the Murray Perahia in Recital program book

MURRAY PERAHIA IN RECITAL
SPECIAL EVENT
PREMIER PARTNER CREDIT SUISSE
Friday 1 November 2013
SPECIAL EVENT PRESENTED BY
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OCTOBER – NOVEMBER
CLASSICAL
Dvořák’s New World
Explorations in Sound
BRITTEN Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
ZHAO JIPING Pipa Concerto† Premiere
DVOŘÁK Symphony No.9, New World†
Joana
conductor
JessicaCarneiro
Cottis conductor
Wu Man pipa (Chinese lute)
MEET THE MUSIC
PRESENTED BY AIM
Wed 30 Oct 6.30pm
Thu 31 Oct 6.30pm
TEA & SYMPHONY
Fri 1 Nov 11am†
Pre-concert talk by
Kim Waldock (30, 31 Oct only)
Murray Perahia
in Recital
Australian Debut
One Night Only
JS BACH French Suite No.4
BEETHOVEN Sonata in F minor, Op.57
(Appassionata)
SCHUMANN Faschingsschwank aus Wien
CHOPIN Impromptu No.2
CHOPIN Scherzo No.2
Murray Perahia piano
SPECIAL EVENT
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Fri 1 Nov 8pm
Sydney Opera House,
Concert Hall
Pre-concert talk
by David Larkin
War Requiem
Ashkenazy conducts Britten
BRITTEN War Requiem
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Dina Kuznetsova soprano
Andrew Staples tenor
Dietrich Henschel baritone
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Sydney Children’s Choir
Mahler and Bruch
MASTER SERIES
Fri 8 Nov 8pm
Sat 9 Nov 8pm
Pre-concert talk
by Natalie Shea
MASTER SERIES
Askenazy and Zukerman
Wed 13 Nov 8pm
BRUCH Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor
MAHLER Symphony No.5
SPECIAL EVENT
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Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Pinchas Zukerman violin
Sibelius And Brahms
Sat 16 Nov 8pm
Pre-concert talk
by Roger Benedict
Ashkenazy and Zukerman
THURSDAY AF TERNOON
SYMPHONY
BRAHMS Double Concerto
SIBELIUS Symphony No.5
Thu 14 Nov 1.30pm
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Pinchas Zukerman violin
Amanda Forsyth cello
Fri 15 Nov 11am
TEA & SYMPHONY
Pre-concert talk by
Scott Davie (Thu 14 Nov)
SYDNEYSYMPHONY.COM
or call 8215 4600 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm
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Sun 10am-6pm
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* Booking fees of $7.50 – $8.95 may apply.
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WELCOME
Credit Suisse warmly welcomes you to this very
special recital: the Australian debut performance of
pianist Murray Perahia, here in the Sydney Opera
House Concert Hall.
Many Australian music lovers – and especially fans
of the piano – have been looking forward to this
evening since it was announced last year. In fact, if
the response the orchestra received is any indication,
Australian music lovers have been looking forward to
this debut appearance for many years.
In his 40-year career, Murray Perahia has acquired a
reputation for his refinement and poise in Classical
and early Romantic repertoire. Whether he is playing
Bach or Beethoven, Schumann or Chopin he brings
out the spontaneity of expression and the clarity of
vision in every piece.
We’re delighted to welcome Murray Perahia to
Australia, bringing some of his favourite music to this
iconic venue and to Sydney concert-goers, who are
filling the concert hall tonight.
It’s a privilege to be here on this momentous occasion,
and as Premier Partner we are proud to have played
a part in making it happen. We hope you enjoy the
performance.
Rob Stewart
Chief Executive Officer
Credit Suisse Australia
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2012 season
special event
premier partner credit suisse
Friday 1 November | 8pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
Murray Perahia in Recital
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavotte
Menuet
Air
Gigue
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Sonata No.23 in F minor, Op.57 (Appassionata)
Allegro assai
Andante con moto –
Allegro, ma non troppo
INTERVAL
Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Faschingsschwank aus Wien, Op.26
(Carnival Jest from Vienna)
Allegro (Sehr lebhaft)
Romanze (Ziemlich langsam)
Scherzino
Intermezzo (Mit grösster Energie)
Finale (Höchst lebhaft)
Tonight’s recital will be recorded for
later broadcast on ABC Classic FM.
Pre-concert talk by David Larkin
in the Northern Foyer, 45 minutes
before each performance.
Visit sydneysymphony.com/talk-bios
for speaker biographies.
Estimated durations:
15 minutes, 25 minutes,
20-minute interval, 24 minutes,
6 minutes, 10 minutes
The recital will conclude at
approximately 10pm.
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)
Impromptu No.2, Op.36
Scherzo No.2, Op.31
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FELIX BROEDE / SONY CLASSICAL
ABOUT THE ARTIST
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Murray Perahia PIANO
In the more than 40 years he has been
performing on the concert stage, American
pianist Murray Perahia has become one of
the most sought-after and cherished pianists
of our time, performing in the major
international music centres and with every
leading orchestra. He is also the Principal
Guest Conductor of the Academy of St
Martin in the Fields, with whom he has
toured as conductor and pianist throughout
the United States, Europe, Japan and South
East Asia.
Born in New York, Murray Perahia started
playing piano at the age of four, and later
attended Mannes College where he majored
in conducting and composition. His
summers were spent at the Marlboro Festival,
where he collaborated with such musicians
as Rudolf Serkin, Pablo Casals and the
members of the Budapest String Quartet. He
also studied at the time with Mieczyslaw
Horszowski. In subsequent years, he
developed a close friendship with Vladimir
Horowitz, whose perspective and personality
were an abiding inspiration.
In 1972 he won the Leeds International
Piano Competition, and in 1973 he gave his
first concert at the Aldeburgh Festival, where
he worked closely with Benjamin Britten and
Peter Pears, accompanying the latter in many
lieder recitals. He was co-artistic director of
the festival from 1981 to 1989.
In the 2013–14 season he appears in recital
in Japan, and in February he will play the
Schumann Concerto with the Boston
Symphony Orchestra and Bernard Haitink in
Boston and Carnegie Hall, New York, before
embarking on an American recital tour.
Murray Perahia has a wide and varied
discography, which includes a 5-CD set of
his Chopin recordings, Bach Partitas, and
Beethoven’s Sonatas Opp. 14, 26 and 28. His
recording of Brahms’s Händel Variations
won the Gramophone Award in 2011 and he
is the recipient of two Grammy awards for
his recordings of the Chopin Etudes and
Bach’s English Suites Nos. 1, 3 and 6.
