PASSIONS OF THE SOUL 2011 SEASON BRAHMS AND TCHAIKOVSKY THU 10 FEBRUARY 1.30PM FRI 11 FEBRUARY 8PM SAT 12 FEBRUARY 2PM MON 14 FEBRUARY 7PM

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1 2011 SEASON PASSIONS OF THE SOUL BRAHMS AND TCHAIKOVSKY THU 10 FEBRUARY 1.30PM FRI 11 FEBRUARY 8PM SAT 12 FEBRUARY 2PM MON 14 FEBRUARY 7PM THURSDAY AFTERNOON SYMPHONY EMIRATES METRO SERIES GREAT CLASSICS 7

2 WELCOME TO THE EMIRATES METRO SERIES The Sydney Symphony is a fi rst-class orchestra based in one of the world s most beautiful cities, and Emirates, as a world-class airline, is proud to continue as the orchestra s Principal Partner in A fi rst-class experience is always a memorable one. Whether it be exiting your personal Emirates chauffeur driven car at the airport, ready to be whisked away to the Emirates lounge, or entering a concert hall for an unforgettable night of music, the feeling of luxury and pleasure is the same. Emirates views sponsorships such as the Sydney Symphony not just as an alignment of values, but also as a way of extending commitments to the destinations the airline serves around the world. Emirates has been a partner of the Symphony since 2000, the same year the airline launched fl ights to Sydney. Through the support of sponsors and customers in New South Wales over the past ten years, Emirates has grown and now operates double-daily fl ights between Sydney and Dubai, with convenient connections to more than 100 destinations, as well as daily trans-tasman fl ights to Auckland and Christchurch. Australia-wide, Emirates operates 63 fl ights per week from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to Dubai, and 28 fl ights per week trans-tasman. Sydneysiders can experience the state-of-the-art features of Emirates ultra-modern A380 aircraft which operates daily from Sydney to Dubai and Auckland. These features include onboard lounges where First and Business Class passengers can socialise while enjoying canapés and beverages on demand, and onboard Shower Spas. This is in addition to the other special touches premium passengers have come to experience from Emirates, such as chauffeur-driven airport transfers, access to dedicated airport lounges, private suites and lie-fl at seating, gourmet food and beverage service, plus more than 1000 channels of entertainment. We look forward to working with the Sydney Symphony throughout 2011, to showcase the fi nest in both music and luxury travel. HH SHEIKH AHMED BIN SAEED AL-MAKTOUM CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE EMIRATES AIRLINE AND GROUP

3 2011 SEASON THURSDAY AFTERNOON SYMPHONY Thursday 10 February 1.30pm EMIRATES METRO SERIES Friday 11 February 8pm GREAT CLASSICS Saturday 12 February 2pm 7 Monday 14 February 7pm Sydney Opera House Concert Hall PASSIONS OF THE SOUL Peter Oundjian conductor Ray Chen violin HECTOR BERLIOZ ( ) Béatrice et Bénédict: Overture Monday s performance will be broadcast live across Australia on ABC Classic FM. JOHANNES BRAHMS ( ) Violin Concerto in D, Op.77 Allegro non troppo Adagio Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace Ray Chen violin Cadenza by Joachim INTERVAL PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY ( ) Symphony No.5 in E minor, Op.64 Andante Allegro con anima Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza Valse (Allegro moderato) Finale (Andante maestoso Allegro vivace Moderato assai e molto maestoso Presto) Monday s performance will be webcast by BigPond. Visit bigpondmusic.com/ sydneysymphony Pre-concert talk by Scott Davie in the Northern Foyer, 45 minutes before each concert. Visit sydneysymphony.com/talkbios for speaker biographies. Approximate durations: 8 minutes, 38 minutes, 20-minute interval, 50 minutes The concert will conclude at approximately 3.40pm (Thu), 10.10pm (Fri), 4.10pm (Sat), 9.10pm(Mon).

4 LEBRECHT MUSIC & ARTS Portrait of Tchaikovsky by Czech artist Karel Nejedly ( ). The allegorical background shows th e sun chariot of Phoebus (Apollo).

5 INTRODUCTION Passions of the Soul: Berlioz, Brahms and Tchaikovsky Music at its most powerful is the music of feeling. And while the Romantics don t have a monopoly on passion in music Dryden in the 17th century asked What passion cannot music raise and quell? it can sometimes seem that way. Consider the Romantic trademarks: rich harmonies, brilliant colours and, above all, soaring melody. Of the composers in this program, Tchaikovsky is the unchallenged melodist not just because his melodies are infused with genius, but because he gave them primacy in everything he wrote. Tchaikovsky s melodic gift gives his music an irresistible directness of expression, enabling it to speak powerfully and dramatically of profound emotions, torment, insecurity and triumph too. It s no accident that the Fifth Symphony was followed by one with a nickname: Pathétique (or, in the Russian, Impassioned ). This emphasis on melody went against the precepts of the German Romantics composers such as Brahms, for whom harmony and structure usually took the lead. (Sarasate rejected the Brahms violin concerto on the grounds that the oboe had the only proper tune.) The qualities that allow a modern listener to hear Brahms as romantic and passionate stem from the richness of his harmonic language. Berlioz has nothing to be ashamed of as either melodist or harmonist, and his overture to Béatrice et Bénédict is as tuneful a concert opener as you could wish for. But his most distinctive contribution to the Romantic repertoire was in the realm of orchestral colour. Few understood the possibilities of instrumental effects better than Berlioz, and with colour comes emotion. Music s power to raise and quell the passions, its power to touch the soul, ultimately depends on all its elements. And in this program of three very different Romantics, we hear the extent and variety of that power. 7 Sydney Symphony

