMr Colin G BoothDr Margaret BoothMr Frederick BowersMr Harry H BrianR D & L M BroadfootMiss Tanya BryckerDr Miles Burgess
Mrs W G KeighleyMrs Margaret KeoghDr Henry KilhamChris J KitchingAnna-Lisa KlettenbergMr & Mrs Gilles T KrygerThe Laing FamilySonia LalDr Leo & Mrs Shirley LeaderMargaret LedermanMrs Erna Levy Sydney & Airdrie LloydMrs A LohanPanee LowDr David LuisMelvyn MadiganBarbara MaidmentHelen & Phil MeddingsDavid MillsKenneth Newton MitchellHelen MorganChris Morgan-HunnMr Graham NorthE J NuffieldDr Margaret ParkerDr Kevin PedemontDr John PittMrs Greeba PritchardMiss Julie RadosavljevicRenaissance ToursAnna RoAgnes RossMr Kenneth RyanGarry Scarf & Morgie Blaxill
Pat & Jenny BurnettEric & Rosemary CampbellBarrie CarterMr Jonathan ChissickMrs Sandra ClarkMichael & Natalie CoatesCoffs Airport Security Car ParkJen CornishDegabriele KitchensPhil Diment am & Bill
ZafiropoulosDr David DixonElizabeth DonatiMrs Jane DrexlerDr Nita Durham &
Dr James DurhamJohn FavaloroMs Julie Flynn & Mr Trevor CookMrs Lesley FinnMr John GadenVivienne GoldschmidtClive & Jenny GoodwinRuth GrahameMs Fay GrearIn Memory of Angelica GreenMr Robert GreenRichard Griffin am
Mr & Mrs Harold & Althea Halliday
Benjamin Hasic & Belinda Davie
Mr Robert HavardRoger HenningSue HewittIn memory of Emil HiltonDorothy Hoddinott ao
Mr Joerg HofmannMr Angus HoldenMr Kevin HollandBill & Pam HughesDr Esther JanssenNiki Kallenberger
Peter & Virginia ShawV ShoreMrs Diane Shteinman am
Victoria SmythDr Judy SoperDoug & Judy SotherenRuth StaplesMr & Mrs Ashley StephensonMargaret SuthersMs Margaret SwansonThe Taplin FamilyDr & Mrs H K TeyAlma Toohey Judge Robyn TupmanMrs M TurkingtonGillian Turner & Rob BishopRonald WalledgeIn memory of Denis WallisThe Wilkinson FamilyEvan Williams am &
Janet WilliamsDr Edward J WillsAudrey & Michael Wilson
Dr Richard WingateDr Peter Wong &
Mrs Emmy K WongGeoff Wood & Melissa
WaitesMrs Robin YabsleyAnonymous (29)
List correct as of 1 March 2014
Vanguard CollectiveJustin Di Lollo ChairKees BoersmaDavid McKeanAmelia Morgan-HunnJonathan PeaseSeamus R QuickChloe SassonCamille Thioulouse
MembersDamien BaileyJoan BallantineAndrew BaxterMar BeltranEvonne BennettNicole BilletDavid Bluff
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA VANGUARDA MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM FOR A DYNAMIC GROUP OF GEN X & Y SSO FANS AND FUTURE PHILANTHROPISTS
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BECOMING A
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PATRON, PLEASE
CONTACT THE PHILANTHROPY OFFICE ON (02) 8215 4674
OR EMAIL [email protected]
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Andrew BraggPeter BraithwaiteBlake BriggsAndrea BrownProf. Attila BrungsHelen CaldwellHilary CaldwellHahn ChauAlistair ClarkPaul ColganJuliet CurtinAlastair FurnivalAlistair GibsonSam GiddingsMarina GoTony GriersonLouise HaggertyRose Herceg
Philip HeuzenroederPaolo HookePeter HowardJennifer HoyScott JacksonJustin JamesonAernout KerbertTristan LandersGary LinnanePaul MacdonaldKylie McCaigRebecca MacFarlingHayden McLeanTaine MoufarrigeNick NichlesTom O’DonnellKate O’ReillyLaurissa Poulos
Jingmin QianLeah RanieSudeep RaoMichael ReedePaul ReidyChris RobertsonDr Benjamin RobinsonEmma RodigariJacqueline RowlandsKatherine ShawRandal TameSandra TangMichael TidballJonathan WatkinsonJon WilkieYvonne Zammit
PLAYING YOUR PART
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SALUTE
PRINCIPAL PARTNER
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is assisted by the
Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council,
its arts funding and advisory body
GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is
assisted by the NSW Government
through Arts NSW
PREMIER PARTNER
PLATINUM PARTNER
GOLD PARTNERS
SILVER PARTNERS
REGIONAL TOUR PARTNER MARKETING PARTNER
EDUCATION PARTNER MAJOR PARTNERS
07 Intl Pianists Omnibus.indd 49 27/02/14 8:07 AM
❝I’m not one of those people who can wing it!
