BEETHOVEN’S EROICA - d32h38l3ag6ns6.cloudfront.net · 2011 season wed 7 december 8pm fri 9...
Transcript of BEETHOVEN’S EROICA - d32h38l3ag6ns6.cloudfront.net · 2011 season wed 7 december 8pm fri 9...
2011 SEASON
WED 7 DECEMBER 8PM
FRI 9 DECEMBER 8PM
SAT 10 DECEMBER 8PM
AUSGRID MASTER SERIES
BEETHOVEN’S
EROICAHERO / ANTI-HERO
WELCOME TO THE AUSGRID MASTER SERIES
George MaltabarowManaging Director
Welcome to tonight’s concert at the Sydney Opera House. This is the fi nal program in the Ausgrid Master Series for 2011 and we think you will fi nd it both intriguing and inspiring.
It’s a pleasure to welcome back to the orchestra, and to this series, Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä. If you’ve heard him conduct the Sydney Symphony in the past, or on recordings with the Minnesota Orchestra, you will know that his Beethoven symphonies leave lasting memories – vital and masterly interpretations of great masterpieces. The Eroica Symphony promises to be another memorable performance.
We also welcome tonight’s soloist, American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, making her Sydney debut in exciting but rarely heard music by Prokofi ev. And to begin the concert, Osmo Vänskä has chosen another master composer for the orchestra, Tchaikovsky, in a work of powerful musical storytelling.
The Ausgrid network includes the poles, wires and substations that deliver electricity to more than 1.6 million homes and businesses in New South Wales. Ausgrid is transforming the traditional electricity network into a grid that is smarter, more reliable and more interactive – something we are very proud of.
We’re also extremely proud of our partnership with the Sydney Symphony and our support of the orchestra’s fl agship Master Series.
We trust that you will enjoy tonight’s performance and we look forward to seeing you again at the Ausgrid Master Series concerts in 2012.
PRESENTING PARTNER
2011 SEASON
AUSGRID MASTER SERIES Wednesday 7 December | 8pm Friday 9 December | 8pm Saturday 10 December | 8pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
BEETHOVEN’S EROICA: HERO/ANTI-HEROOsmo Vänskä conductorAlisa Weilerstein cello
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893)The Voyevoda – Symphonic ballad, Op.78
SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891–1953)Symphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra, Op.125
AndanteAllegro giustoAndante con moto – Allegretto – Allegro marcato
INTERVAL
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)Symphony No.3 in E fl at, Op.55 (Eroica)
Allegro con brioMarcia funebre (Adagio assai)Scherzo (Allegro vivace)Finale (Allegro molto)
Friday’s performance will be broadcast live across Australia on ABC Classic FM.
Pre-concert talk by Yvonne Frindle at 7.15pm in the Northern Foyer. Visit sydneysymphony.com/talk-bios for speaker biographies.
Approximate durations: 10 minutes, 40 minutes, 20-minute interval, 53 minutes
The concert will conclude at approximately 10.20pm.
The cover page of Beethoven’s Third Symphony. When Napoleon declared himself Emperor in 1804, Beethoven scratched out the words ‘intitolata Buonaparte’. The symphony was given the title
‘Sinfonia eroica’ when it was published in 1806.
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Heroes and Anti-heroes
On the surface, concert music can seem the least theatrical of the performing arts. Traditionally there are no sets or special eff ects, and mostly it’s performed in ‘uniform’ rather than costume – focusing attention on the music itself. It takes a composer such as Mahler in a work like his Second Symphony (which we played last month) to remind us that music has its own brand of theatre, its own way of using space and time, its own way of touching emotions and exciting passions, its own drama. And at the centre of even the most abstract of musical dramas is the hero.
We have Beethoven to thank for this. In both his person and the most infl uential of his creations, Beethoven embodied the idea of the uncompromising musical hero, and nowhere is this more evident than in his Eroica Symphony.
Tchaikovsky, by comparison, never cut a heroic fi gure, and the eloquence of his music is more personal and intimate. Rather than attempting to speak for humanity and big ideals, he poured the depth of human feeling into his music, from eff ervescent delight to the depths of despair. The story of his rarely performed Voyevoda gives this concert its anti-hero – a man betrayed, whose vengeful scheme backfi res.
Central to any heroic myth is the idea of transformation; the hero who doesn’t change is a mere action fi gure. And for transformation we turn to Prokofi ev. It’s unfair to say that he wrote one cello concerto three times – the fact that he adopted distinct titles and a fresh opus number indicates that he considered them as separate compositions. But it is true that he drew on common thematic material and heavily reworked his musical ideas over a period of 20 years. The ‘Symphonya Konsert’ (or Symphony-Concerto, as Rostropovich recommended it be translated) represents the fi nal version, and for many listeners, the most exciting. As a ‘concerto’ with a soloist, its heroism is built into the form, but by suggesting that it’s also a ‘symphony’, Prokofi ev draws attention to the collaboration without which music-making would be impossible.
INTRODUCTION
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ABOUT THE MUSIC
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky The Voyevoda – Symphonic ballad, Op.78
The Voyevoda is a work of unusual terseness and brutality in Tchaikovsky’s output. It is one of his last orchestral pieces; he began writing it in the autumn of 1890, shortly after completing the string sextet Souvenir de Florence. Where the writing of the sextet had been straightforward and the result a largish and serene work, The Voyevoda needed much labour, and occupied Tchaikovsky for more than a year. It is a compact and troubled piece, pointing to the dark world of the Pathétique Symphony.
Not to be confused with Tchaikovsky’s 1868 opera of the same name, with which it has no connection, The Voyevoda is based on a melodramatic poem by the Polish writer Adam Mickiewicz as translated by Pushkin. Tchaikovsky’s program begins with the voyevoda (a provincial governor) galloping home through the night. He fi nds his wife’s room empty. Suspicious, he searches the castle with his servant and discovers his wife and her former suitor together in the moonlight. He urges his servant to shoot the illicit lovers, but the servant misses his aim and instead the voyevoda is killed by the fatal blast.
For Tchaikovsky, the gloom of The Voyevoda’s narrative was compounded by a crisis in his personal life. A few days after he began sketching the work, the composer received a letter from his long-time patron Nadezhda von Meck informing him that, due to the precarious state of her fi nances, she could no longer give him his annual allowance of 6,000 roubles. She also broke off all contact with him. Given Tchaikovsky’s increasing professional successes he was not as distressed by his monetary loss as by the loss of a trusted and devoted correspondent, a kindred spirit to whom he had divulged some of his innermost thoughts. His resulting bitterness undoubtedly aff ected the character of The Voyevoda.
Like Tchaikovsky’s tone poem after Dante, Francesca da Rimini (1876), The Voyevoda is cast in a three-part form, with the voyevoda’s ride and discovery of the lovers as the opening panel and the lovers themselves in the centre. The short fi nal section depicts the death of the title character.