6 ABOUT THE MUSIC Hector Berlioz Béatrice et Bénédict: Overture Berlioz ended his composing career in with a comedy: Béatrice et Bénédict an Indian summer following his epic opera The Trojans. The overture fits Berlioz description of the opera: a caprice written with the point of a needle, and demanding excessive delicacy of execution. Berlioz commented wryly on the critics response They have discovered that I have melody, that I can be gay and even comic. Berlioz was obsessed with Shakespeare. Well-known is his infatuation with the actress Harriet Smithson, who came to Paris in a touring Shakespeare company, and whom he eventually married. Berlioz s Shakespeareinspired music includes Roméo et Juliette and the King Lear Overture. He had been contemplating a Romeo and Juliet opera, or an Antony and Cleopatra when the commission for a new opera came from Edouard Bénazet, to inaugurate the new theatre he was building at the fashionable spa in Baden-Baden in Germany. Berlioz chose to base the opera on his adaptation of a Shakespeare comedy light relief after his struggles getting The Trojans finished and performed. He had been toying with the idea of setting Shakespeare s Much Ado about Nothing since as early as 1833, when he made a few preliminary sketches. His life since then had made Shakespeare s play even more meaningful. A tragi-comedy, originally called Benedick and Beatrix, the play celebrates a marriage between two high-spirited young people. Beatrice and Benedict achieve a true partnership in spite of themselves, with love triumphing in the end over independent-mindedness, cynicism and raillery. Berlioz saw the irony of his choice of subject his own marriages, with Harriet Smithson and Marie Récio, brought him much unhappiness. The opera, premiered in 1862, was a success, but the overture remains its best-known music. Composed last, it is a brilliant précis a weaving together, or patchwork, of melodies from the opera (at least seven of them). This music is a quicksilver scherzo, with episodes of soft emotion. Racing, headlong, yet ironically poised, brilliant but touched with warmth of heart and a delicate spirit of fantasy is Berlioz biographer David Cairns summary of the overture, and he comments with wonder that it was the creation of a man in pain and longing for death. Keynotes BERLIOZ Born La Côte-Saint-André, 1803 Died Paris, 1869 Berlioz set off for Paris when he was 18, ostensibly to study medicine (his father s preference) but in reality following a musical path that would result in him becoming the arch- Romantic composer of his age. Despite the fact that his main instrument was the guitar (he also played piano and flute, but badly), he became a master in the innovative use of the orchestra (he literally wrote the book) as well as a conductor. Audiences know him best for the notoriously autobiographical Symphonie fantastique, but Berlioz s dramatic instincts also emerged in concert music with a theatrical bent (Roméo et Juliette) and music for the stage, including the ambitious five-act opera The Trojans. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING Berlioz s spirited opera Béatrice et Bénédict was based on Shakespeare s comedy, Much Ado About Nothing, which follows the adventures of two pairs of lovers: Benedick and Beatrice with their merry war, and Claudio and Hero with their more conventional affections. The opera was completed in 1862, with the overture composed last, and proved to be Berlioz s final major work. 8 Sydney Symphony

7 a brilliant précis a weaving together, or patchwork, of melodies from the opera Though Berlioz lived seven more years, Béatrice et Bénédict was his last major composition. The overture quotes at the beginning the duet Béatrice and Bénédict sing about the love that has broken down their defenses: a flame, a will o the wisp, coming from no one knows where, gleaming and vanishing to distract our souls. DAVID GARRETT 2011 The overture to Béatrice et Bénédict calls for flute, piccolo and pairs of oboes, clarinets and bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, cornet and three trombones (no tuba); timpani and strings. The Sydney Symphony first performed the overture in 1940, conducted by Percy Code and most recently in 1995 with Edo de Waart. 9 Sydney Symphony

8 Johannes Brahms Violin Concerto in D, Op.77 Allegro non troppo Adagio Allegro giocoso, ma mon troppo vivace Ray Chen violin Cadenza by Joachim Brahms spent the summers of in the lakeside village of Pörtschach in Carinthia, producing his first motet (Op.74), the Ballades for piano (Op.75), the Symphony No.2 and his Violin Sonata in G (Op.78) all works which share an atmosphere of pastoral beauty shot through with nostalgia. But as Brahms scholar Karl Geiringer notes, the crowning masterpiece of this time is the Violin Concerto. The Concerto, like the G major Sonata, was composed for the great virtuoso Joseph Joachim, whom an ecstatic 15-year old Brahms had heard play the Beethoven Concerto. In 1853 their friendship began in earnest, with Joachim writing to Brahms parents of how Johannes had stimulated my work as an artist to an extent beyond my hopes my friendship is always at his disposal. Brahms similarly admired Joachim significantly as a composer rather than performer, saying The Focus Group In 1878 Brahms sent his friend, the legendary violinist Joseph Joachim, the solo part of his new violin concerto. Joachim told him that, while it was sometimes difficult to tell how a concerto would work from the violin part alone, it appeared at first glance to be a very pleasing and successful work. I wish I could go through it with a violinist less good than you, Brahms wrote back, for I am afraid you are not sufficiently blunt and severe. The composer then sent music to another friend, the conductor Hans von Bülow, who responded with the quip that Max Bruch had written a concerto for the violin, while Brahms had written one against the violin. The violinist Henry Wieniawski, himself the composer of some fiendishly difficult violin concertos, also received a copy and declared it to be simply unplayable. And when, after the premiere, the violinist Pablo de Sarasate was asked if he intended to play the new concerto, he responded (referring to the beginning of the Adagio): I don t deny that it is very good music, but do you think I could fall so low as to stand, violin in hand, and listen to the oboe play the only proper tune in the work? 10 Sydney Symphony Keynotes BRAHMS Born Hamburg, 1833 Died Vienna, 1897 Brahms is often thought reactionary: he valued classical forms, admired composers of the past, and his choral music is firmly rooted in the traditions of the baroque period. Yet his musical language and manner of using the orchestra clearly represents mid-19th-century romanticism in all its richness and emotive power. It took Brahms 15 years to compose his first symphony; he was keenly aware of the looming shadow of Beethoven. But the second symphony followed swiftly four months later in 1877, and the violin concerto soon after. VIOLIN CONCERTO Brahms wrote this concerto for his good friend and violin virtuoso Joseph Joachim. Since Brahms was not a violinist, he consulted Joachim as he worked, sending him drafts and urging him to mark those parts that are difficult, awkward, or impossible to play. A composer himself, Joachim enthusiastically offered suggestions and composed a cadenza, which he performed at the concerto s premiere. In the second movement Adagio, the solo violin steps back from the spotlight and plays second fiddle to an exquisitely lyrical solo from the oboe. The virtuosic last movement, an exuberant rondo, has a distinct gypsy character a tribute by Brahms to his Hungarian violinist friend and collaborator.

