C O N C E R T P R O G R A M

Sibelius & Shostakovich

Thursday 17 November at 8pm Melbourne Recital Centre

Friday 18 November at 8pm Costa Hall, Geelong

Saturday 19 November at 2pm Melbourne Recital Centre

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WHAT’S ON NOVEMBER 2016 – FEBRUARY 2017

EAST MEETS WEST: CHINESE NEW YEAR CONCERTSaturday 4 February 2017

World-renowned composer and conductor Tan Dun returns to Melbourne to conduct an unmissable Chinese New Year celebration with the MSO!

NICHOLAS CARTER CONDUCTS TCHAIKOVSKY 4Friday 24 February 2017

Three master composers of the western classical tradition take the MSO on a journey through beautiful lyricism and into the tormented mind of Tchaikovsky.

SIDNEY MYER FREE CONCERTSWednesday 8 February 2017 Saturday 11 February 2017 Wednesday 15 February 2017

It wouldn't be summer without a picnic with your beloved to watch the sun dip behind the city's skyline, and listen to the magical sounds of the Orchestra.

SIMONE YOUNG CONDUCTS WAGNER & BRUCKNERThursday 1 December Saturday 3 December

The MSO plays two majestic final works – Wagner’s Parsifal and Bruckner’s unfinished Symphony No.9 – conducted by Simone Young. Excerpts from Act II of Parsifal are sung by Australian tenor Stuart Skelton and American mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung.

MESSIAH Saturday 10 December Sunday 11 December

Hallelujah! Where would the joyous season be without the MSO’s year-end performance of Handel’s Messiah? This life-affirming spiritual masterpiece with its exquisite choral writing offers many treasured musical moments including the exultant Hallelujah chorus, one of the most popular refrains in Western music.

MSO + THE IDEA OF NORTH: A WORLD OF CHRISTMASSaturday 17 December

Celebrate Christmas with song as renowned vocal quartet The Idea of North share the stage with the MSO in an evening of festive music from around the world.

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This concert has a duration of approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

This performance will be recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM on Saturday 19 November at 2pm.

This information is correct at time of print, however please visit mso.com.au/broadcast for the most current information about upcoming concert broadcasts.

Pre-Concert Talk

7pm Thursday 17 November, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre

7pm Friday 18 November, Costa Hall, Deakin University

1pm Saturday 19 November, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre

Andrew Aronowicz will present a talk on the artists and works featured in the program.

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Dale Barltrop violin/directorPrudence Davis flute

REPERTOIRE

Sibelius RakastavaMunro

Flute Concerto(WORLD PREMIERE)

— Interval —Sibelius Impromptu

Shostakovich/Barshai Chamber Symphony Op.73a

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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) was established in 1906 and is Australia’s oldest orchestra. It currently performs live to more than 250,000 people annually, in concerts ranging from subscription performances at its home, Hamer Hall at Arts Centre Melbourne, to its annual free concerts at Melbourne’s largest outdoor venue, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. The Orchestra also delivers innovative and engaging programs to audiences of all ages through its Education and Outreach initiatives.

Sir Andrew Davis gave his inaugural concerts as the MSO’s Chief Conductor in 2013, having made his debut with the Orchestra in 2009. Highlights of his tenure have included collaborations with artists such as Bryn Terfel, Emanuel Ax, Truls Mørk and Renée Fleming, and the Orchestra’s European Tour in 2014 which included appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Copenhagen’s Tivoli Concert Hall. Further current and future highlights with Sir Andrew Davis include a complete cycle of the Mahler symphonies. Sir Andrew will maintain the role of Chief Conductor until the end of 2019.

The MSO also works with Associate Conductor Benjamin Northey and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus, as well as with such eminent recent guest conductors as Thomas Adès, John Adams, Tan Dun, Charles Dutoit, Jakub Hrůša, Mark Wigglesworth, Markus Stenz and Simone Young. It has also collaborated with non-classical musicians including Burt Bacharach, Nick Cave, Sting, Tim Minchin, Ben Folds, DJ Jeff Mills and Flight Facilities.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra reaches a wider audience through regular radio broadcasts, recordings and CD releases, including a Strauss cycle on ABC Classics which includes Four Last Songs, Don Juan and Also sprach Zarathustra, as well as Ein Heldenleben and Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo, both led by Sir Andrew Davis. The MSO is also featured on Australian soprano Emma Matthews recently released third album, Agony and Ecstasy. On the Chandos label the MSO has recently released Berlioz’ Harold en Italie with James Ehnes and music by Charles Ives which includes Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, as well as a range of orchestral works including Three Places in New England, again led by Sir Andrew Davis.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is funded principally by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and is generously supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. The MSO is also funded by the City of Melbourne, its Principal Partner, Emirates, corporate sponsors and individual donors, trusts and foundations.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we perform – The Kulin Nation – and would like to pay our respects to their Elders and Community both past and present.

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DALE BARLTROP VIOLIN/DIRECTOR

PRUDENCE DAVIS FLUTE

Prudence (Prue) Davis has held the position of Principal Flute with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 1980. Growing up in Melbourne, Prue studied flute at the Victorian College of the Arts with Peter Edge and later in Switzerland with Aurèle Nicolet.

She has performed with the Australia Ensemble, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and is also a founding member of the Australian Chamber Soloists and the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (formerly Australia Pro Arte). She has toured for Musica Viva and in 1989, toured Australia with the Reger Trio from West Germany.