He is currently working on an ambitious
project to edit the complete Beethoven
Sonatas for the Henle Urtext Edition. He has
also produced and edited numerous hours of
recordings of recently discovered
masterclasses by the legendary pianist, Alfred
Cortot, which led to an acclaimed recording,
Alfred Cortot: The Master Classes.
Murray Perahia is an honorary fellow of the
Royal College of Music and the Royal
Academy of Music, and holds honorary
doctorates from Oxford, Leeds and Duke
universities. In 2004 he was awarded an
honorary KBE by Her Majesty The Queen, in
recognition of his outstanding service to
music.
This performance at the Sydney Opera
House is Murray Perahia’s Australian debut;
next week he will appear at the Melbourne
Recital Centre.
www.murrayperahia.com
Murray Perahia appears by arrangement with IMG Artists
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ABOUT THE MUSIC
Johann Sebastian Bach
French Suite No.4 in E flat, BWV 815
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavotte
Menuet
Air
Gigue
How do we think of Johann Sebastian Bach? As the greatest
of baroque masters, of course. As a devout Lutheran
who composed cantatas and passions – sacred music of
tremendous power. An organist capable of the spectacular
Toccata and Fugue in D minor. The composer of the
Brandenburg Concertos. Famously the father of 22
children, and the teacher of many young musicians.
It was likely as a teacher that Bach came to compose the
French Suites (not his name for them). The earliest drafts
date from 1722, although some movements may have been
written earlier, and the set was completed by about 1725.
Each one takes the form of a suite of characteristic dances,
imported from the French court, with the allemande,
courante, sarabande and gigue providing the core of the
suite, augmented by other dances such as the gavotte and
minuet. The influences here are Jean-Baptiste Lully and,
Keynotes
JS BACH
Born Eisenach, 1685
Died Leipzig, 1750
In his lifetime Johann Sebastian
Bach was renowned as an
organist; in the century after
his death his name was kept
alive by enthusiasts, and
then – spurred in part by
Mendelssohn’s revival of the
Matthew Passion – he gained
new and enduring fame as a
great master of the baroque era.
His career has been defined
by three major periods of
employment. In 1708, he became
court organist in Weimar, but
when he was passed over for a
promotion, it was time to move
on, and in 1717 Prince Leopold
of Anhalt-Cöthen offered him
a Kapellmeister post. It wasn’t
an easy departure: the Duke of
Weimar briefly placed him under
arrest!
In Cöthen, where the young
prince ‘loved and understood
music’ and the orchestra was a
fine one, Bach composed much
instrumental music, including
the Brandenburg concertos. In
1722 he applied for the post of
cantor at the school attached to
the Thomas Church in Leipzig.
He wasn’t the town council’s
first choice, but he won the job
and spent the remaining 27
years of his life in Leipzig:
teaching, performing, organising
the musical life of the church
and composing his great series
of church cantatas.
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especially, François Couperin. Especially in the fourth suite,
the style is tuneful and relatively simple in texture,
approaching the popular style galant.
In other respects, however, the suites are not particularly
French, and we may never know why F.W. Marpurg chose
to label them so in 1762. Most obviously, the suites lack the
majestic ouverture typically found at the front of French
suites (the first movement of the Keyboard Partita No.4
in D is a fine example). And, ironically, the dances in the
English Suites are often truer to their French models. In
the French Suite No.4, for example, the Courante is closer in
feel to the lively Italian corrente than its more deliberate
French cousin.
The fourth suite might lack an ouverture but the
Allemande serves something of the same function, with its
flowing arpeggiated patterns bringing to mind Bach’s
preludes.
The Courante skips along in a distinctive style that is
neither French nor Italian but, apparently, a Bach
invention. The Sarabande adopts a sedate, walking bass
line underneath an elegant melody – then the two hands
unexpectedly swap places.
The Gavotte is the first of the ‘optional’ dances. Its
distinguishing characteristic is the two-count upbeat,
here played in the right hand, although Bach disguises
the rhythmic effect by immediately mirroring the melodic
motif in the left. The tiny, graceful Menuet was added to the
suite in later copies.
An air typically provides singable dance music – or
danceable song – in the French tradition of opera-ballet,
but in this rippling Air it’s the fingers that are dancing.
The Gigue ( jig) by contrast is relatively sedate. Bach gives it
weight and seriousness by writing it as a two-voice fugue
with a hunting horn theme.
YVONNE FRINDLE
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA © 2013
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Beethoven
Sonata No.23 in F minor, Op.57
(Appassionata)
Allegro assai
Andante con moto –
Allegro ma non troppo
Ferdinand Ries’s description of the genesis of the last
movement of the Opus 57 sonata gives an apt insight into
the fusion between composition and keyboard
improvisation.
During a similar walk in which we went so far astray that [sic]
we did not get back to Döbling, where Beethoven lived, until
nearly 8 o’clock. He had been all the time humming and
sometimes howling, always up and down, without singing any
definite notes. In answer to my question what it was he said: ‘A
theme for the last movement of the sonata has occurred to me’ (in
F minor Op.57). When we entered the room he ran to the
pianoforte without taking off his hat, I took a seat in the corner
and he soon forgot all about me. He stormed on for at least an
hour with the new finale which is so beautiful. Finally he got up,
was surprised still to see me still there and said: ‘I cannot give
you a lesson today. I still have work to do.
The subtitle Appassionata, so inextricably linked to this
work, was not Beethoven’s but was added by a publisher in
1838 in an arrangement of the work for piano duet. Carl
Czerny took strong exception saying that Beethoven
considered it his greatest work before the Hammerklavier
sonata (1817-18) and that the title would be more appropriate
for the Sonata in E flat, Op.7, because Beethoven was in a
more passionate mood when he wrote it.
This second comment is distinctly odd on two counts.