9 The First Performance Joseph Joachim once said that the greatest of the German violin concertos, the one that makes fewest concessions, was Beethoven s, and that Brahms concerto came closest to Beethoven s in its seriousness. So it s no surprise that he proposed, for the premiere of the Brahms, a program with Beethoven s Violin Concerto at the beginning, and the new concerto at the end. The middle was to be filled with songs, two movements from one of Bach s partitas for solo violin and an overture by Joachim himself. Brahms had the kinds of doubts that occur to any thoughtful programmer: Beethoven shouldn t come before mine of course, only because both are in D major. Perhaps the other way around but it s a lot of D major and not much else on the program. Nonetheless, the program went ahead as Joachim had planned. If nothing else, it indicates his great stamina as a performer performing two such monumental, and for us similar, works on the one program. But Michael Steinberg offers the reminder that to Joachim and his listeners these were not two established masterpieces but one classic and a new and demanding work by a composer with a reputation for being difficult. that there is more in Joachim than in all the other young composers put together. While Joachim was intimately involved with the creation of early works of Brahms chamber music, it was not, strangely enough, until those summers by the lake at Pörtschach in the 1870s that Brahms wrote solo music for his friend. Geiringer notes that, in the case of both concerto and sonata, Brahms conscientiously asked his friend s advice on all technical questions and then hardly ever followed it, but in fact at crucial points Joachim s advice on technical matters was invaluable. This consisted mainly of tinkering with certain figurations to make them more gratifying to play. But Joachim was also a profoundly serious artist like Brahms and out of their collaboration came works in which the element of virtuosity never overshadows the musical argument, despite the work s many technical challenges. Joachim also wrote a cadenza for the concerto which is still frequently heard today. The Violin Concerto has some of the expansive dimensions of Brahms first piano concerto. This is especially true of the spacious first movement which, like that of Beethoven s Violin Concerto, takes up more than half the work s playing time, and which begins with a A place where so many melodies fly about that one must take care not to tread on them. BRAHMS DESCRIBES HIS SUMMER RETREAT IN PÖRTSCHACH 11 Sydney Symphony

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11 long, symphonic exposition of its main themes. Like its companion Second Symphony, the Concerto is in D major, a key which composers like Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Sibelius used for violin concertos as it makes use of the instrument s natural resonance; like the Symphony it has something of a visionary Romantic tone. Brahms originally thought to write the piece in four movements, making the central pair a scherzo and contrasting slow movement. But he wrote to Joachim that the middle movements naturally the best ones have fallen through. So I have substituted a feeble adagio. Feeble is of course hardly the word for this piece: derived from the simplest of musical figures (the falling broken chord with which the oboe introduces the theme and the violin then begins) it evolves into one of Brahms most soulful but restrained movements. As such it provides a wonderful contrast to the gypsy style finale, with its pyrotechnic solo line and exciting use of displaced accents. Joachim premiered the piece in Leipzig in 1879, but the response was tepid, and only through Joachim s persistence did it gradually gain its rightful place in the standard repertoire. Brahms and Joachim fell out over the violinist s divorce in 1884, the rift lasting until Brahms wrote the Double Concerto for violin and cello in But that s another story. Brahms and Joachim GORDON KERRY 2006 The orchestra for Brahms Violin Concerto calls for pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings. The Sydney Symphony first performed the concerto in 1939 with soloist Jeanne Gautier and conductor Malcolm Sargent, and most recently in 2009 with conductor Donald Runnicles and soloist Viktoria Mullova. The Sydney Symphony will perform Brahms s Double Concerto on 18, 19, 20 August, with violinist Karen Gomyo and cellist Alban Gerhardt. 13 Sydney Symphony

12 INTERLUDE Giftless bastard! Tchaikovsky and Brahms Good concert programming isn t necessarily good matchmaking. For sheer greatness as well as intrinsic contrast and variety, Brahms and Tchaikovsky sit well together in this concert. But in person, the two composers would have been an unlikely pair. In 1886, two years before his Fifth Symphony, Tchaikovsky made this famous diary entry: I played over the music of that scoundrel Brahms. What a giftless bastard! It annoys me that this self-inflated mediocrity is hailed as a genius. Tchaikovsky didn t warm to Brahms s music. Brahms represented the Teutonic dominance in 19th-century music; Tchaikovsky was drawn to composers from the French tradition: Delibes and Bizet, for example. His toughest criticism of Brahms was that he completely lacked melodic invention: His musical thought is never quite fully expressed; a melodic phrase is no sooner hinted at than it is smothered in all sorts of harmonic ingenuities, as if the composer had set himself the task of being incomprehensible and profound; he actually irritates our musical feeling by his failure to satisfy its needs and speak to us in the tones that go to the heart. Tchaikovsky, the genius of melody, valued sustained melodic development above all a trait contrary to the values of the German school, as he well understood. In March 1889, Tchaikovsky was in Hamburg for a performance of his Fifth Symphony and Brahms stayed on to hear it. They had lunch together after the rehearsal, and quite a few drinks. After coffee and liqueur, reports pianist and composer Sigismond Stojowski, Brahms grew expansive and asked if Tchaikovsky would like his opinion of the symphony, warning that he could only say what he thought. Then, says Stojowski, he calmly proceeded to a sharply derogatory critique of subject-matter, form, orchestration and what not. Tchaikovsky might have been deeply hurt had he not frankly hated the Brahms symphonies. But, as he told his brother Modest: He is very sympathetic and I like his honesty and open-mindedness. Neither he nor the players liked the Finale, which I also think rather horrible. Brahms s critique of the Fifth Symphony was the beginning of a mutual respect: Tchaikovsky kept a high esteem for Brahms, the honest and straightforward man. And Brahms held a sympathetic regard for Tchaikovsky, whatever faults he may have found with the Russian s music. In 1887 Tchaikovsky visited Leipzig, where he heard Joachim and Grussman playing Brahms new Double Concerto. If it had not been for the good company (violinist Adolph Brodsky and pianist Alexander Siloti), wrote Tchaikovsky, I would have been ready to die. The night was awful! YVONNE FRINDLE SYDNEY SYMPHONY Sydney Symphony

