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CELEBRATIONBERNSTEIN

BERNSTEIN CLASSICS15 AUGUST | 7.30pm

BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAY18 AUGUST | 7.30pm

concert program

featuring SIR ANDREW DAVIS • LANG LANG • BRIAN COX VERDI’S REQUIEM • HANSEL AND GRE TEL • BOLÉRO • and more

Sir Andrew

Davis C

hief Conductor

S U B S C R I B E AT M S O.C O M . A U

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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRAEstablished in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an arts leader and Australia’s oldest professional orchestra. Chief Conductor Sir Andrew Davis has been at the helm of MSO since 2013. Engaging more than 4 million people each year, the MSO reaches diverse audiences through live performances, recordings, TV and radio broadcasts and live streaming. Its international audiences include China, where MSO has performed in 2012, 2016 and most recently in May 2018, Europe (2014) and Indonesia, where in 2017 it performed at the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Prambanan Temple.

The MSO performs a variety of concerts ranging from symphonic 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 MSO also delivers innovative and engaging programs and digital tools to audiences of all ages through its Education and Outreach initiatives.

THE MSO CELEBRATES LEONARD BERNSTEIN Vincent Plush

These concerts will be recorded for video broadcast on Foxtel Arts.

In consideration of your fellow patrons, the MSO thanks you for silencing and dimming the light on your phone.

The MSO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which it is performing. MSO pays its respects to their Elders, past and present, and the Elders from other communities who may be in attendance.

mso.com.au | (03) 9929 9600

Bernstein CelebrationArtists 2

Bernstein Classics

Program notes 6

Texts 9

Orchestra 14

Chorus 15

Bernstein on Broadway

Program notes 16

Orchestra 19

Supporters 20

Cover: Leonard Bernstein by Paul de Hueck, Courtesy of the Leonard Bernstein Office

In August 1974, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra gave three concerts in the Melbourne Town Hall. Their conductor was Leonard Bernstein.

Conductor, composer, pianist, educator, philosopher, humanitarian, political activist and social irritant, the man known as Lenny was everywhere. From the Broadway stage to the synagogue, from the loftiest concert halls of Europe to the war-ravaged hills of Israel, from the Camelot of JFK to the Watergate tapes, Lenny was the Everyman of American music, universally known and (mostly) admired for his capacity to distil the American experience into his music.

These MSO’s concerts celebrate the range of his boundless talents. With its explosive Puerto Rican street rhythms and heart-wrenching love songs inspired by his principal mentor-models, Copland and Mahler, West

Side Story re-defined the American theatre. Rarely is the spirit of the theatre absent, even in works like the Chichester Psalms and the Jeremiah Symphony, which burn as eternal testimony to his Jewish faith.

Few composers have created music so memorable that it percolates in your head as you leave the concert hall. Actually, it remains in our lives forever, exhilarating and enriching us, refreshing universal truths and, like Candide himself, offering prospects for “the best of all possible worlds”.

Thanks, Lenny, and Happy Birthday.

For nearly 20 years, the Australian composer and writer Vincent Plush lived and worked in North America. An expert in and advocate for 20th century Australian and American music, he has recently completed a PhD in Adelaide and will shortly take up a position at the University of Melbourne.

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BRAMWELL TOVEY CONDUCTORBramwell Tovey becomes the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Music Director Emeritus in its centenary season (2018-19). With the VSO he has conducted major cycles of Beethoven, Brahms and Mahler, instituted a contemporary music festival, and helped establish the VSO School of Music. He has also been Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg. Tovey is a GRAMMY® and Juno award-winning conductor and recently received the Betty Webster Award from Orchestras Canada.

Bramwell Tovey is a composer and pianist as well as conductor. He was the last-minute substitute conductor at the opening night of the London Symphony Orchestra’s Leonard Bernstein Festival in the presence of Bernstein himself, and was invited by Bernstein to Tanglewood in the summer of 1986.

NICHOLAS TOLPUTT COUNTER-TENORNicholas graduated from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music in 2014 and was a 2016 Young Artist for Pacific Opera. An established artist with the Brisbane Baroque Festival, Nicholas has performed in each festival to date with highlights including singing in Purcell’s King Arthur (2016) and covering the role of Medoro in Handel’s Orlando (2014).

In 2017 Nicholas performed the role of Ottone in Lyric Opera’s The Coronation of Poppea. Recent oratorio and cantata performances include the alto solos Bach’s Christmas Oratorio and Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater. In 2018, Nicholas made his international debut as the alto soloist in The New Zealand Dance Company’s OrphEus: A Dance Opera. Upcoming engagements include the role of David in Saul (Sydney Philharmonia) and the alto solo in Handel’s Messiah (MSO).