The music begins with the voyevoda’s ride to the castle – a driving rhythmic theme on cellos and double basses, timpani, bassoon and clarinets. These are unusual colours for Tchaikovsky and have reminded more than one critic of Sibelius (parts Night Ride and Sunrise are a useful
Keynotes
TCHAIKOVSKY
Born Kamsko-Votkinsk, 1840 Died St Petersburg, 1893
Tchaikovsky represented a new direction for Russian music in the late 19th century: fully professional and cosmopolitan in outlook. He embraced the genres and forms of Western European tradition, bringing to them his extraordinary dramatic sense – his ballets count among his masterpieces – and an unrivalled gift for melody.
THE VOYEVODA
The Voyevoda belongs to the Romantic genre known as the symphonic poem (or tone poem) – music in which narrative drama shapes the musical form. (In a symphony, by comparison, form shapes the drama.) The best-known of these from Tchaikovsky’s output is his Romeo and Juliet fantasy overture, completed in 1880. The rarely performed Voyevoda (1891) also has a literary inspiration, a poem by the Polish writer Mickiewicz (1798–1855).
The title refers to a Polish overlord or provincial governor; the equivalent might be a minor prince or duke. The narrative, and the music, has three main scenes: the voyevoda gallops home; he fi nds his wife and a former suitor strolling in the moonlight; he instructs his servant to shoot the lovers, but his servant is a poor shot and things end badly for the voyevoda
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comparison). This section reaches a frenzied climax, in which the side drum reinforces the rhythm of the fi rst theme, after which a second, impassioned, descending theme is announced by the trumpets.
A series of brutal brass punctuations ushers in the central part of the work, in which the voyevoda’s fi rst theme slowly recedes as the lovers’ music takes shape, in sonorities of the most refi ned luxuriance. It is here that the celeste makes its fi rst appearance in an orchestral work. Tchaikovsky had heard the recently invented instrument in Paris (it was the creation of Mustel, a French fi rm of harmonium builders) and asked his publisher to buy one. ‘[It is] something between a piano and a glockenspiel, with a divinely beautiful tone,’ Tchaikovsky wrote. ‘…Have it sent direct to St Petersburg; but no one there must know about it. I am afraid Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov might hear of it and make use of the new eff ect before I could.’ He was to use it soon after, to very diff erent eff ect, for the sugar-plum fairy’s music in The Nutcracker.
The fi nal part of the work is almost callously short. The shooting of the voyevoda is signalled graphically, after which the work concludes with a grim meditation on the fi rst theme, including a passage on trombones that pre-fi gures the darkness of the Pathétique Symphony’s fi nale.
The premiere, conducted by the composer, went badly, and Tchaikovsky immediately turned against the piece. His euphoria at his successful completion of the work – ‘it was indeed a brainwave to write this composition’ – now turned to disgust. ‘Such rubbish should never have been written!’ he exclaimed a few minutes after the performance. He tore up the score the following day, and the work had to be reconstructed from the orchestral parts in 1897. The Voyevoda remains one of the least-known of Tchaikovsky’s mature orchestral pieces.
PHILLIP SAMETZ ©1993
The Voyevoda calls for three fl utes, two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons; four horns, two trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani and percussion; harp, piano and celeste; and strings.
According to our records, the only ABC orchestra to have previously performed The Voyevoda was the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, in 1993. This is the Sydney Symphony’s fi rst performance of the work.
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Sergei Prokofi evSymphony-Concerto for cello and orchestra, Op.125
AndanteAllegro giustoAndante con moto – Allegretto – Allegro marcato
Alisa Weilerstein cello
Between 1946 and 1948 the tribunal headed by Stalin’s most powerful cultural warrior, Andrei Zhdanov, passed a series of resolutions on various art forms and artists. The last of these, an offi cial criticism of an opera by a now-forgotten Soviet composer, led to a spate of bans and denunciations which aff ected many of the most important composers in the country. Prokofi ev in particular was singled out for the crime of ‘formalism’ – Soviet code for writing music which experimented with bourgeois ‘western’ techniques and which ‘rejected the principles of classical music’. Much of his music was eff ectively banned (in a Kafkaesque touch, however, these were mostly works with pro-Soviet titles), and the composer – in serious ill-health – was forced to write a public recantation of his ‘errors’ and express his gratitude to the tribunal for its clear guidelines.
The last fi ve years of Prokofi ev’s life were miserable. His heath didn’t improve – in fact he had several heart attacks. He is said to have told his second wife Mira Mendelssohn that his ‘soul hurt’; his fi rst wife was inexplicably arrested and sent to a labour camp. Moreover, the lack of performances was matched by a lack of commissions for new work, so Prokofi ev’s fi nancial situation became ever more dire.
One of the few happy aspects to Prokofi ev’s last years is the friendship he enjoyed with the young cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. Not only was Rostropovich the inspiration for a number of new works, he was also fi erce in his defence of the composer. According to his wife, the singer Galina Vishnevskaya, Rostropovich bearded the First Secretary of the Composers’ Union Tikhon Khrennikov in his lair and shouted at him until the latter made funds available to the impoverished composer. In 1952 Stalin allowed Prokofi ev a pension of 2000 roubles a month.
Prokofi ev had written his Cello Concerto (Op.58) in the mid-1930s but had been dissatisfi ed with both the work and its fi rst performance in 1938. Meeting Rostropovich a decade later made Prokofi ev return to the piece, rewriting
Keynotes
PROKOFIEV
Born Sontsovka (Ukraine), 1891Died Moscow, 1953
For his graduation in 1914, Prokofi ev played his own piano concerto, displaying his remarkable skills as both composer and performer. Composition soon became his main focus but concertos remained an important part of his output. In addition to his fi ve piano concertos, he wrote two violin concertos as well as music for cello and orchestra.
Prokofi ev was one of many Russian artists who left their homeland after the October Revolution of 1917, but the only composer to return. Following his return in 1936, he enjoyed initial success with Peter and the Wolf and the ballet Romeo and Juliet but Soviet favour was short-lived and his situation later in life became increasingly desperate.
SYMPHONY-CONCERTO
Prokofi ev completed three works for cello and orchestra, all of which can be traced back to the material of his fi rst cello concerto from the 1930s. This third work has an unusual title, Symphony-Concerto. The title is sometimes given as ‘Sinfonia concertante’, but where the popular sinfonia concertante genre of the 18th-century featured more than one soloist (think of Mozart’s exquisite Sinfonia concertante for violin and viola), Prokofi ev’s title seems to be suggesting that the music is partly symphonic and partly a concerto.
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it substantially enough to label it his Concerto No.2, in which form Rostropovich performed it in 1952. Still dissatisfi ed, Prokofi ev made further revisions, expansions and re-workings with much technical advice from the cellist so that the work reached its defi nitive form as the Symphony-Concerto (Op.125) later that year. (Contrary to rumour, Rostropovich didn’t actually compose any of the music except for an eight-bar section of the solo part for which Prokofi ev had already worked out the harmony and rhythm.) Another work for Rostropovich, the Concertino in G minor, was begun at the same time but only completed by the cellist and Dmitri Kabalevsky after Prokofi ev’s death the following year.