13 ABOUT THE MUSIC Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No.5 in E minor, Op.64 Andante Allegro con anima Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza Valse (Allegro moderato) Finale (Andante maestoso Allegro vivace Moderato assai e molto maestoso Presto) Tchaikovsky might have been unsure about the first half of tonight s program. He was complimentary about Berlioz, but is on record with some harsh and unfair criticisms of Brahms scoundrel and self-inflated mediocrity among others. Ironically, he might have been equally unsure about the second half! By his own account, he found his Fifth Symphony repellent, gaudy and, worst of all, insincere a tough assessment for a composer who admired the profundity of Beethoven but aspired to the sincerity of Bizet s Carmen. And yet the Fifth Symphony was a public success, only the critics panned it. Tchaikovsky himself was bothered by the finale, which he thought horrible and vulgar. (Brahms, who liked the symphony as a whole, agreed on this point.) The critics prickled at his apparent rejection of the Austro- German symphonic tradition, somehow failing to hear the brilliance of his orchestrations, the compelling rhythms or his irresistible melodic invention. The Fifth Symphony (1888) belongs with those masterpieces written after Tchaikovsky had moved, in 1885, to a country house on the outskirts of Moscow. There, with a strict composing routine and a generous allowance from his friend and patron Nadezhda von Meck, he enjoyed a stable lifestyle and financial security. He had begun travelling, meeting composers and musicians of the day; he d gained confidence as a conductor; his reputation as a musician was assured; he d become interested in gardening. He was a new man, and his friends and family noticed. But this neurotic and tormented composer was still irresistibly attracted in a characteristically Russian way to tragic subjects. And it is tragedy on an intimate scale. Even in large forms, such as the symphony, we hear what critic Terry Teachout describes as the joys and sorrows of the individual soul writ large. In common with many 19th-century symphonies, the Fifth Symphony follows a long-range harmonic plan that embraces the separate movements, which are in turn given Keynotes TCHAIKOVSKY Born Kamsko-Votkinsk, 1840 Died St Petersburg, 1893 Tchaikovsky represented a new direction for Russian music in the late 19th century: fully professional and cosmopolitan in outlook. He embraced the genres and forms of Western European tradition symphonies, concertos and overtures bringing to them an unrivalled gift for melody. But many music lovers would argue that it s his ballets that count among his masterpieces, and certainly it s Tchaikovsky s extraordinary dramatic instinct that comes to the fore in all his music, whether for the theatre or the concert hall. FIFTH SYMPHONY Tchaikovsky left this symphony without a scenario or program, but his sketches and notes suggest that he had one in mind. Fate is the theme: doubt, struggle, resignation, faith and ultimately a kind of triumph. The music traces that emotional trajectory by following a harmonic journey first tried by Beethoven in his own Fifth Symphony: it begins in a minor key and ends in the major key. The thing to keep in your ear is the very opening of the symphony: a motto theme played by two clarinets. This motto will return: as an interruption to the dreamy second movement, sneaking in at the end of the third movement waltz, and in a complete shift of character to begin the finale. 15 Sydney Symphony

14 the symphony traces a journey of emotions. coherence by appearances of a unifying motto theme. And, beginning as it does in E minor and ending in E major, the symphony traces a journey of emotions. Although the techniques along the way are different, we could be describing another Fifth Symphony Beethoven s. And although Tchaikovsky later said that the Fifth Symphony had no program, his preliminary notes reveal a debt, as in the Fourth Symphony, to the fundamental idea of Beethoven s Fifth: Program of the First Movement of the Symphony: Introduction. Complete resignation before Fate, or, which is the same, before the inscrutable predestination of Providence. Allegro. (I) Murmurs, doubts, plaints, reproaches against XXX (II) Shall I throw myself into the embraces of Faith??? [And in the corner of the page:] A wonderful program, if I could only carry it out. What Tchaikovsky meant by XXX has been the subject of much discussion. Most scholars believe it refers to the 16 Sydney Symphony

15 composer s homosexuality, but even those who disagree would surely acknowledge that it is a cause of some kind of profound suffering, from which the invocation of Faith suggests escape, and perhaps transformation. This is heard in the darkness-to-light or minor-to-major journey that Beethoven had first demonstrated and which by the end of the 19th century had come to represent the fundamental theme of man s tragic struggle against an inexorable fate. It is Fate that is represented by the motto theme gloomy and pessimistic, with the clarinets in their dark, low chalumeau register. As Gerald Abraham first noticed, the motto is similar to a melody from Glinka s opera A Life for the Tsar ( Do not sadden the hour of our reunion ), which Tchaikovsky would have associated with the themes of resignation and sacrifice. It then reappears in different guises most often as a kind of fanfare always coinciding with some structural turning point and playing a symbolic role: interruption, warning, call of triumph. In the first movement the Fate motto provides a slow introduction, leading to the two contrasting themes of the main movement: an austere march and a succession of graceful, spirited ideas. In these we hear the brilliance of Tchaikovsky s orchestration, such as the ingenious way he gives characteristic horn calls not to the horns but to the clarinets supported by the kind of Harmonie wind band sound that Mozart loved. The second movement a singing Andante begins with a minor-key chorale, from which emerges a dreamy horn solo in D major, above which Tchaikovsky wrote: Oh, that I love you! O, my love! O, how I love If you love me With desire and passion. This glorious melody is developed, variation style, with different orchestral colours and ever increasing inventiveness. The blazing fanfares of the motto theme interrupt twice, before the movement dies away to a pulsing conclusion. The third movement replaces the traditional scherzo with a waltz, which floats and soars over a prevailing mood of melancholy. The motto theme is held back until the end, when it steals into the ballroom, arm in arm with the clarinet and the bassoon. The motto makes an immediate reappearance at the beginning of the finale, now in E major and played by the full string section. With these simple changes, Tchaikovsky has transformed the resigned and tragic Fate theme into something triumphant and imposing. If, as scholar Roland Fate is represented by the motto theme gloomy and pessimistic which is introduced by the clarinets in their darkest register. 17 Sydney Symphony