Prue has appeared as soloist at Carnegie Hal during a tour of North and South America. She has also performed in Paris, Bonn, The Hague and Brussels in recital with Ian Munro, as well as appearing in Berlin, Kuala Lumpur and on many occasions with the MSO as soloist.

Prue undertook an extensive solo tour with the Orchestra Ensemble Kanazawa in Japan and gave chamber music concerts and masterclasses.

Brisbane-born violinist, Dale Barltrop, is Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and the newly appointed first violinist of the Australian String Quartet. He returns to Australia this year after 18 years in North America. Barltrop has served as Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2009 and prior to that, as Principal Second Violin of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in the U.S. He has appeared with all of these orchestras as soloist and director.

Barltrop has also appeared as Concertmaster of the Australian World Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, guest director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, ACO2 and the Camerata of St John’s chamber orchestra in Brisbane. He has performed at numerous music festivals across North America, including Mainly Mozart, Festival Mozaic, Music in the Vineyards, Yellow Barn, Kneisel Hall, Tanglewood and the New York String Seminar. He was a grand prizewinner at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and winner of the violin division of the American String Teachers Association National Solo Competition.

Barltrop began his violin studies in Brisbane, made his solo debut with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15 and was Concertmaster of both the Queensland and Australian Youth Orchestras. He moved to the United States in 1998 to attend the University of Maryland and continued his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music. His teachers have included William Preucil, Gerald Fischbach, the members of the Guarneri Quartet, Elizabeth Morgan and Marcia Cox.

A passionate educator, Barltrop has served on the faculties of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music and the Vancouver Academy of Music. He has also taught at the University of British Columbia, National Orchestral Institute in Maryland, Australian National Academy of Music and Australian Youth Orchestra. Barltrop performs on a violin crafted by JB Guadagnini, Turin, 1784. It is on loan from Ngeringa Arts and was purchased through the generosity of Allan J Myers AO, Maria J Myers AO and the Klein Family.

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‘Ian's Concerto is beautiful. It is not the conventional three movement format as there are more movements, each with its own personality, whilst maintaining a connective thread throughout them all, binding them all into a beautiful, lyrical, sensitive, sometimes tragic but also charming and elegant piece. ’Prudence Davis on Ian Munro's new Flute Concerto

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Meet the Musician: Prudence Davis

Who or what inspired you to pick up a flute?

My Father is responsible for my flute playing. My first flute was a Christmas present under the tree one year along with a copy of ‘A Tune a Day for Flute’. I found out not that long ago that he had owned a flute as a boy, but he had put it down on a chair and had accidentally sat on and broken it!

He went on to play other instruments including recorders, so naturally he had made sure that I played them too. It's a fairly natural progression from recorder to flute, the fingerings are very similar but that's probably where the similarities stop. I loved the sound of the flute as soon as I played it. There is something about the immediacy of the sound, the beauty of it being right from your breath and embouchure that makes it feel as if it is a natural extension of yourself and your musical voice.

Where did you first hear the MSO and how old were you?

My first memories of hearing the MSO would have been from around 8 or 9, at the Melbourne Town Hall when the Orchestra used to present free Sunday afternoon concerts.

We used to go to all the Myer Bowl concerts, the old Master Series, and we'd sit on the floor of the Melbourne Town Hall for the Prom Concerts introduced here by John Hopkins. I managed to hear and see Aaron Copland conduct an entire concert of his pieces in this way.

Which conductors and musicians do you particularly admire?

When I joined the Orchestra our Chief Conductor was Hiroyuki Iwaki. For me, he is one of the most inspirational conductors. His performances of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, The Firebird, Petrushka, the Strauss tone poems like An Alpine Symphony, Brahms’ symphonies, Beethoven’s symphonies, as well as all the French repertoire of Debussy and Ravel were all so incredibly memorable. I still recall his facial expressions and hand gestures: they were often very subtle, but also extremely energetic and dynamic and they evoked such emotion and mood from the Orchestra we were never in any doubt what he wanted.

Kurt Sanderling and Charles Dutoit have also been incredibly inspiring, and happily for us our present Chief Conductor, Sir Andrew Davis is inspiring us again with wonderful performances and a wealth of knowledge and wit to enthuse and amuse!

From day to day I am continuously inspired by my colleagues in all the different sections. I look around the Orchestra while I am not playing and can see that the concentration and passion from everyone in rehearsals, as well as performances, is palpable. There is a collective pride within the MSO that permeates at every level and everybody gives their best all the time.

Ian Munro has dedicated his new Flute Concerto to you. Tell us about the work and what you are looking forward to most about the world premiere performance?

Ian's Concerto is beautiful. It is not the conventional three movement format as there are more movements, each with their own personality, whilst maintaining a connective thread throughout them all, binding them all into a beautiful, lyrical, sensitive, sometimes tragic but also charming and elegant piece.

I'm looking forward to the premiere very much! Ian and I have collaborated over many years, performing other people's works, but performing this Flute Concerto will be a new dimension of collaboration, expression and interpretation. I'm very excited to be able to bring Ian's Concerto to the world. He has a unique style and I can’t wait to make the notes come alive with the MSO.

How do you relax?

When I put music on to listen to at home it will usually be John Williams playing his guitar or various artists playing solo piano. I like to tune in to Classic FM and listen to their offerings as well.

