hunter - Constable Vineyards

MUSIC IN THE
HUNTER
WELCOME NOTES
DENE OLDING DAVID CONSTABLE AM
2014
12-14 SEPT 2014
'AUSTRALIA'S MOST
INTIMATE CHAMBER
MUSIC FESTIVAL'
2
3
ARTIST PROFILES
PIERS LANE
4
JAMES CRABB
4
GOLDNER STRING QUARTET5
KEN HEALEY7
PROGRAMME8-9
MENU THANK YOU
10-11
12
DENE OLDING
Dear Music in the Hunter Subscribers,
What is better than being able to listen to fine music in intimate surroundings
with good company and superb food and wine in the beautiful Hunter Valley?
There may be other contenders for such praise but Music in the Hunter must
rank near the top for all of us. It certainly keeps the artists and our loyal
audience coming back here for more than two decades now.
This year we welcome back two of our favourite performers who have often
performed with the Goldner String Quartet and have appeared at this festival in
the past.
Piers Lane is well known internationally for his versatility, superb musicianship
and pianism. His career is accelerating, if that is possible, and with a remarkable
capacity to absorb and learn complex works, he is much in demand all over the
world. In addition to his many solo recordings, he has recorded seven discs with
the Goldner String Quartet; the most recent one received the ‘Diapason d’Or’
last month.
This weekend he will collaborate with the Goldners in masterpieces such as
Cesar Franck’s massive and heartfelt piano quintet as well as the charming late
romantic quintet by Max Bruch, which will give listeners a sneak preview of our
upcoming recording planned for early next year. The noble Sonata in A major
D 959 by Schubert and the much-loved Rachmaninov Preludes Op 23 are also
sure to please.
James Crabb has elevated the classical accordion to an exalted position on the
world stage and is rightly regarded as a superstar on his instrument. Possessed of
an enquiring mind and adventurous streak, he often presents musical projects,
operas and comic music-theatre to expand the boundaries of the conventional
concert framework. This weekend he will perform the haunting Prelude,
Fugue and Variations by Cesar Franck and join the other artists in various
combinations. His performance of Janacek’s ‘On an overgrown path’ will be of
special interest. This sumptuous cycle of pieces draws heavily on the Moravian
and Slovak folk tradition.
We are delighted that Ken Healey, the founding pre-concert speaker for Music
in the Hunter will return again. If you would like to listen to these concerts with
new insights, be sure not to miss his illuminating and amusing explanations.
p.2
The repertoire for this weekend includes music by several Jewish composers.
Some are well known such as Ernest Bloch and Moritz Moszkowski whilst
others such as Fanny Mendelssohn and Arthur Benjamin (the Australian-born
composer mostly known for his ‘Jamaican Rumba’) are less well-known.
Thank you for continuing to subscribe to this annual event and we are again
grateful for the ongoing support of David Constable and Ida Lichter, without
whom this festival could not succeed.
DAVID CONSTABLE AM
This year we have a number of new subscribers and I welcome and thank them.
A special thanks to our regulars who have supported the festival over many years,
especially those who have attended for most of the 24 years we have been running.
Thanks also to the Silkman family who host us at First Creek Winery.
The observation post I mentioned in last year’s programme was completed, and
officially named The Len Evans AO OBE Memorial Lookout. Len’s widow Trish
and daughter Sally unveiled the plaque on Friday 12 September at 10.00am.
Our 2014 vintage in the Hunter was outstanding. Apparently the reds and
particularly the Shiraz are superb, and the best since 1975.
Once again, we have the pleasure of hearing the Goldners, this year together
with guest artists Piers Lane and James Crabb. We look forward to Ken Healey’s
entertaining pre-concert talks, as well as the delicious catering by Andy and Janet
Wright of the Cellar Restaurant.
p.3
PIERS LANE
‘No praise could be high enough for Piers Lane whose playing
throughout is of a superb musical intelligence, sensitivity, and
scintillating brilliance.’ Bryce Morrison, Gramophone
London-based Australian pianist Piers Lane is one of the most
engaging live performers of his generation. In great demand
as soloist and collaborative artist, recent highlights include a performance of
Busoni’s mighty piano concerto at Carnegie Hall, premieres of Carl Vine’s second
Piano Concerto (written for him) with the Sydney Symphony and the London
Philharmonic, and a sold-out performance of Chopin’s complete Nocturnes at
Wigmore Hall. He has been the Artistic Director of the Australian Festival of
Chamber Music since 2007.