❞prepared for the first rehearsal. ‘I’m not one of those people who can wing it!’
Many of our musicians have small pre-concert rituals or habits that best prepare them for performances. For Emma, it’s about turning up on stage early. You’ll often see the last-minute tuning of harps and timpani, or double reed players sitting in the environment of the hall to accustom their reeds to the climate, but string players are a less common sight on stage before a show. ‘I’m quite unusual that I like to be up there about 20 minutes before the concert starts. I get a bit cranky if I can’t do that! In the Red Room [the orchestra’s warm-up room beneath the stage of the Opera House], there are lots of other people practising, you can’t really hear yourself, and people are always coming up to talk to you. I like to be able to sit and practise quietly without being disturbed.’
‘My music degree,’ says second violinist Emma Hayes, ‘taught me discipline. It really taught me how to practise, how to take something apart, how to play in tune.’ Emma’s teacher was a real taskmaster. ‘We would spend a whole hour on the first bar of a Mozart concerto, and unless it was absolutely perfect, I wasn’t allowed to go onto the next bar! It could be frustrating, though I see the benefit of that approach now. She was so picky about intonation, but it has stood me in good stead.’
The practising doesn’t end once someone enters the profession of orchestral music.
‘Behind the scenes, people don’t see all the practice continuing. First of all I learn all the notes. Then, if there’s something I don’t know – like the Adams [Absolute Jest from Absolutely Beethoven in February] – and it’s a bit tricky, then I’ll listen to it to find out changes of tempo, how my part fits in with all the other parts.’
It can be difficult to know beforehand just what passages might trip you up as a player. ‘In listening first, I can isolate the tricky parts, and pre-empt what the conductor might do. Even memorise some passages.’ All this work ensures Emma is fully
THE ART OF PRACTISINGPractice really does make perfect for violinist Emma Hayes.
ORCHESTRA NEWS | MARCH 2014
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EY In between Mozart concerto rehearsals in January, Anne-Sophie Mutter dared herself to climb our great landmark. Artist Liaison Manager Ilmar Leetberg was delighted to join her as she scaled the Sydney Harbour Bridge. He reported that Anne-Sophie likened the experience to preparing a Mozart concerto: ‘It’s about seeing form, space, observing where the light is, and seeing where the shadows are.’
This month we welcome incoming Director of Artistic Planning, Benjamin Schwartz, who comes to us from the Boston Symphony Orchestra where he was Assistant Artistic Administrator. Says Ben of his responsibilities with the SSO: ‘It’s incumbent on [me] to perpetuate the orchestral vision which we love.’ He’s looking forward working collaboratively with the musicians, building frank and friendly relationships with colleagues, discovering more about Australian culture, and bringing some of his eclectic taste to the orchestra’s programming.
