Haydn and Mozart

Romantic VisionsCimarosa Concerto for Clarinet and Strings

Rachmaninoff Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G minor

Beethoven Septet in E flat major, Op. 20

Songs from the BushBusoni Suite for Clarinet and String Quartet in G minor

Meurant Concertino for Clarinet and Strings [World Premiere]

Mozart String Quartet No. 17 ‘The Hunt’, K. 458

Munro Clarinet Quintet ‘Songs from the Bush’

Beethoven’s QuintetNielsen Wind Quintet, Op. 43

Hindemith Kleine Kammermusik for Wind Quintet, Op. 24, No. 2

Françaix Quartet for Winds

Beethoven Quintet in E flat major for Piano and Winds, Op. 16

What’s On

Date and TimeSunday 7 May, 2:30pm

VenueUtzon Room, Sydney Opera House

Bookingssydneyoperahouse.com02 9250 7777

Date and TimeWednesday 5 April, 7:30pm

VenueCity Recital Hall

Bookingscityrecitalhall.com02 8256 2222

Date and TimeSunday 8 October, 2:30pm

VenueUtzon Room, Sydney Opera House

Bookingssydneyoperahouse.com02 9250 7777

Master Series Master SeriesVirtuoso Series

Haydn and MozartSunday 19 February 2017, 2:30pmUtzon Room, Sydney Opera House

DebussyString Quartet in G minor27 mins

HoadleyClarinet Quintet, ‘Broken Songs’[World Premiere] 9 mins

Interval (20 mins)

HaydnString Quartet No. 53 in D major20 mins

MozartClarinet Quintet in A major30 mins

Cover Image, Neil Thompson. Credit: Bruce Terry

4 Haydn and Mozart

The Ensemble

Omega Ensemble shines a light on outstanding musicians, giving every instrument its own voice.

Founded in 2005, Omega Ensemble initially performed in churches and fast became one of Australia’s finest and most lauded chamber groups. Its mission is to showcase outstanding artists who captivate and excite audiences through a revelatory program of chamber music. With a dedication to engaging the finest Australian musicians, as well as international guest artists, Omega presents outstanding musicians in an intimate and stimulating chamber setting.

Omega Ensemble is unique in that the combination of musicians varies for each concert. Ranging from full chamber orchestra to duos it constantly provides a fresh and invigorating musical experience, captivating audiences. Omega’s players pride themselves on performing a diverse range of repertoire; whether it is an iconic gem, a neglected beauty or a brand new work, their passion and commitment to the highest level of craft is still deployed. For audiences, a performance by Omega touches mind, heart and spirit.

To date, the Omega Ensemble has commissioned and performed over twenty new works that demonstrate a Who’s Who roster of Australian

composers, including Daniel Rojas (Hard Boiled Overture), Mark Isaacs (Chamber Symphony No. 2), Cyrus Meurant (Eventide Visions), George Palmer, Elena Kats-Chernin, Anne Boyd, Matthew Hindson, Christopher Gordon, John Peterson, Margery Smith, Stuart Greenbaum, Paul Stanhope, Ben Hoadley, and their latest world premiere, Contradance by acclaimed composer, author and music journalist Andrew Ford.

As well as performing a diverse range of well-known and loved repertoire, Omega Ensemble’s programming includes works that have been lost to time. Omega’s ability to find these pieces and bring them to life spells out a deep love and passion not only for well-known chamber music, but also for exploring gems that delight, entertain and enrich their audiences.

Omega’s innovative approach to concert repertoire and programming is further enhanced by Omega On Demand, in which audiences can relive the magic of a live performance. Beyond these videos, Omega Ensemble’s performances are now included as part of Qantas’s inflight entertainment.

5Sunday 19 February 2017

David RowdenCo-Artistic Director

Maria RaspopovaCo-Artistic Director

David Rowden was born in Sydney and studied clarinet from a young age. He was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music where he won the Geoffrey Hawkes Prize for clarinet performance. David also studied in Italy with Anthony Pay and in France with Paul Meyer.