First, Czerny was only five years old when Opus 7 was
written, and since he first met Beethoven at the age of ten,
his ability to measure the passion of Beethoven’s mood
during the composition of Opus 7 needs to be questioned
on at least two counts. Second, if passionate moods provide
an excuse for kitsch subtitles, Beethoven’s letters suggest that
Opus 57 would probably qualify, since this was the period of
his apparently unrequited infatuation with Josephine Deym
(née Brunsvik), once put forward as the unidentified
‘Immortal Beloved’ of Beethoven’s most famous letter (the
Appassionata was eventually dedicated to Josephine’s brother,
Franz). The period of its composition also coincides with
his work on the opera Leonore (later Fidelio). The sonata was
started in 1804 and, although not published until 1807, it
Keynotes
BEETHOVEN
Born Bonn, 1770
Died Vienna, 1827
Between 1793 (Op.2) and 1822
(Op.111) Beethoven composed
32 piano sonatas. As a whole,
they trace his career: the
young composer learning
from 18th-century models, the
composer-virtuoso, then, as his
increasing deafness forced him
to withdraw from performing,
the ‘heroic’ period with such
masterpieces as the Waldstein
and the Appassionata. Beyond
that, are the so-called Years
of Crisis, represented by the
Hammerklavier, and the three
late sonatas.
SONATA NO.23 APPASSIONATA
Beethoven considered his
sonata one of his greatest,
perhaps because of its
powerful sense of thematic
unity. Typically, he defies
expectation, and an early
reviewer recognised this
when he praised the powerful
effect of the tempestuous
outer movements but admitted,
almost apologetically, to
preferring the theme and
variations of the second
movement.
The sonata was composed
during 1804–06, a period when
Beethoven was infatuated with
the recently widowed Josephine
Deym, and was dedicated to her
brother, Count Brunsvik. But the
‘Appassionata’ nickname is not
Beethoven’s – it is the legacy
of an 1838 publication of the
sonata as a duet, for which
‘passion’ might well have been
a useful selling point.
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appears to have been finished by 1806 in time for the
autograph to be almost destroyed in rain storm on a trip
home from Silesia after Beethoven had had a towering row
with one of his patrons, Prince Lichnowsky. The autograph
today still bears the evidence of rain damage.
Although Beethoven’s evaluation of the sonata, as reported
by Czerny, would be justified by the immense power of the
work, which remains undiminished today despite its
frequent exposure, it is interesting to note that all the
sonatas which Beethoven is alleged to have called his
‘greatest’ at some stage or other (the Hammerklavier sonata,
Op.106, and the final three, Opp. 109, 110 and 111) share the
quality of thematic unity and integration between their
movements to a high degree. In the case of the Appassionata,
the outer movements share many common features –
characteristic harmonic moves particularly to the chord
referred to in harmony textbooks as the ‘Neapolitan sixth’,
small two-note motives especially those revolving around
the notes D flat and C, general moods of agitation and
turmoil, and climaxes of tragic or catastrophic proportions
in their closing pages. Indeed one could almost see the finale
as a rewriting of the first movement as though some kind of
‘[Beethoven] had been
all the time humming
and sometimes howling,
always up and down,
without singing any
definite notes. In answer
to my question what it
was he said: ‘A theme
for the last movement of
the sonata has occurred
to me.’
FERDINAND RIES
The autograph score of Beethoven’s Op.57 sonata bears the evidence of rain damage – it was nearly
destroyed in a storm during a journey in 1806.
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decisive realisation had been reached in the calm, prayer-like
slow movement.
The notion that such close parallels developed through
spontaneous improvisation as described by Ries above,
provides a profound insight into Beethoven’s creative
process and psychology. The slow movement itself is no less
remarkable for its repose between such agitation. At the
beginning one might almost think that the melody on which
the variations are to be based is going to restrict itself largely
to one note! Equally masterly is its gradual ascent over the
whole movement, in more animated notes to its highest
pitch, D flat, which is then, almost literally torn down just at
the final cadence and thrown down into the abyss of the last
movement.
© PETER MCCALLUM
Ferdinand Ries quotation from Beethoven Remembered: The biographical
notes of Franz Wegeler and Ferdinand Ries, translated by Frederick
Noonan (Arlington 1987, p.87).
Portrait of Beethoven by Isidor
Neugass, probably completed
in the same year as the
Appassionata. It was intended
to be sent to Josephine Deym
and for a time was held in one
of the Brunsvik castles.
COLE PORTER, LET’S MISBEHAVE (1927)
SATURDAY 23 NOVEMBER — PADDINGTON TOWN HALL
Break out the tux, put on your dancing shoes and join us for a
night of revelry and entertainment to help us support Australia’s
most talented young musicians at the SSO Roaring 20s Ball!
Tickets are available through the SSO Box Office 8215 4600.
For more information visit www.sydneysymphony.com/20sball
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Schumann
Faschingsschwank aus Wien (Carnival Jest
from Vienna), Op.26
Allegro. Sehr lebhaft (Very lively)
Romanze. Ziemlich langsam (Fairly slowly)
Scherzino
Intermezzo. Mit grösster Energie (With the greatest energy)
Finale. Höchst lebhaft (Most lively)
The many piano works of Schumann give us an intimate
portrait of his personality, rich in the details of his inner life,
in a way that shows the relationship between his life and
work more than most other composers. Schumann was the
quintessential Romantic composer who lived entirely for his
art, and so much on the edge that towards mid-life he
descended into a personal twilight, from which he rarely
surfaced. He often expressed fears for his own sanity, fuelled
by a family history of madness and suicide.
Schumann wrote for the piano in a distinctive virtuosic
style that requires great pianistic skill, a quality he felt he
himself lacked. In 1832 he experimented with a mechanical
device to strengthen his weaker fingers, and it is suggested
Fasching, the Viennese Carnival
Carnival, Mardi Gras, Shrovetide… Whatever name it goes
by, it’s the season of celebration and indulgence – one last
fling before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. It’s a chance
to run wild, bend the rules. Cole Porter would have said
‘anything goes’.
Goethe described the Carnival in Rome this way:
…not really a festival given for the people but one the
people give themselves…there are no fireworks, no
illuminations, no brilliant processions. All that happens
is that, at a given signal, everyone has leave to be as
mad and foolish as he likes, and almost everything,
except fisticuffs and stabbing, is permissible. …
everyone accosts everyone else, all good-naturedly
accept whatever happens to them, and the insolence
and licence of the feast is balanced only by the
universal good humour.
The Carnival spirit turns up in Mendelssohn’s Italian
Symphony, in overtures by Berlioz and Dvořák, in
Stravinsky’s Petrushka, set in a Russian Shrovetide fair.
Schumann was inspired by the Viennese Carnival, known
as ‘Fasching’. In addition to the processions and street
hi-jinks, the 19th-century Fasching had become a season
of masked balls and dancing.