SARAH FOX SOPRANOSarah Fox is equally at home in opera, folksong and musical theatre. Her roles at Covent Garden have included Micaëla (Carmen), Asteria (Tamerlano), Zerlina (Don Giovanni) and Woglinde (Wagner’s Ring). Her roles at Glyndebourne have included Mozart’s Zerlina and Susanna. Elsewhere she has appeared at the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence Festivals, Royal Danish Opera, De Vlaamse Opera and Opera North, among others. She has worked with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and performed with Rufus Wainwright and with John Wilson and his Orchestra. Recordings range from Arminta (Mozart’s Il re pastore) to Cole Porter in Hollywood. Recent concerts have included Bruckner’s Te Deum and Mendelssohn’s ‘Lobgesang’ at Britain’s Three Choirs Festival.

LIANE KEEGAN ALTOLiane received the Opera Foundation Australia Shell Royal Covent Garden Scholarship, which enabled her to study at the National Opera Studio London. She attended the AIMS Summer School in Graz Austria on the Opera Australia Foundation Scholarship, and in 1997, won a Bayreuth Bursary from the Wagner Society of Great Britain.

Liane came to the attention of both critics and public alike with roles including Azucena (Il Trovatore) for Opera of South Australia, Ulrica (Un Ballo in Maschera) for Opera Australia, and Offred’s Mother (The Handmaid’s Tale). Concert appearances have included Mozart’s Requiem with Sir Neville Mariner and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Barbara in Korngold’s Violanta at the 1997 BBC Proms conducted by Paul Daniel, and Waltraute in Die Walküre with Antonio Pappano at the Edinburgh Festival.

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BRETT POLEGATO BARITONEBrett Polegato has appeared at venues such as the Lincoln Center, La Scala, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Opéra National de Paris, Glyndebourne, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. He has collaborated with conductors such as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Daniele Gatti, Andris Nelsons, Bernard Haitink, Seiji Ozawa, Jeffrey Tate, Marc Minkowski, and Martyn Brabbins.

Recent roles include the Celebrant in Bernstein’s Mass with the Orchestre National de Lille and Balstrode in Britten’s Peter Grimes with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In the 2016-17 season he created the role of Father Thomas Nangle in John Estacio’s new opera, Ours. Recordings include Elgar’s Sea Symphony, a solo disc To A Poet with pianist Iain Burnside, Bach’s Coffee Cantata and Kálmán’s The Duchess of Chicago.

WARREN TREVELYAN-JONES CHORUS MASTERWarren Trevelyan-Jones is the Head of Music at St James’, King Street in Sydney and is regarded as one of the leading choral conductors and choir trainers in Australia. Warren has had an extensive singing career as a soloist and ensemble singer in Europe, including nine years in the Choir of Westminster Abbey, and regular work with the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), the Taverner Consort, The Kings Consort, Dunedin Consort, The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars.

Warren is also Director of the Parsons Affayre, Founder and Co-Director of The Consort of Melbourne and, in 2001 with Dr Michael Noone, founded the Gramophone award-winning group Ensemble Plus Ultra. Warren is also a qualified music therapist.

MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUSFor more than 50 years the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus has been the unstinting voice of the Orchestra’s choral repertoire. The MSO Chorus sings with the finest conductors including Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Mark Wigglesworth, Bernard Labadie, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Manfred Honeck, and is committed to developing and performing new Australian and international choral repertoire.

Commissions include Brett Dean’s Katz und Spatz, Ross Edwards’ Mountain Chant, and Paul Stanhope’s Exile Lamentations. Recordings by the MSO Chorus have received critical acclaim. It has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in Sao Paolo, with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, at the AFL Grand Final and at Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies.

BRENTON SPITERI TENORIn 2012, Brenton Spiteri won first prize in the Herald Sun Aria, which allowed him to pursue overseas study in singing and languages. Subsequently, he was a resident young artist at Opéra Lyon for two seasons, where his roles included Maréchal Trac in Le Roi Carotte, and Mercurio in l’Incoronazione di Poppea.

