(9, 10, 11, 13 May) PDF - Sydney Symphony Orchestra

ASHKENAZY CONDUCTS
BEETHOVEN
THURSDAY AFTERNOON SYMPHONY
Thu 9 May 1.30pm
EMIRATES METRO SERIES
Fri 10 May 8pm
GREAT CLASSICS
Sat 11 May 2pm
MONDAYS @ 7
Mon 13 May 7pm
Welco me to the
Em irates Metro Series
Emirates is proud to continue its decade-long principal partnership with the
Sydney Symphony into 2013, with each of us providing world-class music and
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The same can be said of our expanding international route network, which now boasts
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Similarly, the Sydney Symphony has grown into a truly outstanding ensemble,
performing around 200 concerts a year to a combined annual audience of more
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Our partnership with the Sydney Symphony is about connecting with you –
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Em irates’ V ice President Australasia
2013 season
thursday afternoon symphony
Thursday 9 May | 1.30pm
emirates metro series
Friday 10 May | 8pm
great classics
Saturday 11 May | 2pm
mondays @ 7
Monday 12 May | 7pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
Ashkenazy conducts Beethoven
Vladimir Ashkenazy CONDUCTOR
Kirsty Hilton VIOLIN
Catherine Hewgill CELLO
Clemens Leske PIANO
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Grosse Fuge (Great Fugue), Op.133
original finale of the String Quartet in B flat, Op.130
arranged for string orchestra by
Felix Weingartner (1863–1942)
Triple Concerto in C, Op.56
Allegro
Largo –
Rondo alla Polacca
INTERVAL
Symphony No.6 in F, Op.68, Pastoral
Awakening of joyful feelings on arrival in the country
(Allegro ma non troppo)
Scene by the brook (Andante molto moto)
Merry gathering of country folk (Allegro) –
Thunderstorm (Allegro) –
Shepherd’s Song. Happy and thankful feelings
after the storm (Allegretto)
Thursday’s performance will be
recorded by ABC Classic FM for
broadcast across Australia on
Thursday 27 June at 1.05pm.
Pre-concert talk by David Garrett
in the Northern Foyer, 45 minutes
before each performance.
Visit bit.ly/SSOspeakerbios for
speaker biographies.
Estimated durations:
16 minutes, 35 minutes,
20-minute interval, 40 minutes
The concert will conclude at
approximately 3.35pm (Thursday),
10.05pm (Friday), 4.05pm (Saturday)
and 9.05pm (Monday).
HISTORISCHES MUSEUM DER STADT WIEN / THE BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY
Portrait of Ludwig van Beethoven, painted in 1804–05 by Willibrord Joseph Mähler (1778–1860)
As the artist himself describes it: ‘Beethoven is represented, at nearly full length, sitting: the left hand
rests upon a lyre, the right is extended, as if, in a moment of musical enthusiasm, he was beating time;
in the background is a temple of Apollo.’
The Classical lyre and temple are combined with a suggestion of the new Romanticism: the mysterious
landscape with its dramatic blasted tree and the dark cloud above. Add to this the idealised likeness, and
this first mature portrait of the composer becomes, says Lewis Lockwood, ‘an exercise in myth creation’.
6 sydney symphony
INTRODUCTION
Ashkenazy conducts Beethoven
Beethoven is a big name in classical music – he occupies
a monumental place in music history, as a personality
he seems larger than life. But this all-Beethoven concert
begins small, with just 33 musicians on the stage.
The Grosse Fuge is chamber music – the discarded
finale of one of Beethoven’s late string quartets. It has since
entered the repertoire in a version for string orchestra.
As this is chamber music, says Vladimir Ashkenazy, the
intensity of each individual part is very important. And so
while there have been great conductors who’ve performed it
with the overwhelming sonority of full symphonic strings,
Ashkenazy strives for a transparent effect.
The Grosse Fuge represents a Beethoven who was always
pushing at the boundaries of what was possible – for
musicians and for listeners. By contrast, the Triple
Concerto is almost old-fashioned. It comes from the
baroque tradition of concertos for multiple instruments
and – if the story is true – was conceived by Beethoven for
a particular set of performers: a renowned cellist, a leading
violinist and a piano-playing patron of some talent.
The undisputed highlight of the program is the Pastoral
Symphony – marvellous music, says Ashkenazy, that is
‘beyond description’. Beethoven himself thought it was
beyond description, or rather, he wanted listeners to
remember that this was a symphony concerned with the
expression of feelings rather than musical picture-painting.
Beethoven had to make that point because this
symphony gives every sign of being descriptive music –
program music, if you like. Each of the five movements
has a title, the bird calls are labelled (nightingale, quail
and cuckoo), and a drama is enacted when a thunderstorm
violently interrupts the pastoral idyll.
That thunderstorm is one of Ashkenazy’s favourite
moments in the symphony. He marvels at what Beethoven
can achieve with relatively modest forces. Cellos and double
basses make distant rumbles and then the storm is upon
us. You’ll see how Beethoven has been saving the timpani,
the piccolo and the trombones for precisely this moment.
By keeping them silent for the first three movements, these
simple effects are enough to make us feel, says Ashkenazy,
as if the thunderstorm is right here over your head.
Turn to page 27 to read
Bravo! – musician profiles,
articles and news from the
orchestra. There are nine
issues through the year, also
available at sydneysymphony.
com/bravo
sydney symphony 7
ABOUT THE MUSIC
Ludwig van Beethoven
Grosse Fuge (Great Fugue) Op.133
original finale of the String Quartet in B flat, Op.130
arr. for string orchestra by Felix Weingartner (1863–1942)
At the first performance of Beethoven’s String Quartet
Op.130 on 21 March 1826, the second and fourth movements
were encored, but the finale, the Grosse Fuge, met with total
incomprehension. Beethoven’s publisher Artaria persuaded
him to write a new finale, adopting a much more accessible
style. The fugue was published separately as Op.133. For a
long time it was regarded as impossible, either to play or
to listen to. Even so sympathetic a student of Beethoven’s
string quartets as Joseph de Marliave wrote in his book of
1917: ‘This fugue is one of the two works by Beethoven – the
other being the fugue from the piano sonata, Op.106 [the
Hammerklavier] – which should be excluded from performance.
Op.133…is one of the greatest works of genius in existence
to read, but reading gives more pleasure than hearing.’
The problem was not entirely overcome when 20th-century
quartets found the courage to play the work. Deryck Cooke
summarises the problems they face: ‘…getting around the
awkwardly-placed notes themselves; hammering them out
with sufficient force; hitting out the jagged rhythms with
precision; doing all this in perfect unanimity and making
the result sound like music, not a barbaric scraping.’ Even
while string quartets were terrified of the piece, in the late
19th century, the conductor Hans von Bülow began the
Keynotes
BEETHOVEN
Born Bonn, 1770
Died Vienna, 1827
The Beethoven works in this
concert span nearly the full
range of his mature career from
1804, when he completed the
Triple Concerto, to 1826, when
the Grosse Fuge bamboozled
its first listeners.
Beethoven arrived in Vienna in
1792, intending to study with
Haydn and to make his name
as a musician (mostly the
latter!). Among the early
milestones: his first major
publication (a set of piano
trios) in 1794, and the next
year his first public
performance as a pianist,
playing a concerto of his own.
His symphonic career took off
in 1800, just two years before
he realised that his increasing
deafness was incurable. By
1824, when he completed his
Ninth Symphony, he was
profoundly deaf. His final
years were dominated by the
composition of string quartets –
some of the most intense and
challenging music he ever
wrote.