Since returning to Sydney David has performed as a freelance orchestral musician with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and many others, as well as being Guest Principal Clarinet with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2011 he was a finalist in the ABC Young Performer of the Year Awards. From 2013-2014 David curated the House Music series at Government House.

In 2005 David founded the Omega Ensemble where he has overseen the growth of the organisation since. In 2016 David was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music and he recently appeared on the 50th Anniversary DVD of Australia’s iconic children’s program, Play School. 2016 saw David record with Omega Ensemble alongside Dimitri Ashkenazy performing George Palmer’s Clarinet Concerto, It Takes Two, on Omega’s debut album.

Maria Raspopova is an acclaimed and virtuosic chamber musician and recitalist. She is the Co-Artistic Director of Omega Ensemble, and has performed with a number of acclaimed musicians.

Maria began learning the piano at a young age in Russia. At seventeen she moved to Australia with her family and soon commenced studies at Sydney Conservatorium of Music where her teachers were Gerard Willems and Philip Shovk. She was then awarded a scholarship to attend the Manhattan School of Music, studying piano performance with Philip Kawin. Since returning to Australia, Maria has recorded and performed recitals in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. During the past few years she performed at both the Art Gallery of New South Wales and in the Government House Music series with acclaimed soprano Emma Matthews. With Omega Ensemble she has also performed in a number of newly commissioned Australian works.

Maria has received wide acclaim for her performances with Omega Ensemble. Most recently she performed Saint-Saens’ Septet to a standing-ovation and received wide-spread positive reviews. Recently Maria performed Mahler’s’ Piano Quintet in A Minor at City Recital Hall which also received positive press.

6 Haydn and Mozart

Musicians

Natsuko YoshimotoViolin

Neil ThompsonViola

Ike SeeViolin

David RowdenClarinet

Paul StenderCello

For full biographies, On Demand video and featured interviews with all our 2017 musicians, visit omegaensemble.com.au/ensemble

7Sunday 19 February 2017

Meet the MusicianNeil Thompson, Viola

When did you start playing the viola and what do you love most about it?

I started playing when I was eight years old in my home town of Whyalla. I love the sonority and resonance of the instrument, and the fact that we can dip into different ranges. The viola is fundamentally the ‘middle’ voice of the group. It’s like the rudder on a ship. It steers the music harmonically.

What do you love most about performing chamber music?

In an orchestra you are trying to make an overall sound whereas in chamber music you are a set of unique, individual voices that can be clearly heard. Playing in a chamber group is a lot like being in a band, and we certainly rock out just as hard.

What are some of your most memorable musical experiences?

I would have to say performing in regional areas on tour. Audiences are very passionate about coming to hear you, even though they might not know the music or the instrument you are playing. This makes for an exciting experience all round.

What do you love most about playing Haydn and Debussy String Quartets?

Haydn is often referred to as the “father of the string quartet”, so whenever you see other composers working with a string quartet it’s like watching a species evolve. It’s interesting to go back to Haydn’s piece and see the original workings. Debussy’s string quartet freed chamber music and it certainly sounds like this: this impressionistic, light and flowing work is so beautiful and a lot of fun to play.

What do you love about performing with Omega Ensemble?

We are all great friends so it makes for some fantastic music making. The repertoire is always fresh, there are new compositions and music that has never been heard before, and it’s always performed with such a high level of musicianship.