When I am away from the Orchestra I do a bit of teaching but I also play golf, walk the dog, enjoy cups of tea and good company. I love being at the beach, in or out of the water, just enjoying time with my family.

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Too often we know a composer by only a handful of pieces: the acknowledged favourites. This is certainly the case with Sibelius. While Finlandia and the Violin Concerto are rightly famous, the greatest of all Finnish composers wrote many other high-quality works than just these two.

Rakastava (The Lover) takes its inspiration from the Kanteletar, a term foreign to most of us, yet central to the understanding of Sibelius’ compositions. The Kanteletar is a collection of nearly 700 poems and ballads originating from the ancient Finnish oral tradition. First compiled in 1840 by Elias Lönnot (1802–1884), these sagas, some of which are more than a thousand years old, tell of the joys and sorrows of everyday ancient Finnish life. Coupled with Lönnot’s latter compendium, the Kalevala, this collection provides a unique insight into the religious, cultural and philosophical beliefs important to the pagan society of early Finland.

As with many Finns of his generation, Sibelius spoke Swedish as his first language and it was through the study of the Kanteletar that he came to extend his spoken Finnish and understand the depth of his native culture. So it was that many pieces by Sibelius were inspired by the texts from these two archives of Finnish lore and legend.

Rakastava began its musical life as a choral piece for male a cappella choir, submitted for the composition competition of the Helsinki University Chorus in 1893. It didn’t win. The second version had a string accompaniment (1894); and the next was arranged for mixed a cappella choir (1898). It was not until 1912 that the final version for string orchestra and percussion was completed. Even though it is a purely instrumental piece, there is no escaping the sense that words are ‘there’ in the string arrangement.

As a violinist himself, Sibelius had a formidable understanding of the capabilities of strings, particularly in the use of divisi and tremolo. His influence on Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis and Britten’s Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge is clearly evident.

Rakastava is filled with a tender longing. The first section is wistful, as string sonority mixes with passages of energetically fraught tremolo. The subtle use of timpani appears like disquieting thunder. Originally this piece was a commentary on a lover as he walks through the woods, musing as to where his beloved could be. Melody plays an important part in conveying the introspection of this movement, but changing rhythms also contribute to the overall effect.

In the second movement, The Path of the Beloved, an insistent rhythm draws the lover onward, as if devoid of his own volition, so powerful is the allure of his lover. The juxtaposition of innocent major-key melody with restless semiquavers, sudden switches to the minor and unexpected dissonances, gives emphasis to the unnaturally urgent nature of his search.

The final movement begins innocuously enough, with a violin solo restating in a slight variation the Lover’s bittersweet melody from the first movement. He wonders where she is now. The entry of a solo cello with veiled dissonance presages some dark conclusion to his search. At the Doppio più lento a jerky violin semiquaver figure leads into a skittering Vivace, though again with an added sinister roll of the timpani. The sputtering motion is interrupted by pauses of uncertainty until a new fresh theme suddenly emerges – only to just as quickly be replaced by a brief Allargando of joyless A minor. The solo cello returns with a lament (Lento assai) and, with the upper strings muted and lower strings richly divided, Sibelius, in dark D minor, closes the tale. We are unsure whether the beloved still lives; but we know for certain she will not return.

David Vivian Russell Symphony Australia © 2000

This is the first performance of this work by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

JEAN SIBELIUS (1865–1957)

Rakastava (The Lover), Op.14

Rakastava (The Lover) Andante con moto

Rakastetun tie (The Path of the Beloved) Allegretto

Hyvää iltaa… Jää hyvästi (Goodnight … Farewell) Andantino – Doppio più lento – Vivace – Allargando – Lento assai

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My flute concerto shares with my second string quartet A colonial sketchbook, on which much of it is based, a theme of folk, or colonial, music in Australia. My main resource was the marvellous collection Folk Songs of Australia and the men and women who sang them by John Meredith, first published in 1967. Meredith spent over two decades travelling across New South Wales and northern Victoria, befriending and recording the old-timers who could still perform the colonial melodies that had been passed down since the goldfield era and earlier. In his book he recounts in colourful detail not only the provenance of the music and words but also the character of the often quirky folk who were their stewards. In general, he found that the folk heritage remained most vitally preserved in the old gold towns, which resonates with me because of my family links to the great towns of Ballarat and Beechworth.

In the concerto, I make use of eight folk tunes: Frank Gardiner, The Convict’s Return, The Stockman’s Last Bed, Molly Baun Lavery, Gargal Machree, Ten Thousand Miles, Jack Doolan and The Wild Colonial Boy. All of the tunes have been somewhat modified and often extended and developed. The Convict’s Return, which opens the first movement, for instance, is not readily recognisable, having been subjected to drastic thematic transformation. A second theme is derived from Molly Baun Lavery, an old Irish song passed down to Sally Sloane of Teralba, Lake Macquarie, from her Irish grandmother. Molly, who goes to visit her uncle, is caught in a sudden rain shower at sunset and her lover, who tells the story, shoots her dead, mistakenly thinking that she is a swan.

The place of the traditional symphonic scherzo is taken by a version of the convict lament Ten Thousand Miles From Home, a song that was, understandably, known across the entire early penal settlements, varying in melody and lyrics, according to time and place.

