Tchaikovsky s Pathétique

Transcription

1 2012 SEASON Tchaikovsky s Pathétique Impassioned Masterpiece Wed 4 July 8pm Fri 6 July 8pm Sat 7 July 8pm Ausgrid Master Series

2 WELCOME TO THE AUSGRID MASTER SERIES Welcome to tonight s concert at the Sydney Opera House. This evening we are proud and delighted to also be welcoming to the podium David Robertson, in some of his fi rst concerts with the Sydney Symphony since the announcement of his appointment as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. Robertson has appeared in the Ausgrid Master Series before: in 2010, conducting Chopin, Beethoven s Fifth and the Australian premiere of Adams Doctor Atomic Symphony; in 2008, conducting Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky s Firebird; and in 2003, for his Australian debut, conducting Grieg, Sibelius and Nielsen. Tonight s program promises similar variety and inspiration, in a program that brings together three different styles in a powerful combination. Following the haunting music of Vaughan Williams we ll hear violinist Anthony Marwood performing Concentric Paths, the concerto written for him by another English composer, Thomas Adès. In the second half we ll experience Robertson s affi nity with the orchestra in Tchaikovsky s emotionally powerful Pathétique Symphony. The Ausgrid network includes the poles, wires and substations that deliver electricity to more than 1.6 million homes and businesses in New South Wales. Ausgrid is transforming the traditional electricity network into a grid that is smarter, more reliable and more interactive something we are very proud of. We re also extremely proud of our partnership with the Sydney Symphony and our support of the orchestra s fl agship Master Series. We are supporting the orchestra as a Community Partner, with the goal of bringing great music and exciting performances to an even wider audience. We trust that you will enjoy tonight s performance and we look forward to seeing you again at Ausgrid Master Series concerts throughout the season. 4 sydney symphony GEORGE MALTABAROW Managing Director

3 2012 season ausgrid master series Wednesday 4 July, 8pm Friday 6 July, 8pm Saturday 7 July, 8pm Sydney Opera House Concert Hall Tchaikovsky s Pathétique: Impassioned Masterpiece David Robertson CONDUCTOR Anthony Marwood VIOLIN Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ) Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Thomas Adès (born 1971) Violin Concerto Concentric Paths, Op.24 Rings Paths Rounds Wednesday night s performance will be recorded for later broadcast on ABC Classic FM. Pre-concert talk by David Robertson at 7.15pm in the Northern Foyer. Estimated durations: 16 minutes, 21 minutes, 20-minute interval, 47 minutes The concert will conclude at approximately 10pm. INTERVAL Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky ( ) Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.74, Pathétique Adagio Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale (Adagio lamentoso Andante) PRESENTING PARTNER sydney symphony 5

4 RIA NOVOSTI/LEBRECHT MUSIC & ARTS Portrait of Tchaikovsky by Nikolai Dmitriyevich Kuznetsov painted in 1893, the year Tchaikovsky wrote his Sixth Symphony and the last year of his life. It was praised by many, including Tchaikovsky himself: I made the acquaintance of the painter N.D. Kuznetsov, who wished to paint my portrait, and this he carried out with exceptional success, as others have said and as I, too, think. Those citizens of Odessa who came to look at this portrait during the sittings expressed their extraordinary delight, amazement, and joy over the fact that such a splendid work of art was being painted in their city. The portrait was painted rather hurriedly, and that is why it may possibly not have the desired finish in the details, but in terms of its expression, lifelikeness, and authenticity it really is remarkable. 6 sydney symphony

5 INTRODUCTION Musical Conversations Tonight you could have stayed at home and listened to recordings your own personal playlist. But one of the reasons for coming to orchestral concerts is to experience a different kind of playlist a thoughtfully programmed selection of pieces, devised by the conductor in collaboration with the orchestra s artistic planner. David Robertson has said that he sees the relationships between different pieces in a concert program as being like conversations. What do musical works say to each other, and to listeners, when they are heard together? The anchor in tonight s program is Tchaikovsky s Pathétique Symphony, which, says Robertson, combines this quality of extrovert and introvert. Nowhere is this more vividly illustrated than in the combination of the third and fourth movements, and nowhere is that more viscerally felt than in the live concert setting. I sincerely believe, he says, that Tchaikovsky wants us to release our enthusiasm at the end of the third movement with wild applause, much like we would at a sporting event. What then follows is a movement about the terrible fact that each one of us is an individual, isolated being. That Tchaikovsky manages to make an entire audience experience that sense of solitude together at the same time is brilliant beyond description. The first half of the program brings a different emotional impact. Last year, when Robertson conducted this program at Carnegie Hall, he explained that the Adès Violin Concerto has so much going on. The long central movement is a classical passacaglia or chaconne, steeped in tradition; the first movement offers a quicksilver violin line, spinning a magical narrative; the third movement is haunting, with a kind of ancient simplicity. Robertson s question was: How do you prime the audience for a piece like the Adès? And the theme that emerged was the way the past is a constant source of newness for the present musical DNA being passed along the generations. The Adès contains so much of the history of the violin repertoire, and Ralph Vaughan Williams, in his own response to a hymn tune from a distant time, captures a historical perspective. After hearing the Tallis Fantasia, the things that are new about the Adès can surprise and enchant us, says Robertson, and the things that are traditional come through in a different way. Above all, we will understand each one better by having the two of them in proximity. Tchaikovsky manages to make an entire audience experience that sense of solitude together sydney symphony 7

6 ABOUT THE MUSIC Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis Early in his career, among his many other activities besides composing, Vaughan Williams was chief music editor for a new Anglican church hymnbook, The English Hymnal, published in In selecting items for the book from the huge body of traditional hymnody, he pursued a veritable crusade against what he considered to be the sentimental piety and bad music that had infiltrated English church singing during the Victorian era. His strategy was one of back to the future, and the result was a theologically high church, musically elite collection, heavily biased toward early music: Gregorian chant and 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century hymn tunes in authentic editions, with, as he himself boasted, enervating tunes reduced to a minimum. Vaughan Williams stressed that preferring a good tune over a bad one was: a moral rather than a musical issue it requires a certain effort to tune oneself to the moral atmosphere implied by a fine melody; and it is far easier to dwell in the miasma of the languishing and sentimental hymn tunes which so often disfigure our services. Some of very finest tunes he rediscovered were also to the ordinary churchgoer of the early 1900s the oddest. They include many tunes from the rhymed psalm books of the Tudor period, like The whole Psalter translated into English metre, published around 1567 by Queen Elizabeth I s Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, and to which her veteran court composer Thomas Tallis (c ) contributed nine new tunes. Like Vaughan Williams centuries later, Tallis and Parker attributed moral qualities to these melodies, depending on the mode or scale upon which they were based. The first tune (based on the mode close to the modern minor key scale) they described as meek and devout, while the third tune doth rage and roughly bayeth. Accordingly, Tallis s raging third tune was fitted to Parker s rhymed version of Psalm 2, Why fumeth in fight the Gentiles spite?, a paraphrase of the text better known as Why do the nations so furiously rage together?. The scale on which the third tune is based is, to modern ears, the strangest of all modes (try singing the first five notes quietly to yourself: me fa soh lah ti!). But it was this extremely odd Third Tune by Tallis that Vaughan Williams Keynotes VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Born Gloucestershire, 1872 Died London, 1958 His father was a vicar, his mother descended from Josiah Wedgwood, an uncle was Lord Chief Justice, and Charles Darwin a great uncle. RVW himself was a mild-mannered, mystical, agnostic Labour voter. At the Royal College of Music, Stokowski and Holst were friends, Stanford and Parry his teachers, as also later in Berlin and Paris were Bruch and Ravel. Like Bartók in Hungary, from 1900 onwards RVW found inspiration in his country s age-old folk music traditions. His major legacy is his nine symphonies, works of huge emotional span, from the pastoral third and fifth, to the dissonant wartime fourth and dramatic ninth. ( Ralph is pronounced in the traditional way: rafe) TALLIS FANTASIA This 15-minute meditation on a Tudor melody is scored, like a set of Chinese boxes, for three string ensembles of diminishing size, the first full symphonic strings; the second, just nine players; third, a string quartet. The opening minutes consist of little else but Tallis s tune, given out by unison lower strings, repeated by high violins with harmonisation from the ensemble. Phrases then separate out, generating new melodies for solo viola and violin, traversing new harmonic fields, building to an impassioned climax. The rhapsodic final section canvasses feelings of trepidation before peaceful resolution. 8 sydney symphony