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17 J. Wiley has suggested, the motto theme corresponds to a Russian Easter chant, Christ is risen, then the finale represents a victory on a bigger scale than usual for the individualistic Tchaikovsky, and the embraces of Faith in the composer s early notes take on a new significance. There is a spirit of optimism and festivity, conveyed through a rich variety of themes, brilliantly elaborated. Even if, as a contemporary critic noted in 1889, those themes are inferior to those of the previous movements, the wealth of development and the movement s artistic finish as a whole makes it the work of a master of the first order. YVONNE FRINDLE 2006 Tchaikovsky s Fifth Symphony calls for three flutes (one doubling piccolo), and pairs of oboes, clarinets and bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani and strings. The Sydney Symphony first performed the symphony in 1941, conducted by Percy Code and most recently in 2001 with Eri Klas. 19 Sydney Symphony

18 GLOSSARY BROKEN CHORD another way of describing an arpeggio, in which the notes of a chord are spread, or played one after the other instead of simultaneously. It nearly always starts at the bottom of the chord. CADENZA a virtuoso passage for a solo instrument. CHALUMEAU this word, which comes from the Greek and Latin words for reed, was adopted as the name for the earliest form of the clarinet, around the end of the 17th century. Within a hundred years, however, it had come to refer as it does today to the lowest register of the clarinet, and the characteristic sound of the instrument in that range. CONCERTO a work for solo instrument, or a group of soloists, and orchestra, most commonly in three movements (fast, slow, fast) and including extended virtuoso passages for the soloist to play alone. DISPLACED ACCENTS accents that fall in between the prevailing beats, instead of aligning with the beat. MINOR TO MAJOR in Western music there are two main categories of scale or key, major and minor. Aurally, a major scale will sound brighter or more cheerful (e.g. Happy Birthday ), while a minor scale will sound sombre or mournful (e.g. a funeral march). With his Fifth Symphony, Beethoven offered listeners something new: music which would begin in the minor key (say, C minor) and which would make a harmonic journey over the course of the work to end in the major key based on the same home note (C major). SCHERZO literally, a joke; the term generally refers to a movement in a fast, light triple time, which may involve whimsical, startling or playful elements. Beethoven was responsible for establishing the scherzo as a standard movement type in symphonies. In much of the classical repertoire, movement titles are taken from the Italian words that indicate the tempo and mood. A selection of terms from this program is included here. Adagio slow Allegro con anima fast, animated Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace fast, joyfully, but not too lively Allegro moderato moderately fast Allegro non troppo fast, not too much Allegro vivace fast, lively Andante an easy walking pace Andante cantabile, con alcuna licenza with some freedom Andante maestoso majestically Moderato assai e molto maestoso very moderate and very majestic Presto as fast as possible This glossary is intended only as a quick and easy guide, not as a set of comprehensive and absolute definitions. Most of these terms have many subtle shades of meaning which cannot be included for reasons of space. ORCHESTRATION the way in which an orchestral work employs the different instruments and sections of the ensemble; it provides the musical equivalent of colour. 20 Sydney Symphony

19 MORE MUSIC Selected Discography BEATRICE ET BENEDICT Discover the wealth of Berlioz s orchestral music in Ultimate Berlioz, a 5-CD set including performances by some of the world s leading orchestras and conductors. Charles Dutoit conducts the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in the overture to Béatrice et Bénédict. DECCA BRAHMS VIOLIN CONCERTO A fine performance of this concerto is the 1958 recording by Arthur Grumiaux with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Eduard van Beinum. It s included in a disc with Brahms s Alto Rhapsody (soloist Aafje Heynis), the Academic Festival Overture and the Tragic Overture. ELOQUENCE TCHAIKOVSKY FIFTH SYMPHONY Mikhail Pletnev s 1996 recording of the complete Tchaikovsky symphonies with the Russian National Orchestra was reissued last year. The new release adds some of the smaller orchestral works to make a 7-CD set, but it lacks Richard Taruskin s superb liner notes from the original. DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON (2010); (1996) PETER OUNDJIAN Peter Oundjian s recordings include a disc of arrangements for string orchestra of Beethoven s Grosse Fuge (Op.133) and String Quartet Op.131. The orchestra is the Amsterdam Sinfonietta. BIS 1218 Broadcast Diary FEBRUARY MARCH Saturday 12 February, 1pm BEETHOVEN 5 (2010) David Robertson conductor Garrick Ohlsson piano Adams, Chopin, Beethoven Monday 14 February, 7pm PASSIONS OF THE SOUL See this program for details. Friday 25 February, 8pm GRIEG S PEER GYNT Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor John de Lancie narrator With choir and vocal soloists Friday 4 March, 8pm MAHLER 6 Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano Liszt, Mahler 2MBS-FM SYDNEY SYMPHONY 2010 Tuesday 8 March, 6pm Musicians, staff and guest artists discuss what s in store in our forthcoming concerts. RAY CHEN Ray Chen s debut recording, Virtuoso, was released in January and ranges from the Devil s Trill sonata of Tartini and Bach s great Chaconne in D minor to music by Wieniawksi. Franck s Violin Sonata crowns this recital disc. SONY Webcasts Monday night s concert will be webcast live on BigPond and be available for later viewing On Demand. Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony Sydney Symphony Online Join us on Facebook facebook.com/sydneysymphony Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/sydsymph Have your say Tell us what you thought of the concert sydneysymphony.com/yoursay or yoursay@sydneysymphony.com Stay Tuned Sign up to receive our fortnightly e-newsletter sydneysymphony.com/staytuned Visit sydneysymphony.com for concert information, podcasts, and to read the program book in the week of the concert. 21 Sydney Symphony