GROSSE FUGE
The Grosse Fuge was originally
written as the finale for
Beethoven’s String Quartet
Op.130 (1826). But the original
audience was so perplexed by
its intricate textures and
weaving ideas that Beethoven
was persuaded to replace it
with a more accessible
movement. The Fugue was
published separately and has
taken on a life of its own, not
only in the string quartet
repertoire but in orchestral
concerts too.
Beethoven portrait from 1823 by Ferdinand Waldmüller
8 sydney symphony
practice of playing the Grosse Fuge with full string orchestra,
adding double basses to support the cellos in the weightier
passages. The version to be heard in this concert is by the
conductor Felix Weingartner (who also arranged the
Hammerklavier sonata for full orchestra). The strain on
performers and listeners is reduced, but some consider that
along with the sense of strain something integral is taken
from the music.
The major stumbling block for listeners is the strenuous,
harsh first fugue, whose texture can be disturbingly suggestive
of barbed wire. This gives way, eventually, to music of
greater serenity. The brief introduction marked ‘Overtura’
gives a kind of preview of the mighty musical construction,
and presents the main themes. In this Overtura, the fugue
subject is stated in three different forms, each to be
developed later in its own section. The first statement is in
fierce octaves and long held notes, the second presents the
theme twice in a jig rhythm, and the third offers it evenly,
first slower and harmonised, then again with a flowing
counter-subject. Then the first violin, alone, presents a kind
of halting version of the subject, in the form in which it will
reappear immediately as accompaniment to the jagged
subject of the first fugue. In the working out, the second
and third versions of the theme appear in reverse order, so
that the slow treatment brings a contrast of blissful
relaxation. This ‘slow movement’ is followed by a kind of
scherzo, reaching a climax dominated by almost frenzied
trills. After this, the earlier material returns in different
forms, and the work concludes with a spacious coda.
Beethoven’s full title was ‘Grande Fugue, tantôt libre,
tantôt recherchée’ (Great Fugue, partly free, partly strict).
Nineteenth-century analyses set out to prove that Beethoven,
however daringly, followed the rules laid down for fugue.
More recent studies (for example that of Philip Radcliffe)
tend to understand it not as a highly eccentric fugue, but as
a kind of symphonic poem in several contrasted sections
with related themes, containing a certain amount of fugal
writing. This view of the work justifies an occasional
performance in the orchestral version, which will convey
the immense intellectual grasp and spiritual power with
Beethoven works out his grand design.
…disturbingly suggestive
of barbed wire.
DAVID GARRETT © 1999
Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge, as arranged for string orchestra by
Weingartner, was first performed by an ABC orchestra in 1964, when
the Victorian String Orchestra (as it was called) was conducted by
Maurice Clare. The first performance by the Sydney ‘Little’ Symphony of
this work was given in 1965 under Joseph Post. The Sydney Symphony’s
most recent performance was in 1999, conducted by Edo de Waart.
sydney symphony 9
Beethoven
Triple Concerto in C, Op.56
Allegro
Largo –
Rondo alla Polacca
Kirsty Hilton violin
Catherine Hewgill cello
Clemens Leske piano
In August 1804, Beethoven wrote to the Leipzig publishers
Breitkopf and Härtel offering them ‘something of a novelty’,
this concerto for piano, violin, cello and orchestra. But just
how novel would it have been in the 18th century, when unusual
combinations were often brought together in the sinfonia
concertante form? Stranger combinations were written by
musicians known to Beethoven: Leopold Kozeluch once wrote
a Sinfonia concertante for piano, mandolin, trumpet and
bass, and Beethoven’s teacher Albrechtsberger wrote two
concertos for jew’s harp and mandora! Beethoven’s concerto
was no more outrageous than a combination of orchestra
with the conventional chamber grouping of piano trio.
Concertos with multiple soloists were meant to be
melodic and virtuosic – indeed they often brought together
groups of virtuosos – with a dose of bravura, a minimum
of symphonic argument, and even less soul searching.
(Beethoven’s work lacks the symphonic argument we normally
associate with him and this may explain why he labelled the
work ‘Grand concerto concertant’, avoiding any mention
of the word ‘symphony’, with its implications of elaborate
musical argument.) But the Triple Concerto defies convention
by favouring seriousness over showiness, particularly in
its second movement, which, though arguably little more
than an intermezzo, penetrates to a touching depth.
According to Beethoven’s factotum Schindler, this
concerto was written for the Archduke Rudolph, who had in
his private orchestra an excellent violinist by the name of
Seidler, and as principal cellist Anton Kraft, who had been
Haydn’s cellist at Esterhaza. The availability of so fine a
group of players may have influenced Beethoven’s decision
to write a work incorporating a piano trio.
Although Rudolph was no mean pianist (he eventually
got the Emperor Concerto under his fingers), it is the cello
which has the lion’s share of the work in this concerto.
Kraft’s influence notwithstanding, Beethoven may have had
a natural bias towards the cello. By the time of the concerto,
he had already written two of the five very fine sonatas he
would eventually compose for the instrument, and, from a
10 sydney symphony
Keynotes
TRIPLE CONCERTO
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto
was composed in the early
years of the 19th century but
it belongs to a genre that
flourished in the 18th: the
concerto for multiple soloists.
During the baroque period
these were called concerti
grossi, later in the 18th century
the concept metamorphosed
into the ‘sinfonia concertante’
(Mozart wrote a beautiful one
for violin and viola).
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto
is unusual in that it includes
a piano. The result is a mix of
intimate chamber music – the
three soloists interacting with
each other as a piano trio – and
the extroverted virtuosity of a
concerto with orchestra.
Of the solo parts, the cello has
the lion’s share of the work,
and it’s thought that it may
have been intended for Anton
Kraft, the finest cellist of
Beethoven’s day. All through
the first movement it’s the cello
that leads off the solo sections,
holding its own against the
violin, with its higher register,
and the piano, with its
percussive power.
The slow second movement
acts as an extended
introduction to the finale.
Beethoven keeps the piano in
an accompanying role, while
the cello and violin take charge
of the noble and eloquent
melodies. This leads into a
Rondo ‘in the Polish style’, in
which Beethoven dances the
fine line between exuberance
and elegance.
20th-century vantage point, we may say that perhaps his
greatest contribution to the history of orchestration was his
liberation of the cello (and double bass) from the role of
mere support artist.
But it was really to compensate for the solo cello’s
disadvantages in being heard above the ensemble that the
cello is assigned the principal melodic role in this concerto.
It is often set in the treble register where its voice will be
most penetrating. Beethoven’s leaning towards the cello,
however, may also have guaranteed that the solo group
would be treated as a trio, not just three rival soloists.
The first movement begins softly, gradually building in
volume – a crescendo effect popular with the Mannheim
school of composers. At the end of this build-up, there is
a new, sunny, theme in the violins (above viola and cello
triplets), which derives a lilting figure from the opening
theme’s turn, and is then handed to winds.
Once the orchestra has presented the musical ideas, the
solo cello enters – first against reiterated middle Cs in the
violins and slightly discordant touches in the violas, a finely
pitched effect. The orchestra foreshadows a new impassioned
theme but the cello immediately takes it over and up into
its higher, most eloquent register. Much of the development
and the rest of the movement has a chamber music quality,
as it is the soloists who develop the material.
It has been suggested that it was the success of the concise
28-bar second movement of the newly completed Waldstein
sonata which prompted Beethoven to do something similar
in this concerto. At any rate, the five-minute Largo perfectly
balances the 18 or so minutes of the first movement.
Beethoven here introduces a wonderful, idyllic melody that
paves the way for the spirited polonaise final movement.
It’s strange that, at a time when many composers were
churning out piano trios, no one followed Beethoven’s lead
with this piece. They must have known how difficult a feat
he achieved. Certainly there was no multi-soloist concerto
to equal it until Brahms’ Double Concerto of 1887, and even
then, it was not surpassed.