8 Haydn and Mozart

Claude Debussy (1862–1918)

String Quartet in G minorOp. 10

I. Animé et très décidéII. Assez vif et bien rythméIII. Andantino, doucement expressifIV. Très modéré - En animant peu à peu - Très mouvementé et avec passion

The Ysaÿe Quartet’s 1893 premiere of Debussy’s first – and only – string quartet left its audience somewhat perplexed. Staunch supporters of the classical Viennese composers, attendees at the National Society concert were baffled by Debussy’s flagrant disregard for the rules of harmony and by his apparent failure to observe the structural conventions that had served Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven so well. While one critic ventured to praise the quartet’s ‘poetic themes’ and ‘rare sonorities’ it was not until a performance the following year that the work won its first enthusiastic advocate, with the critic Dukas hailing Debussy “one of the most gifted and original artists of the younger generation” and heaping lavish praise on the work:

“Debussy takes particular delight in successions of rich chords that are dissonant without being crude, and more harmonious in their complexity than any consonances could be; over them, his melody proceeds as on a sumptuous, skillfully designed carpet of strange coloring that contains no violent or discordant tints…”

The Quartet is now considered a seminal

work of the genre. To today’s listener, its sensual abandon sounds much less outlandish and the Quartet’s musical lineage is thus less obscured: Debussy’s break with history was not quite so dramatic as early audiences imagined.

The work’s opening statement presents the thematic material that sustains the entire work. Yet while elevating the importance of rhythm and timbre, Debussy adopts traditional sonata form; he introduces a second subject before turning his attention to development, and then concludes with a restatement of the movement’s two main ideas. The contrasting textures of the second movement’s Scherzo give way to a more lyrical slow movement in which melody rises to the fore. The final movement contains traces of earlier material, bringing Debussy’s organically shifting sound-scape to a neatly unified close.

9Sunday 19 February 2017

Ben Hoadley

Clarinet Quintet, ‘Broken Songs’World Premiere

Broken Songs was written in November 2016. This work follows the same structure as my Four Preludes, performed by the Omega Ensemble in 2016: four short movements with common thematic threads running throughout. But instead of the birdsong-inspired themes in the Preludes, in these miniatures I have used tunes reminiscent of folk music from the British Isles. The fact that the individual movements are so short and fragmented explains the title on one level, but another reason may be the reflective nature of the work.

My choice for the basset clarinet was initially so that this work could be performed alongside the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, which David Rowden performs on this instrument, as this is the type of clarinet for which Mozart originally wrote. As I began composing I found that the darker quality of the instrument started to influence the mood of the piece. The basset clarinet’s range is only a third lower than the standard clarinet, but what one can do with those lowest resonant tones, which are quite special and have a unique tone colour. In the words of the great mezzo-soprano Jean

Madeira: “What a joy to swim in that deep low register”.

Notes by the composer.

About the composerBen Hoadley enjoys a dynamic career as a performer, teacher and composer. Recently, he premiered Alex Taylor’s bassoon concerto. Ben has also released of his own solo CD, Southern Invention, which was listed by William Dart in the NZ Herald as a “top ten classical” for 2015.

Ben completed studies at Sydney Conservatorium of Music and then the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he became the first wind player in over a decade to receive the school’s prestigious Artist Diploma.

Ben holds a Master’s degree in composition and is regularly commissioned by Omega Ensemble and numerous other groups and artists.

10 Haydn and Mozart

Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)

String Quartet No. 53 in D majorOp. 64, No. 5, Hob.III:63, ‘The Lark’

I. Allegro moderatoII. Adagio - CantabileIII. Menuetto: AllegrettoIV. Finale: Vivace

This quartet’s soaring opening theme earned it the nickname ‘The Lark’ and is in part responsible for its lasting popularity. Of Haydn’s prolific output – he wrote 83 quartets alone – this remains one of his best-known chamber works.

As a composer, Haydn had the relatively rare luxury of secure employment together with unlimited access to professional performers who could bring his music to life. But despite his privileged position, after more than three decades in the employ of the Esterházy family Haydn was beginning to feel somewhat cut off from society, and increasingly interesting in engaging with the international musical scene. As it turns out, the set of six quartets that comprise his Opus 64 were to be the last the composer would write for his longstanding employer, who died in the same year this quartet was completed. While Esterházy’s son kept Haydn in his employ, he was less interested in music, leaving Haydn free to turn his attention toward the concert halls of London. While the Op. 64 quartets retain the subtlety and precision so well-suited to the intimacy of chamber music settings,

they also mark the beginning of a shift towards grander, bolder statements more characteristic of Haydn’s later oeuvre.