7 chose, four years after completing his new hymnbook, as theme for a string fantasia. This 15-minute meditation on Tallis s melody is scored for three string ensembles of diminishing size, ideally separated physically. The opening couple of minutes consist of little else but Tallis s tune. Phrases then separate out, generating new melodies for solo viola and violin, building to an impassioned climax. Variously brooding and rhapsodic, the final section appears to consider the paradox of the potentially deadening weight of English tradition, and yet its endless capacity to succour new creative responses. The Fantasia was first performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer, on 6 September in Gloucester Cathedral as part of the 1910 Three Choirs Festival, preceding Elgar s Dream of Gerontius. Vaughan Williams was worried that his modern listeners might find Tallis s melody alien and off-putting; or, as he put it, that the great art of Tallis connotes an exaltation of which we are not capable. And, although several reviews of the first performance seemed to confirm this fear, the London Times was positive: The work is wonderful because it seems to lift one into some unknown region of musical thought and feeling. Throughout its course one is never sure whether one is listening to something old or new. But the same review has since been proved rather too cautious in warning: It could never thrive in a modern concert-room, but in the quieter atmosphere of the cathedral the mind falls readily into the reflective attitude necessary for the enjoyment of every unexpected transition from chord to chord. GRAEME SKINNER 2012 When giving instrumentations we don t usually count out the strings, but make an exception here for obvious reasons the Fantasia calls for Soli (two violins, viola, cello), Orchestra II (two first violins, two second violins, two violas, two cellos, double bass), and Orchestra I (all the string players we can muster). In these performances the solo string quartet is placed at the front of the ensemble (where they also lead the players of Orchestra I), with the nine musicians of Orchestra II at the back where you might usually see the percussion. The Sydney Symphony first gave a broadcast studio performance of the Tallis Fantasia in 1940, conducted by Kenneth Murison Bourne. The orchestra last played the Fantasia in 2005 with conductor Ola Rudner. The work is wonderful because it seems to lift one into some unknown region of musical thought and feeling. Throughout its course one is never sure whether one is listening to something old or new. THE TIMES (1910) sydney symphony 9

8 Thomas Adès Violin Concerto Concentric Paths, Op.24 Rings Paths Rounds Adès s Violin Concerto, written for Anthony Marwood and scored for a Beethoven-scale orchestra with the crucial addition of a pair of percussionists, was composed in 2005 and had its first performance at that year s Berlin Festival. Its subtitle, Concentric Paths, has to do with harmonic circlings, as the composer has explained: the first movement is fast, with sheets of unstable harmony in different orbits; the third playful, at ease, with stable cycles moving in harmony at different rates, while the middle movement, the heart of the concerto, is built from two large, and very many small, independent cycles, which overlap and clash, sometimes violently, in their motion towards resolution. One might note also that concentric paths do not converge, and that those on them will circle on eternally, unable to meet. Both the outer movements, Rings and Rounds, are geared to rhythmic machinery a moto perpetuo in the first movement and an infectious, snaking dance in the finale. The dazzling, dizzying rings of the opening movement, immediately establishing the work s virtuoso character, are spun largely by the soloist over slow progressions that recall what was the composer s most recent big work, his opera The Tempest, though the roles can also be reversed. The dance finale is, characteristically, at once exciting and unsettling. What comes in between, and provides the concerto s great weight, Paths, is also a dance, but one in the Baroque tradition of the chaconne, and having qualities of gravity and grief often associated with the chaconne by composers from Purcell to Bach. Unlike the outer movements, with their bouncing accents, this centrepiece has an unvarying time signature, a sense of small, slow wheelings adding up to a massive process, in keeping with the composer s description, and an atmosphere of darkness and struggle, often expressed as if the music were stumbling forward on heavy, dragging feet. Bright, perhaps frighteningly bright, in the outer movements, the music s voice is here one of hardship being endured, of lamenting downward scales, of angelic rhapsody (or pain) and of consolation, where the violin is magically gathered into the rocking arms of piccolo, orchestral violins and clarinet in succession. At the end of this movement the voice goes down into the Keynotes ADÈS Born London, 1971 Thomas Adès (pronounced AH-diss) made his debut as concert pianist and composer in London in His first major score, Asyla, was premiered by Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony in His second orchestral work for Rattle, Tevot (2007), was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and Carnegie Hall. In 2008 he and video artist Tal Rosner produced a piano concerto with moving image, In Seven Days, on a commission for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and London Sinfonietta. In 2000 he became the youngest-ever recipient of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award. Adès composed his violin concerto Concentric Paths especially for Anthony Marwood, who premiered it in CONCENTRIC PATHS The composer writes: This concerto has three movements, like most, but it is really more of a triptych, as the middle one, Paths, is the largest. It is the slow movement, built from two large, and very many small, independent cycles, which overlap and clash, sometimes violently, in their motion towards resolution. The outer movements too are circular in design, the first, Rings, fast, with sheets of unstable harmony in different orbits, the third, Rounds, playful, at ease, with stable cycles moving in harmony at different rates. 10 sydney symphony

9 mellifluous murmurings of a down-and-out, enacted by the violin in its lowest register with the orchestra s furthest bass instruments. PAUL GRIFFIFTHS 2007 Adès in context Composer and pianist Thomas Adès was a student at London s Guildhall School of Music in the late 1980s and then at Cambridge, where he studied with composer Alexander Goehr. Signed up by the publisher Faber at 19, his opus 1, a setting of T.S. Eliot s Landscapes, appeared in From 1993 and 1995 he was Composer in Association with the Hallé Orchestra, for which he composed These Premises are Alarmed in Asyla (1997) was commissioned by Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony, and Rattle conducted it again at his opening concert as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic in Adès s first opera, Powder Her Face, premiered at the 1995 Cheltenham Festival, was televised by Channel Four and release on DVD. In 1999, he was musical director of the Aldeburgh Festival, and in 2001 he composed his Piano Quintet for the Melbourne Festival, and premiered it there with the Arditti Quartet. He was also featured composer at the 2010 Melbourne Festival. Around the time he composed the violin concerto on this program, Adès was entering on a relationship with Israeli video artist Tal Rosner. They became civil partners at the beginning of A recent large-scale work, Polaris Voyage for Orchestra, his second major artistic collaboration with Rosner, was premiered in 2011 by the New World Symphony, and since then the score has also been played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Phiharmonic, the San Francisco Symphony, and, conducted by Adès himself, Amsterdam s Concertgebouw Orchestra. Paths is a dance in the Baroque tradition of the chaconne, and having qualities of gravity and grief often associated with the chaconne by composers from Purcell to Bach. BRIAN VOICE Concentric Paths calls for an orchestra of two flutes (both doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets and two bassoons; three horns, two trumpets, trombone and tuba; timpani and percussion; and a string section of ten first violins, eight second violins, six violas, five cellos, and three double basses. This is the first time the Sydney Symphony has performed Concentric Paths, which received its Australian premiere in Melbourne in Previously the orchestra has performed Adès Chamber Symphony, conducted by Marin Alsop in 2000, and Asyla, conducted by the composer in sydney symphony 11