ABRIDGED FROM A NOTE BY GORDON KALTON WILLIAMS
SYMPHONY AUSTRALIA © 1998
The Triple Concerto calls for an orchestra of flute and pairs of oboes,
clarinets, bassoons, horns and trumpets; timpani and strings.
The Sydney Symphony first performed the concerto in 1956 with Robert
Masters (violin), Muriel Taylor (cello) and Ronald Kinloch Anderson
(piano) conducted by Kurt Woess, and most recently in 2004 when
Gianluigi Gelmetti conducted and the soloists were Susie Park (violin),
Li-Wei Qin (cello) and Andrea Lam (piano). (These soloists also
performed the concerto in 2002, with Alexander Lazarev conducting.)
Beethoven in 1803, a portrait of
the young composer by Christian
Horneman. This is thought to be
a more accurate likeness than
the Mähler portrait on page 6.
Beethoven probably began
writing the Triple Concerto in
late 1803 and completed it in
the middle of 1804. The claim by
Schindler (plausible but lacking
in tangible evidence) that the
concerto was composed for
Seidler, Kraft and the Archduke
Rudolph suggests the Triple
Concerto may have received a
private performance as early
as 1804. The first public
performances took place in
1808 in Leipzig (April) and
Vienna (May).
sydney symphony 11
Beethoven
Symphony No.6 in F, Op.68, Pastoral
Keynotes
PASTORAL SYMPHONY
Awakening of happy feelings on arrival in the country
(Allegro ma non troppo)
Scene by the brook (Andante molto mosso)
Merry gathering of country folk (Allegro) –
Thunderstorm (Allegro) –
Shepherd’s song: Thanksgiving after the storm (Allegretto)
In the summer of 1802 Beethoven, as usual, retired to the
country for a vacation in his preferred holiday spot, the
village of Heiligenstadt just outside Vienna. But this
particular summer saw a major crisis in the composer’s
life. After his death, a document was found among his
papers: now known as the Heiligenstadt Testament, it is
a kind of will written in 1802 and addressed, but never
sent, to Beethoven’s brothers. The document describes
Beethoven’s anguish on realising that the deterioration
of his hearing was incurable. It describes his humiliation
at not hearing what others around him took for granted,
such as the distant sound of a shepherd’s flute. It describes
how he considered suicide, but only his art held him
back. As he famously expressed it in a letter to a friend,
Beethoven’s response to this crisis was a resolve to ‘take
Fate by the throat’.
In his new frame of mind Beethoven launched into the
works of what scholars call his heroic period. The first of
the ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets and the Eroica Symphony each
expanded the sheer scale of its genre beyond anything
previously imaginable, and in works like the Fifth
Symphony Beethoven dramatises a titanic struggle and
victory. The anecdote that Beethoven likened the Fifth’s
distinctive rhythm to Fate knocking on the door is almost
certainly apocryphal, but it is hard not to hear the intense
drama of these works without a sense of cosmic conflict
being overcome.
Beethoven spent subsequent summers in Heiligenstadt –
the Eroica was largely composed there in the summer of
1803 – but in the Pastoral Symphony of 1808 he returns in
his music to the scene of his existential crisis. Beethoven
once wrote in a notebook of his desire to remain in the
country. ‘My unfortunate hearing does not plague me
there. It is as if every tree spoke to me in the country:
holy! holy! Ecstasy in the woods!’ This might give the
impression of the work being a kind of Romantic or
pantheist hymn, but that is far from being the case.
Beethoven is the master of
the ‘absolute’ or abstract
symphony. Yet two of his
symphonies bear descriptive
or evocative titles, and others,
such as the heroic Fifth, have
attracted fanciful
interpretations almost from
the outset. The more reflective
Pastoral Symphony was written
concurrently with the Fifth,
but speaks to the human spirit
in a very different way.
At its first performance the
Pastoral was billed as
‘Recollections of Country Life’
and each movement is given
a descriptive heading. The
headings don’t outline a story
so much as suggest the kinds
of feelings that Beethoven
wanted the music to express –
feelings that he believed
listeners would be able to
‘discover’ for themselves.
Because of the emotional
journey that it follows, the
symphony is in five movements
rather than the traditional four,
and the third, fourth and fifth
are played without pauses:
from peasant gathering to a
sudden thunderstorm that
disrupts the festivities and on
to the gentle song of
thanksgiving that concludes
the symphony.
The symphony was premiered
on 22 December 1808 in the
famous all-Beethoven concert
that also included the Fifth
Symphony and the Fourth
Piano Concerto.
sydney symphony 13
There is no lone Caspar David
Friedrich figure dwarfed by
forbidding nature.
There is no lone Caspar David Friedrich figure dwarfed
by forbidding nature. In fact, Beethoven’s Sixth is the
fulfilment of certain baroque and classical conventions;
perhaps Haydn’s Creation and Seasons are the immediate
begetters of this work. The landscape which the symphony
celebrates is peopled and worked.
Beethoven was very precise in describing the symphony
as about feeling rather than painting. The first movement
expresses feelings of joy at arriving in the country through
its seemingly simple, diatonic melody and moments where
the harmony seems static but is enlivened by joyously
repeated motifs. We may well picture Beethoven sitting
alone by a brook in the second movement, enabled by the
miracle of art to hear the bird calls. Like Haydn, though –
who admitted that his tone-painting of frogs in The Seasons
was ‘frenchified trash’ – Beethoven was mistrustful of art
imitating nature. The bird calls were an afterthought, and
perhaps an ironic one at that.
But the third movement is social as well as pastoral. It
is collective humanity which celebrates to the strains of
the town band – and that prefigures the use of ‘pop music’
elements in the all-embracing context of the finale of
the Ninth Symphony. It is collective humanity which
experiences the storm – the last gasp of the figure of Fate
14 sydney symphony
who is wrestled to the ground in the works between 1802
and the time of the Pastoral Symphony – and it is the
universe at large which gives thanks in the finale. The
simple arpeggios of the ‘thanksgiving’ theme may well
evoke a shepherd’s artless tune – which Beethoven could no
longer hear in reality – but they also reflect, in repose, the
striving arpeggios of the Eroica’s main theme.
The Pastoral Symphony, then, lays to rest the ghosts that
besieged Beethoven in Heiligenstadt in 1802. It allows him
to ‘hear’ birds’ calls and shepherd’s flutes, and reduces the
fearsome figure of Fate to nothing scarier than a thunderstorm.
GORDON KERRY © 2008
Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony calls for piccolo and pairs of flutes, oboes,
clarinets, bassoons, horns, trumpets and trombones; timpani and strings.
The Sydney Symphony’s first performance on record of the Pastoral
Symphony was in 1938 under George Szell. The most recent performances
were in Gianluigi Gelmetti’s 2007 Beethoven festival and in 2009
conducted by Hugh Wolff.
Poet or Artist?
Beethoven often referred to himself as a Tondichter (literally
‘sound poet’) rather than a Tonkünstler (sound artist), which
was the usual word for a musician. He was a musician
of the Romantic age – a poet concerned with feelings,
expression and abstract ideals, rather than an artist given
to literal representation.
‘The whole work can be perceived
without description – it is more
an expression of feelings rather
than tone-painting.’
BEETHOVEN
In the 18th century, music such as Vivaldi’s Four Seasons
concertos famously depicted nature and life in music.
Haydn’s oratorios The Seasons and The Creation
continued the tradition. Battle symphonies had perennial
appeal. United by their attempts to imitate and portray
nature and events, these works were concerned with an
18th-century ideal: painting in tones.
The 19th century saw the rise of what’s known as program
music. It shared some of the representational goals of
earlier works, but emphasised mood and dramatic shaping
of the musical structure over attempts at literal imitation.