Keynotes
SCHUMANN
Born Zwickau, 1819
Died Endenich, near Bonn,
1856
Schumann was a child of
Romanticism: his are creations
vividly imaginative and deeply
lyrical, and he was aligned with
the literary concerns of the
Romantic era. It’s no accident
that he was a critic as well as a
musician. At first he aspired to
be a writer; he then pursued
music under the guise of a law
degree, eventually studying
piano with Friedrich Wieck in
Leipzig. Wieck’s star pupil was
his daughter Clara, and she and
Robert fell in love, eventually
marrying despite Wieck’s
objections. Along the way
Schumann injured his hand,
thwarting his performing hopes
but leaving the way open for
him to focus on composition.
CARNIVAL JEST
Carnival Jest from Vienna is
the most important musical
result of Schumann’s visit to
Vienna in the winter of 1838–39.
He didn’t return with riches, as
he’d hoped, but he couldn’t fail
‘to derive stimulus and benefit
from the city’. Four of the
movements were composed in
Vienna; the finale was added
later. They are character pieces,
but Schumann also saw them
as a greater whole, describing
the set as ‘a great Romantic
sonata’. The ‘jest’ of the title
probably refers to the quotation
of the Marseillaise in the first
movement. It was a risky joke,
since the revolutionary anthem
was banned in Vienna (and
other places!) at the time.
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that the use of this device completely ruined the playing
abilities he had, although both he and Clara Schumann
attributed the damage simply to excessive practice.
For pianists today who can meet his technical demands,
it is more difficult to penetrate the poetic, literary and
personal references which abound in his music. Schumann
wrote many pieces celebrating the festive time of Carnival,
and the Carnival Jest in Vienna on this program is one of the
important ones. The time of Carnival, just before Lent in
the Christian calendar, was and still is in many countries
a time of exotic disguise, extravagant parties, dances and
processions, jests and student pranks. A riot of loose
behaviour – all of which would be redeemed by the penances
and rigours of Lent.
This Carnival Jest was written after a visit in 1839 to
Vienna, where Schumann had gone in hopes of establishing
himself financially. There are five movements which,
together, Schumann thought of as ‘a great Romantic sonata’,
of which he had already written several.
The jest of the title is heard in the first movement, where
the Marseillaise appears. This was a dangerous jest at the
time, since the government of Vienna had forbidden the
playing of this revolutionary music, which wasn’t restored
as the legitimate French national anthem until 1879. The
second movement, Romanze, is wistful and the third,
Scherzino, suggests a marionette march. The Intermezzo is a
great outburst of intense passion, which seems perhaps to
sit rather oddly with its neighbours. The suite comes to an
end with a brilliant , fast and witty show of pianistic
prowess – no injured fingers will be tolerated here.
Schumann in 1839, portrait by
Josef Kriehuber
STEPHEN MCINTYRE © 2002
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Frédéric Chopin
Impromptu No.2, Op.36
Scherzo No.2, Op.31
Frédéric Chopin was not only one of the greatest composers
for the piano, he was also one of the greatest performers of his
age. After a concert in the home of Lord Falmouth in London
in 1848, the Daily News reported how his program of etudes,
preludes, mazurkas, waltzes, a nocturne, the Berceuse and his
Op.31 Scherzo ‘showed very strikingly his original genius as
a composer and his transcendental powers as a performer’.
The critic continued in his enthusiasm:
His music…is highly finished, new in its harmonies, full of
contrapuntal skill and ingenious contrivance; and yet we have
never heard music which has so much the air of unpremeditated
effusion. The performer seems to abandon himself to the impulses
of his fancy and feeling, to indulge in a reverie and to pour out
unconsciously, as it were, the thoughts and emotions that pass
through his mind. He accomplishes enormous difficulties, but so
quietly, so smoothly and with such constant delicacy and
refinement that the listener is not sensible of their real magnitude.
It is the exquisite delicacy, with the liquid mellowness of his tone,
and the pearly roundness of his passages of rapid articulation
which are the peculiar features of his execution, while his music is
characterised by freedom of thought, varied expression and a kind
of romantic melancholy which seems the natural mood of the
artist’s mind.
Keynotes
CHOPIN
Born Zelazowa Wola,
Poland, 1810
Died Paris, 1849
Chopin grew up in Warsaw,
where he was acclaimed as a
teenage piano virtuoso, before
heading to Vienna and then
Paris in pursuit of a career. His
temperament and his delicate
constitution was not well-suited
to the rigours of touring life and
public concert-giving, but his
innate elegance gave him entry
to the fashionable soirees of
Paris, and his fame grew on the
back of performances for
intimate circles and his many
publications. Although he did
write concertos and a few
chamber works and songs, he
composed almost exclusively
for solo piano and in miniature,
self-contained forms.
This is the Chopin we know, and the Chopin modern
pianists strive for: spontaneous and yet full of ingenuity; all
difficulties hidden from the listener in effortless expression.
The London program described in the Daily Mail would
have been typical for Chopin: something substantial, such as
one of his ballades or a scherzo, surrounded by shorter pieces,
the dances and miniatures. Often he might group pieces to
form items, not unlike the pairing in this recital with the
impromptu functioning as a prelude to the drama of the
popular second scherzo.
The word ‘impromptu’ suggests improvisation but also
readiness (‘to be at hand’). The composed impromptus of
Schubert and of Chopin are remarkable for their symmetrical
three-part structures – the kind of simple but reliable design
that might enable the improvising pianist’s free flight of fancy.
In Chopin’s Impromptu No.2 in F sharp major (composed
in 1839) there is a further foundation for creative fancy in the
distinctive use of ostinato, or underlying repetition. The
opening six bars set out the ostinato theme: a simple two16 sydney symphony
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voice idea, assigned to the left hand. As it freely repeats,
Chopin develops increasingly elaborate melodic ideas above.
This kind of repetition sets up a feeling of harmonic stasis,
which in turn focuses attention on other elements of the
music, especially the profusion of melodic variations. The
central section of the three-part structure is a ‘deliberately
strident’ march evoking the world of 19th-century French
opera. The opening melody then returns, but the ostinato is
transformed into rippling arpeggios, setting us up for the
extraordinarily elaborate arabesques that follow.
For Chopin, this impromptu was experimental, representing
his earliest foray into techniques that would emerge in his
music of the 1840s, and he had his doubts about it. In a letter
dated 8 October 1839 he wrote: ‘It is perhaps a stupid piece.