The work has a valedictory feel to it. Notwithstanding its occasionally extreme virtuosity, there are numerous refl ective passages throughout the work, not just in the andante sections of the outer movements, but in the central scherzo as well. The fi rst movement contains echoes of the earlier Prokofi ev: a hint of the march from The Love for three Oranges, a swelling melody or woodwind solo that recalls Romeo and Juliet, but the music remains generally spare and
Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich with Prokofi ev in 1952, the year the Symphony-Concerto was completed.
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the movement almost peters out in a series of evanescent cello fi gurations.
The central movement has some of the energy and harmonic tartness of earlier Prokofi ev (and indeed hints of the sardonic wit of Shostakovich) at fi rst, but soon falls into a dreamy reverie characterised by a songful line and delicate icy orchestral textures. The spell is soon broken by timpani and dissonant winds. The music briefl y regains its scurrying energy before another episode of lyrical cello writing against a spare orchestral background; yet again the momentum increases with rapid cello fi gurations and a goose-stepping orchestral march which in turn seems to dissolve before the movement ends in classic Prokofi evian style. A single tutti chord introduces the fi nale. To his original allegro fi nale, Prokofi ev has added a new opening – andante again but now con moto (with movement). Shades of Prokofi ev’s humour can be heard as the music ratchets through increasingly fast tempos to a breathtaking passage of high-lying solo writing at the work’s conclusion.
Sadly Prokofi ev didn’t live to hear the fi nal version, which Rostropovich premiered in Denmark in 1954.
GORDON KERRY ©2007
Prokofi ev’s Symphony-Concerto calls for an orchestra of two fl utes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, two clarinets and two bassoons; four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani and percussion; celesta and strings.
The fi rst performance by an ABC orchestra of the Symphony-Concerto was given by the Sydney Symphony in 1960 with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and conductor Georges Tzipine. The next, and we believe the most recent, performance by the orchestra was conducted by Sixten Ehrling in 1972 with soloist André Navarra.
INTERLUDE
Heroic Beethoven
In 1803, Beethoven completed his third symphony, Sinfonia eroica – his ‘heroic’ symphony. In the decade that followed, his compositions included his Coriolan Overture, the Fifth Symphony, the Emperor piano concerto and the opera Fidelio. Musicologists most often refer to this period (1803 to around 1812) as Beethoven’s Middle Period, but to the popular imagination this is Beethoven’s Heroic Period.
The musicologists are right to be cautious and objective – the ‘heroic’ style was not Beethoven’s only mode of composition, even during the middle period, and there are heroic works, such as the Ninth Symphony, which fall well outside these years. What is fascinating, however, is that although Beethoven’s heroic works are relatively few and represent only one aspect of his style, they have come to be defi nitive of Beethoven’s genius. Scott Burnham, in his book Beethoven Hero, goes so far as to suggest that these works have defi ned what is great for all music. Beethoven’s heroic style has coloured our assessment of everything written since; including Tchaikovsky and Prokofi ev.
Some of the heroic works were composed for the theatre; these are the works that give us Prometheus, Coriolan, Egmont and Florestan. But even the abstract works, the symphonies and concertos, inhabit the world of heroes. All these works are characterised by a powerful symphonic ideal, a sense of both thematic unity and integration of movements. The progressions from minor to major tonality in a work such as the Fifth Symphony are a reminder that in Beethoven joy emerges only from suff ering and is made greater against a background of darkness and instability. On the surface of the music there is a dramatic rhetoric, to startle and move us, even as the underlying structures carry us on a far-reaching journey. The music, as music, engages us at every level. At the same time it echoes the fundamentals of heroism: confl ict and strength.
To this could be added courage, including the courage of a composer who can no longer hear the shepherd’s pipe in the next valley but who nevertheless immerses himself in frenzied creativity. It is a characteristic of the ‘heroic’ works that they contain more than a little of Beethoven the man, or at least our conception of Beethoven as hero.
In the Eroica Symphony you could argue that music is the hero. The symphony had its origins in Beethoven’s admiration of Napoleon and was originally called ‘Buonaparte’. When the First Consul crowned himself Emperor, Beethoven angrily scratched out the title, but he didn’t change a note of the
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Stieler’s portrait of Beethoven from 1820 was said to have been the composer’s favourite – he even circulated copies – and this highly idealised image is the one that has most infl uenced modern perceptions of Beethoven’s personality and character.
symphony. This was still music that had been inspired by heroism and heroic ideals. The Eroica was the fi rst symphony that set out to express those ideals and to speak for humanity. It carries all the force of a personality who once said of Napoleon: ‘It’s a pity I do not understand the art of war as well as I do the art of music. I would conquer him!’
Beethoven wasn’t the only person who saw himself as an all-conquering hero; his countrymen and peers did too. And the legacy that Beethoven left for the composers who followed – from Schubert to Mahler and beyond – was defi ned by his heroic style. Burnham sums it up this way: ‘Beethoven’s heroic style, while musically representing something like destiny, itself became the destiny of music.’
In Beethoven we have the ultimate artist-as-hero. He belonged to an age that celebrated the individual, innovation and sublime expression, and this, together with the tragic affl iction of his deafness, conspired to make him a Romantic hero. Almost solely on the strength of this reputation and the impact of his ‘heroic’ works, Beethoven holds an unshakeable position as the most infl uential composer in Western music. The Eroica and Fifth Symphonies – the symphony for fallen heroes and the symphony for victory and triumph – the Appassionata and Waldstein sonatas, the Emperor concerto, even the Razumovsky string quartets – these are the works that have shaped the way we experience Beethoven, and the way we experience all music.
ADAPTED FROM AN ESSAY BY YVONNE FRINDLE ©2001
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ABOUT THE MUSIC
Keynotes
BEETHOVEN
Born Bonn, 1770Died Vienna, 1827
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 Fifth, have attracted fanciful interpretations almost from the outset. The famous story behind the Eroica Symphony explains something of its monumental character. It was also the fi rst of Beethoven’s so-called ‘heroic’ works.
EROICA SYMPHONY
When Eroica Symphony was given its public premiere in 1805 it was the longest symphony that had ever been written: more than 45 minutes. This gave it a grandeur of physical scale that went with the universal tone of its fi nal title, ‘Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man’. You can read about how the symphony was inspired by Napoleon and then the title scratched out. But according to Beethoven the ‘meaning’ of the symphony could be heard in the fi rst eight notes played by the cellos – the outline of a simple chord. In other words, for all its heroic character, the symphony is ‘about’ music.
The fi rst movement is followed by a tragic funeral march; the intensity is broken by the playful scherzo; and the fi nale expands on a theme taken from Beethoven’s ballet, The Creatures of Prometheus.