That Beethoven saw himself as a poet rather than a painter
in sound is confirmed by his comments about his Sixth
Symphony (his Sinfonia pastorale): ‘The whole work can be
perceived without description – it is more an expression of
feelings rather than tone-painting.’ Elsewhere he says that
‘the hearers should be able to discover the situation for
themselves’.
YVONNE FRINDLE © 2004
sydney symphony 15
MORE MUSIC
GROSSE FUGE
If this concert was your introduction to Beethoven’s
Grosse Fuge, then the next step is to experience it in
the original string quartet version. We recommend
the Goldner String Quartet (led by Sydney Symphony
concertmaster Dene Olding) and their 8-CD
recording of the complete Beethoven string quartets.
A worthwhile investment!
ABC CLASSICS 476 3541
Alternatively, for a single-disc option, the Fitzwilliam
String Quartet performs String Quartet No.13 in B flat,
Op.130 and No.15 in A minor, Op.132. The performers
make a case for performing No.13 with the Grosse
Fuge as its (original) finale.
ELOQUENCE 480 5619
An orchestral version can be found filling out a 2-CD
release of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, with Ernest
Ansermet conducting the Orchestre de la Suisse
Romande. (Joan Sutherland is the soprano soloist in
the symphony.)
The program is too long to list in full, but it includes
most of the famous piano concertos, a generous
selection of solo music from Beethoven and Chopin
to the great Russian composers, and chamber music
highlights. Ashkenazy’s work as a conductor is also
represented. In a special treat, you can hear, side-byside, his performance of Mussorgsky’s original piano
version of Pictures from an Exhibition and Ashkenazy’s
own orchestration of the same music, very different
from Ravel’s interpretation.
DECCA 478 5093
Broadcast Diary
May – June
abc.net.au/classic
Friday 17 May, 8pm
ELOQUENCE 480 0397
ashkenazy’s favourites
TRIPLE CONCERTO
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Hansjörg Schellenberger oboe
Tchaikovsky, R Strauss, Walton
It’s long been believed – and may be true – that
Beethoven had a particular cellist in mind for his
Triple Concerto: Anton Kraft, one of the great cellists
of his generation. So if you’re seeking a recording of
this music, you can’t go wrong with another great
cellist, Mstislav Rostropovich, joined by violinist
David Oistrakh and pianist Sviatoslav Richter – a
starry line-up! Herbert von Karajan conducts the
Berlin Philharmonic. The companion works in the
2-CD set are by Brahms: the Double Concerto and the
Violin Concerto, both with the Cleveland Orchestra
and George Szell.
Saturday 8 June, 8pm
organ symphony
Charles Dutoit conductor
Musicians of the Sydney Symphony
and guest organist David Drury
Mozart, Martin, Saint-Saëns
Tuesday 11 June, 1.05pm
handel’s water music
EMI CLASSICS 55978
Reinhard Goebel conductor
Mirijam Contzen violin
Bach, Telemann, Handel, Berton
PASTORAL SYMPHONY
Fine Music 102.5
If you’ve enjoyed the interpretations in this concert,
look for Vladimir Ashkenazy’s recording of the Pastoral
Symphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra, newly
released on the Eloquence label with two Beethoven
overtures: Egmont and Leonore No.3. The performance
has been praised as warm and beguiling, with a
captivating feeling of ‘lyrical ease and repose’.
sydney symphony 2013
Tuesday 14 May, 6pm
Musicians, staff and guest artists discuss what’s in
store in our forthcoming concerts.
Webcasts
DECCA 480 7722
VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY
Also recently released is a limited edition 50-CD
boxed set celebrating Ashkenazy’s recorded legacy in
his ‘50 Years on Decca’ since 1963. It’s an ‘original jacket
collection’, with LP artwork, booklet notes, a complete
discography of Ashkenazy’s recordings on Decca, a
composer index and a specially commissioned article
by his long-time producer Andrew Cornall.
16 sydney symphony
Selected Sydney Symphony concerts are webcast live
on BigPond and Telstra T-box and made available
for later viewing On Demand. Our most recent
webcast:
cirque de la symphonie
Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony
Live webcasts can also be viewed on our free mobile
app, now optimised for the iPad.
© KEITH SAUNDERS
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Vladimir Ashkenazy
PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC ADVISOR
Vladimir Ashkenazy first came to prominence on the
world stage in the 1955 Chopin Competition in Warsaw
and as winner of the 1956 Queen Elisabeth Competition in
Brussels. Since then he has built an extraordinary career,
not only as one of the most outstanding pianists of the
20th century, but as a revered and inspiring artist whose
creative life encompasses a vast range of activities.
Conducting has formed the largest part of his musicmaking for the past 20 years, and this is his fifth season as
Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the Sydney
Symphony. He has also been Chief Conductor of the
Czech Philharmonic (1998–2003) and Music Director of the
NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo (2004–2007), and he is
Conductor Laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra, with
whom he has developed landmark projects such as
Prokofiev and Shostakovich Under Stalin and Rachmaninoff
Revisited.
He also holds the positions of Music Director of the
European Union Youth Orchestra and Conductor Laureate
of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He maintains strong
links with a number of other major orchestras, including
the Cleveland Orchestra (where he was formerly Principal
Guest Conductor) and Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester
Berlin (Chief Conductor and Music Director, 1988–96), as
well as making guest appearances with major orchestras
around the world.
Vladimir Ashkenazy continues to devote himself to the
piano, building his comprehensive recording catalogue
with releases such as the 1999 Grammy award-winning
Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues, Rautavaara’s Piano
Concerto No.3 (which he commissioned), Rachmaninoff
transcriptions, Bach’s Wohltemperierte Klavier and
Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations. His most recent solo
releases feature the music of Rachmaninoff.
A regular visitor to Sydney since his Australian debut in
1969, he has conducted subscription concerts and
composer festivals for the Sydney Symphony, with
highlights including the acclaimed Sibelius festival of
2004 and his Rachmaninoff festival of 2007. In 2010–11 he
conducted the Mahler Odyssey concerts and live
recordings, and his artistic role with the orchestra
includes annual international touring.
Russian-born Vladimir Ashkenazy
inherited his musical gift from both
sides of his family: his father David
Ashkenazy was a professional light
music pianist and his mother
Evstolia (née Plotnova) was
daughter of a chorusmaster in the
Russian Orthodox church.
sydney symphony 17
VIOLIN
Kirsty Hilton was born in Sydney in 1976. She began studying
violin by the Suzuki method before beginning lessons with
Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music at age
seven. She attended the Sydney Conservatorium of Music High
School and then completed her undergraduate studies with
Alice Waten at the Australian Institute of Music. During this
time she worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and
was concertmaster of the Australian Youth Orchestra. In 1998
she was a postgraduate student of David Takeno at the Guildhall
School of Music and Drama in London.
From 1999 to 2001 she was a member of the Karajan Academy
of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, where she performed
under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Simon Rattle, Mariss
Jansons, Seiji Ozawa, Bernard Haitink and Lorin Maazel. She
then had a contract with the Berlin Philharmonic for a year
before taking up the position of Assistant Principal Second
Violin in the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in Munich,
conducted by Mariss Jansons. She still performs regularly with
these orchestras and in 2011 became a member of the Mahler
Chamber Orchestra.
Kirsty Hilton took up the position of Assistant Concertmaster
with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2007 and was appointed
Principal Second Violin in 2009.
BEN SYMONS
Kirsty Hilton
PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN
Read more in Bravo:
bit.ly/Bravo2013-2
Catherine Hewgill studied cello in Perth before international
studies took her to the Royal College of Music, University of
Southern Calfornia, Santa Barbara Music Academy and the
Aspen Summer Music Festival. In 1984 she won the HammerRostropovich Scholarship and was invited by Rostropovich to
perform in a recital at the Second American Cello Congress.