I can’t tell yet, as I have only just finished it.’
About his second scherzo, composed in 1837, he had no
such doubts, nor did his contemporaries. The Op.31 scherzo
(in B flat minor or D flat major, depending on your analysis)
quickly became one of his most popular works, ranking with
the waltzes and nocturnes and the Ballade No.3, Op.47. In
Warsaw it was even transcribed for orchestra.
Chopin inherited the scherzo tradition of Beethoven: a
piece in triple time with a symmetrical three-part structure, a
(very) fast tempo and a forceful character, but with just enough
good-humoured energy to justify the label (literally a ‘joke’).
In addition, the Beethoven scherzo belonged as a movement
within a larger work, and Chopin included scherzos such as
these in his mature sonatas.
Portrait by Delacroix
Chopin performing in the salon of Prince Radziwill (October 1829).
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Chopin’s four stand-alone scherzos, however, were quite
different – sufficiently new in conception to confuse not only
his contemporaries but following generations. They preserve
the triple metre and the lively tempo; the symmetrical design
is there, although more complex; as is the forcefulness and
energy. But the expressive range is greatly expanded – Chopin’s
scherzos are no joking matter.
Above all, Chopin’s scherzos have become an exercise in
extremes of contrast, and the opening of Scherzo No.2 offers a
clear demonstration: a subdued, furtive melodic fragment in
the bass, a pause, fierce chords in the treble. The scene is set for
tension: between unison ideas and chords, between different
registers, between soft and loud. And above all between B flat
minor, in which key the scherzo clearly begins, and D flat
major, which is how it will end after a journey of alternations
between these two tonal centres.
The often explosive surface contrasts catch the ear. No
wonder the Daily News critic was struck by the impression of
impulsiveness and freedom of expression. But, not unlike the
impromptu, the whole is supported by a simple framework
based on symmetry and repetition and perfectly judged drama.
‘Hats off, gentlemen –
a genius!’
ROBERT SCHUMANN
INTRODUCES CHOPIN
YVONNE FRINDLE
SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA © 2013
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MORE MUSIC
MURRAY PERAHIA PLAYS…
BACH
Murray Perahia’s recordings of the Bach concertos
(directing the Academy of St Martin in the Fields
from the keyboard), have recently been assembled in
a 3-CD set.
SONY 782429
Broadcast Diary
November
abc.net.au/classic
Saturday 9 November, 8pm
war requiem
And while you won’t be able to find the French
Suites, he has recorded the English Suites (over two
CDs) and the six keyboard partitas (also over two
CDs).
SONY 6022762 & 602772 (English Suites)
SONY 744361 & 722697 (Partitas)
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Dina Kuznetsova, Andrew Staples,
Dietrich Henschel vocal soloists
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Sydney Children’s Choir
Britten
BEETHOVEN
Thursday 14 November, 1.30pm
Murray Perahia’s recording of the Appassionata
Sonata is currently available on the 73-CD
celebration boxed set, Murray Perahia: The First
40 Years. An investment!
sibelius & brahms
SONY 191256
Saturday 16 November, 8pm
If you’d prefer the sonata on a single CD, it can be
ordered as an ArkivCD from Arkivmusic.com with
Beethoven’s Sonata No.7.
mahler & bruch
CBS MASTERWORKS 42448
Thursday 28 November, 1.05pm
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Pinchas Zukerman violin
Amanda Forsyth cello
Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Pinchas Zukerman violin
wagner madness
SCHUMANN
The celebration boxed set mentioned above also
contains Schumann’s Faschingsschwank aus Wien.
Or look for the live Aldeburgh Recital disc from 1991,
which also includes music by Beethoven, Liszt and
Rachmaninoff.
SONY 46437
CHOPIN
In 2004, Murray Perahia’s 2001 recording of Chopin’s
Op.10 and Op.25 Etudes was expanded to include the
four impromptus from 1983.
SONY CLASSICAL MASTERWORKS 92731
And, of course, there’s more Chopin in the First
40 Years collection.
Many more recordings by Murray Perahia on the
Sony Classical and CBS Masterworks labels can be
found at: www.murrayperahia.com/discography
Nicholas Carter conductor
Janet Webb flute
Haydn, L Liebermann, Ledger, Wagner
Fine Music 102.5
sydney symphony 2013
Tuesday 11 November, 6pm
Musicians, staff and guest artists discuss what’s in
store in our forthcoming concerts.
Webcasts
Selected Sydney Symphony Orchestra concerts are
webcast live on BigPond and Telstra T-box and
made available for later viewing On Demand.
Our current webcast:
lior & westlake
Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony
We recommend our free mobile app, now optimised
for the iPad, if you want to watch SSO live webcasts
on your mobile device.
sydney symphony 19
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SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
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 Orchestra
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 SSO 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 Orchestra’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 Orchestra’s awardwinning 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 recordings
of works by Brett Dean have been released on
both BIS and Sydney Symphony Live.
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.