BeethovenSymphony No.3 in E fl at, Op.55, Eroica
Allegro con brioMarcia funebre (Adagio assai)Scherzo (Allegro vivace)Finale (Allegro molto)
It can be misleading to read too much of the personal circumstances of a composer into the character of his music. (Does Beethoven’s Second Symphony really convey the feelings of a man struggling with encroaching deafness and despair?) Even so, the ‘heroic’ works of Beethoven’s middle period do contain more than a little of Beethoven the man. Or, perhaps more accurately, they contain more than a little of our conception of Beethoven as hero. From that viewpoint, who can the hero of the Eroica Symphony be but the composer himself?
At face value Beethoven was an unlikely hero – unattractive, quarrelsome and uncompromising – but he was embraced by the Viennese aristocracy who recognised his musical genius. Beethoven’s various patrons encouraged him to disregard the more conservative criticism he encountered and to foster the novel character and technical diffi culties of his music. This he had done to varying degrees and, on the whole, he had been well-received even in his more eccentric moments. But the Eroica Symphony of 1803 represented a rapid development in style and a serious challenge to convention.
The dedicatee of the Eroica, Prince Lobkowitz, purchased the rights to the symphony for his own use prior to publication and presented several performances before its public premiere on 7 April 1805. Even then, the symphony’s reception was polarised. On the one hand were listeners who judged the symphony a masterpiece and dismissed those it didn’t please as insuffi ciently cultivated, on the other hand were listeners who heard only a wilful and unnecessary departure from the style that had pleased them so much in the fi rst two symphonies.
The Eroica Symphony demanded serious attention of its listeners – it was the focal point of the concert program, not a diversion or something to frame other compositions. Its motivation was not purely musical – as might have reasonably been expected – nor was it representational, despite the ‘Eroica’ title. The subjective outlook of the Eroica was something new. Beethoven seemed to be saying that a symphony was now capable
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of expressing ideals, of speaking for as well as to humanity.
In this respect the Eroica was critical in the history of the symphony, matched in impact only by Beethoven’s Ninth. In purely musical terms it was equally revolutionary. It was ‘purposely written much longer than is usual’ and is twice as long as any of the symphonies composed by Haydn or Mozart. It expands the classical forms to monumental proportions, fi lling them with an abundance of thematic ideas and subjecting them to an unprecedented complexity and density of working out.
This was the fi rst of Beethoven’s symphonies to carry a title, ‘Sinfonia eroica’. The inspiration was Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt, and Beethoven saw in the First Consul of the Republic an apostle of new ideas and perhaps a little of his own uncompromising will. But when Beethoven heard that Napoleon had crowned himself Emperor the words ‘intitolato Buonaparte’ were scratched out and later replaced by ‘Heroic Symphony, composed to celebrate the memory of a great man’.
With this gesture the symphony was freed from any risk of petty pictorialism, in much the same way that the symphony itself ‘freed music’. The confl icts of the symphony became idealised; the Funeral March, supposedly prompted by the rumour of Nelson’s death in the Battle of Aboukir, grew in signifi cance, ‘too big to lead to the tomb of a single man’. The hero is not Napoleon – he had shown himself to be ‘nothing but an ordinary man’ – or any other individual, and no identifi able nations are party to the struggle (that must wait for Napoleon’s downfall in Wellington’s Victory).
In one sense the Eroica’s battles are entirely musical and music is the hero. When asked what the Eroica ‘meant’, Beethoven went to the piano and played, by way of an answer, the fi rst eight notes of the symphony’s main theme. It is a simple motif, outlining the key of the symphony by tracing the notes of an E fl at major chord, and Beethoven introduces it not with his customary disorienting introduction but with two authoritative thunderclaps from the orchestra. This apparently meagre material is all the more powerful for its directness and Beethoven develops it into a vast but detailed movement. The second movement, a funeral march, draws on the rhetoric of the revolutionary music and seemed to speak most directly to the fi rst audiences. One contemporary reviewer declared it a triumph of invention and design of which only a true genius was capable.
…the Funeral March is ‘too big to lead to the tomb of a single man’.
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Following this expression of intense grief, the third movement is blessedly playful and humorous, a Scherzo by name as well as by nature. For the fi rst time the contrasting trio section – with its connotations of the hunt – is integrated into the movement. The monumental scale of the symphony demands an adaptation of Classical forms and suddenly a simple pair of alternating dances is insuffi cient to the weight of material and expression.
The Finale is based on a passacaglia-like theme from Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus (1801) and the connection with another hero cannot be accidental. The theme had turned up again in a set of contredanses and, more signifi cantly, is the theme of the Piano Variations Op.35, completed in 1802. The theme is simple and impulsive, as befi ts its dance origins, but in this fi nal, symphonic embodiment Beethoven transforms it into a hymn to the generous sentiments of the Revolution: freedom and equality.
This portrait of Beethoven, painted by W.J. Mähler in 1804, shows the composer holding a lyre in his left hand.
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www.sydneysymphony.com/staytuned
The early reviews of the Eroica emphasised its unity of structure and material, a marked shift from the prevailing assessment of Beethoven’s music as fantastic, wild and unconstrained. It has been suggested that the Prometheus theme was also the primary source for the material of the other three movements, demonstrating how quickly Beethoven had shifted the focus and weight of his symphonic thinking from the fi rst movement to the last. This shift was inevitable in a composer for whom beauty, purpose and truth could only be won through a struggle, and whose music is an expression of human experience.
YVONNE FRINDLE ©2001/2011
Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony calls for pairs of fl utes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons; three horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.
The Sydney Symphony’s earliest recorded performance of the Eroica Symphony was in 1939 under George Szell. The most recent performance was in the 2007 Beethoven Festival conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti.
…the connection with another hero cannot be accidental
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CONTREDANSE – the 18th-century French take on the English country dance.
FORMALISM – a term in Soviet music criticism, implying (as a fault) an excessive intellectual concern with ‘form’ over emotional content and communication and generally applied to music that was considered overly discordant and ‘modern’.
PASSACAGLIA – a musical form with Baroque origins, which, since its revival in the 19th century, has been characterised by its recurring ground bass, providing the support for an extended set of variations, and its serious tone. Many composers have taken inspiration from the impressive but atypical passacaglias of Bach and Handel.
SCHERZO – literally, a joke; the scherzo as a genre was a creation of Beethoven. For composers such as Mozart the third movement of a symphony had typically been a minuet (featuring a contrasting ‘trio’ section in the middle). In Beethoven’s hands this dance acquired a playful and sometimes startling mood as well as a much faster tempo.
SINFONIA CONCERTANTE – a concerto featuring more than one soloist; this genre was extremely popular in the late 18th century, especially in France.
SYMPHONIC POEM – (also ‘tone poem’) a genre of orchestral music that is symphonic in scope but adopts a freer structure in
service of an extra-musical ‘program’ that provides the narrative or scene. Liszt was the fi rst to use the term.