A period of private study with Rostropovich followed. She then
toured Europe with I Solisti Veneti, and studied with William
Pleeth in London. Returning to Australia, she joined the
Australian Chamber Orchestra.
In 1989 she joined the Sydney Symphony, and was appointed
Principal Cello the following year. She has performed as a soloist
with most of the Australian symphony orchestras and her concerto
appearances with the Sydney Symphony have included: Haydn’s
D major concerto conducted by Charles Dutoit, Elgar’s Cello
Concerto, Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, the Boccherini/
Grützmacher Concerto in B flat, Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain,
the Brahms Double Concerto with Michael Dauth, and as a soloist
in concerts with Nigel Kennedy. Chamber music highlights include
Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with Reinbert de Leeuw.
In 2003 she toured Japan with the Orchestra Ensemble
Kanazawa and Michael Dauth (Brahms Double), and in 2011
she played principal cello in the inaugural concerts of the
Australian World Orchestra.
18 sydney symphony
KEITH SAUNDERS
Catherine Hewgill CELLO
PRINCIPAL CELLO, THE HON.
JUSTICE AJ & MRS FRANCES
MEAGHER CHAIR
Catherine Hewgill plays a
1729 Carlo Tononi cello.
Read more in Bravo:
bit.ly/Bravo2012-5
PIANO
Clemens Leske has performed with all the major Australian
symphony orchestras, working with such conductors as Muhai
Tang, Rumon Gamba, Vernon Handley, Nicholas Braithwaite,
Vladimir Spivakov and the late Tommy Tycho. He has appeared
in Spain, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Thailand, New
Zealand and China, as well as performing regularly with the
Australian String Quartet, Australian Chamber Orchestra
and Moscow Virtuosi and at festivals such as the Barossa
International, Huntington, Musica Viva, Spring and Adelaide.
In 2005 he gave his London debut in the Royal Festival Hall,
performing Rachmaninoff’s First Piano Concerto with the
London Philharmonic Orchestra and was subsequently invited
to perform Tchaikovsky’s First Concerto with the LPO at the
Eastbourne Festival.
Recent appearances have included Mozart’s Concerto in C,
K467 at the Sydney Myer Music Bowl with the Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra, the Steinway Spectacular tour and a
national tour in partnership with flautist Sir James Galway.
In June he will perform Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto
with the MSO. Other future engagements include concerto
appearances in Beijing and Guangzhou, China.
He has released six recordings of solo piano and chamber
music and has recorded for ABC Classic FM, Fine Music 102.5 and
5UV. Clemens Leske’s most recent appearance with the Sydney
Symphony was in 2010, when he performed Strauss’s Burleske.
YOU CAN MAKE
A BIG DIFFERENCE
Help us bring world-class artists to Sydney
and the joy of music to thousands of kids.
Consider a gift to the Sydney Symphony’s Orchestra
Fund or Allegro Education Fund before 30 June 2013.
Your precious and invaluable support
makes it happen. Thank you!
FIONA ZIEGLER,
ASSISTANT CONCERTMASTER & PATRON AMBASSADOR
Any amount over $2 is tax deductible.
Gifts over $500 are acknowledged in programs.
www.sydneysymphony.com/appeal
Call (02) 8215 4600 – Select Option 2
GREG BARRETT
Clemens Leske
MUSICIANS
Vladimir Ashkenazy
Principal Conductor
and Artistic Advisor
supported by Emirates
Dene Olding
Concertmaster
Jessica Cottis
Assistant Conductor
supported by Premier
Partner Credit Suisse
Andrew Haveron
Concertmaster
FIRST VIOLINS
VIOLAS
FLUTES
TRUMPETS
Andrew Haveron
Tobias Breider
Roger Benedict
Justin Williams
Janet Webb
Carolyn Harris
Rosamund Plummer
David Elton
Anthony Heinrichs
Paul Goodchild
Assistant Principal
Principal Piccolo
Robyn Brookfield
Sandro Costantino
Jane Hazelwood
Graham Hennings
Stuart Johnson
Amanda Verner
Leonid Volovelsky
Anne-Louise Comerford
Justine Marsden
Felicity Tsai
Emma Sholl
Concertmaster
Sun Yi
Associate Concertmaster
Shaun Lee-Chen*
Assistant Concertmaster
Julie Batty
Jennifer Booth
Marianne Broadfoot
Brielle Clapson
Sophie Cole
Amber Davis
Georges Lentz
Nicola Lewis
Alexandra Mitchell
Alexander Norton
Léone Ziegler
Claire Herrick°
Dene Olding
Concertmaster
Kirsten Williams
Associate Concertmaster
Fiona Ziegler
Assistant Concertmaster
Jennifer Hoy
CELLOS
Leah Lynn
Assistant Principal
Kristy Conrau
Fenella Gill
Timothy Nankervis
Elizabeth Neville
Christopher Pidcock
Adrian Wallis
David Wickham
SECOND VIOLINS
Marina Marsden
Emma Jezek
Assistant Principal
Emily Long
Maja Verunica
Philippa Paige
Stan W Kornel
Benjamin Li
Maria Durek
Shuti Huang
Nicole Masters
Belinda Jezek*
Emily Qin°
Kirsty Hilton
Alexander Read
Susan Dobbie
OBOES
Diana Doherty
David Papp
Shefali Pryor
Alexandre Oguey
Principal Cor Anglais
TROMBONES
Scott Kinmont
Nick Byrne
Ronald Prussing
Christopher Harris
Principal Bass Trombone
TUBA
Steve Rossé
CLARINETS
Lawrence Dobell
Christopher Tingay
Francesco Celata
Craig Wernicke
TIMPANI
Richard Miller
Principal Bass Clarinet
PERCUSSION
BASSOONS
Rebecca Lagos
Colin Piper
Matthew Wilkie
Fiona McNamara
Roger Brooke
Noriko Shimada
HARP
Louise Johnson
Principal Contrabassoon
DOUBLE BASSES
Kees Boersma
Alex Henery
Neil Brawley
Principal Emeritus
David Campbell
Steven Larson
David Murray
Richard Lynn
Benjamin Ward
HORNS
Ben Jacks
Marnie Sebire
Robert Johnson
Geoffrey O’Reilly
Principal 3rd
Bold = Principal
Italics = Associate Principal
° = Contract Musician
* = Guest Musician
† = Sydney Symphony Fellow
Grey = Permanent member of the
Sydney Symphony not appearing
in this concert
Euan Harvey
Principal Emeritus
Emma Hayes
Biyana Rozenblit
To see photographs of the full roster of permanent musicians
and find out more about the orchestra, visit our website:
www.sydneysymphony.com/SSO_musicians
If you don’t have access to the internet, ask one of our
customer service representatives for a copy of our Musicians flyer.
20 sydney symphony
The men of the Sydney
Symphony are proudly
outfitted by Van Heusen.
SYDNEY SYMPHONY
JOHN MARMARAS
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor
PATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO
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 2012 tour to China.
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 2014. 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. In
2010–11 the orchestra made concert recordings
of the complete Mahler symphonies with
Ashkenazy, and has also released recordings of
Rachmaninoff and Elgar orchestral works on
the Exton/Triton labels, as well as numerous
recordings on the ABC Classics label.