The soaring Lark melody with which this Quartet begins is the first subject of the movement’s sonata form framework. The theme is woven throughout the movement including making an unexpected reappearance as part of the masterful double recapitulation. The first violin continues to shine in the second movement’s pensive aria, while the effervescence of the third movement’s minuet is set against a more serious trio. The energetic finale is responsible for the quartet’s other nickname ‘The Hornpipe’. Reminiscent of an English folkdance, this movement immediately captured its audience’s interest and so too set the basis for the work’s immediate and lasting success.

11Sunday 19 February 2017

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

Clarinet Quintet in A majorK.581

I. AllegroII. LarghettoIII. Menuetto IV. Allegretto con variazioni

Mozart loved the sound of the clarinet. At age 22, after travelling through Mannheim, he wrote to his father “Oh, if only we had clarinets. You can’t guess the lordly effect of a symphony with flutes, oboes and clarinets”.

Years later he was to befriend clarinettist Anton Stadler, whose talents were such that a Viennese critic wrote: “I would not have thought that a clarinet could imitate the human voice so deceptively as you imitate it. Your instrument is so soft, so delicate in tone that no-one who has a heart can resist it.”

This Clarinet Quintet was written for Stadler, and it is one of the earliest works in which the clarinet’s role goes beyond that of a supporting accompanist. Yet despite the allure of the instrument, Mozart resists the temptation to use it as a soloist, instead cultivating a true partnership between the clarinet and strings.

In the quintet’s first movement the opening motifs unfold into melodies of lyrical beauty. In the first part of the second movement the clarinet comes closest to assuming a leading role in

the aria-like melody set against muted strings. The third dance movement is unusual in that it contains two trios. The first is in a minor key, for strings only, while the clarinet returns for the second trio’s rustic peasant. The final movement is a series of variations, with an unexpectedly slower tempo for the fifth and final variation that leads to the work’s conclusion.

12 Haydn and Mozart

Support

$5,000 +Mr and Mrs Terry and Kyril AgnewMr Steven Alward and Mr Mark WakelyMr & Mrs Steve and Maggie BanksMrs W.G.Keighley – In memory of Keighley QuistMr & Mrs Diccon and Liz Loxton

The Hon. Jane Mathews AOThe Hon. George Palmer AM QCMs Petrina SlaytorProfessor John Snowdon AM and Mrs Libby SnowdonDr Anthony White AM and Mrs Doffy WhiteMr Cameron WilliamsAnonymous (1)

$1,000 +Emeritus Professor Christine Alexander and the late Professor Peter AlexanderMr Andrew Andersons AOMs Erica BookerMr & Mrs Roberto and Ofelia BrozkyMr Bradford & Dr Jenny BurkeMr & Mrs Alan and Phillippa Clark

Omega Ensemble is honoured to be supported by our generous patrons. All donations go towards enabling Omega Ensemble to continue to produce and perform outstanding chamber music.

As we continue to develop our Patrons' Program, we strive to show our gratitude to those who support us by offering unique and exciting opportunities to enjoy Omega Ensemble's music.