The haunting Gargal Machree tells of a young lady whose chosen lover is rejected by her father, who swears to ‘alter the case with my Gargal Machree’. As with many of the songs collected by Meredith, crucial verses are missing owing to the faltering memories of the singer and lack of documentation elsewhere. More lively interludes are provided by Frank Gardiner, a song about a lucky real-life bushranger who was deported to San Francisco. Ushering in an extended coda, a rumination on Gargal Machree’s sorry fate, is a version of the rather maudlin Stockman’s Last Bed, an example of the sort of sentimental ballad that seems almost comical to modern ears but nevertheless has a wan charm, evocative of the era in which it was popular.

Finally, a romp based on the famous tale of the Wild Colonial Boy, set to an original tune. Jack Donahue, the character on which the Irish-Australian folk songs are based, was a real rebel, transported on possibly trumped-up charges for the real crime of sedition. In the romanticised song versions, he becomes Jack Duggan from Castlemaine, Ireland, and is sent to Parramatta, where he becomes Jack Doolan. Not in dispute are his activities as a bushranger, before his early death in 1830 at the age of 26 from a fatal shot during a police siege.

All this is more or less immaterial to my music, which celebrates the vigour and outdoor physicality of the colonial folk world, deliberately stretching to the limit the application of triadic harmony in a technique that was playfully employed by a composer very far removed from Australian 19th-century ballads, the Russian Dmitri Shostakovich.

The concerto is written for and dedicated to my dear friend, Prudence Davis.

Ian Munro © 2016

About the composer:

Ian Munro has emerged over recent years as one of Australia’s most distinguished and awarded musicians, with a career that has taken him to 30 countries in Europe, Asia, North America and Australasia. His award in 2003 of Premier Grand Prix at the Queen Elisabeth International Competition for composers (Belgium) is a unique achievement for an Australian and follows on from multiple prizes in international piano competitions in Spain (Maria Canals), Italy (Busoni), Portugal (Vianna da Motta) and the UK, where his second prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition in 1987 established his international profile.

Since 2003, his works have been frequently heard all over Australia, with broadcasts on the ABC and BBC. Commissions from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra through a Symphony Australia residency led to Blue Rags (2005), Drought & Night Rain (2005) and O Traurigkeit (2006), written for soloist Sue-Ellen Paulsen (cello). In 2011 he was Featured Composer for Musica Viva’s international season, in which his piano trio Tales from Old Russia (2008), String Quartet No.1, Clarinet Quintet and Piano Quintet No.2 were toured by the Eggner Trio, Brentano Quartet, Sabine Meyer and the Modigliani Quartet, and the Goldner Quartet with Munro as soloist. Other works have been written for Gondwana Voices, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chorale, Flinders Quartet, Huntington Festival and Plexus.

IAN MUNRO (BORN 1963)

Flute Concerto (world premiere)

The Convict Returns

Ten Thousand Miles

Gargal Machree

Jack Doolan

Prudence Davis flute

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In 1892, Sibelius composed a melodrama (a work with spoken text and instrumental accompaniment) called Svartsjukans nätter (Nights of Jealousy). The poem was by the nationally celebrated Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804-1877), whose work Sibelius set on a number of occasions. Like Sibelius, Runeberg had been of Swedish-speaking background but was a fervent patriot; one of his poems, Our Land (Vårt land, or Maamme in Finnish), would become the text of the Finnish national anthem. By contrast, Nights of Jealousy describes a dream in which a poet is reunited with a lost lover who, of course, vanishes utterly when he wakes. Sibelius set it for an ensemble of speaker, wordless soprano and piano quartet, and it had its first performance at the Helsinki Music Institute for the 1893 celebration of Runeberg Day on 5 February.

The early 1890s had seen Sibelius’ fascination with Finnish language and culture grow thanks largely to the enthusiasm of his wife, Aino Järnefelt, and her family. Out of that interest, and his reading of the national epic, the Kalevala, Sibelius embarked on large-scale orchestral works like En saga and the choral Kullervo Symphony – the former premiered within a fortnight of Svartsjukans nätter. Alongside these substantial works, and indeed for much of his creative career, Sibelius composed a considerable amount of music on a more modest scale, many works for publication and domestic consumption such as songs and piano pieces.

Perhaps sensing that Nights of Jealousy was an occasional piece, but aware of the quality of its music, Sibelius used two themes from the melodrama as the basis for the fifth and sixth of his first published piano music, the Impromptus, Op.5, composed later in 1893.

The material used for the Impromptu Op.5 No.5 is associated directly with the poet’s lover, sounded first in simple homophony on the piano, but taken up as an ecstatic vocalise for soprano heard through rippling cascades in the piano. The Impromptu reflects this with the melody played under a torrent of glittering notes recalling, inevitably, moments in the music of Liszt. The sixth Impromptu is a gentle barcarolle in which we might hear an echo of Chopin. In the melodrama it evokes the lover ‘in the misty haze on the hilltop, in the spring morning’s embrace’.

In 1894 Sibelius wrote his Impromptu for Strings for the Music Society of Turku in south-western Finland and revisited the Op.5 Impromptus Nos 5 and 6. From their material Sibelius creates a seven-minute piece in simple ternary form, beginning with the theme from Impromptu No.5. Naturally enough there is no simple transcription of that piece’s idiomatic keyboard writing; instead, Sibelius sounds the plangent melody over sustained pedal notes with rich and expressive minor-key harmonies. This material bookends a contrasting central section based on the sixth Impromptu, where the transference to the string medium is less dramatic. Nevertheless, as in celebrated works like the Valse triste, Sibelius creates, out of a yearning melody and simple (and notably major-key) harmony, an active yet achingly melancholy music.