This is the fifth year of Ashkenazy’s tenure as
Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor.
sydney symphony 21
BEHIND THE SCENES
Sydney
Symphony
Board
Sydney Symphony Staff
S
EXECUTIVE TEAM ASSISTANT
EX
CREATIVE ARTWORKER
John C Conde ao Chairman
Terrey Arcus am
Ewen Crouch am
Ross Grant
Jennifer Hoy
Rory Jeffes
Andrew Kaldor am
Irene Lee
David Livingstone
Goetz Richter
Lisa Davies-Galli
Li
Nathanael van der Reyden
ARTISTIC OPERATIONS
A
Jonathon Symonds
MANAGING DIRECTOR
M
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Rory Jeffes
R
Lucy McCullough
MARKETING COORDINATOR
DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PLANNING
D
Jenny Sargant
Artistic Administration
Ar
Box Office
ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGER
AR
Eleasha Mah
El
MANAGER OF BOX OFFICE SALES &
OPERATIONS
ARTIST LIAISON MANAGER
AR
Lynn McLaughlin
Ilmar Leetberg
Il
BOX OFFICE SYSTEMS SUPERVISOR
RECORDING ENTERPRISE MANAGER
RE
Jacqueline Tooley
Philip Powers
Ph
Education Programs
Ed
E
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
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 ao HonDLitt
Mary Whelan
Rosemary White
22 sydney symphony
ONLINE MARKETING COORDINATOR
Peter Czornyj
Pe
BOX OFFICE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR
John Robertson
HEAD OF EDUCATION
H
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES
Kim Waldock
K
Steve Clarke – Senior CSR
Michael Dowling
Sarah Morrisby
Amy Walsh
EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM MANAGER
EM
Mark Lawrenson
M
EDUCATION COORDINATOR
ED
Rachel McLarin
R
COMMUNICATIONS
CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER
C
Derek Reed
D
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS &
SPONSOR RELATIONS
Library
Li
Yvonne Zammit
Anna Cernik
An
Vi
Victoria
Grant
M
Mary-Ann
Mead
Katherine Stevenson
PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Janine Harris
ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT
O
DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER
DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT
D
Kai Raisbeck
Aernout Kerbert
Ae
FELLOWSHIP SOCIAL MEDIA OFFICER
ORCHESTRA MANAGER
O
Caitlin Benetatos
Chris Lewis
C
ORCHESTRA COORDINATOR
O
Publications
Georgia Stamatopoulos
G
PUBLICATIONS EDITOR & MUSIC
PRESENTATION MANAGER
OPERATIONS MANAGER
O
Yvonne Frindle
Kerry-Anne Cook
K
PRODUCTION MANAGER
PR
DEVELOPMENT
Laura Daniel
La
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
PR
Caroline Sharpen
Tim Dayman
T
EXTERNAL RELATIONS MANAGER
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
PR
Stephen Attfield
Ian Spence
Ia
PHILANTHROPY, PATRONS PROGRAM
STAGE MANAGER
ST
Ivana Jirasek
Elise Beggs
El
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Amelia Morgan-Hunn
SALES AND MARKETING
S
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING
D
BUSINESS SERVICES
Mark J Elliott
M
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
SENIOR SALES & MARKETING MANAGER
SE
John Horn
Penny Evans
Pe
FINANCE MANAGER
MARKETING MANAGER, SUBSCRIPTION SALES
M
Ruth Tolentino
Simon Crossley-Meates
Si
ACCOUNTANT
MARKETING MANAGER, CLASSICAL SALES
M
Minerva Prescott
Matthew Rive
M
ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT
MARKETING MANAGER, WEB & DIGITAL MEDIA
M
Emma Ferrer
Eve Le Gall
Ev
PAYROLL OFFICER
MARKETING MANAGER, DATABASE & CRM
M
Laura Soutter
Matthew Hodge
M
DATA ANALYST
DA
Varsha Karnik
Va
HUMAN RESOURCES
HEAD OF HUMAN RESOURCES
Michel Maree Hryce
SYDNEY SYMPHONY PATRONS
Maestro’s Circle
Peter William Weiss ao – 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 am & 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 Corporate Alliance
Tony Grierson, Braithwaite Steiner Pretty
Insurance Australia Group
John Morschel, Chairman, ANZ
Directors’ Chairs
01
02
03
04
06
07
08
09
01 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 am &
Renata Kaldor ao Chair
05
04 Richard Gill oam
Artistic Director Education
Sandra & Paul Salteri Chair
07 Elizabeth Neville
Cello
Ruth & Bob Magid Chair
05 Catherine Hewgill
Principal Cello
The Hon. Justice AJ &
Mrs Fran Meagher Chair
08 Colin Piper
Percussion
Justice Jane Mathews ao Chair
06 Robert Johnson
Principal Horn
James & Leonie Furber Chair
09 Emma Sholl
Associate Principal Flute
Robert & Janet Constable Chair
For information about the Directors’ Chairs program, please call (02) 8215 4619.
Sydney Symphony Vanguard
Vanguard Collective
Members
Justin Di Lollo – Chair
Kees Boersma
Marina Go
David McKean
Amelia Morgan-Hunn
Jonathan Pease
Seamus R Quick
Centric Wealth
Matti Alakargas
James Armstrong
Stephen Attfield
Damien Bailey
Andrew Baxter
Mar Beltran
Kees Boersma
Andrew Bragg
Peter Braithwaite
Andrea Brown
Ian Burton
Jennifer Burton
Hahn Chau
Alistair Clark
Matthew Clark
Benoît Cocheteux
George Condous
Michael Cook
Paul Cousins
Justin Di Lollo
Rose Gallo
Alistair Gibson
Sam Giddings
Marina Go
Sebastian Goldspink
Rose Herceg
Paolo Hooke
Peter Howard
Jennifer Hoy
Scott Jackson
Damian Kassagbi
Aernout Kerbert
Antony Lighten
Gary Linnane
Paul Macdonald
David McKean
Hayden McLean
Amelia Morgan-Hunn
Phoebe Morgan-Hunn
Tom O’Donnell
Taine Moufarrige
Hugh Munro
Fiona Osler
Julia Owens
Archie Paffas
Jonathan Pease
Jingmin Qian
Seamus R Quick
Leah Ranie
Michael Reede
Chris Robertson
Emma Rodigari
Jacqueline Rowlands
Bernard Ryan
Katherine Shaw
Randal Tame
Adam Wand
Jon Wilkie
Jonathan Watkinson
Darren Woolley
Misha Zelinsky
sydney symphony 23
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 www.sydneysymphony.com/patrons
Platinum Patrons
$20,000+
Silver Patrons
$5000–$9,999
Bronze Patrons
$1,000–$2,499
Brian Abel
Robert Albert ao & Elizabeth Albert
Geoff Ainsworth
Terrey Arcus am & Anne Arcus
Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn
Sandra & Neil Burns
Mr John C Conde ao
Robert & Janet Constable
Michael Crouch ao & Shanny Crouch
James & Leonie Furber
Dr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda Giuffre
In memory of Hetty & Egon Gordon
Mr Andrew Kaldor am & Mrs Renata
Kaldor ao
D & I Kallinikos
James N Kirby Foundation
The late Joan MacKenzie
Vicki Olsson
Mrs Roslyn Packer ao
Paul & Sandra Salteri
Mrs Penelope Seidler am
G & C Solomon in memory of
Joan MacKenzie
Mrs W Stening
Mr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy Street
Peter William Weiss ao & Doris Weiss
Westfield Group
Mr Brian & Mrs Rosemary White
Kim Williams am & Catherine Dovey
Ray Wilson oam in memory of
James Agapitos oam
Doug & Alison Battersby
Mr Robert Brakspear
Mr David & Mrs Halina Brett
Mr Robert & Mrs L Alison Carr
Bob & Julie Clampett
Ian Dickson & Reg Holloway