Piers Lane’s discography of over 50 CDs includes much-admired recordings of
rare Romantic piano concertos, the complete Preludes and Etudes by Scriabin,
transcriptions of Bach and Strauss, as well as complete collections of concert etudes
by Saint-Saens, Moscheles and Henselt, and transcriptions by Grainger.
JAMES CRABB
‘Crabb finds a perfect balance between the delicately sensual
and the wildly passionate…’ Pat O’Kelly, Irish Independent
James Crabb was born in Dundee, Scotland in 1967 and started
playing the accordion at the age of four. He studied at the
Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen with classical
accordion pioneer Mogens Ellegaard from 1985-92. He was 2nd
Prize Winner of the Gaudeamus Interpreters competition, 1989 in Holland, and
was awarded the Carl Nielsen Music Prize, Denmark in 1991. During his studies
he received scholarships from The Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Martin
Musical Scholarship Fund, Tillett Trust and Sir James Caird Trust. He gave over 150
performances for the Live Music Now series.
James Crabb’s acclaimed London debut in the Park Lane Group series at the Purcell
Room in 1992 catapulted him to the international concert platform. Since then,
he has performed worldwide, pioneering the classical accordion. He has appeared
at festivals including Edinburgh, the London Proms, Belfast, Lucerne, Sydney
Millennium, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Kuhmo, Brisbane Biennale, ISCM World
Music Days and the Gulbenkian Foundation’s Nordic Days.
p.4
GOLDNER STRING QUARTET
Launched in 1995, the Goldner String
Quartet is named after Richard Goldner,
founder of the original Musica Viva
Australia. The players are all well-known
to Australian and international audiences
through solo performances, recordings and
concurrent membership of the Australia
Ensemble at UNSW. All members have
occupied principal positions in the Sydney
Symphony Orchestra and Australian
Chamber Orchestra.
In 1997, the Goldner String Quartet made
its debut at the Wigmore Hall in London.
Unanimous audience and critical acclaim has
ensured the quartet’s regular return invitations
to London and many major UK, European
and Asian festivals. In 2001, the quartet
made its American debut with concerts at the
prestigious 92nd St Y in New York and in
Washington DC. Closer to home, the quartet
has performed in China, Korea, Singapore and
Brunei, and has undertaken several extensive
tours of New Zealand.
‘Real international class was shown
by the Goldner String Quartet…’ ,
The Strad Magazine
‘Goldner String Quartet’s ensemble is
well-nigh faultless… the performances
are top class’, Classicalsource.com
Dene Olding violin, Irina Morozova viola
Julian Smiles cello, Dimity Hall violin
In addition to national tours for Musica Viva, the Goldners appear regularly at
major music festivals around Australia. Since 1991, they have appeared annually
at the Music in the Hunter chamber music festival. The quartet members have
been a mainstay of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville
since 1993. In 2000, they performed a major retrospective of 20th-century
string quartets at the Adelaide Festival and in 2004, the complete Beethoven
Cycle in Sydney for Musica Viva. The quartet is committed to teaching the next
generation of string quartets, and has an ongoing association with the Australian
Youth Orchestra’s Chamber Music programme. Australia’s leading composers
regularly commission new works for the Goldner String Quartet.
p.5
In 2009, the quartet featured in the festival of concerts to celebrate the inaugural
season of the new Melbourne Recital Centre. Highlights of 2010 included the
festival in Jeju (South Korea), the Coriole Festival (SA), Aurora Festival (NSW),
AFCM (Townsville), Huntington Estate Festival (Mudgee) and performances
during a South Pacific Cruise.
Their LIVE recordings of the complete Beethoven String Quartet Cycle, released
on ABC Classics won the 2009 Limelight Award for Best Classical Recording.