© Gordon Kerry 2016

This is the first performance of this work by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

JEAN SIBELIUS (1865–1957)

Impromptu for String Orchestra (after Impromptus Op.5 Nos.5 and 6)

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Having been denounced by the Soviet Union’s official newspaper, Pravda, in 1936, Shostakovich regained precarious favour with the regime when his Fifth Symphony appeared the following year. A decade later, however, his stocks began to fall again. As a mark of official favour, he was granted a new and spacious apartment in Moscow and the use of a summer dacha on the Finnish border at the beginning of 1947. Hostile critics, however, had noted that while the Seventh Symphony offered a vision of triumph during Russia’s darkest hours, the Eighth was relatively pessimistic, even though victory seemed assured. Despite Stalin’s ‘suggestion’ that the Ninth Symphony should be a choral paean to Soviet power, Shostakovich felt compelled to write a short, apparently light work full of barely concealed irony. In 1948, he was again denounced, and forced to publicly acknowledge his ‘errors’. Much of Shostakovich’s work from the mid-1940s onwards was written, as he put it, ‘for the drawer’ where works like the Violin Concerto No.1 stayed until after Stalin’s death in 1953.

The Third Quartet, premiered by the Beethoven Quartet in December 1946, was Shostakovich’s major preoccupation during that year and, as Norman Lebrecht puts it, ‘opens a triptych of private torture chamber works’. Where the Second displayed the resilience of a Russian folk song in the face of a series of variations, the Third is a much more ‘symphonic’ work, and thus ripe for Rudolf Barshai’s arrangement of it for chamber orchestra. Barshai (1924-2010), a former student and colleague who founded the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, was entrusted with the premiere of such works as the Fourteenth Symphony, and, when he made an orchestral arrangement of Shostakovich’s Eighth Quartet, was given permission by the composer to arrange any further works he chose.

Programmatic subtitles for the quartet’s movements have been in circulation since soon after it appeared, with the Borodin Quartet (of which Barshai was a founding violist) often cited as an authority. They are:

I Calm unawareness of the future cataclysm II Rumblings of unrest and anticipation III The forces of war unleashed IV Homage to the dead V The eternal question: Why? And for what?

They are assumed to refer, of course, to the recent war. There is no evidence that Shostakovich sanctioned them – they are never included in published scores of the music – but as Wendy Lesser notes, their mere persistence might point to a sense ‘that there is some kind of capacious, other than merely personal drama’ behind the work.

The essentially cheerful first movement is a complex, neoclassicising structure of sonata and ‘learned’ (i.e. fugal) elements, and Barshai’s use of wind solos deftly underlines the independent voices. The second presages doom at the outset in its use of repeated, driving arpeggios in waltz-time that don’t quite harmonise with the angular melodies; this music disperses its energy, the latter part of the movement being a sorrowful adagio, which Barshai points with prominent use of instruments like the cor anglais. The sardonic third movement, very characteristic of the composer, creates drama out of the alternation of bars with three and two beats respectively. The fourth is a passacaglia, where the relentless repetition of the theme is countered by a gradual loss of energy. Here again, Barshai uses a subtly varied range of instrumental colours that encompasses rich unisons and delicate solo lines. The longest movement is the finale, and in it Shostakovich revisits some of the work’s earlier material. It opens with a low-string rumination (solo cello in the original) that is answered by a texture of solo winds and upper strings. Subsequent sections are dominated by rhythmic pizzicatos, taken over from the quartet version, and interpolations, sometimes comic, from various solo instruments, while a version of the passacaglia theme occurs at a climatic moment. As with several preceding movements, the finale succumbs to a gradual loss of momentum, but in doing so eventually reaches a kind of peace.

© Gordon Kerry 2016

This is the first performance of this work by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975)ARR. RUDOLF BARSHAI (1924–2010)

Chamber Symphony in F, Op.73a arr. from String Quartet No.3, Op.73

Allegretto

Moderato con moto

Allegro non troppo

Adagio

Moderato

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SUPPORTERS

MSO Patron The Honourable Linda Dessau AM, Governor of Victoria

Artist Chair BenefactorsAnonymous Principal Flute Chair

Di Jameson Principal Viola Chair

Joy Selby Smith Orchestral Leadership Chair

Patricia Riordan Associate Conductor Chair

The Gross Foundation Principal Second Violin Chair

The MS Newman Family Principal Cello Chair

The Ullmer Family Foundation Associate Concertmaster Chair

Program BenefactorsMeet The Orchestra The Ullmer Family Foundation

East Meets West Li Family Trust

The Pizzicato Effect (Anonymous) Schapper Family Foundation Marian & EH Flack Trust

MSO Education Mrs Margaret Ross AM and Dr Ian Ross

MSO Audience Access Betty Amsden AO DSJ Crown Resorts Foundation Packer Family Foundation

MSO International Touring Harold Mitchell AC

Satan Jawa Australia Indonesia Institute (DFAT)

MSO Regional Touring Erica Foundation Pty Ltd Robert Salzer Foundation Creative Victoria

Benefactor Patrons $50,000+Betty Amsden AO DSJMarc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO The Gross Foundation 0Di Jameson 0David and Angela Li