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11 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Symphony No.6 in B minor, Op.74, Pathétique Adagio Allegro non troppo Allegro con grazia Allegro molto vivace Finale (Adagio lamentoso Andante) The original audience f or the Sixth Symphony was uncomprehending and ambivalent. Tchaikovsky had expected this, writing to his nephew and the dedicatee, Bob Davidov, that he wouldn t be surprised if the symphony were torn to pieces, even though he considered it his best and most sincere work. The critic Hermann Laroche suggested that audiences who did not get to the core of the symphony would in the end, come to love it. As it turned out, it took them only 12 days. In the intervening period its composer had died, and for the second performance, in a memorial concert, it was promoted with the composer s subtitle: Pathétique (or Pateticheskaia Simfoniia impassioned symphony as he had conceived it in Russian). The symphony was declared a masterpiece. The myth of the-pathétique-as-suicide-note (not to mention Tchaikovsky s suicide itself ) has been more or less debunked in the past two decades, in particular by the work of Alexander Poznansky. There are no grounds for doubting that Tchaikovsky died from post-choleric complications; the theory that his old classmates decided in a court of honour that he should commit suicide to avoid disgrace has been undermined; and his social, financial and artistic situation all speak against any other motivation for suicide, even if he continued to be troubled by his homosexuality. The Sixth Symphony, specifically, seems to have been a source of immense pride, satisfaction and joy to him. And shortly after its premiere he is reported to have said I feel I shall live a long time. He was wrong. And following his death, his audience now in mourning and seeking portents immediately heard the Sixth Symphony (the Pathétique) in a fresh way. New significance was given to the appearance in the first movement of an Orthodox burial chant, Repose the Soul a hymn sung only when someone has died and to the otherworldly, dying character of the slow finale. Even if the symphony is not a suicide note, there is a programmatic and semi-autobiographical underpinning to the symphony that is the source of its unusual form and turbulent emotions. Tchaikovsky admitted the existence Keynotes TCHAIKOVSKY Born Kamsko-Votkinsk, 1840 Died St Petersburg, 1893 Tchaikovsky s dramatic instinct comes to the fore in his ballets, operas, overtures and symphonies. But he was less successful at life than he was with art. Having conducted the premiere of the Pathétique Symphony on 28 October, Tchaikovsky died on 6 November Some say it was cholera, others that it was an honour suicide. His emotions were always on show. Ever the enthusiast, he once danced an impromptu ballet on the stage of Moscow Conservatory with Saint-Saëns! But, as The Sydney Morning Herald s St Petersburg correspondent recalled in 1898: Tchaikovsky himself was never a good conductor, he simply spoiled his works when he directed them himself, being altogether too nervous and excitable. PATHÉTIQUE SYMPHONY In the original Russian, the nickname for the Sixth Symphony means something like impassioned. His brother suggested it, Tchaikovsky adopted and then almost immediately retracted it, but too late. But it s appropriate, since, as Tchaikovsky admitted: without exaggeration, I have put my whole soul into this symphony. Two features are especially striking. The second movement is a waltz with five (rather than three) beats to the bar; and the finale (after a riotous third movement that sounds like it could be the end) brings the symphony to a tragic close. sydney symphony 13

12 Tchaikovsky with his nephew Bob Davidov of a program but was cagey about the details, perhaps because it reflected his romantic feelings for Davidov. The closest we have is a sketched scenario, devised originally for an abandoned symphony in E flat but appearing to correspond with much of the Sixth Symphony: Following is essence of plan for a symphony Life! First movement all impulse, confidence, thirst for activity. Must be short (Finale death result of collapse). Second movement love; third disappointment; fourth ends with a dying away (also short). There are aspects of this program and the Sixth Symphony that suggest suffering, but for Tchaikovsky the composition of the symphony was a cathartic experience rather than an expression of current sufferings. He himself wrote: Anyone who believes that the creative person is capable of expressing what he feels out of a momentary effect aided by the means of art is mistaken. Melancholy as well as joyous feelings can always be expressive only out of the Retrospective. In its art this is Tchaikovsky s most innovative symphony. He dares to conclude with a brooding slow movement and uses boldly dramatic gestures to give the music its emotional 14 sydney symphony

13 impulse. The limping elegance of the second movement waltz would have been less surprising, to Russians at least its five-beat metre was a part of a tradition that was embraced by Borodin, Rimsky-Korsakov and Mussorgsky (in his Pictures at an Exhibition), and later Rachmaninoff (in The Isle of the Dead). In the Sixth Symphony Tchaikovsky comes to terms with his professed inadequacies in structural matters. His solution in the first movement was to extend the exposition section, so well suited to his melodic gifts, and to compress the central development section in which he felt his skills inadequate. The music begins in the depths with the dark colour of the bassoon and yet somehow Tchaikovsky sustains a downward trajectory, or the impression of one, for the whole work. In the third movement the idea of disappointment is replaced by something more malevolent. In purely musical terms it conflates two musical ideas feverish tarantella triplets and a spiky march but the juxtapositions and incursions into each other s thematic territory create a disturbing sense of antagonism. The movement s applauseprovoking conclusion could be triumphant, or it could be the crash of self-delusion. The finale may not fit the formula established by Tchaikovsky s classical predecessors, but within the emotional journey of the symphony its stark sense of tragedy provides an inevitable conclusion all the more powerful for the grace and jauntiness of the preceding movements. YVONNE FRINDLE 2008 Tchaikovsky s Sixth Symphony calls for three flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets and two bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani and percussion (cymbals, bass drum, tam-tam); and strings. The first Australian performance of the symphony was by the South Australian Orchestra (precursor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra) in The Sydney Symphony first performed it in 1939, conducted by Malcolm Sargent, and most recently in 2010, conducted by Alexander Vedernikov. Just as I was starting on my journey, the idea came to me for a new symphony. This time with a program, but of the kind which remains an enigma to all let them guess who can. The work will be entitled A Program Symphony (No.6). This program is penetrated by subjective sentiment. During my journey, while composing it in my mind, I frequently shed tears... There will be much more that is novel as regards form in this work. For instance, the Finale will not be a great Allegro, but an Adagio of considerable dimensions. You cannot imagine what joy I feel at the conviction that my day is not yet over. Tchaikovsky describes the symphony s genesis in a letter to his brother Anatoly. sydney symphony 15