TRIO – in a minuet or scherzo, the trio is the contrasting middle section of the movement. Originally it was performed by an actual trio of instruments, contrasting with the larger ensemble, but later composers opted for less literal contrasts of colour and texture.
TUTTI – all together!
In much of the classical repertoire, names of movements and major sections of music are taken from the Italian words that indicate the tempo and mood. Examples of terms from this program are included here.
Adagio assai – very slowAllegretto – lively, not as fast as AllegroAllegro – fast Allegro con brio – …with lifeAllegro giusto – …in strict timeAllegro marcato – …emphaticallyAllegro molto – very fastAllegro vivace – fast, livelyAndante – an easy walking paceAndante con moto – …with movement
This glossary is intended only as a quick and easy guide, not as a set of comprehensive and absolute defi nitions. Most of these terms have many subtle shades of meaning which cannot be included for reasons of space.
GLOSSARY
Sydney Symphony Online
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21 | Sydney Symphony
Webcasts
MORE MUSIC
Selected Discography
THE VOYEVODAIf you don’t already have a complete set of Tchaikovsky symphonies and major orchestral works, then look for Mikhail Pletnev’s much-admired 1996 cycle with the Russian National Orchestra, re-released last year in a collector’s edition that added the Manfred Symphony and selected symphonic poems to the program.DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8699
And for an exciting performance at a bargain price, you can’t go past Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra: Tchaikovsky’s Manfred and The Voyevoda.NAXOS 8570568
SYMPHONY-CONCERTOProkofi ev composed his Symphony-Concerto with cellist Mstislav Rostropovich in mind and it’s worth seeking out the original interpreter. Among the most recent releases, is a 3-CD set Mstislav Rostropovich plays Russian Cello Concertos, with music by Glazunov, Khachaturian, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and others, as well as Prokofi ev.BRILLIANT CLASSICS 9240
If you’re curious about the extent to which Prokofi ev changed and reworked his music for cello and orchestra, seek out the highly acclaimed recording by Alban Gerhardt with Andrew Litton conducting the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. The Symphony-Concerto is coupled with the Op.58 Cello Concerto.HYPERION 67705
EROICA SYMPHONYIf you admire Osmo Vänskä’s interpretation of Beethoven’s Eroica, you’ll want to pick up his recording of the complete symphonies with the Minnesota Orchestra.BIS 1825/26
For an exploration of Beethoven’s heroic vein, look for Beethoven – Gods, Heroes and Men, recorded by Kent Nagano with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The Eroica Symphony is paired with music from The Creatures of Prometheus.SONY 85737
OSMO VÄNSKÄFollowing his Beethoven symphony cycle, Osmo Vänskä has begun recording the Beethoven piano concertos with the Minnesota Orchestra and soloist Yevgeny Sudbin. The fi rst release features the Fourth and Fifth concertos. BIS 1758
Also worth seeking out is his comprehensive 13-volume Sibelius edition with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra. These releases on the BIS label include not only the complete symphonies, but alternative versions and sketches.
ALISA WEILERSTEINAlisa Weilerstein’s 2010 performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and Daniel Barenboim was fi lmed in concert for video release.EUROARTS 2058064 (Blu-ray)EUROARTS 2058068 (DVD)
Other recent recordings include Joseph Hallman’s Cello Concerto with the St Petersburg Chamber Orchestra and Jeffrey Meyer (2009), and Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Christoph Eschenbach (2006). Both available through the iTunes Store.
Selected Sydney Symphony concerts are webcast live on BigPond and Telstra T-box and made available for later viewing On Demand.Current webcast: Mahler 2Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony
2MBS-FM 102.5SYDNEY SYMPHONY 2011Tuesday 13 December, 6pm Musicians, staff and guest artists discuss what’s in store in our forthcoming concerts.
Broadcast Diary
DECEMBERFriday 9 December, 8pm BEETHOVEN’S EROICA: HERO/ANTI-HEROOsmo Vänskä conductor | Alisa Weilerstein cello Tchaikovsky, Prokofi ev, Beethoven
Tuesday 13 December, 1.05pmEVGENY KISSIN IN RECITALAll-Liszt program, including the Sonata in B Minor
Thursday 15 December, 1.05pmKISSIN PLAYS GRIEG Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor | Evgeny Kissin piano Brahms, Grieg
Saturday 17 December, 1pmKISSIN PLAYS CHOPINVladimir Ashkenazy conductor | Evgeny Kissin piano Chopin, Rachmaninoff
22 | Sydney Symphony
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Osmo Vänskä conductor
Praised for his intense, dynamic performances, his close rapport with musicians, and his compelling interpretations, Osmo Vänskä is in demand as a guest conductor, appearing with the leading orchestras in the United States and Europe. He is Music Director of the Minnesota Orchestra as well as Conductor Laureate of the Lahti Symphony Orchestra in his native Finland, and has also held the post of Chief Conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
With the Minnesota Orchestra, he has toured Europe and the US, given a pair of concerts at the 2010 BBC Proms, and made an acclaimed recording of the complete Beethoven symphonies, with the Ninth Symphony receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Orchestral Performance in 2008. More recently, they have recorded the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Yevgeny Sudbin, and the Tchaikovsky piano concertos with Stephen Hough. Future projects will include the complete Sibelius symphonies.
Osmo Vänskä began his musical career as an orchestral clarinettist in Finland. Following conducting studies at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula, he took fi rst prize in the 1982 Besançon International Young Conductor’s Competition and three years later began his Lahti affi liation, while also serving as Music Director of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Tapiola Sinfonietta during the 1990s.
As a guest conductor, he has worked with many of the fi nest orchestras in North America and Europe, and has developed close relationships with the San Franscisco Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Mostly Mozart Festival, London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestre de Paris. Future engagements will include concerts with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra.
He has received honorary doctorates from the University of Glasgow and University of Minnesota’s School of Music, and in 2001 was honoured with a Royal Philharmonic Society Award. In 2005 he was named Musical America’s Conductor of the Year and in 2010 Columbia University honoured him with the Ditson Conductor’s Award. Despite his exceptionally busy conducting schedule, he has enjoyed a return to the clarinet in recent years.
Osmo Vänskä has previously conducted the Sydney Symphony in 1998, 2001 and 2006.
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Alisa Weilerstein cello
Alisa Weilerstein convinced her parents to buy her a cello when she was four, performed her fi rst public concert six months later and made her Cleveland Orchestra debut at the age of 13 in 1995. She is a graduate of the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and of Columbia University New York (Russian History).
She has performed with all of the major American and European orchestras, working with many of the world’s leading conductors, and her festival appearances include Aspen, Edinburgh, Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, La Jolla Summerfest, Mostly Mozart, Tanglewood and Verbier. She performs regularly as a chamber musician, and has been part of a core group of musicians at the Spoleto Festival (USA) as well as performing with her parents as the Weilerstein Trio.