Harold Mitchell ACMS Newman Family 0Joy Selby SmithUllmer Family Foundation 0Anonymous (1)

Impresario Patrons $20,000+Michael Aquilina 0The John and Jennifer Brukner FoundationPerri Cutten and Jo DaniellRachel and the late Hon. Alan Goldberg AO QCHilary Hall, in memory of Wilma CollieMargaret Jackson ACDavid Krasnostein and Pat StragalinosMimie MacLarenJohn and Lois McKayAnonymous (1)

Maestro Patrons $10,000+John and Mary BarlowKaye and David BirksPaul and Wendy CarterMitchell ChipmanSir Andrew and Lady DavisFuture Kids Pty LtdGandel PhilanthropyDanny Gorog and Lindy Susskind 0Robert & Jan GreenDr Geraldine Lazarus and Mr Greig GaileyThe Cuming BequestIan and Jeannie PatersonLady Potter AC 0Elizabeth Proust AORae RothfieldGlenn SedgwickHelen Silver AO and Harrison YoungMaria SolàProfs. G & G Stephenson. In honour of the great Romanian musicians George Enescu and Dinu LipattiOnbass FoundationJuliet TootellAlice VaughanKee Wong and Wai TangJason Yeap OAMAnonymous (1)

Principal Patrons $5,000+Linda BrittenDavid and Emma CapponiMary and Frederick Davidson AMAndrew and Theresa Dyer 0Tim and Lyn EdwardMr Bill FlemingJohn and Diana FrewSusan Fry and Don Fry AOSophie Galaise 0Jennifer GorogLouis Hamon OAMNereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM 0Hans and Petra HenkellHartmut and Ruth HofmannJenny and Peter HordernJenkins Family FoundationSuzanne KirkhamVivien and Graham KnowlesDr Elizabeth A Lewis AMPeter LovellAnnette MaluishLesley McMullin FoundationMr and Mrs D R MeagherMarie Morton FRSADr Paul Nisselle AMJames and Frances PfeifferPzena Investment Charitable FundStephen ShanasyHMA FoundationD & CS Kipen on behalf of Israel KipenGai and David TaylorThe Hon. Michael Watt QC and Cecilie HallLyn Williams AMAnonymous (5)

0 Signifies Adopt an MSO Musician supporter

Associate Patrons $2,500+Dandolo Partners, Will and Dorothy Bailey Bequest, Barbara Bell in memory of Elsa Bell, Mrs S Bignell, Bill Bowness, Stephen and Caroline Brain, Dr Mark and Mrs Ann Bryce, Bill and Sandra Burdett, Oliver Carton, John and Lyn Coppock, Miss Ann Darby in memory of Leslie J. Darby, Natasha Davies, for the Trikojus Education Fund,

Beryl Dean, Sandra Dent, Peter and Leila Doyle, Lisa Dwyer and Dr Ian Dickson, Jane Edmanson OAM, Dr Helen M Ferguson, Mr Peter Gallagher and Dr Karen Morley, Dina and Ron Goldschlager, Colin Golvan QC and Dr Deborah Golvan, Charles and Cornelia Goode, Louise Gourlay OAM, Susan and Gary Hearst, Colin Heggen in memory of Marjorie Drysdale Heggen, Gillian and Michael Hund, Rosemary and James Jacoby, John Jones, George and Grace Kass, Irene Kearsey, Kloeden Foundation, Sylvia Lavelle, Bryan Lawrence, H E McKenzie, Allan and Evelyn McLaren, Don and Anne Meadows, Andrew and Sarah Newbold, Ann Peacock with Andrew and Woody Kroger, Sue and Barry Peake, Mrs W Peart, Graham and Christine Peirson, Ruth and Ralph Renard, S M Richards AM and M R Richards, Joan P Robinson, Tom and Elizabeth Romanowski, Max and Jill Schultz, Jeffrey Sher QC and Diana Sher OAM, Diana and Brian Snape AM, Geoff and Judy Steinicke, Mr Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman, William and Jenny Ullmer, Bert and Ila Vanrenen, Kate and Blaise Vinot, Elisabeth Wagner, Barbara and Donald Weir, Athalie Williams, Brian and Helena Worsfold, Anonymous (13)

Player Patrons $1,000+Anita and Graham Anderson, Christine and Mark Armour, Philip Bacon AM, Arnold Bloch Leibler, Marlyn and Peter Bancroft OAM, Adrienne Basser, Prof Weston Bate and Janice Bate, Timothy and Margaret Best, David Blackwell, Michael F Boyt, Philip and Vivien Brass Charitable Foundation, M Ward Breheny, Lino and Di Bresciani OAM, The Late Mr John Brockman OAM and Mrs Pat Brockman, Suzie and Harvey Brown, Jill and Christopher Buckley,