14 MORE MUSIC TALLIS S TUNE Tallis s Third Tune has appeared on two popular film soundtracks, for the TV series The Tudors (Season 2 Episode 10) and for Master and Commander. Also search for «Tallis Why fum th» on YouTube. STOKOWSKI PLAYS RVW In 1975, eighty years after he and Vaughan Williams were students together, Leopold Stokowski recorded the Tallis Fantasia with the strings of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was among the very last works he recorded and the venue was No.1 Studio, Abbey Road, London. NEWTON CLASSICS FANTASIA IN THE CATHEDRAL While we celebrate news that David Robertson will take over as the Sydney Symphony s chief conductor in 2014, the Melbourne Symphony will welcome British conductor Andrew Davis as its chief. Watch Davis conducting the BBC Symphony in the Tallis Fantasia inside the very cathedral Gloucester where it was premiered in Watch: bit.ly/fantasiainthecathedral ADÈS & MARWOOD Concentric Paths was recorded by EMI, with Anthony Marwood and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the composer conducting. It is available either as a download from itunes or as a mid-price CD coupled with Adès s spectacular orchestral work Tevot, played by the Berlin Philharmonic under Simon Rattle. EMI CLASSICS MORE ADÈS In Seven Days is a spectacular multimedia interpretation the Hebrew bible creation story, a collaboration between Adès and video-artist Tal Rosner. The recording, on a CD and DVD set (and also as a download from itunes), features pianist Nicholas Hodges and the London Sinfonietta, conducted by the composer. You can also listen and watch Ades and Rosner discussing their work at: SIGNUM SIGCD277 SYMPHONIC TCHAIKOVSKY Until the demise of the Soviet Union, there was nothing quite like the sound of a huge Russian orchestra playing Tchaikovsky. It didn t get much better than the last recorded six-symphony cycle by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra under Yevgeny Svetlanov. You can also sample their performance of Pathétique on YouTube. WARNER CLASSICS (5 CDS) MULTIMEDIA ROBERTSON Revisit this program by watching David Robertson talk about his earlier performance of these works with his St Louis Symphony at Carnegie Hall. bit.ly/robertsondiscussesadesrvw Depending on your tastes, we recommend two quite different recordings by David Robertson. First with the St Louis Symphony, contemporary American composer John Adams Doctor Atomic Symphony, which Robertson conducted here in Sydney in NONESUCH CD Alternatively, with the Orchestre National de Lyon, Robertson has recorded the orchestral suite from Bartók s ballet The Miraculous Mandarin. HARMONIA MUNDI HCC Broadcast Diary June July abc.net.au/classic Friday 6 July, 7.30pm abc/symphony australia young performers awards Stage III Final Piano Finalists: Young Kwon Choi, John Fisher, Tony Lee, Jeremy So Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Taddei Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Liszt Tuesday 17 July, 8pm Wednesday 18 July, 8pm sydney international piano competition Nicholas Carter conductor Mozart concerto finals Thursday 19 July, 1.05pm abc heritage broadcast: mahler 3 Edo de Waart conductor Birgit Remmert soprano Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Sydney Children s Choir Mahler 3, recorded a t the Sydney Town Hall in 2003 Friday 20 July, 8pm Saturday 21 July, 2.30pm sydney international piano competition Nicholas Milton conductor 19th and 20th-century concerto finals 2MBS-FM sydney symphony 2012 Tuesday 10 July, 6pm Musicians, staff and guest artists discuss what s in store in our forthcoming concerts. 16 sydney symphony

15 Webcasts Selected Sydney Symphony concerts are webcast live on BigPond and Telstra T-box and made available for later viewing On Demand. Our latest webcast, conducted by David Robertson: kalkadungu Thursday 28 June at 6.30pm Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony Live webcasts can also be viewed via our mobile app. Sydney Symphony Live The Sydney Symphony 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, begun in To purchase, visit sydneysymphony.com/shop Glazunov & Shostakovich Alexander Lazarev conducts a thrilling performance of Shostakovich 9 and Glazunov s Seasons. SSO 2 Strauss & Schubert Gianluigi Gelmetti conducts Schubert s Unfi nished and R Strauss s Four Last Songs with Ricarda Merbeth. SSO Sir Charles Mackerras A 2CD set featuring Sir Charles s fi nal performances with the orchestra, in October SSO Brett Dean Brett Dean performs his own viola concerto, conducted by Simone Young, in this all-dean release. SSO Ravel Gelmetti conducts music by one of his favourite composers: Maurice Ravel. Includes Bolero. SSO Rare Rachmaninoff Rachmaninoff chamber music with Dene Olding, the Goldner Quartet, soprano Joan Rodgers and Vladimir Ashkenazy at the piano. SSO MAHLER ODYSSEY ON CD During the 2010 and 2011 concert seasons, the Sydney Symphony and Vladimir Ashkenazy set out to perform all the Mahler symphonies, together with some of the song cycles. These concerts were recorded for CD, with nine releases so far and more to come. Mahler 9 OUT NOW In March, Mahler s Ninth, his last completed symphony, was released. SSO ALSO CURRENTLY AVAILABLE Mahler 1 & Songs of a Wayfarer SSO Mahler 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) SSO Mahler 5 SSO Song of the Earth SSO Mahler 3 SSO Mahler 4 SSO Mahler 6 SSO Mahler 7 SSO Sydney Symphony Online Join us on Facebook facebook.com/sydneysymphony Follow us on Twitter twitter.com/sydsymph Watch us on YouTube Visit sydneysymphony.com for concert information, podcasts, and to read the program book in the week of the concert. Stay tuned. Sign up to receive our fortnightly e-newsletter sydneysymphony.com/staytuned Download our free mobile app for iphone or Android sydneysymphony.com/mobile_app sydney symphony 17

16 David Robertson CONDUCTOR American conductor David Robertson is a compelling and passionate communicator whose stimulating ideas and music-making have captivated audiences and musicians alike, and he has established strong relationships with major orchestras throughout Europe and North America. He begins his tenure as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Sydney Symphony in He is currently Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Other titled posts have included Music Director of the Orchestre National de Lyon and resident conductor of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra. A recognised expert in 20th- and 21st-century music, he has also been Music Director of the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris where composer and conductor Pierre Boulez was an early supporter and his discography includes works by such composers as Adams, Bartók, Boulez, Carter, Ginastera, Milhaud and Reich. He is also a champion of young musicians, devoting time to working with students and young artists. In the season he will appear with the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony and at the Metropolitan Opera, and in Europe with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic and Ensemble Intercontemporain. In September he will tour Europe with the Saint Louis Symphony and violinist Christian Tetzlaff. His awards and accolades include Musical America Conductor of the Year (2000), Columbia University s 2006 Ditson Conductor s Award, and, with the SLS, the ASCAP Morton Gould Award for Innovative Programming. In 2010 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and in 2011 a Chevalier de l Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He was born in Santa Monica, California, and educated at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied French horn and composition before turning to conducting. He is married to pianist Orli Shaham. David Robertson made his Australian debut with the Sydney Symphony in 2003 and since then has appeared regularly with the orchestra, most recently in 2010 when he conducted the Australian premiere of John Adams Doctor Atomic Symphony. MICHAEL TAMMARO 18 sydney symphony