Ben’s one regret is that he hasn’t been able to clone himself in the closing weeks of his time in Boston, and was ultimately faced with a difficult choice, both involving Richard Strauss: ‘I had to choose between seeing out my time in Boston with a big project of Salome, or arriving in time to take part in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s Elektra project. It all came to a head,’ he said ruefully, ‘but I can’t do two things simultaneously.’ We’re chuffed he decided to join us in time to witness the amazing performances in Elektra and begin his partnership with Chief Conductor and Artistic Director David Robertson.
Artistic Highlight Ask a MusicianWhy does the conductor leave the stage between pieces?Our Assistant Conductor, Jessica Cottis, provides the answer:
A conductor leaves the stage between works for reasons of tradition and pragmatism. On the practical front: players need to leave or enter according the instrumentation of each piece, and of course the stage management team needs time to reconfigure the stage, whether shifting back the first violins to allow space for a soloist, or rolling on a piano for a concerto.
Unlike the members of the orchestra, a conductor’s place is on the podium: there is no chair, no position of being ‘at ease’ during any resets. Walking offstage also allows the conductor to take a few moments out of the spotlight to ‘cleanse the palette’. I see it as something akin to a break in a tennis match, where players retire to the side of court between games, sip some water, wrap a towel around their necks, and refocus their minds on what is ahead.
Over many years, our concert-going experiences have become heavily codified. Audiences expect a conductor to leave the stage between pieces even if no change in personnel is required. And semiotically, the absence or presence of a conductor alerts the audience to what state of mind they should be in. It is a lovely tradition, I think, as it also creates another opportunity for the conductor to acknowledge and reconnect with the audience before the next piece begins.
Have a question about music, instruments or the inner workings of an orchestra? ‘Ask a Musician’ at [email protected] or by writing to Bravo! Reply Paid 4338, Sydney NSW 2001.
Welcome Ben!
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The ScoreElijah: Bigger than Ben HurWhen Mendelssohn’s Elijah was premiered at the 1846 Birmingham Festival it was bigger than Ben Hur. There were more than a hundred musicians in the orchestra and several hundred singers in the choir! In one number Mendelssohn calls for eight vocal soloists.
And this season we’ve invited Paul McCreesh to conduct a recreation of this amazing event. McCreesh is a HIP musician – historically informed performance, that is – best known as the director of the Gabrieli Consort, a period instrument ensemble with companion chorus. For many music lovers, historically informed performance has come to mean ‘scaled back’: Bach passions sung one to a part, Mozart with 30 musicians, Brahms with 47.
But for a ‘Birmingham Elijah’ it will mean quite the opposite. In order to capture its sheer magnificence, the musicians of the SSO will be out in full strength, joined by the combined forces of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and the Conservatorium High School Choir.
If you love large-scale choral music, it doesn’t get grander than this. Mendelssohn combines the majestic tradition of Handel and the worshipful spirit of Bach with his own Romantic style to create a thrilling (his word) musical picture of ‘a grand and mighty prophet…borne on the wings of angels’.
Elijah: Celestial VoicesAPT Master Series14, 16, 17 May | 8pm
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of their degree; for graduates, that figure shrinks to ten hours. ‘Unfortunately many primary school teachers lack the skills and confidence to teach music as well or as often as they would like,’ says Kim.
TunED Up hosted 20 primary school teachers from public schools across NSW in a week (during their holidays!) of lessons with music education experts, working on composition, listening and performance skills.
Kylie Harvey, from Cobar Public School, felt the TunED Up program would prepare her better to teach children with few opportunities. ‘I’ve always worked in little country schools, and I’ve seen some phenomenally talented kids,’ she said. ‘In Sydney, they’d have opportunities and lessons, but for a lot of those kids out west, I’m it!’
For Fred Street, TunED Up is about reaching more children through quality teaching. ‘It’s an awakening, a chance to introduce kids to a world they never knew existed. For many it becomes a lifelong appreciation, for some it becomes even more. TunED Up is teaching teachers who, over years, can reach hundreds and thousands of kids.’For more information about TunED Up, contact Kim Waldock at [email protected]
Fred Street’s first musical memories are of standing in front of a radio as a little boy, with ruler in hand conducting the music. ‘I was blessed with having a wonderful music and singing teacher in my early schooling. He was the sort of teacher who not only taught us Schubert lieder, but made us come with him to see Schubert’s house!’ The years have rolled by, but Fred thinks of that teacher and his lifelong influence. ‘This is what led me to the TunED Up program.’