In the 2011–12 season, her engagements include performances with the Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, and Hamburg Philharmonic, and her Philharmonia Orchestra debut in London. She is also Artist in Residence with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Career highlights include a performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic and Daniel Barenboim in 2010, in a concert that was televised worldwide from Oxford. Last year she also made her BBC Proms debut with the Minnesota Orchestra and Osmo Vänskä, and in 2009 she was one of four artists invited by Michelle Obama to participate in a classical music event at the White House.
Alisa Weilerstein is a fervent champion of new music, and she has performed and given premieres of music by Osvaldo Golijov, Gabriel Kahane and Lera Auerbach, among others.
In September this year she was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, a valuable award popularly known as the ‘Genius Grant’. Other accolades include the Lincoln Center Martin E Segal prize (2008), Leonard Bernstein Award (2006) and an Avery Fisher Career Grant (2000).
Alisa Weilerstein made her Australian debut in 2001. This is her fi rst appearance with the Sydney Symphony, in a tour that also includes the Melbourne and West Australian symphony orchestras.
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In 2008, Alisa Weilerstein, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was nine, became a Celebrity Advocate for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
For more information, visit her Facebook page: www.facebook.com/AlisaWeilerstein
24 | Sydney Symphony
MUSICIANS
To see photographs of the full roster of permanent musicians and fi nd 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 fl yer.
Vladimir AshkenazyPrincipal Conductorand Artistic Advisorsupported by Emirates
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Dene OldingConcertmaster
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Nicholas CarterAssociate Conductor supported bySymphony Services International & Premier Partner Credit Suisse
Performing in this concert…
FIRST VIOLINS Dene Olding Concertmaster
Kirsten Williams Associate Concertmaster
Katherine Lukey Assistant Concertmaster
Fiona Ziegler Assistant Concertmaster
Jennifer BoothMarianne BroadfootBrielle ClapsonSophie Cole Amber Davis Georges LentzNicola Lewis Alexandra MitchellLéone Ziegler Martin Silverton*
SECOND VIOLINS Marina Marsden Emma Jardine* Associate Principal
Emma West Assistant Principal
Maria Durek Shuti Huang Stan W Kornel Benjamin Li Emily Long Biyana Rozenblit Maja Verunica Alexandra D’Elia#Michele O’Young*
VIOLASRoger Benedict Principal
Anne-Louise ComerfordRobyn Brookfi eld Sandro CostantinoJane Hazelwood Graham Hennings Felicity Tsai Leonid Volovelsky Vera Marcu*David Wicks#
CELLOSCatherine Hewgill Leah Lynn Assistant Principal
Timothy NankervisDavid Wickham Rowena Crouch#
Mee Na Lojewski*Patrick Suthers*Rachael Tobin#
DOUBLE BASSESKees Boersma Alex Henery Neil Brawley Principal Emeritus
David Campbell Steven Larson Richard Lynn David Murray
FLUTES Emma Sholl Carolyn HarrisRosamund Plummer Principal Piccolo
OBOESDiana Doherty David Papp Alexandre Oguey Principal Cor Anglais
CLARINETSLawrence Dobell Christopher Tingay Lisa McCowage*
BASSOONSRoger BrookeFiona McNamara
HORNSRobert Johnson Marnie Sebire Carla Blackwood*Katy Grisdale†
TRUMPETSPaul Goodchild John FosterCraig Ross*
TROMBONESScott Kinmont Nick Byrne Christopher Harris Principal Bass Trombone
TUBASteve Rossé
TIMPANIRichard Miller
PERCUSSIONRebecca Lagos Colin Piper
HARP Louise Johnson
KEYBOARDSSusanne Powell*
Bold = Principal Italic= Associate Principal* = Guest Musician # = Contract Musician† = Sydney Symphony Fellow
25 | Sydney Symphony
THE SYDNEY SYMPHONYPRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC ADVISOR Vladimir Ashkenazy PATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO
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Founded in 1932 by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, the Sydney Symphony has evolved into one of the world’s fi nest orchestras as Sydney has become one of the world’s great cities.
Resident at the iconic Sydney Opera House, where it gives more than 100 performances each year, the Sydney Symphony also performs in venues throughout Sydney and regional New South Wales. International tours to Europe, Asia and the USA have earned the orchestra worldwide recognition for artistic excellence, most recently in a tour of European summer festivals, including the BBC Proms and the Edinburgh Festival.
The Sydney Symphony’s fi rst Chief Conductor was Sir Eugene Goossens, appointed in 1947; he was followed by Nicolai Malko, Dean Dixon, Moshe Atzmon, Willem van Otterloo, Louis Frémaux, Sir Charles Mackerras, Zdenek Mácal, Stuart Challender, Edo de Waart and, most recently, Gianluigi Gelmetti. The orchestra’s history also boasts collaborations with legendary fi gures such as George Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, Otto Klemperer and Igor Stravinsky.
The Sydney Symphony’s award-winning education program is central to its commitment to the future of live symphonic music, developing audiences and engaging the participation of young people. The Sydney Symphony promotes the work of Australian composers through performances, recordings and its commissioning program. Recent premieres have included major works by Ross Edwards, Liza Lim, Lee Bracegirdle, Gordon Kerry and Georges Lentz, and a recording of works by Brett Dean was released on both the BIS and Sydney Symphony Live labels.
Other releases on the Sydney Symphony Live label, established in 2006, include performances with Alexander Lazarev, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Sir Charles Mackerras and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Currently the orchestra is recording the complete Mahler symphonies. The Sydney Symphony has also released recordings with Ashkenazy of Rachmaninoff and Elgar orchestral works on the Exton/Triton labels, and numerous recordings on the ABC Classics label.
This is the third year of Ashkenazy’s tenure as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor.
26 | Sydney Symphony
SALUTE
PRINCIPAL PARTNER GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the NSW Government through the Department of Trade & Investment
Arts NSW
The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the
Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body
PREMIER PARTNER
GOLD PARTNERS
EmanateBTA Vantage
2MBS 102.5 Sydney’s Fine Music Station
BRONZE PARTNER MARKETING PARTNER
REGIONAL TOUR PARTNERS
COMMUNITY PARTNER PLATINUM PARTNER MAJOR PARTNERS
SILVER PARTNERS
Television - Audio
27 | Sydney Symphony
PLAYING YOUR PART
The Sydney Symphony gratefully acknowledges the music lovers who donate to the Orchestra each year. Each gift plays an important part in ensuring our continued artistic excellence and helping to sustain important education and regional touring programs. Please visit sydneysymphony.com/patrons for a list of all our donors, including those who give between $100 and $499.