17 Anthony Marwood VIOLIN British violinist Anthony Marwood is recognised internationally for his versatility as an orchestral soloist, chamber musician, recitalist and ensemble director. As a soloist he has worked with leading conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Marin Alsop and Ilan Volkov. This season, as well as making his debut with the Sydney Symphony, he makes his first appearances with the São Paulo Symphony in Brazil, the Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland, Orquestra Sinfonica de Galicia in Spain and Norrlands Orchestra in Sweden. Thomas Adès composed his violin concerto especially for Anthony Marwood, who premiered it in Berlin and at London s BBC Proms in 2005, and has since played it with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Steven Mackey whose piano concerto was played last week in the Meet the Music series also composed his concerto for violin and electric guitar, Four Iconoclastic Episodes, for Anthony and himself to play. They gave its British premiere last month. Formerly artistic director of the Irish Chamber Orchestra, he has also formed strong relationships the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian National Academy of Music and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. In the ASMF s recent staged production of Stravinsky s Soldier s Tale, Anthony Marwood acted the role of the violin-playing Soldier. He has also collaborated with Indian classical dancer Mayuri Boonham in acclaimed performances at London s South Bank and Royal Opera House. He recently toured a Stravinsky recital program with Thomas Adès at the piano. They were joined by cellist Steven Isserlis in recital at Carnegie Hall in 2010 and at Wigmore Hall in As violinist of the Florestan Trio, he presented a Beethoven cycle at Wigmore Hall earlier this year. He is the co-artistic director of the Peasmarsh Chamber Music Festival and teaches annually at the Yellow Barn Festival in Vermont. In 2006, the Royal Philharmonic Society named him Instrumentalist of the Year. Anthony Marwood plays a 1736 Carlo Bergonzi violin, kindly bought by a syndicate of purchasers. PIA JOHNSON sydney symphony 19

18 MUSICIANS Vladimir Ashkenazy Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor supported by Emirates Dene Olding Concertmaster Nicholas Carter Associate Conductor supported by Premier Partner Credit Suisse FIRST VIOLINS Dene Olding Concertmaster Sun Yi Associate Concertmaster Fiona Ziegler Assistant Concertmaster Roy Theaker* Assistant Concertmaster Julie Batty Jennifer Booth Marianne Broadfoot Brielle Clapson Sophie Cole Amber Davis Jennifer Hoy Nicola Lewis Alexander Norton Léone Ziegler Claire Herrick Elizabeth Jones Kirsten Williams Associate Concertmaster SECOND VIOLINS Marina Marsden Emily Long A/Assistant Principal Susan Dobbie Principal Emeritus Maria Durek Shuti Huang Benjamin Li Nicole Masters Biyana Rozenblit Freya Franzen* Anthea Hetherington* Belinda Jezek* Emily Qin Lucy Warren Robin Wilson* Emma West Assistant Principal Emma Hayes Stan W Kornel Philippa Paige Maja Verunica VIOLAS Roger Benedict Anne-Louise Comerford Justin Williams* Robyn Brookfield Sandro Costantino Jane Hazelwood Graham Hennings Stuart Johnson Justine Marsden Neil Thompson Felicity Tsai Leonid Volovelsky Tara Houghton Tobias Breider CELLOS Catherine Hewgill Martin Smith* Timothy Nankervis Elizabeth Neville Christopher Pidcock David Wickham Rowena Macneish Eleanor Betts Adam Szabo # Rachael Tobin Leah Lynn Assistant Principal Fenella Gill Adrian Wallis DOUBLE BASSES Kees Boersma Alex Henery Neil Brawley Principal Emeritus David Campbell Steven Larson David Murray Benjamin Ward Douglas Rutherford Richard Lynn FLUTES Janet Webb Carolyn Harris Rosamund Plummer Principal Piccolo Emma Sholl OBOES Shefali Pryor David Papp Diana Doherty Alexandre Oguey Principal Cor Anglais CLARINETS Lawrence Dobell Craig Wernicke Principal Bass Clarinet Francesco Celata Christopher Tingay BASSOONS Nicole Tait Noriko Shimada Principal Contrabassoon Matthew Wilkie Fiona McNamara HORNS Ben Jacks Geoffrey O Reilly Principal 3rd Marnie Sebire Euan Harvey Robert Johnson TRUMPETS David Elton Anthony Heinrichs Paul Goodchild John Foster TROMBONES Ronald Prussing Nick Byrne Christopher Harris Principal Bass Trombone Scott Kinmont TUBA Tim Buzbee* Steve Rossé TIMPANI Mark Robinson Assistant Principal Richard Miller PERCUSSION Rebecca Lagos Philip South* HARP Louise Johnson Bold = Principal Italics = Associate Principal * = Guest Musician = Contract Musician = Sydney Symphony Fellow Grey = Permanent member of the Sydney Symphony not appearing in this concert 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. The men of the Sydney Symphony are proudly outfitted by Van Heusen. 20 sydney symphony

19 SYDNEY SYMPHONY Vladimir Ashkenazy, Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor PATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO JOHN MARMARAS Founded in 1932 by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, 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 the 2011 tour of Japan and Korea. 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, Zdeněk Mácal, Stuart Challender, Edo de Waart and Gianluigi Gelmetti. David Robertson will take up the post of Chief Conductor in 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 orchestra 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, Gordon Kerry 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. The orchestra has recently completed recording the Mahler symphonies, and has also released recordings with Ashkenazy of Rachmaninoff and Elgar orchestral works on the Exton/Triton labels, as well as numerous recordings on the ABC Classics label. This is the fourth year of Ashkenazy s tenure as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor. sydney symphony 21

20 BEHIND THE SCENES Sydney Symphony Board John C Conde ao Chairman Terrey Arcus am Ewen Crouch Ross Grant Jennifer Hoy Rory Jeffes Andrew Kaldor Irene Lee David Livingstone Goetz Richter David Smithers am Sydney Symphony Council Geoff Ainsworth am 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 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 Gabrielle Trainor Ivan Ungar John van Ogtrop Peter Weiss am Mary Whelan Rosemary White Sydney Symphony Staff MANAGING DIRECTOR Rory Jeffes EXECUTIVE TEAM ASSISTANT Lisa Davies-Galli ARTISTIC OPERATIONS DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PLANNING Peter Czornyj Artistic Administration ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGER Elaine Armstrong ARTIST LIAISON MANAGER Ilmar Leetberg RECORDING ENTERPRISE MANAGER Philip Powers Education Programs HEAD OF EDUCATION Kim Waldock EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM MANAGER Mark Lawrenson EDUCATION COORDINATOR Rachel McLarin Library LIBRARIAN Anna Cernik LIBRARY ASSISTANT Victoria Grant LIBRARY ASSISTANT Mary-Ann Mead ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT Aernout Kerbert ORCHESTRA MANAGER Chris Lewis ORCHESTRA COORDINATOR Georgia Stamatopoulos OPERATIONS MANAGER Kerry-Anne Cook TECHNICAL MANAGER Derek Coutts PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Tim Dayman PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Ian Spence STAGE MANAGER Peter Gahan SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Mark J Elliott MARKETING MANAGER, SUBSCRIPTION SALES Simon Crossley-Meates A/SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER, SALES Matthew Rive MARKETING MANAGER, BUSINESS RESOURCES Katrina Riddle ONLINE MARKETING MANAGER Eve Le Gall MARKETING & ONLINE COORDINATOR Kaisa Heino GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lucy McCullough DATA ANALYST Varsha Karnik MARKETING ASSISTANT Jonathon Symonds Box Office MANAGER OF BOX OFFICE SALES & OPERATIONS Lynn McLaughlin MANAGER OF BOX OFFICE OPERATIONS Tom Downey CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES Steve Clarke Senior CSR Michael Dowling Derek Reed John Robertson Bec Sheedy COMMUNICATIONS HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS Yvonne Zammit PUBLICIST Katherine Stevenson DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER Ben Draisma Publications PUBLICATIONS EDITOR & MUSIC PRESENTATION MANAGER Yvonne Frindle DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT Caroline Sharpen CORPORATE RELATIONS Julia Owens CORPORATE RELATIONS Stephen Attfield PHILANTHROPY, PATRONS PROGRAM Ivana Jirasek PHILANTHROPY, EVENTS & ENGAGEMENT Amelia Morgan-Hunn BUSINESS SERVICES DIRECTOR OF FINANCE John Horn FINANCE MANAGER Ruth Tolentino ACCOUNTANT Minerva Prescott ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT Emma Ferrer HUMAN RESOURCES HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER Anna Kearsley 22 sydney symphony