Our inaugural TunED Up was held in January. An intensive five- day training program designed to equip primary school teachers with music skills and techniques, TunED Up was made possible through the generous support of Fred and Dorothy Street.
‘There are so many benefits associated with incorporating music into a child’s learning,’ explains Kim Waldock, the SSO’s Director of Learning and Engagement. ‘We know that exposure to music significantly increases the happiness, wellbeing, and emotional and intellectual development of children.’
According to research by the Music Council of Australia, primary education undergraduates receive a maximum of 17 hours of music instruction over the course
Education Focus
TEACHING TEACHERS
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Kim Waldock (in the white top, centre) with our first TunED Up recruits.
A new educator’s education program was born this past summer. Time to get TunED Up!
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SYMPHONY SERVICES INTERNATIONALSuite 2, Level 5, 1 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010PO Box 1145, Darlinghurst NSW 1300Telephone (02) 8622 9400 Facsimile (02) 8622 9422www.symphonyinternational.net
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TRUSTMr John Symond am [Chair]Mr Wayne Blair, Ms Catherine Brenner, The Hon Helen Coonan, Ms Brenna Hobson, Mr Chris Knoblanche, Mr Peter Mason am, Ms Jillian Segal am, Mr Robert Wannan, Mr Phillip Wolanski, am
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENTChief Executive Officer Louise Herron am
Chief Operating Officer Claire SpencerDirector, Programming Jonathan BielskiDirector, Theatre and Events David ClaringboldDirector, Building Development and Maintenance Greg McTaggartDirector, External Affairs Brook TurnerDirector, Commercial David Watson
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All rights reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the editor, publisher or any distributor of the programs. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of statements in this publication, we cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material prior to printing.
Please address all correspondence to the Publications Editor: Email [email protected]
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By arrangement with the Sydney Symphony, this publication is offered free of charge to its patrons subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s consent in writing. It is a further condition that this publication shall not be circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it was published, or distributed at any other event than specified on the title page of this publication 17279 — 1/190314 — 10MM/TH/TS S19/21
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Head Office: Suite A, Level 1, Building 16, Fox Studios Australia, Park Road North, Moore Park NSW 2021PO Box 410, Paddington NSW 2021Telephone: +61 2 9921 5353 Fax: +61 2 9449 6053 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.playbill.com.au
Chairman Brian Nebenzahl OAM RFD
Managing Director Michael Nebenzahl Editorial Director Jocelyn Nebenzahl Manager—Production—Classical Music Alan Ziegler
Operating in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart & Darwin
SYMPHONY SERVICES INTERNATIONALSuite 2, Level 5, 1 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst NSW 2010PO Box 1145, Darlinghurst NSW 1300Telephone (02) 8622 9400 Facsimile (02) 8622 9422www.symphonyinternational.net
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TRUSTMr John Symond am [Chair]Mr Wayne Blair, Ms Catherine Brenner, The Hon Helen Coonan, Ms Brenna Hobson, Mr Chris Knoblanche, Mr Peter Mason am, Ms Jillian Segal am, Mr Robert Wannan, Mr Phillip Wolanski, am
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENTChief Executive Officer Louise Herron am
Chief Operating Officer Claire SpencerDirector, Programming Jonathan BielskiDirector, Theatre and Events David ClaringboldDirector, Building Development and Maintenance Greg McTaggartDirector, External Affairs Brook TurnerDirector, Commercial David Watson
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSEBennelong Point GPO Box 4274, Sydney NSW 2001Administration (02) 9250 7111 Box Office (02) 9250 7777Facsimile (02) 9250 7666 Website www.sydneyoperahouse.com
Clocktower Square, Argyle Street, The Rocks NSW 2000GPO Box 4972, Sydney NSW 2001Telephone (02) 8215 4644Box Office (02) 8215 4600Facsimile (02) 8215 4646www.sydneysymphony.com
All rights reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of the editor, publisher or any distributor of the programs. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of statements in this publication, we cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material prior to printing.