For more information on ways to support Omega Ensemble or becoming a Patron, visit omegaensemble.com.au/support

Patrons$20,000+

Mrs Kerry JonesMr Michael Crouch AO and Mrs Shanny Crouch

Mr & Mrs Bruce and Mary Anne TerryAnonymous (1)

13Sunday 19 February 2017

Mr Bernard ColesMr & Mrs David and Virginia CreerMr & Mrs Hugh and Frances DixsonMs Sarah DunnMr David EmanuelMr & Mrs Bruce and Alison HandmerMr & Mrs Simon and Wendy HardyMr Randell HeymanMr & Mrs Alex and Libby JonesMr & Mrs John and Jo-Ann NegrineMs Karen O’FlynnDrs Keith and Eileen OngMr & Mrs Adrian and Dairneen PiltonMs Jenny QuistIn Memory of Katherine RobertsonLady Heather RossiterMr David SidebottomMr John Sydney Smith and Ms Nola CharlesProfessor Gillian Straker and Ms Nellie RobertsonMr & Mrs Victor and Ann SutherlandThe Suttie FamilyDr Geoff and Mrs Renee SymondsDr Jenepher ThomasDr & Mrs John and Hilary WalshMr Geoffrey White OAMDr Nicholas WilckenMr Gerard Willems AM and Ms Eva FreyMr Kim Williams AM

Mr & Mrs George and Sandra WoodsAnonymous (7)

$500 +Ms Anita AustinMr Craig BrushMr Wayne BurnsMr Rodney ClarkMr Mark Dempsey SCMr & Mrs Charles and Anne EdmondsonDrs Russ and Virginia HancockDrs Michael and Louise JamiesonMr & Mrs Chris and Ingrid LathamMr Ian LathamMr & Mrs Richard and Alison MorganMrs Tessa PhillipsMs Lyn ReynoldsMr Philip SternMr Mark Tedeschi SC and Ms Sharon ToflerMr and Mrs Chris and Pat WetherallEmeritus Professor David Wilcken and ProfessorMrs Lindsay WanstallBridget Wilcken AMJustice David YatesAnonymous (1)

$250 +Mr & Mrs Gary and Joanna BarnesThe Hon A/Judge JenniferBoland AMDr Danielle Chiel

Dr & Mrs Roger and Janet DonbavandProfessor Zoltán H EndreMs Victoria HarperMr Matthew HegartyMr & Mrs Robert andJocelyn HellyerMs Nadine HelmiMr Geoff HogbinMs Sandra HutchesonMr & Mrs Matthias andJulie InhelderMr Adrian IrelandMs Anne KnightMs Alison McIntyreMs Rossie OgilvieMr Terrance PlowrightMr & Mrs Tom and Dalia StanleyDr & Mrs Andrew and Ann SoddyMr Shane Simpson AMMr & Mrs Max and Josette StaplesMs Sandy WilliamsMr Billy WongMr Hugh VaughanDr Sylvia YeungAnonymous (5)

Supporters

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Presenting Partner (Lunch Series) Media Partner (Virtuoso Series) Media Partner (Master Series)

Major Partner

Principal Partner

Details published in this publication, including dates, prices, artist and venue information are correct at the time of publishing. Omega Ensemble reserves the right to vary, substitute or withdraw advertised programs, artists and venues. For up to date performance and artist details, please visit omegaensemble.com.au. The publisher does not take responsibility for any changes to fees, booking details or other changes made by ticketing agents or performance venues after the time of publication.

Our VisionTo enrich life through a deeper understanding of music.

Omega Ensemble34 Centennial Avenue Randwick NSW 2031Omega Ensemble ACN 40 120 304 725 is listed on the Australian Government’s Register of Cultural Organisations maintained under Subdivision 30-B of Part 2-1 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth).

Patron Simone Young am

Ambassador Gerard Willems am

Acknowledgments

BoardRobert Titterton, Chairman

Bruce Terry, Treasurer

David Rowden

Maria Raspopova

TeamMarketing Manager Belinda Shiavone

Administrator Stephen Bydder

Researcher Rhiannon Cook

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Brochure Design: Viqtor Studio, viqtor.com.au

Photography: Bruce Terry

Program Notes: Rhiannon Cook

Additional Notes: Samuel Cottell

Acknowledgment of Country

Omega Ensemble acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of the land on which we perform. We pay respect to the Elders both past and present, and extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

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