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BEHIND THE SCENES
Sydney Symphony
Orchestra
Board
Sydney Symphony Orchestra Staff
S
EXECUTIVE TEAM ASSISTANT
EX
ONLINE MARKETING COORDINATOR
John C Conde ao Chairman
Terrey Arcus am
Ewen Crouch am
Ross Grant
Jennifer Hoy
Rory Jeffes
Andrew Kaldor am
David Livingstone
Goetz Richter
Lisa Davies-Galli
Li
Jenny Sargant
ARTISTIC OPERATIONS
A
Box Office
DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PLANNING
D
MANAGER OF BOX OFFICE SALES &
OPERATIONS
MANAGING DIRECTOR
M
MARKETING COORDINATOR
Rory Jeffes
R
Jonathon Symonds
Peter Czornyj
Pe
BOX OFFICE SYSTEMS SUPERVISOR
ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGER
AR
Jacqueline Tooley
Eleasha Mah
El
BOX OFFICE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR
ARTIST LIAISON MANAGER
AR
John Robertson
Ilmar Leetberg
Il
CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES
RECORDING ENTERPRISE MANAGER
RE
Karen Wagg – Senior CSR
Michael Dowling
Katarzyna Ostafijczuk
Tim Walsh
Philip Powers
Ph
P
Sydney Symphony
Orchestra
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
Lynn McLaughlin
Artistic Administration
Ar
Education Programs
Ed
HEAD OF EDUCATION
HE
Kim Waldock
K
EMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM MANAGER
EM
COMMUNICATIONS
Mark Lawrenson
M
HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS &
SPONSOR RELATIONS
EDUCATION COORDINATOR
ED
Yvonne Zammit
Rachel McLarin
R
PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER
CUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER
C
Katherine Stevenson
Amy Walsh
Am
Library
Li
Anna Cernik
An
Victoria
Grant
Vi
M
Mary-Ann
Mead
ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT
O
DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT
D
COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
Janine Harris
DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER
Kai Raisbeck
FELLOWSHIP SOCIAL MEDIA OFFICER
Caitlin Benetatos
Publications
Aernout Kerbert
Ae
PUBLICATIONS EDITOR & MUSIC
PRESENTATION MANAGER
ORCHESTRA MANAGER
O
Yvonne Frindle
Chris Lewis
C
ORCHESTRA COORDINATOR
O
Georgia Stamatopoulos
G
OPERATIONS MANAGER
O
Kerry-Anne Cook
K
PRODUCTION MANAGER
PR
Laura Daniel
La
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
PR
Tim Dayman
T
PRODUCTION COORDINATOR
PR
Ian Spence
Ia
DEVELOPMENT
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
Caroline Sharpen
HEAD OF CORPORATE RELATIONS
Jeremy Goff
HEAD OF MAJOR GIFTS
Luke Andrew Gay
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Amelia Morgan-Hunn
DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
Sarah Morrisby
SALES AND MARKETING
S
DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING
D
Mark J Elliott
M
SENIOR SALES & MARKETING MANAGER
SE
Penny Evans
Pe
MARKETING MANAGER, SUBSCRIPTION SALES
M
Simon Crossley-Meates
Si
MARKETING MANAGER, CLASSICAL SALES
M
Matthew Rive
M
MARKETING MANAGER, WEB & DIGITAL MEDIA
M
Eve Le Gall
Ev
MARKETING MANAGER, DATABASE & CRM
M
Matthew Hodge
M
BUSINESS SERVICES
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
John Horn
FINANCE MANAGER
Ruth Tolentino
ACCOUNTANT
Minerva Prescott
ACCOUNTS ASSISTANT
Emma Ferrer
PAYROLL OFFICER
Laura Soutter
HUMAN RESOURCES
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
G
Lucy McCullough
Lu
CREATIVE ARTWORKER
C
HEAD OF HUMAN RESOURCES
Michel Maree Hryce
Nathanael van der Reyden
N
22 sydney symphony
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SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PATRONS
Maestro’s Circle
Peter William Weiss ao – Founding President & Doris Weiss
John C Conde ao – Chairman
Geoff Ainsworth am
Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn
In memory of Hetty & Egon Gordon
Andrew Kaldor am & Renata Kaldor ao
Vicki Olsson
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 Orchestra Corporate Alliance
Tony Grierson, Braithwaite Steiner Pretty
Insurance Australia Group
John Morschel, Chairman, ANZ
Chair Patrons
01
04
02
03
05
06
01 Roger Benedict
Principal Viola
Kim Williams am &
Catherine Dovey Chair
06 Kirsty Hilton
Principal Second Violin
Corrs Chambers Westgarth
Chair
02 Lawrence Dobell
Principal Clarinet
Terrey Arcus am &
Anne Arcus Chair
07 Robert Johnson
Principal Horn
James & Leonie Furber Chair
03 Diana Doherty
Principal Oboe
Andrew Kaldor am &
Renata Kaldor ao Chair
04 Richard Gill oam
Artistic Director, Education
Sandra & Paul Salteri Chair
07
08
09
05 Catherine Hewgill
Principal Cello
The Hon. Justice AJ &
Mrs Fran Meagher Chair
08 Elizabeth Neville
Cello
Ruth & Bob Magid Chair
09 Colin Piper
Percussion
Justice Jane Mathews ao
Chair
10 Emma Sholl
Associate Principal Flute
Robert & Janet Constable
Chair
11 Janet Webb
Principal Flute
Helen Lynch am &
Helen Bauer Chair
For information about the Chair Patrons program, please call (02) 8215 4619.
10
11
Sydney Symphony Orchestra Vanguard
Vanguard Collective
Justin Di Lollo – Chair
Kees Boersma
Marina Go
David McKean
Amelia Morgan-Hunn
Jonathan Pease
Seamus R Quick
Members
Centric Wealth
Matti Alakargas
Stephen Attfield
Damien Bailey
Mar Beltran
Evonne Bennett
Nicole Billet
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Kees Boersma
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Blake Briggs
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Hilary Caldwell
Hahn Chau
Alistair Clark
Matthew Clark
Benoît Cocheteux
Paul Colgan
George Condous
Juliet Curtin
Justin Di Lollo
Alistair Furnival
Alistair Gibson
Sam Giddings
Marina Go
Sebastian Goldspink
Tony Grierson
Louise Haggerty
Rose Herceg
Philip Heuzenroeder
Paolo Hooke
Peter Howard
Jennifer Hoy
Scott Jackson
Justin Jameson
Aernout Kerbert
Tristan Landers
Gary Linnane
Paul Macdonald
Kylie McCaig
Rebecca MacFarling
David McKean
Hayden McLean
Amelia Morgan-Hunn
Phoebe Morgan-Hunn
Taine Moufarrige
Nick Nichles
Tom O’Donnell
Kate O’Reilly
Fiona Osler
Archie Paffas
Jonathan Pease
Jingmin Qian
Seamus R Quick
Leah Ranie
Michael Reede
Paul Reidy
Chris Robertson
Benjamin Robinson
Emma Rodigari
Jacqueline Rowlands
Katherine Shaw
Randal Tame
Sandra Tang
Adam Wand
Jon Wilkie
Jonathan Watkinson
Darren Woolley
Misha Zelinsky
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PLAYING YOUR PART
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra 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+
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
Helen Lynch am & Helen Bauer
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
Gold Patrons: $10,000–$19,999
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Copyright Agency Cultural Fund
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The Hon. Justice AJ Meagher &
Mrs Fran Meagher
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Anonymous (1)
Silver Patrons: $5000–$9,999
Stephen J Bell
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Rosenblum
Estate of the late Greta C Ryan
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Anonymous (2)
Bronze Patrons:
Presto $2,500–$4,999
Mr Henri W Aram oam
The Berg Family Foundation
in memory of Hetty Gordon
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Firehold Pty Ltd
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In memory of Sandra Paul
Pottinger
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Anonymous (1)
Bronze Patrons:
Vivace $1,000–$2,499
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Bethwaite
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M Bulmer
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Graham
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In memory of Dora & Oscar Grynberg
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Dr A J Palmer
Mr Andrew C Patterson
24 sydney symphony
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Dr Natalie E Pelham
Almut Piatti
Robin Potter
TA & MT Murray-Prior
Dr Raffi Qasabian
Michael Quailey
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In memory of Joan & Rupert Vallentine
Dr Alla Waldman
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The Hon. Justice A G Whealy
Ms Kathy White in memory of
Mr Geoff White
A Willmers & R Pal
Mr & Mrs B C Wilson
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In memory of Lorna Wright
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Anonymous (12)
Bronze Patrons:
Allegro $500–$999
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David & Rae Allen
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Anonymous (24)
List correct as of 1 October 2013
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sydney symphony 25
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Fine Music 102.5
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Photo: Keith Saunders
ORCHESTRA NEWS | NOVEMBER 2013
`
It’s an
extension of
my body…
HELLO CELLO
Assistant Principal cellist Leah Lynn is
at one with her instrument.