13

SUPPORTERS

Lynne Burgess, Peter Caldwell, Dr Lynda Campbell, Andrew and Pamela Crockett, Jennifer Cunich, Pat and Bruce Davis, Merrowyn Deacon, Wendy Dimmick, Dominic and Natalie Dirupo, Marie Dowling, John and Anne Duncan, Ruth Eggleston, Kay Ehrenberg, Gabrielle Eisen, Jaan Enden, Grant Fisher and Helen Bird, Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin, Applebay Pty Ltd, David Frenkiel and Esther Frenkiel OAM, Carrillo and Ziyin Gantner, David Gibbs and Susie O'Neill, Merwyn and Greta Goldblatt, George Golvan QC and Naomi Golvan, Dr Marged Goode, Philip and Raie Goodwach, Max Gulbin, Dr Sandra Hacker AO and Mr Ian Kennedy AM, Jean Hadges, Paula Hansky OAM, Merv Keehn & Sue Harlow, Tilda and Brian Haughney, Julian and Gisela Heinze, Penelope Hughes, Dr Alastair Jackson, Basil and Rita Jenkins, Stuart Jennings, Brett Kelly and Cindy Watkin, Dr Anne Kennedy, George and Patricia Kline, William and Magdalena Leadston, Andrew Lee, Norman Lewis in memory of Dr Phyllis Lewis, Dr Anne Lierse, Ann and George Littlewood, Andrew Lockwood, Violet and Jeff Loewenstein, Elizabeth H Loftus, The Hon Ian Macphee AO and Mrs Julie Macphee, Vivienne Hadj and Rosemary Madden, Eleanor & Phillip Mancini, Dr Julianne Bayliss, In memory of Leigh Masel, John and Margaret Mason, Matsarol Foundation, In honour of Norma and Lloyd Rees, Ruth Maxwell, Trevor and Moyra McAllister, Glenda McNaught, David Menzies, Wayne and Penny Morgan, Ian Morrey and Geoffrey Minter, Patricia Nilsson, Laurence O'Keefe and Christopher James, Alan and Dorothy Pattison, Margaret Plant, John Pollaers, Kerryn Pratchett, Peter Priest, Eli Raskin, Bobbie Renard,

Peter and Carolyn Rendit, Dr Rosemary Ayton and Dr Sam Ricketson, Zelda Rosenbaum OAM, Antler Ltd, Doug and Elisabeth Scott, Dr Sam Smorgon AO and Mrs Minnie Smorgon, John So, Dr Norman and Dr Sue Sonenberg, Dr Michael Soon, Pauline Speedy, State Music Camp, Jennifer Steinicke, Dr Peter Strickland, Mrs Suzy and Dr Mark Suss, Pamela Swansson, Tennis Cares- Tennis Australia, Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher, Margaret Tritsch, Judy Turner and Neil Adam, P & E Turner, Mary Vallentine AO, The Hon. Rosemary Varty, Leon and Sandra Velik, Sue Walker AM, Elaine Walters OAM and Gregory Walters, Edward and Paddy White, Janet Whiting and Phil Lukies, Nic and Ann Willcock, Marian and Terry Wills Cooke, Pamela F Wilson, Joanne Wolff, Lorraine Woolley, Peter and Susan Yates, Mark Young, Panch Das and Laurel Young-Das, YMF Australia, Anonymous (18)

The Mahler SyndicateDavid and Kaye Birks, Mary and Frederick Davidson AM, Tim and Lyn Edward, John and Diana Frew, Francis and Robyn Hofmann, The Hon Dr Barry Jones AC, Dr Paul Nisselle AM, Maria Solà, The Hon Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall, Anonymous (1)

MSO RosesFounding RoseJenny Brukner

RosesMary Barlow, Linda Britten, Wendy Carter, Annette Maluish, Lois McKay, Pat Stragalinos, Jenny Ullmer

RosebudsMaggie Best, Penny Barlow, Lynne Damman, Francie Doolan, Lyn Edward, Penny Hutchinson, Elizabeth A Lewis AM, Sophie Rowell, Dr Cherilyn Tillman

Trusts and FoundationsAL Lane Foundation, Crown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family Foundation, The Cybec Foundation, The Erica Foundation, Ivor Ronald Evans Foundation, managed by Equity Trustees Limited, The Gall Foundation, The Harold Mitchell Foundation, The Pratt Foundation, The Robert Salzer Foundation, The Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust

Conductor’s CircleJenny Anderson, David Angelovich, G C Bawden and L de Kievit, Lesley Bawden, Joyce Bown, Mrs Jenny Brukner and the late Mr John Brukner, Ken Bullen, Luci and Ron Chambers, Beryl Dean, Sandra Dent, Lyn Edward, Alan Egan JP, Gunta Eglite, Marguerite Garnon-Williams, Louis Hamon OAM, Carol Hay, Tony Howe, Laurence O'Keefe and Christopher James, Audrey M Jenkins, John and Joan Jones, George and Grace Kass, Mrs Sylvia Lavelle, Pauline and David Lawton, Lorraine Meldrum, Cameron Mowat, Rosia Pasteur, Elizabeth Proust AO, Penny Rawlins, Joan P Robinson, Neil Roussac, Anne Roussac-Hoyne, Ann and Andrew Serpell, Jennifer Shepherd, Profs. Gabriela and George Stephenson, Pamela Swansson, Lillian Tarry, Dr Cherilyn Tillman, Mr and Mrs R P Trebilcock, Michael Ullmer, Ila Vanrenen, The Hon. Rosemary Varty, Mr Tam Vu, Marian and Terry Wills Cooke, Mark Young, Anonymous (23)

The MSO gratefully acknowledges support received from the Estates of:Angela Beagley, Gwen Hunt, Pauline Marie Johnston, C P Kemp, Peter Forbes MacLaren, Prof Andrew McCredie, Miss Sheila Scotter AM MBE, Molly Stephens, Jean Tweedie, Herta and Fred B Vogel, Dorothy Wood

Honorary AppointmentsSir Elton John CBE Life Member

The Late Alan Goldberg AO QC Life Member

Geoffrey Rush AC Ambassador

The Late John Brockman AO Life Member

The Honourable Linda Dessau AM Patron

The MSO relies on your ongoing philanthropic support to sustain access, artists, education, community engagement and more. We invite our supporters to get close to the MSO through a range of special events.