Dr C Goldschmidt
The Greatorex Foundation
Mr Rory Jeffes
Judges of the Supreme Court of NSW
Mr Ervin Katz
The Estate of the late Patricia Lance
Timothy & Eva Pascoe
William McIlrath Charitable
Foundation
Rodney Rosenblum am & Sylvia
Rosenblum
Manfred & Linda Salamon
Mrs Joyce Sproat & Mrs Anna Cooke
Michael & Mary Whelan Trust
Anonymous (1)
Mrs Antoinette Albert
Andrew Andersons ao
Mr Henri W Aram oam
Dr Francis J Augustus
Richard and Christine Banks
David Barnes
Nicole Berger
Allan & Julie Bligh
Dr & Mrs Hannes Boshoff
Jan Bowen
Lenore P Buckle
M Bulmer
In memory of RW Burley
Ita Buttrose ao obe
Joan Connery oam & Maxwell
Connery oam
Constable Estate Vineyards
Debby Cramer & Bill Caukill
Mr John Cunningham SCM &
Mrs Margaret Cunningham
Greta Davis
Lisa & Miro Davis
Matthew Delasey
Mr & Mrs Grant Dixon
Colin Draper & Mary Jane Brodribb
Mrs Margaret Epps
Mr Ian Fenwicke & Prof. Neville Wills
Mr James Graham am & Mrs Helen
Graham
Warren Green
Anthony Gregg & Deanne
Whittleston
Akiko Gregory
Tony Grierson
Edward & Deborah Griffin
Richard Griffin am
In memory of Dora & Oscar Grynberg
Janette Hamilton
Michelle Hilton
The Hon. David Hunt ao qc &
Mrs Margaret Hunt
Dr & Mrs Michael Hunter
In memory of Bernard M H Khaw
Mr Justin Lam
Mr Peter Lazar am
Irene Lee
Associate Professor Winston Liauw
Dr David Luis
Carolyn & Peter Lowry oam
Deirdre & Kevin McCann
Ian & Pam McGaw
Macquarie Group Foundation
Gold Patrons
$10,000–$19,999
Stephen J Bell
Alan & Christine Bishop
Ian & Jennifer Burton
Howard Connors
Copyright Agency Cutlural Fund
Edward Federman
Nora Goodridge
Mr Ross Grant
The Estate of the late Ida Gugger
Helen Lynch am & Helen Bauer
Ruth & Bob Magid
Justice Jane Mathews ao
The Hon. Justice AJ Meagher &
Mrs Fran Meagher
Mrs T Merewether oam
Mr B G O’Conor
Henry & Ruth Weinberg
Caroline Wilkinson
June & Alan Woods Family Bequest
24 sydney symphony
Bronze Patrons
$2,500–$4,999
Ewen Crouch am & Catherine Crouch
The Hon. Ashley Dawson-Damer
Firehold Pty Ltd
Stephen Freiberg & Donald Campbell
Vic & Katie French
Mrs Jennifer Hershon
Michael & Anna Joel
Gary Linnane
Matthew McInnes
J A McKernan
R & S Maple-Brown
Renee Markovic
Mora Maxwell
James & Elsie Moore
Drs Keith & Eileen Ong
In memory of Sandra Paul
Pottinger
Dr John Roarty oam in memory of
Mrs June Roarty
In memory of H St P Scarlett
Julianna Schaeffer
David & Isabel Smithers
Marliese & Georges Teitler
Mr & Mrs T & D Yim
Anonymous (2)
Ms Jackie O’Brien
JF & A van Ogtrop
Mr & Mrs Ortis
sMr Andrew C Patterson
Piatti Holdings Pty Ltd
Andy & Deirdre Plummer
Robin Potter
Ernest & Judith Rapee
Kenneth R Reed
Patricia H Reid Endowment Pty Ltd
Caroline Sharpen
Dr Agnes E Sinclair
Catherine Stephen
John & Alix Sullivan
The Hon. Brian Sully qc
Mildred Teitler
John E Tuckey
Mrs M Turkington
In memory of Joan & Rupert Vallentine
Dr Alla Waldman
Mr Robert & Mrs Rosemary Walsh
Ann & Brooks Wilson am
Dr Richard Wing
Mr R R Woodward
In memory of Lorna Wright
Dr John Yu
Anonymous (9)
Bronze Patrons
$500–$999
Mrs Lenore Adamson
Mr & Mrs Garry S Ash
Barlow Cleaning Pty Ltd
Beauty Point Retirement Resort
Mrs Margaret Bell
Minnie Biggs
Mrs Jan Biber
Dr Anthony Bookallil
R D & L M Broadfoot
Arnaldo Buch
Ann & Miles Burgess
Pat & Jenny Burnett
The Hon. Justice JC & Mrs Campbell
Dr Rebecca Chin
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Photo: Paul Muir
ORCHESTRA NEWS | MAY 2013
`
…taking
responsibility,
passing around
the inspiration.
a
INTRODUCING ANDREW
This month we welcome co-concertmaster
Andrew Haveron to the Sydney Symphony.
Here’s your chance to get to know the guy sitting
at the pointy end.
‘I really didn’t see that one
coming.’ Andrew Haveron, our
newly appointed co-concertmaster, is talking about the phone
call some 14 years ago inviting
him to join the Brodsky Quartet.
‘They were an established quartet
of 25 years, who suddenly rang
up out of the blue.’ There followed eight fabulous years. ‘I
would have played 250 to 300
different quartets. I could bore
the back legs off a donkey talking
about rare and obscure quartets!’
But when he made the switch to
the world of orchestral music,
Andrew recognised there was
a huge gap in his knowledge. ‘I
hadn’t even played Beethoven 5!’
Living in London, Andrew
found those gaps were filled
pretty quickly. ‘Given the speed
with which that city operates,
I’ve got several Beethoven cycles
under my belt now. His music
is always rewarding to play.
Brahms too, though he didn’t
bend to string players’ techniques
much.’
Andrew sees little difference
between making music on an
intimate chamber scale and that
of larger orchestral playing. On a
recent tour with the Academy of
St Martin in the Fields, performing Haydn symphonies without
conductor, he enjoyed observing
the responsibility taken by each
of the musicians. ‘In a symphonic
situation, we all too easily give
up responsibility and hand it all
over to the conductor. I find that
a little frustrating at times. If
everyone takes responsibility,
the results can be electrifying.’ When accompanying an
orchestral oboe solo, for example,
Andrew will try to have direct
contact with the oboist, keeping
the conductor only in his peripheral view. ‘That’s where the truth
of the music is coming from. I
think conductors enjoy seeing
people take that responsibility for
themselves, passing around the
inspiration.’
Having made the transition
from pure chamber music to
leading orchestras, Andrew says
it took a little while to appreciate the role of a concertmaster.
‘I know that different orchestras
require different things. One
thing I’m not is a dictator. I just
don’t see the point. My leadership style is to spread confidence
and freedom for people to enjoy
playing to their best. An enthusiastic orchestra always sounds
better than an uninspired one.’
Education Highlight
Photo: Ken Butti
Philanthropy Highlight
Inspiring Teachers
Trombonist Nick Byrne and actress Lia Reutens doing it Vanguard
style
Sydney Symphony Vanguard celebrated its first
birthday in style, transporting members back to
1920s New Orleans with smoky jazz, foot-stomping
brass, and even a New Orleans funeral processional!
The event, held in The Tea Room at the QVB, was
the first member event for 2013 and there are three
more to follow. Vanguard – a membership program
for Gen X and Y movers and shakers – takes our
music out of the concert hall and into different
spaces around the city. No two events are the same
and there’s always an element of surprise. Vanguard
members enjoy a close relationship with the
orchestra and our musicians, while helping support
the activity of the SSO through membership fees.