Please address all correspondence to the Publications Editor: Email [email protected]
PAPER PARTNER
All enquiries for advertising space in this publication should be directed to the above company and address. Entire concept copyright. Reproduction without permission in whole or in part of any material contained herein is prohibited. Title ‘Playbill’ is the registered title of Playbill Proprietary Limited. Title ‘Showbill’ is the registered title of Showbill Proprietary Limited.
By arrangement with the Sydney Symphony, this publication is offered free of charge to its patrons subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s consent in writing. It is a further condition that this publication shall not be circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it was published, or distributed at any other event than specified on the title page of this publication 172–– — 1/000014 — 09 S00/00
This is a PLAYBILL / SHOWBILL publication. Playbill Proprietary Limited / Showbill Proprietary Limited ACN 003 311 064 ABN 27 003 311 064
Head Office: Suite A, Level 1, Building 16, Fox Studios Australia, Park Road North, Moore Park NSW 2021PO Box 410, Paddington NSW 2021Telephone: +61 2 9921 5353 Fax: +61 2 9449 6053 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.playbill.com.au
Chairman Brian Nebenzahl OAM RFD
Managing Director Michael Nebenzahl Editorial Director Jocelyn Nebenzahl Manager—Production—Classical Music Alan Ziegler
Operating in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart & Darwin
EDITOR Genevieve Lang Huppert sydneysymphony.com/bravo
2014 SSO FELLOWSOur annual crop of Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows recently began their year with the orchestra. This year they are: Liisa Pallandi and Nicholas Waters (violin), Carl Lee (viola), James sang-oh Yoo (returning to the cello spot), Aurora Henrich (double bass), Georgina Roberts (oboe), Alexei Dupressoir (clarinet) and Timothy Murray (bassoon). We’ll be introducing them in the next issue of Bravo!
Throughout the year the Fellows will perform in their own chamber music series and also with the SSO in mainstage concerts. Have a look – can you spot any on stage tonight?
FINE MUSINGSThe Sydney Symphony Orchestra Music Hour is broadcast on Fine Music 102.5FM at 6pm on the second Tuesday of every month. Peter Kurti, who presented the
show in 2013 (thanks Peter!), has recently passed the baton to Andrew Bukenya. Andrew is keen to reach a new audience and give listeners an even deeper insight into the workings of the orchestra through conversations with SSO musicians. Already this year his guests have included concertmaster Andrew Haveron and first violinist Nicola Lewis. Tune in for monthly insights into the SSO!
BEQUESTWe were saddened to learn recently of the passing away of Isabelle Joseph, a long-time supporter of the orchestra, and former President of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Women’s Committee, which supported visiting artists. Isabelle attended and enjoyed our concerts until she was 95 years old. In her will, she made a generous bequest to the SSO, which will help ensure a similarly long life for our orchestra. We are grateful to Isabelle and our thoughts are with her family.
FAREWELL CAROLINE SHARPENIn December we bid a sad farewell to Caroline Sharpen, our Director of Development for five years. Having recently completed an MBA with flying colours, she decided to move on to other challenges and her tremendous dedication, commitment and generous personality will be sorely missed. But not entirely! Caroline will retain a link with the SSO by providing support in areas of strategic development, such as international connections and partnerships.
LIVE AT THE CORTILETravel through time in a mini-concert by the SSO Brass Quintet. Journey through the music of Renaissance Venice to jazz-era New York, all from the comfort of your lounge chair at the Cortile, InterContinental Sydney. With cocktails crafted to match the music, it’ll be a feast for the senses. Thursday 13 March. Bookings advised, with cocktail packages available from $25 per person. Call (02) 9240 1396.
CODA
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