20 ABOUT THE ARTISTS Peter Oundjian conductor Born in Toronto, Peter Oundjian was educated in England, where he studied the violin with Manoug Parikian. He subsequently attended the Royal College of Music in London and completed his violin training at the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied with Ivan Galamian, Itzhak Perlman, and Dorothy DeLay. He was the first violinist of the Tokyo String Quartet for fourteen years. It is a tribute to his many years as a world-class chamber musician that his work as a conductor is distinguished for its spirit of collaboration as well as its probing musicality and engaging personality, earning him recognition as a dynamic presence in the orchestral world. Peter Oundjian has just been named Music Director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, commencing in the season. He is also in his fifth season as the Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he has nurtured a strong bond with the musicians and community of the city. In addition to his post in Toronto, Peter Oundjian continues to serve as Principal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra helping create and launch an innovative multi-disciplinary festival in June He has also played a major role at the Caramoor International Music Festival in New York for more than a decade, currently serving as Artistic Advisor and Principal Conductor, and is now in his 26th year as a visiting professor at the Yale School of Music. In the season he continues his relationships with European orchestras such as the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, as well as visiting the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra SWR, and the Philharmonia Orchestra. In the United States, his guest conducting includes the Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Francisco Symphony orchestras and the Philadelphia, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Aspen Festival orchestras, as well as the Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood. This is Peter Oundjian s Sydney Symphony debut. 22 Sydney Symphony

21 Ray Chen violin Born in Taiwan and raised in Australia, Ray Chen was accepted at the age of 15 to the Curtis Institute of Music, where he continues to work with Aaron Rosand on expanding his repertoire. He plays the 1721 Macmillan Stradivarius violin, provided as part of the award for winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. He also won the Queen Elisabeth Competition, Belgium, in 2009 and the Yehudi Menuhin Competition in Violinist Maxim Vengerov, who was on the jury of the Menuhin Competition, immediately engaged him to perform Tchaikovsky s Violin Concerto with the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra in St Petersburg, and to perform in the opening concert of the next Menuhin Competition (April 2010 in Oslo). Ray Chen was a featured soloist in the 2010 Rostropovich Festival in Moscow and his performance of Bach s Double Violin Concerto was a much-discussed highlight of the 2009 Aspen Music Festival. Recent performances, including his debut recital at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, have enraptured both audiences and critics, and he is counted among the most compelling young violinists today. He is looking forward to his debuts with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Philharmonia La Scala, Spanish National Orchestra and Seoul Philharmonic. His festival engagements will include Verbier and Ravinia and he will give recitals in Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Zurich and other major cities worldwide. Last month Ray Chen released his first album, Virtuoso, featuring music from Bach to Wieniawski. An orchestral recording with Daniel Harding and the Swedish Radio Orchestra is planned for this year. This is Ra y Chen s Sydney Symphony debut.

22 MUSICIANS KEITH SAUNDERS Vladimir Ashkenazy Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor KEITH SAUNDERS Michael Dauth Concertmaster KEITH SAUNDERS Dene Olding Concertmaster Performing in these concerts FIRST VIOLINS VIOLAS FLUTES TUBA Dene Olding Concertmaster Sun Yi Associate Concertmaster Kirsten Williams Associate Concertmaster Fiona Ziegler Assistant Concertmaster Julie Batty Jennifer Booth Brielle Clapson Sophie Cole Amber Davis Georges Lentz Nicola Lewis Nicole Masters Alexandra Mitchell Léone Ziegler Emily Qin# Martin Silverton* SECOND VIOLINS Marina Marsden Jennifer Hoy A/Assistant Principal Susan Dobbie Principal Emeritus Maria Durek Shuti Huang Stan W Kornel Benjamin Li Philippa Paige Biyana Rozenblit Maja Verunica Alexandra D Elia# Katherine Lukey# Belinda Jezek* Alexander Norton* Roger Benedict Anne-Louise Comerford Robyn Brookfield Sandro Costantino Jane Hazelwood Graham Hennings Stuart Johnson Justine Marsden Felicity Tsai Leonid Volovelsky Rosemary Curtin# David Wicks# CELLOS Catherine Hewgill Julian Smiles* Leah Lynn Assistant Principal Kristy Conrau Fenella Gill Timothy Nankervis Elizabeth Neville Adrian Wallis David Wickham Rowena Crouch# DOUBLE BASSES Kees Boersma Alex Henery Neil Brawley Principal Emeritus David Campbell Steven Larson Richard Lynn David Murray Benjamin Ward Janet Webb Carolyn Harris Rosamund Plummer Principal Piccolo OBOES Diana Doherty David Papp CLARINETS Lawrence Dobell Christopher Tingay BASSOONS Matthew Wilkie Fiona McNamara HORNS Robert Johnson Geoffrey O Reilly Principal 3rd Lee Bracegirdle Marnie Sebire Katy Grisdale TRUMPETS Daniel Mendelow John Foster Anthony Heinrichs TROMBONES Scott Kinmont Nick Byrne Christopher Harris Principal Bass Trombone Steve Rossé TIMPANI Richard Miller * = Guest Musician # = Contract Musician = Sydney Symphony Fellow Orchestra lists are correct at time of publication (February 2011); changes of personnel may occur closer to the performance date. To see photographs of the full roster of permanent musicians and find out more about the orchestra, visit our website: If you don t have access to the internet, ask one of our customer service representatives for a copy of our Musicians flyer. 24 Sydney Symphony