21 SYDNEY SYMPHONY PATRONS Maestro s Circle Peter Weiss am Founding President & Doris Weiss John C Conde ao Chairman Geoff Ainsworth am & Vicki Ainsworth Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn 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 Brian & Rosemary White 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 Tony Grierson, Braithwaite Steiner Pretty Macquarie Group Foundation John Morschel, Chairman, ANZ Andrew Kaldor, Chairman, Pelikan Artline Lynn Kraus, Sydney Office Managing Partner, Ernst & Young Shell Australia Pty Ltd James Stevens, CEO, Roses Only Stephen Johns, Chairman, Leighton Holdings, and Michele Johns Directors Chairs Roger Benedict Principal Viola Kim Williams am & Catherine Dovey Chair 02 Lawrence Dobell Principal Clarinet Anne Arcus & Terrey Arcus am Chair 03 Diana Doherty Principal Oboe Andrew Kaldor & Renata Kaldor ao Chair 04 Richard Gill oam Artistic Director Education Sandra & Paul Salteri Chair 05 Jane Hazelwood Viola Veolia Environmental Services Chair 06 Catherine Hewgill Principal Cello Tony & Fran Meagher Chair 07 Elizabeth Neville Cello Ruth & Bob Magid Chair 08 Colin Piper Percussion Justice Jane Mathews ao Chair 09 Shefali Pryor Associate Principal Oboe Rose Herceg Chair 10 Emma Sholl Associate Principal Flute Robert & Janet Constable Chair For information about the Directors Chairs program, please call (02) Join in the conversation twitter.com/sydsymph facebook.com/sydneysymphony sydney symphony 23

22 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. Donations of $50 and above are acknowledged on our website at sydneysymphony.com/patrons Platinum Patrons $20,000+ Brian Abel Geoff Ainsworth am & Vicki Ainsworth Robert Albert ao & Elizabeth Albert Terrey Arcus am & Anne Arcus Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn Sandra & Neil Burns Mr John C Conde ao Robert & Janet Constable Dr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda Giuffre In memory of Hetty & Egon Gordon Ms Rose Herceg Mrs E Herrman Mr Andrew Kaldor & Mrs Renata Kaldor ao D & I Kallinikos James N Kirby Foundation Justice Jane Mathews ao Mrs Roslyn Packer ao Dr John Roarty oam in memory of Mrs June Roarty Paul & Sandra Salteri Mrs Penelope Seidler am Mrs W Stening Mr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy Street Mr Peter Weiss am & Mrs Doris Weiss Westfield Group Mr Brian & Mrs Rosemary White Ray Wilson oam in memory of James Agapitos oam Kim Williams am & Catherine Dovey June & Alan Woods Family Bequest Anonymous (1) Gold Patrons $10,000 $19,999 Mr C R Adamson Alan & Christine Bishop Ian & Jennifer Burton Copyright Agency Limited The Estate of Ruth M Davidson The Hon. Ashley Dawson-Damer Paul R Espie Ferris Family Foundation James & Leonie Furber Mr Ross Grant The Estate of the l ate Ida Gugger Helen Lynch am & Helen Bauer Mrs Joan MacKenzie Ruth & Bob Magid Mrs T Merewether oam Tony & Fran Meagher Mr B G O Conor Mrs Joyce Sproat & Mrs Janet Cooke Ms Caroline Wilkinson Anonymous (2) Silver Patrons $5,000 $9,999 Mark Bethwaite am & Carolyn Bethwaite Jan Bowen Mr Alexander & Mrs Vera Boyarsky Mr Robert Brakspear Mr David & Mrs Halina Brett Mr Robert & Mrs L Alison Carr Bob & Julie Clampett Ian Dickson & Reg Holloway Mr Colin Draper & Mary Jane Brodribb Penny Edwards John Favaloro Mr Edward Federman Michael & Gabrielle Field Mr James Graham am & Mrs Helen Graham Mrs Jennifer Hershon Michelle Hilton Stephen Johns & Michele Bender Judges of the Supreme Court of NSW Mr Ervin Katz The Estate of the late Patricia Lance Gary Linnane Mr David Livingstone William McIlrath Charitable Foundation David Maloney & Erin Flaherty Eva & Timothy Pascoe Rodney Rosenblum am & Sylvia Rosenblum Manfred & Linda Salamon The Sherry Hogan Foundation David & Isabel Smithers Ian & Wendy Thompson Michael & Mary Whelan Trust Dr Richard Wingate Jill Wran Anonymous (1) Bronze Patrons $2,500 $4,999 Dr Lilon Bandler Stephen J Bell Marc Besen ao & Eva Besen ao Lenore P Buckle Howard Connors Ewen & Catherine Crouch Firehold Pty Ltd Vic & Katie French Mr Erich Gockel Ms Kylie Green Anthony Gregg & Deanne Whittleston Ann Hoban Irwin Imhof in memory of Herta Imhof J A McKernan R & S Maple-Brown Greg & Susan Marie Mora Maxwell James & Elsie Moore Justice George Palmer am Bruce & Joy Reid Foundation Mary Rossi Travel Mrs Hedy Switzer Marliese & Georges Teitler Ms Gabrielle Trainor J F & A van Ogtrop Anonymous (3) Bronze Patrons $1,000-$2,499 Charles & Renee Abrams Andrew Andersons ao Mr Henri W Aram oam Dr Francis J Augustus Richard Banks David Barnes Doug & Alison Battersby Michael Baume ao & Toni Baume Phil & Elese Bennett Nicole Berger Mrs Jan Biber Allan & Julie Bligh M Bulmer In memory of R W Burley Eric & Rosemary Campbell Dr John H Casey Debby Cramer & Bill Caukill Dr Diana Choquette & Mr Robert Milliner Joan Connery oam & Maxwell Connery oam Mr John Cunningham scm & Mrs Margaret Cunningham Greta Davis Lisa & Miro Davis Matthew Delasey Mr Ian Fenwicke & Prof. Neville Wills Dr & Mrs C Goldschmidt Warren Green Akiko Gregory In memory of the late Dora & Oscar Grynberg Janette Hamilton Dorothy Hoddinott ao Paul & Susan Hotz The Hon. David Hunt ao qc & Mrs Margaret Hunt Dr & Mrs Michael Hunter Mr Peter Hutchison Michael & Anna Joel The Hon. Paul Keating In Memory of Bernard MH Khaw Anna-Lisa Klettenberg Mr Justin Lam Wendy Lapointe Mr Peter Lazar Dr Winston Liauw Kevin & Deidre McCann Robert McDougall Ian & Pam McGaw 24 sydney symphony