The MSO welcomes your support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible, and supporters are recognised as follows: $1,000 (Player), $2,500 (Associate), $5,000 (Principal), $10,000 (Maestro), $20,000 (Impresario), $50,000 (Benefactor).

The MSO Conductor’s Circle is our bequest program for members who have notified of a planned gift in their Will.

Enquiries: Ph: +61 (3) 9626 1104

Email: philanthropy@mso.com.au

14

ORCHESTRA

First ViolinsDale Barltrop Concertmaster

Eoin Andersen Concertmaster

Sophie Rowell Associate Concertmaster (The Ullmer Family Foundation0)

Peter Edwards Assistant Principal

Kirsty BremnerSarah CurroPeter FellinDeborah GoodallLorraine HookKirstin KennyJi Won KimEleanor ManciniMark Mogilevski Michelle RuffoloKathryn Taylor(Michael Aquilina0)

Robert John*Oksana Thompson*

Second ViolinsMatthew Tomkins Principal(The Gross Foundation0)

Robert Macindoe Associate Principal

Monica Curro Assistant Principal (Danny Gorog & Lindy Susskind0)

Mary AllisonIsin CakmakciogluFreya Franzen(Anonymous0)

Cong GuAndrew HallFrancesca HiewRachel Homburg Isy WassermanPhilippa WestPatrick WongRoger YoungAmy Brookman*

ViolasChristopher Moore Principal (Di Jameson0)

Fiona Sargeant Associate Principal

Lauren BrigdenKatharine BrockmanChristopher CartlidgeGabrielle HalloranTrevor Jones Cindy WatkinCaleb WrightWilliam Clark*Isabel Morse*

CellosDavid Berlin Principal(MS Newman Family0)

Rachael Tobin Associate Principal

Nicholas Bochner Assistant Principal

Miranda BrockmanRohan de KorteKeith JohnsonSarah MorseAngela SargeantMichelle Wood(Andrew & Theresa Dyer0)

Double BassesSteve Reeves Principal

Andrew Moon Associate Principal

Sylvia Hosking Assistant Principal

Damien EckersleyBenjamin HanlonSuzanne LeeStephen Newton(Sophie Galaise0)

FlutesPrudence Davis Principal Flute (Anonymous0)

Wendy Clarke Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

PiccoloAndrew Macleod Principal

OboesJeffrey Crellin Principal

Thomas Hutchinson Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn

Cor AnglaisMichael Pisani Principal

ClarinetsDavid Thomas Principal

Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal

Craig Hill

Bass ClarinetJon Craven Principal

BassoonsJack Schiller Principal

Elise Millman Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

ContrabassoonBrock Imison Principal

Horns Saul Lewis Principal Third

Jenna BreenAbbey EdlinTrinette McClimontRobert Shirley*

TrumpetsGeoffrey Payne Principal

Shane Hooton Associate Principal

William EvansJulie Payne

TromboneBrett Kelly Principal

Bass TromboneMike Szabo Principal

TubaTimothy Buzbee Principal

TimpaniChristine Turpin Principal

PercussionRobert Clarke Principal

John ArcaroRobert Cossom

HarpYinuo Mu Principal

Meriel Owen*

* Guest Musician0 Position supported by

BOARD

Managing DirectorSophie Galaise

ChairmanMichael Ullmer

Board MembersAndrew DyerDanny GorogMargaret Jackson ACBrett Kelly

David Krasnostein David LiHelen Silver AOKee Wong

Company SecretaryOliver Carton

SUPPORTERS

Government Partners

Associate Partners Venue Partner

Red Emperor Fitzroys

Li Family Trust Quest Southbank

The CEO Institute Feature Alpha Investment

Media Partners

Supporting Partners

B e a u t i f u l F l o w e r s

Official Car PartnerMaestro Partners

The Idea of NorthA world of Christmas

This December, celebrate the songs of Christmas when renowned vocal quartet The Idea of North join the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for an evening of fun-filled, feel-good festive music from around the world.

Saturday 17 December, Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall

Book now mso.com.au

emirates.com/au

Complimentary Chauffeur-drive service* w Fine dining on demand w World-class service

Relax to music and smooth sips of Hennessy Paradis, or a good story and a glass of Dom Perignon. Savour every indulgence in our First Class Private Suites.

Principal Partner of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Master the art of me-time

*Complimentary Chauffeur-drive service available for First Class and Business Class, excluding Trans-Tasman services and codeshare flights operated by Qantas to Southeast Asia. Mileage restrictions apply. For full terms and conditions visit emirates.com/au. For more information visit emirates.com/au, call 1300 303 777, or contact your local travel agent.

BECOME A MEMBER

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[ W INE C L U B ]

Receive a selection of 6 wines every quarter

Discounts between 10% and 20%

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Enjoy one of Australias most iconic wines with the additional benefits of our partnership with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Musicians of the MSO performing in the Mount Langi Ghiran Vineyard 2015

Find out more today at mso.com.au/langi