The quartet has several recent recordings for Hyperion; each disc highlights string
quartets and piano quintets of a particular composer (Bloch, Bridge, Dvořák, Elgar
and Harty to date) with pianist Piers Lane. These recordings have received universal
rave reviews, including Editor’s Choice in Gramophone magazine and BBC Music
Magazine, as well as finalist for the BBC Music Magazine’s Chamber Music Award
in 2009. Also released are the complete quartets of Szymanowski and Stravinsky on
Naxos, and on the Tall Poppies label, Volumes 1-3 of the string quartets of Peter
Sculthorpe. The complete quartets of Carl Vine have been recorded for release on
ABC Classics.
The quartet’s appearances in the 2011 City of London Festival drew capacity
audiences and unanimous praise from UK critics, and were broadcast on the BBC.
Coinciding with the Hyperion release of Elgar’s string quartet and piano quintet
(with pianist Piers Lane), the national and international reputation of the Goldner
String Quartet has grown from strength to strength.
Goldner String Quartet:
Dene Olding, Dimity Hall (violins), Irina Morozova (viola), Julian Smiles (cello)
p.6
KEN HEALEY
Ken Healey fell in love with chamber music as
a self-taught wind instrumentalist, arranging
chamber ensembles for the forces at hand in the
Franciscan house of studies in the mid-1950s.
His own instrument, the alto saxophone, posed
some problems, most of which — except for the
technical ones — disappeared when he was given
an oboe, about ten years later.
Being locked away with limited access to
recordings, and even less to published music,
drove Ken to track down and arrange a very odd assortment of what passed
for repertoire. He read voraciously, and came to know a little about a far wider
range of music than most of his peers who studied singing or an instrument in
conventional circumstances.
It is against that unusual musical background, when for years the only daily music
was the singing of psalms and High Mass in Latin plainsong settings, that Ken
delights in an encomium bestowed much later by a subscriber immediately after
a pre-concert talk for the Australian Chamber Orchestra. “You aren’t a music
critic,” sounded like the beginning of a wince-inducing attack, but it was followed
by a punch line that Ken had not dreamed of: “You are a celebrant of music!”
Ken’s professional life has been shared between reviewing the performing arts
as a critic, and celebrating them as a journalist, producer, teacher, scriptwriter,
occasional performer, and increasingly in recent years, as a pre-concert speaker.
The last category certainly feels like a kind of performance. Ken was the inaugural
pre-concert speaker for Music in the Hunter.
p.7
CONCERT PROGRAMME
FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER
SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
7:30pm Champagne reception
10:15am Pre–Concert talk
8:30pm Concert
11:00am Concert
Haydn
String Quartet Op 76 No 1
‘Jewish Diaspora’
Allegro con spirito
Adagio sostenuto
Menuet - Presto
Allegro ma non troppo
J.S. Bach
Sonata in G minor BWV 1029
arr. accordion and cello
Vivace
Adagio
Allegro
f Interval f
Schubert
Sonata No 20 in A major D959
Allegro
Andantino
Scherzo - Allegro vivace
Rondo - Allegretto
Darius Milhaud
Scaramouche Suite Op165b arr.
for piano and accordion
Ernest Bloch
From Jewish life - Prayer
arr. for accordion and cello
Arthur Benjamin
Pastoral Fantasy
for string quartet (1924)
Maurice Ravel
2 Hebrew Melodies (1914)
arr. for accordion and cello
Gershwin arr. Hair
Bidin’ My Time
for string quartet
f Interval f
Korngold
Garden Scene from Much Ado about
Nothing Op 11 arr. violin and piano
Moszkowski
Spanish Dances Op12 and Op 65 arr.
for piano and accordion
Fanny Mendelssohn
Romanze and Allegro molto vivace
from String Quartet in E flat major
p.8
SATURDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
SUNDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
6:15pm Pre-concert talk
10:45am Pre-concert talk
7:00pm Concert
11:30am Concert
Franck
Prelude Theme and Variation Op 18
arr. for piano and accordion
Janacek
Suite from On an overgrown path
arr. solo accordion
Debussy
String Quartet Op 10
Rachmaninov
Selections from Preludes Op 23
Animé et très décidé
Assez vif et bien rythmé
Andantino, doucement expressif
Très modéré - En animant peu à peu
- Très mouvementé et avec passion
f Interval f
f Interval f
Franck
Piano Quintet in f minor
Bruch
Piano Quintet in G minor Op posth
Allegro molto moderato
Adagio
Scherzo
Allegro agitato
Molto moderato quasi lento-Allegro
Lento con molto sentimento
Allegro non troppo, ma con fuoco
p.9
MENU
FRIDAY EVENING
SATURDAY LUNCH
Reception
f Lunch f
f Canapés f
Salt cod fritters with lemon mayo
Lamb pithiviers with mint
Crispy white anchovies with tarragon aioli
Smoked trout & horseradish tarts
Moroccan chicken, babaghanoush
& tahini yoghurt
Herby garlic bread.