23 Matthew McInnes Macquarie Group Foundation Mr Robert & Mrs Renee Markovic Alan & Joy Martin Harry M Miller, Lauren Miller Cilento & Josh Cilento Miss An Nhan Ms Jackie O Brien Mrs Rachel O Conor Drs Keith & Eileen Ong Mr R A Oppen Mr Robert Orrell Mr & Mrs Ortis Maria Page Piatti Holdings Pty Ltd Adrian & Dairneen Pilton Robin Potter Dr Raffi Qasabian Ernest & Judith Rapee Kenneth R Reed Patricia H Reid Endowment Pty Ltd Robin Rodgers John Saunders In memory of H St P Scarlett Juliana Schaeffer Mr & Mrs Jean-Marie Simart Catherine Stephen John & Alix Sullivan The Hon Brian Sully qc Mildred Teitler Alma Toohey & Edward Spicer Andrew & Isolde Tornya Gerry & Carolyn Travers John E Tuckey Mrs M Turkington In memory of Joan & Rupert Vallentine In memory of Dr Reg Walker Henry & Ruth Weinberg The Hon. Justice A G Whealy Geoff Wood & Melissa Waites Ann & Brooks Wilson am Mr R R Woodward In memory of Lorna Wright Dr John Yu Anonymous (12) Bronze Patrons $500 $999 Mr Peter J Armstrong Mr & Mrs Garry S Ash Mr & Mrs Anthony Barlow Mrs Margaret Bell Mrs Baiba B Berzins & Dr Peter Loveday Dr & Mrs Hannes Boshoff Minnie Briggs Dr Miles Burgess Pat & Jenny Burnett Ita Buttrose ao obe Stephen Bryne & Susie Gleeson The Hon. Justice J C & Mrs Campbell Mr Percy Chissick Mrs Catherine J Clark R A & M J Clarke Jen Cornish Mr David Cross Elizabeth Donati Dr Nita & Dr James Durham Greg Earl & Debbie Cameron Mr & Mrs Farrell Robert Gelling Vivienne Goldschmidt Mr Robert Green Mr Richard Griffin am Jules & Tanya Hall Mr Hugh Hallard Mr Ken Hawkings Mrs A Hayward Dr Heng & Mrs Cilla Tey Mr Roger Henning Harry & Meg Herbert Sue Hewitt Mr Joerg Hofmann Ms Dominique Hogan-Doran Mr Brian Horsfield Alex Houghton Bill & Pam Hughes Susie & Geoff Israel Mrs W G Keighley Niki Kellenberger Dr Henry Kilham Mr & Mrs Gilles T Kryger Sonia Lal Luigi Lamprati Mrs M J Lawrence Dr & Mrs Leo Leader Margaret Lederman Mrs Yolanda Lee Martine Letts Anita & Chris Levy Erna & Gerry Levy am Mrs Helen Little Sydney & Airdrie Lloyd Mrs A Lohan Mrs Panee Low Carolyn & Peter Lowry oam Dr David Luis Melvyn Madigan Dr Jean Malcolm Mrs Silvana Mantellato Mr K J Martin Geoff & Jane McClellan Philip & Catherine McClelland Mrs Flora MacDonald Mrs Helen Meddings P J Miller David & Andree Milman Kenneth N Mitchell Chris Morgan-Hunn Mrs Milja Morris Nola Nettheim Mrs Margaret Newton Mr Graham North Dr M C O Connor am A Willmers & R Pal Dr A J Palmer Mr Andrew C Patterson Dr Kevin Pedemont Dr Natalie E Pelham Mr Allan Pidgeon Robin Potter Lois & Ken Rae Mr Donald Richardson Anna Ro Pamela Rogers Agnes Ross Garry Scarf & Morgie Blaxill Dr Mark & Mrs Gillian Selikowitz Caroline Sharpen Mrs Diane Shteinman am Dr Agnes E Sinclair Doug & Judy Sotheren Mrs Judith Southam Mrs Elsie Stafford Mr Lindsay & Mrs Suzanne Stone Margaret Suthers Mr D M Swan Mr Norman Taylor Ms Wendy Thompson Kevin Troy Judge Robyn Tupman Gillian Turner & Rob Bishop Prof. Gordon E Wall Ronald Walledge Mr Robert & Mrs Rosemary Walsh Mr Palmer Wang David & Katrina Williams A Willmers & R Pal Audrey & Michael Wilson Dr Richard Wing Mr Robert Woods Mr & Mrs Glenn Wyss Mrs Robin Yabsley Anonymous (24) To find out more about becoming a Sydney Symphony Patron, please contact the Philanthropy Office on (02) or philanthropy@sydneysymphony.com sydney symphony 25

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 PREMIER PARTNER The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the NSW Government through Arts NSW COMMUNITY PARTNER PLATINUM PARTNER MAJOR PARTNERS GOLD PARTNERS SILVER PARTNERS executive search REGIONAL TOUR PARTNERS MARKETING PARTNER 2MBS Sydney s Fine Music Station

25 ORCHESTRA NEWS JUNE JULY 2012 Nick Mayo I ll be able to do normal things like a normal person! LUCKY BREAK In 2001 Principal Cello Catherine Hewgill suffered a potentially career-ending injury. She talks about what it s like to come through a period of such turmoil. Catherine Hewgill is an elegantly poised presence on stage. Whether it s the tranquil cello solo from the slow movement of Brahms s Second Piano Concerto, or fearlessly leading her troops into the fray of a mighty Bruckner symphony, she takes it all in her stride. Principal Cello with the Sydney Symphony for 22 years, Catherine even managed to overcome a potentially career-ending injury when she slipped over after a concert and crushed all the bones in her wrist. The surgeon thought I would never play again. Lying in her hospital bed, Catherine initially welcomed the thought of being able to take time off. Wow! For the next couple of months, I ll be able to do normal things like a normal person! Those feelings quickly wore off. I didn t feel at all fulfilled. I felt really strongly that I d lost my raison d être. It was a difficult, frustrating time. My husband said I was horrible to live with, that I wasn t the same. He used to say that I needed to be clapped at about four times a week! I really lost all my selfconfidence. I ll never forget, after 14 months, when I came back to work, it was like the first day back at school. I was petrified! But after about 30 minutes of rehearsal, it was like I d never left. It was really like getting straight back on the bike. Was the accident a blessing in disguise? A lot of people say this after they ve had some kind of interruption in their career it felt like a rebirth. I felt as though I played much better than before, I thought about things better, and I didn t take anything for granted any more. In a way, so long as my wrist holds out, it wasn t such a bad thing after all. So does Catherine take any extra precautions now? No! I m always shocking my husband with the way I chop onions. I love cooking. That s my favourite place to be in the kitchen. And he takes one look at me, and then has to look away. But I never really think about it. I m not precious at all. The Principal Cello Chair is supported by Fran & Tony Meagher. Through this support, the Meaghers enjoy a close relationship with Catherine and the orchestra. For more information on Directors Chai rs call