23 THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY Vladimir Ashkenazy PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC ADVISOR PATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO KEITH SAUNDERS Founded in 1932 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the Sydney Symphony 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 Sydney Symphony 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 a tour of European summer festivals, including the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival. The Sydney Symphony 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, Zdenek Mácal, Stuart Challender, Edo de Waart and, most recently, Gianluigi Gelmetti. The orchestra s history also boasts collaborations with legendary figures such as George Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, Otto Klemperer and Igor Stravinsky. The Sydney Symphony 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 Sydney Symphony promotes the work of Australian composers through performances, recordings and its commissioning program. Recent premieres have included major works by Ross Edwards, Liza Lim, Lee Bracegirdle and Georges Lentz, and the orchestra s recording of works by Brett Dean was released on both the BIS and Sydney Symphony Live labels. Other releases on the Sydney Symphony Live label, established in 2006, include performances with Alexander Lazarev, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Sir Charles Mackerras and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Currently the orchestra is recording the complete Mahler symphonies. The Sydney Symphony has also released recordings with Ashkenazy of Rachmaninoff and Elgar orchestral works on the Exton/Triton labels, and numerous recordings on the ABC Classics label. This is the third year of Ashkenazy s tenure as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor. 25 Sydney Symphony

24 SALUTE PRINCIPAL PARTNER GOVERNMENT PARTNERS The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the NSW Government through Arts NSW PREMIER PARTNER PLATINUM PARTNERS MAJOR PARTNERS GOLD PARTNERS SILVER PARTNERS REGIONAL TOUR PARTNERS BRONZE PARTNER MARKETING PARTNER Emanate 2MBS Sydney s Fine Music Station 26 Sydney Symphony

25 PLAYING YOUR PART The Sydney Symphony 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. Please visit sydneysymphony.com/patrons for a list of all our donors, including those who give between $100 and $499. PLATINUM PATRONS $20,000+ Brian Abel Geoff & Vicki Ainsworth Robert Albert AO & Elizabeth Albert Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn Sandra & Neil Burns Ian & Jennifer Burton Mr John C Conde AO Robert & Janet Constable The Hon. Ashley Dawson-Damer In memory of Hetty & Egon Gordon The Hansen Family Ms Rose Herceg James N. Kirby Foundation Mr Andrew Kaldor & Mrs Renata Kaldor AO D & I Kallinikos Justice Jane Mathews AO Mrs Roslyn Packer AO Greg & Kerry Paramor & Equity Real Estate Partners Dr John Roarty in memory of Mrs June Roarty Paul & Sandra Salteri Mrs Penelope Seidler AM Mrs W Stening Mr Fred Street AM & Mrs Dorothy Street In memory of D M Thew Mr Peter Weiss AM & Mrs Doris Weiss Westfield Group Ray Wilson OAM in memory of James Agapitos OAM Mr Brian and Mrs Rosemary White June & Alan Woods Family Bequest Anonymous (1) GOLD PATRONS $10,000 $19,999 Alan & Christine Bishop Bob & Julie Clampett The Estate of Ruth M Davidson Penny Edwards Paul R. Espie Dr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda Giuffre Mr David Greatorex AO & Mrs Deirdre Greatorex Mrs Joan MacKenzie Ruth & Bob Magid Tony & Fran Meagher Mrs T Merewether oam Mr B G O Conor Mrs Joyce Sproat & Mrs Janet Cooke Ms Caroline Wilkinson Anonymous (1) SILVER PATRONS $5,000 $9,999 Mr and Mrs Mark Bethwaite Jan Bowen Mr Donald Campbell & Dr Stephen Freiberg Mr Robert & Mrs L Alison Carr Mrs Gretchen M Dechert Ian Dickson & Reg Holloway James & Leonie Furber Mr James Graham AM & Mrs Helen Graham Stephen Johns & Michele Bender Judges of the Supreme Court of NSW Mr Ervin Katz Gary Linnane William McIlrath Charitable Foundation Eva & Timothy Pascoe David & Isabel Smithers Mrs Hedy Switzer Ian & Wendy Thompson Michael & Mary Whelan Trust Jill Wran Anonymous (1) BRONZE PATRONS $2,500 $4,999 Stephen J Bell Mr David & Mrs Halina Brett Lenore P Buckle Kylie Green Janette Hamilton Ann Hoban Paul & Susan Hotz Irwin Imhof in memory of Herta Imhof Mr Justin Lam R & S Maple-Brown Mora Maxwell Judith McKernan Justice Geoffrey Palmer James & Elsie Moore Bruce & Joy Reid Foundation Mary Rossi Travel Georges & Marliese Teitler Gabrielle Trainor J F & A van Ogtrop Geoff Wood & Melissa Waites Anonymous (1) BRONZE PATRONS $1,000 $2,499 Charles & Renee Abrams Mr Henri W Aram OAM Terrey Arcus am & Anne Arcus Claire Armstrong & John Sharpe Dr Francis J Augustus Richard Banks Doug & Alison Battersby David Barnes Phil & Elese Bennett Colin Draper & Mary Jane Brodribb M Bulmer Pat & Jenny Burnett Debby Cramer & Bill Caukill Ewen & Catherine Crouch Mr John Cunningham SCM & Mrs Margaret Cunningham Lisa & Miro Davis John Favaloro Mr Ian Fenwicke & Prof Neville Wills Firehold Pty Ltd Anthony Gregg & Deanne Whittleston Akiko Gregory In memory of Oscar Grynberg Mrs E Herrman Mrs Jennifer Hershon Barbara & John Hirst Bill & Pam Hughes The Hon. David Hunt AO QC & Mrs Margaret Hunt Dr & Mrs Michael Hunter The Hon. Paul Keating Anna-Lisa Klettenberg In Memory of Bernard M H Khaw Jeannette King Wendy Lapointe Macquarie Group Foundation Melvyn Madigan Mr Robert & Mrs Renee Markovic Kevin & Deidre McCann Matthew McInnes Mrs Barbara McNulty OBE Harry M. Miller, Lauren Miller Cilento & Josh Cilento Nola Nettheim Mr R A Oppen Mr Robert Orrell Mr & Mrs Ortis Maria Page Piatti Holdings Pty Ltd Adrian & Dairneen Pilton Robin Potter Mr & Ms Stephen Proud Miss Rosemary Pryor Dr Raffi Qasabian Ernest & Judith Rapee Patricia H Reid Mr M D Salamon John Saunders Juliana Schaeffer Caroline Sharpen Mr & Mrs Jean-Marie Simart Catherine Stephen Mildred Teitler Andrew & Isolde Tornya Gerry & Carolyn Travers John E Tuckey Mrs M Turkington The Hon. Justice A G Whealy Dr Richard Wingate Mr R R Woodward Anonymous (12) BRONZE PATRONS $500 $999 Mr C R Adamson Ms Baiba B. Berzins & Dr Peter Loveday Mrs Jan Biber Dr & Mrs Hannes Boshoff Dr Miles Burgess Ita Buttrose AO OBE Stephen Byrne & Susie Gleeson Hon. Justice J C & Mrs Campbell Mrs Catherine J Clark Joan Connery OAM & Maxwell Connery OAM Mr Charles Curran AC & Mrs Eva Curran Matthew Delasey Greg Earl & Debbie Cameron Robert Gelling Dr & Mrs C Goldschmidt Mr Robert Green Mr Richard Griffin am Jules & Tanya Hall Mr Hugh Hallard Dr Heng & Mrs Cilla Tey Roger Henning Rev Harry & Mrs Meg Herbert Michelle Hilton-Vernon Mr Joerg Hofmann Dominique Hogan-Doran Mr Brian Horsfield Greta James Iven & Sylvia Klineberg Dr & Mrs Leo Leader Margaret Lederman Martine Letts Erna & Gerry Levy AM Dr Winston Liauw Sydney & Airdrie Lloyd Carolyn & Peter Lowry OAM Dr David Luis Mrs M MacRae OAM Mrs Silvana Mantellato Geoff & Jane McClellan Ian & Pam McGraw Mrs Inara Merrick Kenneth N Mitchell Helen Morgan Mrs Margaret Newton Sandy Nightingale Mr Graham North Dr M C O Connor AM Mrs Rachel O Conor A Willmers & R Pal Dr A J Palmer Mr Andrew C. Patterson Dr Kevin Pedemont Lois & Ken Rae Pamela Rogers Dr Mark & Mrs Gillian Selikowitz Mrs Diane Shteinman AM Robyn Smiles Rev Doug & Mrs Judith Sotheren John & Alix Sullivan Mr D M Swan Ms Wendy Thompson Prof Gordon E Wall Ronald Walledge David & Katrina Williams Audrey & Michael Wilson Mr Robert Woods Mr & Mrs Glenn Wyss Anonymous (11) To find out more about becoming a Sydney Symphony Patron please contact the Philanthropy Office on (02) or philanthropy@sydneysymphony.com 27 Sydney Symphony