For more information contact Amelia MorganHunn on (02) 8215 4663 or amelia.morgan-hunn@
sydneysymphony.com
‘If you could describe music in words, you wouldn’t
need music.’ So says conductor Benjamin Northey,
who will conduct our Stage 3 Schools Concerts
in August. ‘Nevertheless, as a teacher, that’s your
challenge. You need to find a way to engage young
people’s minds so that they can find their own way
to the music.’
Enter the Sydney Symphony’s accredited
professional learning workshops for teachers. ‘We
help them become familiar with the music their
children will hear when they come to the schools
concerts later in the year,’ says Kim Waldock,
our Head of Education. ‘We do a number of crazy
activities and frolicking around, and learning ways
of introducing children to orchestral music.’
‘The most daunting thing for non-music
specialists is reading music. It can be like reading
another language,’ says workshop presenter Vanessa
South. ‘We’re giving them strategies: learning the
rhythms, learning the rhymes.’ Harriet Muston
of Neutral Bay Public School offers the teacher’s
perspective: ‘It’s nice to be able to be a student for a
change and participate in the activities.’
Interested in finding out more about schools
concerts and teacher training? Call Kim Waldock
on (02) 8215 4684 or watch the video:
bit.ly/SSOSchoolsConcerts
CONDUCT A SYMPHONY
AT YOUR PLACE
You can enjoy six selected live performances of the Sydney
Symphony during its 2013 season in the comfort of your
own home, only at BigPond® Music online or on T-Box®.
Visit bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony
The spectrum device is a trade mark of Telstra Corporation Limited.
® Registered trade marks of Telstra Corporation Limited ABN 33 051 775 556
Photo: Brendan Read
Artistic Focus
The Score
STUDY BREAKS
Playing Favourites
Most enlightened workplaces offer opportunities
for professional development, right? So too the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Photo: Keith Saunders
Recently, two SSO musicians –
Marina Marsden (Principal
Second Violin) and Marnie
Sebire (Horn) – packed their
bags and headed off overseas for a
study break.
In crafting her schedule,
Marina Marsden reflected on
the needs of her section and
identified some areas where she
could benefit from mentoring.
‘There’s a certain amount of
training we receive, but besides
mentoring young people in our
Sinfonia [the Sydney Symphony’s
training orchestra], as leaders we
also need to motivate and support
the people in our own section.’
Marina’s jam-packed
international trip included
everything from instrumental
lessons with violin guru David
Takeno in London to study
with ‘flow’ technique specialist
Andreas Burzik in Bremen.
‘“Flow” is a way of playing
where you become totally inside
the music. I’ll use the method
to improve my performing,
mentoring and teaching skills.’
Marina also met with several
mediation and orchestral
leadership experts.
Marnie Sebire’s trip was
about refocusing and regaining
her inspiration for the French
horn, and included lessons with
Marina Marsden
Marnie Sebire
living legend Hector McDonald
in Vienna and Sarah Willis in
Berlin. ‘Sarah was the first female
brass musician accepted into the
Berlin Phil,’ says Marnie. ‘We
were fortunate to have her join
the SSO horn section last year
for performances of Bruckner
8 and she blew me away!’ Also
on her schedule were lessons on
Wagner tuba. Describing it as an
‘unwieldy instrument’, Marnie
explains that Wagner designed
it with the sound of a horn
crossed with trombone in mind.
‘Unfortunately it’s a bit of a devil
to play. I’m hoping to gain some
insights from those musicians
in Berlin who play the thing
relatively regularly.’
Both Marina and Marnie were
supported in their study travel
by the Symphony Friends and
Michael & Mary Whelan Trust
scholarships. Any musician
who has been a member of the
Sydney Symphony for more
than two years is eligible to
apply for assistance with airfares,
tuition fees and living expenses
for a period of study, usually
overseas. ‘It’s so great to know
that the opportunity exists in
the orchestra…to be supported
and encouraged to go and gain
inspiration,’ says Marina.
Ask Vladimir Ashkenazy outright
about his favourite composers or
musical works and the response is
usually tactfully non-committal:
‘How could I possibly name
one? – they are all so great!’
Genuinely awed by the wonder
of musical creation, he comes
across like an unswervingly fair
parent – refusing to play favourites.
But, of course, there are composers and pieces that are close
to his heart, that make his eyes
light up, that prompt him to
enthusiastic discussion and
wonderful anecdotes. And he has
chosen three such works for the
second of his programs in May.
There’s Russian romanticism
in Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and
Juliet – the heartfelt storytelling
that Ashkenazy does so well. And
there’s elegant neoclassicism in
the form of Richard Strauss’s
late oboe concerto, with soloist
Hansjörg Schellenberger. But the
real highlight is Walton’s First
Symphony.
The choice of an English symphony might seem unexpected,
until you remember Ashkenazy’s
Elgar festival in 2008, when
Russian and English sensibilities
met to powerful effect. ‘I love
Walton’s First,’ says Ashkenazy,
‘it’s an absolute favourite.’ The
appeal is in its ‘tremendous
energy’ and Walton’s distinctive
style – nostalgic sometimes, but
spirited and colourful. And the
anecdote? Stay tuned for the
story of the trumpet solo…
Ashkenazy’s Favourites
Master Series
15, 17, 18 May | 8pm
CODA
Available from iTunes or GooglePlay.
VALE LINDA VOGT EVANS
We’re sad to report that Linda Vogt
Evans, a former member of the
Sydney Symphony, passed away in
April, aged 90. Linda played in the
flute section from 1942 to 1952. She
was the second female wind player
to be appointed to any ABC orchestra
and was made a Member of the Order
of Australia in 1989 for her services to
music. She attended our performance
of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony
last year just before we toured to
China and was thoroughly excited by
the music as always and extremely
complimentary about the orchestra.
She will be sadly missed.
And, of course, program books
continue to be available from our
website: sydneysymphony.com/
program_library
the 2013 competition (31 May–8 June)
will be streamed and you can follow
along by visiting the competition
website: www.violincompetition.co.nz
FOR YOUNG MUSICIANS
THAT’S PINTERESTING
Did you know the Sydney Symphony
is on Pinterest? We set up Pinterest
boards for selected concerts –
assembling pictures, video, and weird
and wonderful information relating
to the music. Some of our fans are
finding it an interesting and fun way
to get to know the music we perform
– what do you think?
pinterest.com/sydneysymphony/
PROGRAM IN YOUR POCKET
WATCH THE MICHAEL HILL
INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN
COMPETITION
Want to do some last-minute cramming
before the concert? Download the
Sydney Symphony’s free mobile app
to get quick access to the program
book, available in the week of the
performance. You can also browse
events, music, news and blog posts,
and watch our live webcasts.
Co-concertmaster Dene Olding wears
several musical hats – many Sydneysiders will know his work with the
Goldner Quartet and the Australia
Ensemble. Less well-known is his role
as artistic advisor of the Michael Hill
International Violin Competition in
New Zealand. All the public events of
Sydney Sinfonia and Fellowship
applications will open on Monday
20 May. More information, including
online applications, will be available
through our website from this date.
Any questions? Call Mark Lawrenson
on (02) 8215 4652.
300,000 HITS AND COUNTING
In the model of Carlton’s Big Beer
Ad, we invited our Facebook fans to
devise their own lyrics for the iconic
opening chorus of Carmina Burana,
‘O Fortuna!’. The prize: the fabulous
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs would
sing the winning entry. We received
a huge number of entries about a
diverse range of topics, and Matthew
Hodge’s entry, ‘Ode to Sleep Deprived
Parents and Terrorising Toddlers’
was declared the winner by popular
acclaim! You can chuckle along here:
bit.ly/OdeToSleepDeprivedParents
BRAVO EDITOR Genevieve Lang
sydneysymphony.com/bravo
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