Like many of our musicians,
Assistant Principal cellist
Leah Lynn has a very
close relationship with her
instrument. ‘Most of the time,
it’s like an extension of my body,’
she says, ‘it’s a comfortable
and symbiotic relationship.’
Running around after three
kids with her husband Richard,
who plays double bass in the
orchestra, sometimes leaves less
than the ideal amount of time
to practise. ‘If life has been busy
and I’ve had too little time with
my cello, the symbiotic sense is
lost. It can feel like I’m holding
some kind of strange “thing” – it
can feel a bit alien.
A few years ago, the orchestra
purchased a 1901 Vincenzo
32S S88 Murray Perahia Special.indd 27
Sannino cello, an acquisition
made possible through our
Instrument Fund; Leah was
the very happy recipient of this
magnificent Italian cello. ‘I’ve
now got this new and expressive
language of colour and timbre
available to me. It has a sonority
with which I can express
myself so much better [than
before].
‘The sound [of the Sannino]
is just so close to my ideal
sound, to what’s in my head.
I think all music starts in
the your head. When I was
younger, I often thought – quite
naively – that if I was to loose
a sense, I would least mind
losing my hearing, because
I’ve got the music in my head
a
already; I can see it, and I can
hear it.’
For the first few years in
the job, says Leah, there’s no
amount of preparation that
compares with the experience
of repeating a piece, and what
that brings to your bank of
skills. ‘Although I heard the
words many times as a
younger professional about
“needing experience”, I don’t
think I quite understood what
that meant, what experience
really can bring.
‘Having been in the orchestra
for over 15 years, I feel like
I’ve reached a different point
of reference. It’s not that the
music still always feels fresh,
but most pieces you just take a
different approach to. The only
pieces that will ever feel tired
to me are ones that I really
dislike. For everything else, I
just try to change and hopefully
improve my perspective each
time.’
29/10/13 11:30 AM
Education Highlight
Ask a Musician
Love music. Will travel.
‘I absolutely loved the sound of the Wagner
tubas in the Orchestral Adventure concert,’
writes one concert-goer. ‘They look like
a euphonium given the once-over by
Salvador Dali!’
Have a question about music, instruments of the
inner workings of an orchestra? ‘Ask a Musician’ at
[email protected] or by writing to
Bravo! Reply Paid 4338, Sydney NSW 2001
Photo: Ken Butti
Kamikaze kookaburras. Cake and cookies from the
Country Women’s Association. All in a day’s work
for our SSO Fellows when they took to the road
to join in the music-making at the Moorambilla
Festival in September.
‘The festival’s a celebration of music which
brings local communities together, and gives rural
kids the opportunity to be involved in a large-scale
musical event,’ says clarinet Fellow Som Howie.
The heart of the festival was hosted at Coonamble,
seven hours’ drive northwest of Sydney. ‘Some
of the schools involved have only ten students
enrolled, so without Moorambilla, it’s unlikely
those kids would have the chance to sing in a large
choir or music ensemble.’
Our Fellows, alongside other professional and
amateur ensembles from Sydney, worked with
local groups, sharing their passion and expertise.
Events culminated in an enormous combined gala
performance. Horn Fellow Brendan Parravicini
found it a moving experience: ‘When we were
accompanying the children’s choir, made up of
hundreds of kids, I felt humbled to share in such a
special occasion.’
Wagner tubas are the brainchild of Richard Wagner,
who was searching for a bridge in the sound between
the horns and trombones at the time of composing
his Ring cycle.
SSO horn player Marnie Sebire is often called on
to play this notoriously unwieldy instrument: ‘Let’s
just say it’s “interesting” to play!’ Despite the name,
Wagner tubas are normally assigned to the horn
section, rather than tuba players; the shape of the
instrument might be very different to the horn, but
the mouthpiece used is identical.
‘Wagner tubas have a few inherent flaws; often
the notes don’t “centre”. On the horn, we can
move our right hand around in the bell to alter the
intonation, but we lose that advantage when the bell
is pointing straight up.’ Instead the player has to
alter the shape of their embouchure. ‘We’re always
lipping up or down to get the notes in tune.’
Few composers use the instrument – Richard
Strauss in some of his symphonic tone poems,
Stravinsky in The Rite of Spring, Wagner of course
– but every orchestra will own a set of four. ‘We
need the instruments there for us to practise on and
keep familiar,’ says Marnie. The SSO is currently
investigating the purchase of a new set, at a cost of
about $40,000.
Challenges aside, Marnie says the sound of
the Wagner tuba is one of the most honest and
honourable. ‘They have a rich, warm and resonant
sound. When you’ve got a good quartet playing, it’s
something very special.’
Our Education Partner Tenix recently gave three
aspiring young Australian musicians the chance
to travel to Sydney for the inaugural Tenix Sydney
Symphony Orchestra Experience Day. Seventeenyear-old Grace Halloway (right) made the trip from
Kingsley in Perth to take part in a private bassoon
32S S88 Murray Perahia Special.indd 28
lesson with SSO principal Noriko Shimada (left).
With Madeline Baker (clarinet) and Murphy Guo
(piano) from Victoria, Grace also enjoyed lunch with
the SSO’s Fellows, a personalised Sydney Opera
House tour with our Assistant Conductor Jessica
Cottis, and a concert by the orchestra.