PLATINUM PATRONS $20,000+Brian AbelGeoff Ainsworth AM & Vicki AinsworthRobert Albert AO & Elizabeth AlbertTerrey Arcus AM & Anne ArcusTom Breen & Rachael KohnSandra & Neil BurnsMr John C Conde AO
Robert & Janet ConstableIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonThe Hansen FamilyMs Rose HercegThe Estate of Mrs E HerrmanJames N. Kirby FoundationMr Andrew Kaldor & Mrs Renata Kaldor AO
D & I KallinikosJustice Jane Mathews AO
Mrs Roslyn Packer AO
Dr John Roarty in memory of Mrs June RoartyPaul & Sandra SalteriMrs Penelope Seidler AM
Mrs W SteningMr Fred Street AM & Mrs Dorothy StreetMr Peter Weiss AM & Mrs Doris WeissWestfi eld GroupRay Wilson OAM in memory of James Agapitos OAM
Mr Brian and Mrs Rosemary WhiteJune & Alan Woods Family BequestAnonymous (1)
GOLD PATRONS $10,000–$19,999Alan & Christine BishopIan & Jennifer BurtonThe Estate of Ruth M DavidsonThe Hon Ashley Dawson-DamerPaul R. EspieFerris Family FoundationJames & Leonie FurberDr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda GiuffreRoss GrantHelen Lynch AM & Helen BauerMrs Joan MacKenzieRuth & Bob MagidTony & Fran MeagherMrs T Merewether OAM
Mr B G O’ConorMrs Joyce Sproat & Mrs Janet CookeMs Caroline WilkinsonAnonymous (1)
SILVER PATRONS $5,000–$9,999Mark Bethwaite AM & Carolyn BethwaiteJan BowenMr Alexander & Mrs Vera BoyarskyMr Robert BrakspearColin Draper & Mary Jane BrodribbMr Robert & Mrs L Alison CarrBob & Julie ClampettMrs Gretchen M DechertPenny EdwardsMr James Graham AM & Mrs Helen GrahamMr David Greatorex AO & Mrs Deirdre GreatorexIan Dickson & Reg HollowayMichael & Gabrielle FieldMrs Jennifer HershonMichelle HiltonStephen Johns & Michele BenderJudges of the Supreme Court of NSWMr Ervin KatzGary LinnaneMr David LivingstoneDavid Maloney & Erin Flaherty
William McIlrath Charitable FoundationEva & Timothy PascoeRodney Rosenblum AM & Sylvia RosenblumManfred & Linda SalamonSherry-Hogan FoundationDavid & Isabel SmithersMrs Hedy SwitzerIan & Wendy ThompsonMichael & Mary Whelan TrustDr Richard WingateJill WranAnonymous (2)
BRONZE PATRONS $2,500–$4,999Dr Lilon BandlerStephen J BellMarc Besen AO & Eva Besen AO
Mr David & Mrs Halina BrettLenore P BuckleHoward ConnorsEwen & Catherine CrouchVic & Katie FrenchMr Erich GockelKylie GreenJanette HamiltonAnn HobanIrwin Imhof in memory of Herta ImhofR & S Maple-BrownGreg & Susan MarieMora MaxwellJ A McKernanJustice George Palmer AM QC
James & Elsie MooreBruce & Joy Reid FoundationMary Rossi TravelGeorges & Marliese TeitlerGabrielle TrainorJ F & A van OgtropGeoff Wood & Melissa WaitesAnonymous (3)
BRONZE PATRONS $1,000–$2,499Charles & Renee AbramsAndrew Andersons AO
Mr Henri W Aram OAM
Claire Armstrong & John SharpeDr Francis J AugustusRichard BanksDoug & Alison BattersbyDavid BarnesMichael Baume AO & Toni BaumePhil & Elese BennettNicole BergerMrs Jan BiberJulie BlighM BulmerIn memory of R W BurleyMr Donald Campbell & Dr Stephen FreibergEric & Rosemary CampbellDr John H CaseyDr Diana Choquette & Mr Robert MillinerJoan Connery OAM & Maxwell Connery OAM
Debby Cramer & Bill CaukillMr John Cunningham SCM & Mrs Margaret CunninghamLisa & Miro DavisMatthew DelaseyJohn FavaloroMr Edward FedermanMr Ian Fenwicke & Prof N R WillsFirehold Pty LtdWarren GreenAnthony Gregg & Deanne WhittlestonAkiko Gregory
In memory of the late Dora & Oscar Grynberg Janette HamiltonBarbara & John HirstDorothy Hoddinott AO
Paul & Susan HotzBill & Pam HughesThe Hon. David Hunt AO QC & Mrs Margaret HuntDr & Mrs Michael HunterMr Peter HutchisonDr Michael Joel AM & Mrs Anna JoelThe Hon. Paul KeatingIn Memory of Bernard M H KhawAnna-Lisa KlettenbergJustin LamWendy LapointeMacquarie Group FoundationMr Robert & Mrs Renee MarkovicMs Jan Lee Martin & Mr Peter LazarKevin & Deidre McCannRobert McDougallIan & Pam McGawMatthew McInnesHarry M. Miller, Lauren Miller Cilento & Josh CilentoMiss An NhanMrs Rachel O’ConorMr R A OppenMr Robert Orrell Mr & Mrs OrtisMaria PagePiatti Holdings Pty LtdAdrian & Dairneen PiltonDr Raffi QasabianErnest & Judith RapeeKenneth R. ReedPatricia H Reid Endowment Pty LtdJohn SaundersJuliana SchaefferMr & Mrs Jean-Marie SimartCatherine StephenJohn & Alix SullivanThe Hon. Brian Sully QC
Mildred TeitlerAndrew & Isolde TornyaGerry & Carolyn TraversJohn E TuckeyMrs M TurkingtonIn memory of Dr Reg WalkerHenry & Ruth WeinbergThe Hon. Justice A G WhealyMr R R WoodwardDr John Yu & Dr George SoutterAnonymous (13)
BRONZE PATRONS $500–$999Mr C R AdamsonMr & Mrs Garry S AshMr Peter J ArmstrongMs Baiba B. Berzins & Dr Peter LovedayDr & Mrs Hannes Boshoff Minnie BriggsDr Miles BurgessPat & Jenny BurnettIta Buttrose AO OBE
Stephen Byrne & Susie GleesonHon. Justice J C & Mrs CampbellPercy ChissickMrs Catherine J ClarkJen CornishGreta DavisElizabeth DonatiDr James & Dr Nita DurhamGreg Earl & Debbie CameronMr & Mrs FarrellRobert GellingDr & Mrs C GoldschmidtVivienne GoldschmidtMr Robert GreenMr Richard Griffi n AM
Jules & Tanya HallMr Hugh HallardKen HawkingsMrs A HaywardRoger HenningRev Harry & Mrs Meg HerbertSue HewittMr Joerg HofmannDominique Hogan-DoranAlex HoughtonBill & Pam HughesGeoff & Susie IsraelMrs W G KeighleyMr & Mrs Gilles T KrygerMrs M J LawrenceDr & Mrs Leo LeaderMargaret LedermanMrs Yolanda LeeMartine LettsAnita & Chris LevyErna & Gerry Levy AM
Dr Winston LiauwMrs Helen LittleSydney & Airdrie LloydMrs A LohanMrs Panee LowCarolyn & Peter Lowry OAM