26 Dan Boud Education News Meeting Steve Reich In May four members of the Sydney Symphony s emerging artists program Freya Franzen, Liisa Pallandi (violin), Tara Houghton (viola) and Adam Szabo (cello) took part in a marathon concert celebrating the works of American minimalist composer Steve Reich. The Sydney Opera House hosted Steve s residency, which included performances of many of his seminal works. Our musicians gave the Australian premiere of Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings, alongside members of Synergy Percussion, and other young string players, conducted by Roland Peelman. Right: Violinist Freya Franzen, rehearsing Reich s Variations for Vibes, Pianos and Strings. Below: Wearing his trademark baseball cap, the composer looks on in rehearsal. Ask a Musician One concert-goer was intrigued by the ophicleide, which recently appeared in Berlioz s Harold in Italy. What are they, and why would a composer choose to include them? he asked. Our resident ophicleidian Nick Byrne was more than happy to respond. The ophicleide was invented in 1817 by Frenchman Jean Hilaire Asté. It s a lower-pitched extension of the keyed bugle family and came into being at a time when composers were searching for a lower voice to supplement the sound of the trombone. Piston Dan Boud Your Say Our post-concert surveys always bring a variety of views. The one for Tchaikovsky at the Ballet in April was no exception: We can t say that we have enjoyed the first half of the concert because of the choice of the music pieces. [Golijov s Last Round] was poorly composed and poorly rehearsed. The second piece Spanish Garden [sic] was something resembling the sound of a graveyard. However, we thoroughly enjoyed the second half of the concert! The brilliant music, the fine direction of the conductor and the passion of the orchestra were absolutely heavenly! Conductor Andrew Grams was a joy to watch he should have had a whip to conduct with, not to hit the musicians of course, but to swish it above their heads. He was on fire! The music selection was very interesting [the Golijov] valves were still in an early (some would say primitive!) stage of their development, but composers like Berlioz (Symphonie fantastique, Harold in Italy), Mendelssohn (Overture to A Midsummer Night s Dream, Elijah) and Wagner (Rienzi, The Flying Dutchman, was like watching a tennis game left right left right! A marvellous questionand-answer piece. A big thank you to all musicians of the SSO as well as to the pianist and the conductor. And from a star-struck subscriber earlier in the year: Wow! What a night it was! Quite stupendous! Anne Sophie Mutter [March] was just unbelievable and so worth waiting for all these years. The orchestra were wonderful and really shone in the Shostakovich, where Ashkenazy just came alive How privileged I felt being able to attend this wonderful concert. To many more concerts of this class, and look forward to having Evgeny Kissin and Behzod Abduraimov and Sophie Mutter here again soon!! We like to hear from you. Write to yoursay@ sydneysymphony.com or Bravo! Reply Paid 4338, Sydney NSW Lohengrin) all took advantage of the ophicleide s special sound. Sweet and versatile in the upper register, open and gruff in its lower tones, the ophicleide is wholly individual in character and temperament compared with its modern generic replacements. Tragically, by the ophicleide had been superseded by the bass tuba and euphonium. Nick Byrne, Second T rombone Have a question about the music, instruments or inner workings of the orchestra? Write to us using the Your Say addresses above. Proud sponsor of the Sydney Symphony in their 80th year of timeless entertainment

27 Wendell Teodoro Artistic Focus The wonders of technology allowed David Robertson to join us by live video feed from New York for the announcement on 15 May. From left: Peter Czornyj, Simon Crean, John Conde, Catherine Hewgill and Rory Jeffes. DAVID ROBERTSON We announce David Robertson as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director designate. The story goes that at a performance of Szymanowski s Fourth Symphony by a North American orchestra, the end of the thrilling first movement drew applause from a handful of eager audience members. It was short-lived when exuberance turned to embarrassment at clapping in the wrong place. But the conductor for that occasion quickly turned around with words of reassurance: It s okay. We re excited too! The conductor was David Robertson, the recently announced Chief Conductor designate of the Sydney Symphony. And this delightful concert vignette illustrates the importance he places on honest and open communication. He s not afraid to communicate with audiences, introduce new ideas and be a dynamic advocate for the music of our time. At the announcement of his appointment on 15 May, Principal Cello Catherine Hewgill recalled Robertson s first visit to the Sydney Symphony in 2003: I had what can only be described as an out-of-body experience during a performance of John Adams Harmonielehre. Having David direct us through this incredibly harmonically complex music just took me somewhere else completely. Current Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor Vladimir Ashkenazy will continue to return annually to the Sydney Symphony. That the orchestra is able to continue its relationship with Ashkenazy, at the same time as building a new partnership with David Robertson is testament to the mutual respect and admiration the musicians share for both men, and the conductors for each other. Critic Peter McCallum from The Sydney Morning Herald, summed up Ashkenazy s time with the orchestra beautifully: He has built supportive audiences and international networks and will depart much loved for his deep musical understanding, humility, warmth and charm, and the abiding memory of many insightful performances. For the incoming Chief Conductor, Concertmaster Dene Olding is full of praise: He is an exceptional musician highly intelligent, articulate and a wonderful communicator. His four previous appearances with the orchestra have shown the breadth of his repertoire and the sophistication of his musical interpretations. David Robertson s plans from 2014 include a series of innovative projects with the orchestra. These include an annual opera-in-concert, commissioning partnerships with other orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw, and annual international touring. There s much to look forward to. As Catherine Hewgill says, This marriage will be a good one! David Robertson s tenure as Chief Conductor will begin in 2014, with a five-year contract. The Score Crossover Classics The blurring of genres is nothing new. These days we tend to associate the term crossover with performers think Katherine Jenkins or Aled Jones but crossover might also describe composers experimentations with form and genre. Take Brahms s First Piano Concerto. This ambitious work began life as a fledgling attempt at a symphony. But the figure of Beethoven loomed large for young Brahms, who lost confidence: You ve no idea what it s like to hear the footsteps of a giant like that behind you. He re-worked the material, first into a sonata for two pianos and eventually his First Piano Concerto. Grand in scope, it s almost a symphony for piano and orchestra. Rachmaninoff s Symphonic Dances also borrows from other genres. As the title suggests, each of the three movements is based in dance. Similarly symphonic in scope, the work began life as a prospective ballet score waltzes and energetic rhythms abound, orchestral colours (including Rachmaninoff s only inclusion of the alto saxophone) surround the listener. In the majestic final movement, Rachmaninoff recycles the Dies Irae, the funereal plain chant used to such great effect in his Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Far from being dirge-like, the Dies Irae brings the music to a brilliant climax that quotes thrilling Allelujahs from Rachmaninoff s Vespers, sounding a final, powerful affirmation of faith. Symphonic Dances Brahms, Dvořák, Rachmaninoff Ausgrid Master Series Wed 1 Aug 8pm Fri 3 Aug 8pm Sat 4 Aug 8pm Tugan Sokhiev returns to Sydney to conduct Symphonic Dances. Marco Borggreve