26 MAESTRO S CIRCLE Peter Weiss AM Founding President & Doris Weiss John C Conde AO Chairman Geoff & Vicki Ainsworth Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn The Hon. Ashley Dawson-Damer In memory of Hetty & Egon Gordon Andrew Kaldor & Renata Kaldor AO Roslyn Packer AO Penelope Seidler AM Mr Fred Street AM & Mrs Dorothy Street Westfield Group Ray Wilson OAM in memory of the late James Agapitos OAM SYDNEY SYMPHONY LEADERSHIP ENSEMBLE David Livingstone, CEO Credit Suisse, Australia Alan Fang, Chairman, Tianda Group Macquarie Group Foundation John Morschel, Chairman, ANZ DIRECTORS CHAIRS JEFF BUSBY KEITH SAUNDERS KEITH SAUNDERS KEITH SAUNDERS KEITH SAUNDERS KEITH SAUNDERS 01 Richard Gill OAM Artistic Director Education Sandra and Paul Salteri Chair 02 Ronald Prussing Principal Trombone Industry & Investment NSW Chair 04 Nick Byrne Trombone RogenSi Chair 05 Diana Doherty Principal Oboe Andrew Kaldor and Renata Kaldor AO Chair 07 Paul Goodchild Associate Principal Trumpet The Hansen Family Chair 08 Catherine Hewgill Principal Cello Tony and Fran Meagher Chair 09 Emma Sholl Associate Principal Flute Robert and Janet Constable Chair 03 Jane Hazelwood Viola Veolia Environmental Services Chair 06 Shefali Pryor Associate Principal Oboe Rose Herceg & Neil Lawrence Chair For information about the Directors Chairs program, please call (02) Sydney Symphony

27 BEHIND THE SCENES Sydney Symphony Board CHAIRMAN John C Conde AO Terrey Arcus AM Ewen Crouch Ross Grant Jennifer Hoy Rory Jeffes Andrew Kaldor Irene Lee David Livingstone Goetz Richter David Smithers AM Gabrielle Trainor Sydney Symphony Council Geoff Ainsworth Andrew Andersons AO Michael Baume AO* Christine Bishop Ita Buttrose AO OBE Peter Cudlipp John Curtis AM Greg Daniel AM John Della Bosca Alan Fang Erin Flaherty Dr Stephen Freiberg Donald Hazelwood AO OBE* Dr Michael Joel AM Simon Johnson Yvonne Kenny AM Gary Linnane Amanda Love Helen Lynch AM Ian Macdonald* Joan MacKenzie David Maloney David Malouf AO Julie Manfredi-Hughes Deborah Marr The Hon. Justice Jane Mathews AO* Danny May Wendy McCarthy AO Jane Morschel Greg Paramor Dr Timothy Pascoe AM Prof. Ron Penny AO Jerome Rowley Paul Salteri Sandra Salteri Juliana Schaeffer Leo Schofield AM Fred Stein OAM Ivan Ungar John van Ogtrop* Peter Weiss AM Anthony Whelan MBE Rosemary White * Regional Touring Committee member EVERYONE HAS A STORY