f Supper f
Ciabatta rolls
Milly Hill Shepherds pie with
rosemary gravy
Roast heirloom carrots with
dukkah & labne
Tinklers pumpkin with sumac & lemon
Salad of frisse, peas, parmesan, red
cabbage, rocket & verjuice dressing
f Desserts f
Red wine poached pear & frangipane
tart with quince syrup
Fruit platters
Tea, coffee & biscotti
f Wines f
Constable Estate 2013 Sparkling Cuvee
First Creek 2011 Premium Semillon
Constable Estate 2013 Premium Semillon
First Creek 2012 Premium Merlot
Constable Estate 2009 Botrysed Semillon
p.10
Spiced veal koftas with slow roasted
romas and pistachios. Saffron yoghurt
Roast John Dory with sage crumbed
eggplant & basil pesto
Rissoni with pine nuts, lemon, parsley
Truss tomatoes, olives, feta
& garlic chives
Beetroot, chargrilled zuchini,
fennel & crispy sage
Mixed leaf salad with pepitas,
pumpkin dressing
f Desserts f
Eton Mess with strawberry compote
Local brie, cheddar & goats cheese
with muscatels & biscuits
Tea & coffee
f Wines f
Constable Estate 2014 Matilda
Semillon Savignon Blanc
First Creek 2013 Premium Chardonnay
Constable Estate 2011 Cabernet Merlot
First Creek 2013 Premium Shiraz
Constable Estate 2009 Botrysed Semillon
SATURDAY DINNER
SUNDAY LUNCH
f Entrées f
Naan breads & poppadoms
Pyengana cheddar & mustard goujeres
Free range chicken dhansak
Fetta and pimento tartlet​,
walnut crumbs
Lamb madras with cucumber
yoghurt & basmati rice
Crusty sourdough
Sweet potato & pumpkin bhajis
f Mains f
Tomato, red onion & little gem lettuce
salad with cumin dressing
Slow roasted shallot pissaladiere
with walnut crumbed goats cheese,
olive dressing
Carrot, asparagus,celery, spring onion,
nigella seeds & chilli salad
Cape Grim grass fed fillet, truffled
polenta, wild mushroom sauce &
horseradish crème fraiche
Mango chutney, eggplant & lime pickle
Local brie, cheddar & goats cheese
with muscatels & biscuits
Green beans with almonds
Fresh fruit platter
f Desserts f
Tea & coffee
French lemon tart with muscat
f Wines f
Tea, coffee & petit fours
Constable Estate 2014 Verdelho
f Wines f
Constable Estate 2014
Sparkling Matilda
Constable Estate 2010
Premium Chardonnay
Constable Estate 2014 Matilda Rose
Constable Estate 2013 Cabernet Shiraz
First Creek 2012 Premium Merlot
Constable Estate 2009 Botrysed Semillon
First Creek 2013 Premium Verdelho
Constable Estate 2013 Cabernet Shiraz
First Creek 2013 Premium Shiraz
Constable Estate 2009 Botrysed Semillon
p.11
Music in the Hunter
gratefully acknowledges
the generous support
of Ara Vartoukian from
Theme and Variations
Piano Services of
Willoughby NSW for
providing a Steinway
concert grand piano for
this year’s festival.
there has never been a better time
to fulfil your dream
handcrafted.
uncompromising.
a true investment.
Contact our Sydney showroom
on (02) 9958 9888
or visit www.themeandvariations.com.au
451 Willoughby rd, Willoughby NSW 2068
Exclusive NSW & QLD agents for Steinway & Sons