Dr David LuisMelvyn MadiganMr K J MartinDr Jean MalcolmAlan & Joy MartinGeoff & Jane McClellanMrs Flora MacDonaldMrs Helen MeddingsDavid & Andree MilmanKenneth N MitchellChris Morgan-HunnNola NettheimMrs Margaret NewtonMr Graham NorthDr M C O’Connor AM
A Willmers & R PalDr A J PalmerMr Andrew C. PattersonDr Kevin PedemontDr Natalie E PelhamMr Allan PidgeonRobin PotterLois & Ken RaePamela RogersAgnes RossIn memory of H.St.P ScarlettDr Mark & Mrs Gillian SelikowitzCaroline SharpenMrs Diane Shteinman AM
Dr Agnes E SinclairDoug & Judy SotherenMrs Elsie StaffordMr Lindsay & Mrs Suzanne StoneMr D M SwanMr Norman TaylorMs Wendy ThompsonKevin TroyJudge Robyn TupmanGillian Turner & Rob BishopProfessor Gordon E WallMr Robert & Mrs Rosemary WalshRonald WalledgeDavid & Katrina WilliamsAudrey & Michael WilsonDr Richard WingMr Robert WoodsMr & Mrs Glenn WyssMrs Robin YabsleyAnonymous (16)
To fi nd out more about becoming a Sydney Symphony Patron please contact the Philanthropy Offi ce on (02) 8215 4625 or email [email protected]
28 | Sydney Symphony
MAESTRO’S CIRCLE Peter Weiss AM – Founding President & Doris Weiss John C Conde AO – ChairmanGeoff & Vicki AinsworthTom Breen & Rachael KohnThe Hon. Ashley Dawson-DamerIn memory of Hetty & Egon Gordon
Andrew Kaldor & Renata Kaldor AO
Roslyn Packer AO
Penelope Seidler AM
Mr Fred Street AM & Mrs Dorothy StreetWestfi eld GroupRay Wilson OAM
in memory of the late James Agapitos OAM
SYDNEY SYMPHONY LEADERSHIP ENSEMBLE David Livingstone, CEO, Credit Suisse, AustraliaAlan Fang, Chairman, Tianda GroupMacquarie Group FoundationJohn Morschel, Chairman, ANZ
Andrew Kaldor, Chairman, Pelikan ArtlineLynn Kraus, Sydney Offi ce Managing Partner, Ernst & YoungShell Australia Pty LtdJames Stevens, CEO, Roses Only
We also gratefully acknowledge the following patrons: Ruth & Bob Magid – supporting the position of Elizabeth Neville, cello Justice Jane Mathews AO – supporting the position of Colin Piper, percussion.
For information about the Directors’ Chairs program, please call (02) 8215 4619.
01Richard Gill OAM
Artistic Director Education Sandra & Paul Salteri Chair
02Jane HazelwoodViolaVeolia Environmental Services Chair
03Nick ByrneTromboneRogenSi Chair
04Diana DohertyPrincipal Oboe Andrew Kaldor & Renata Kaldor AO Chair
05Shefali Pryor Associate Principal OboeRose Herceg Chair
06Paul Goodchild Associate Principal TrumpetThe Hansen Family Chair
07Catherine Hewgill Principal CelloTony & Fran Meagher Chair
08Emma Sholl Associate Principal FluteRobert & Janet Constable Chair
09 Lawrence DobellPrincipal ClarinetAnne & Terrey Arcus Chair
DIRECTORS’ CHAIRS03 04 01
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29 | Sydney Symphony
BEHIND THE SCENES
Geoff AinsworthAndrew Andersons AO
Michael Baume AO*Christine BishopIta Buttrose AO OBE
Peter CudlippJohn Curtis AM
Greg Daniel AM
John Della BoscaAlan FangErin FlahertyDr Stephen FreibergDonald Hazelwood AO OBE*Dr Michael Joel AM
Simon Johnson
Yvonne Kenny AM
Gary LinnaneAmanda LoveHelen Lynch AM
Ian Macdonald*Joan MacKenzieDavid MaloneyDavid Malouf AO
Julie Manfredi-HughesDeborah MarrThe Hon. Justice Jane Mathews AO*Danny MayWendy McCarthy AO
Jane Morschel
Greg ParamorDr Timothy Pascoe AM
Prof. Ron Penny AO
Jerome RowleyPaul SalteriSandra SalteriJuliana SchaefferLeo Schofi eld AM
Fred Stein OAM
Gabrielle TrainorIvan UngarJohn van Ogtrop*Peter Weiss AM
Mary WhelanRosemary White
Sydney Symphony Council
* Regional Touring Committee member
Sydney Symphony Board
CHAIRMAN John C Conde AO
Terrey Arcus AM
Ewen CrouchRoss GrantJennifer HoyRory Jeffes
Andrew KaldorIrene LeeDavid LivingstoneGoetz RichterDavid Smithers AM
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TRUSTMr Kim Williams AM (Chair)Ms Catherine Brenner, Rev Dr Arthur Bridge AM, Mr Wesley Enoch, Ms Renata Kaldor AO, Mr Robert Leece AM RFD, Ms Sue Nattrass AO, Dr Thomas (Tom) Parry AM, Mr Leo Schofi eld AM, Mr Evan Williams AM
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENTChief Executive Offi cer Richard Evans Chief Operating Offi cer David Antaw Chief Financial Offi cer Claire Spencer Director, Building Development & Maintenance Greg McTaggart Director, Marketing Communications & Customer Services Victoria Doidge Director, Venue Partners & Safety Julia Pucci Executive Producer, SOH Presents Jonathan Bielski
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSEBennelong Point GPO Box 4274, Sydney NSW 2001Administration (02) 9250 7111 Box Offi ce (02) 9250 7777Facsimile (02) 9250 7666 Website sydneyoperahouse.com
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Managing Director Michael Nebenzahl Editorial Director Jocelyn Nebenzahl Manager—Production & Graphic Design Debbie ClarkeManager—Production—Classical Music Alan ZieglerOperating in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart & Darwin
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Kerry-Anne CookTECHNICAL MANAGER
Derek CouttsPRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Tim DaymanPRODUCTION COORDINATOR
Ian SpenceSTAGE MANAGER
Peter Gahan
BUSINESS SERVICESDIRECTOR OF FINANCE
John HornFINANCE MANAGER
Ruth TolentinoACCOUNTANT
Minerva PrescottACCOUNTS ASSISTANT
Emma FerrerPAYROLL OFFICER
Usef Hoosney
HUMAN RESOURCESHUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER
Anna Kearsley
Sydney Symphony Staff