29/10/13 11:30 AM
The Score
JP ON THE VANGUARD
Dancing with Britten
JP (Jonathan Pease) was one of the first to join the SSO’s Vanguard Collective.
When Development Manager
Amelia Morgan-Hunn was
interviewed for her job in 2010
she pitched us the idea of ‘SSO
Vanguard’. It got us excited, and
needless to say, she got the job!
One of the first to join Amelia
on this initiative was Jonathan
Pease, ‘JP’ to everyone. With a
20-year background in marketing
and advertising for the biggest
guns in town, JP jumped at the
chance to do something for the
greater cultural good. ‘I love art.
I love music. I think without art
and music around you, everything
becomes extremely transactional
and boring. I don’t want to live
in a world without either. When
Amelia invited me to be involved,
it was a no-brainer.’
The Sydney Symphony
Orchestra Vanguard encourages
young philanthropists to discover
and enjoy classical music by
taking it into unexpected spaces.
‘We want a new audience to fall
in love with music,’ says JP. ‘And
we’re doing that by taking the
orchestra out of the Opera House,
giving it a twist, and making it
more relevant for a Gen X–Y
demographic. These are people
who don’t have a season pass, and
who may never go to the Opera
House for a performance.’
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‘The main thing is that people
don’t know what they don’t know.
If you say to someone who’s never
seen the SSO, “Do you like this
sort of music? Are you into it?”
they’ll probably say “No”. But
bring them to Vanguard – to a
car park in Kings Cross, or a
warehouse in Surry Hills – to
witness the SSO playing our sort
of music, and they walk away
saying, “Wow. I really love that.”
I haven’t brought anyone to
Vanguard who hasn’t loved it and
wanted to come back.’
In addition to the car park
and the warehouse, Vanguard
has hosted events in a basement
and a brewery, and has raised
over $45,000 to fund three yearlong places in the SSO’s Sinfonia
mentoring orchestra for talented
young musicians.
‘We’re going to continue to
push it, do new and creative
things. The next one might be
in an aircraft carrier,’ laughs JP,
‘or maybe we’ll launch the SSO
blimp!’ Watch the skies…
Our final set of concerts for the
year offers ‘Variations on an
English Theme’: music for the
English, music by an Englishman,
and music celebrating variation
technique – sometimes all three
at once!
And at the centre of the
program is Britten’s Violin
Concerto, which will also see
the Australian debut of young
Norwegian violinist, Vilde Frang.
Those who’ve heard Vilde
Frang play know she’s a leading
musician of her generation. She
was discovered by Mariss Jansons
at the age of 13, and last year
made her debut with the Vienna
Philharmonic at the Lucerne
Festival, at which she received
the 2012 Credit Suisse Young
Artists Award.
It’s less well-known that she
studied ballet for many years and
dreamed of being a choreographer.
Maybe it’s appropriate then that
her current musical focus is the
Britten – a concerto that ends
with a Passacaglia, a massive set
of dance variations.
The concerto begins with a
sense of impending doom (it was
composed in 1939) but also has
a wonderful intensity to it. And
the Passacaglia introduces the
variation form that Britten loved
so much (think Young Person’s
Guide to the Orchestra), making for
an expansive and virtuosic finale.
Ideal music for a violinist with
dancing in her bones; ideal music
for a violinist with multifaceted
sound and a maturity that belies
her youth.
Variations on an English Theme
Master Series
11, 13, 14, December | 8pm
Photo: Sussie Ahlburg
Photo: Ben Symons
Philanthropy Focus
Visit sydneysymphony.com/
vanguard for more information
or contact Amelia Morgan-Hunn:
amelia.morgan-hunn@
sydneysymphony.com or
(02) 8215 4663.
29/10/13 11:30 AM
CODA
SSO FAMILY
First violinist Alexandra Mitchell
and husband Charles welcomed
daughter Chloe in September. She
didn’t give her mum much time to
recover from the rigours of Wagner
before demanding her entry to the
world. Brava Alex!
CONDOLENCES
We were saddened to learn of
the death of Douglas Trengove,
a horn player with the SSO for 42
years. In a Sydney Morning Herald
review from 1962, he was praised
for the ‘liquescent cut and curl of
the passagework’ in Mozart’s Horn
Quintet. Our thoughts are with
Douglas’s wife Barbara, children
Christopher and Caroline, and
extended family and friends.
NEW CHAIR PATRONS
We’re delighted to announce two
new Chair Patrons for the orchestra.
The Principal Flute Chair (Janet
Webb), is now supported by Helen
Lynch AM & Helen Bauer. And Corrs
Chambers Westgarth have come
on board to support the Principal
Second Violin Chair (Kirsty Hilton).
Our Chair Patrons program –
formerly Directors’ Chairs – builds
special relationships between our
musicians and members of our
community of supporters. For more
information, call (02) 8215 4619.
STUDENT RUSH
Did you know we offer student rush
tickets to many of our concerts?
Follow our Facebook page to find
out where, when, and how many.
Tickets are always strictly limited,
but you’ll often spend no more than
$15. Bargain!
FELLOWS ON FILM
Why does Brendan Parravicini call
the SSO Fellowship program an
‘arranged marriage’? Get to know
our 2013 Fellows through a series
of short videos, created by
Premier Partner Credit Suisse:
bit.ly/5MinutesWithTheFellows
3x3
August and September saw us
present three world premieres in
three weeks. John Adams’ Saxophone
Concerto, Mary Finsterer’s Double
Bass Concerto, and Compassion
by Lior and Nigel Westlake,
were heard by more than 10,000
people, thanks to ABC Classic FM
broadcasts and our webcast of the
Lior-Westlake concert.
INFLIGHT
ENTERTAINMENT
Fly with Emirates and enjoy the
SSO in flight! A selection of
webcast performances – including
our 2010 performance of Mahler’s
Sixth Symphony with Vladimir
Ashkenazy – can now be viewed
on Emirates’ ice, which recently
took out the award for best inflight
entertainment system for the ninth
year running in the Skytrax Awards.
CATCHING THE WORM
Our 2014 Season Emirates Early
Bird prize has been won by Mrs
Margaret Harlow, an SSO subscriber
for more than 17 years. Mrs Harlow
(and a lucky travel partner) will fly
Emirates’ luxurious business class
to Dubai and enjoy five nights in
the JW Marriot Marquis Dubai.
Congratulations!
BRAVO EDITOR Genevieve Lang Huppert
sydneysymphony.com/bravo
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