Australian performance highlights include Tamino, The Magic Flute (State Opera South Australia); Schoolmaster/Mosquito, Cunning Little Vixen (Victorian Opera); Nadir, The Pearlfishers (Melbourne Opera); Clotarco, Armida (Pinchgut Opera). In 2018, he will perform Sam Sawnoff in The Magic Pudding for Victorian Opera and Mathan in Athalia for Pinchgut Opera. For Sydney Chamber Opera, he created the role of Ashley Crowther in the Helpmann Award Nominated Fly Away Peter, receiving critical acclaim for his “charismatic warmth and vocal agility”.

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BERNSTEIN CLASSICSWEDNESDAY 15 AUGUST 2018

Melbourne Symphony OrchestraBramwell Tovey conductorNicholas Tolputt counter-tenorLiane Keegan altoMelbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus

Copland Orchestral Variations

Mahler Rückert-Lieder

INTERVAL

Bernstein Symphony No. 1 Jeremiah

Bernstein Chichester Psalms

Pre-concert conversation Join us for a pre-concert conversation with Vincent Plush inside Hamer Hall from 6.15pm.

Running time: 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval

AARON COPLAND (1900-1990)

Orchestral Variations

Theme: Grave – Variations I – XX – Coda

The 1920s were tumultuous and formative for the young Aaron Copland. He spent the earliest years of the decade in Paris, absorbing the lessons of French literature and painting, and studying with the greatest teacher of the age, Nadia Boulanger. The decade (which ended, of course, with the Wall Street Crash) saw several important early works for piano: the Sonata of 1921, the Concerto of 1926, several Piano Blues and the Piano Variations of 1930. The Concerto and Variations, both presented after his return to the USA, were not well received: audiences didn’t care for the kind of jazz-infusion of the concerto, and the Variations were too confronting. When he sent the score to Walter Gieseking, the German pianist replied that ‘this composition is very interesting and most original, but…a work of such severity of style is not possible among the normal type of concert-goers.’ Nevertheless, it remained a favourite of the composer’s; he felt it had a ‘rightness’. After working on it for some time, ‘one fine day when the time was right, the order of the variations fell into place.’ It consists of a theme, 20 variations and a coda – the theme being a four-note cell which Copland subjects to rigorous manipulation derived from the practice of Schoenberg. It is not the ‘big sky’

Copland of Appalachian Spring or Rodeo, or the ‘grand style’ Copland of the Third Symphony, but rather the uncompromising modernist whose late Music for a Great City left the likes of Jacqueline Kennedy at a loss for words.

Disappointed that the piano work had not achieved greater currency, Copland returned to it in 1957 and made this orchestral version of it for the Louisville Orchestra. It was, as he observed, ‘a unique challenge to think of this material in terms of orchestral colour’: the Piano Variations have a lapidary character thanks to Copland’s exploitation of the instrument’s percussive nature. While, in rethinking the piece for orchestra, Copland maintained that character at the outset – the austere and angular theme is stated by various instruments doubled by timpani – he did, overall, treat the original as ‘a piano sketch with orchestral possibilities’, thus freeing himself to make more opulent sounds, while keeping the piece rigorously organised.

After the terse statement of the theme, a somewhat more sustained version appears, followed in turn by a more elaborately harmonised and scored variation, where the third introduces whimsical dotted figures. The short variations thus go on to exploit striving passages in octaves and heraldic fragments of brass writing. There are unexpected passages of quiet lyricism, such as the delicate woodwinds of Variation XI, a turning-point in the otherwise steady march of the music toward more and more powerful rhetoric. We hear hints of rhythmic intricacy and occasionally diaphanous moments in the ballet scores, and fleeting glimpses of the ‘grand style’, especially in the substantial, third-part coda that concludes the piece. Sadly, the piece was not an unmixed success. As one newspaper noted: ‘New-Old Copland Work Cheered, Also Jeered’.© Gordon Kerry 2018

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

GUSTAV MAHLER (1860-1911)

Rückertlieder (five songs to poems of Friedrich Rückert)

Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder

Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft

Um Mitternacht

Liebst du um Schönheit

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

Liane Keegan alto

Friedrich Rückert (1788-1866) experienced the upheavals of Europe during the Napoleonic wars and held the position of professor of oriental languages at various German universities before retiring to the country to concentrate on poetry.

Mahler started setting poetry by Rückert in 1901, at the same time as he began work on his Fifth Symphony, and ultimately produced two sets of songs to Rückert’s verse. The Kindertotenlieder (Songs on the death of children) has

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been described as Mahler’s greatest song-cycle, though at the time he was accused of ‘self-tormenting exhibitionism’. The poetry grew out of Rückert’s own grief at the loss of his two children; Mahler responds in music that memorialises his own brother who died in childhood. ‘It hurt me to write them,’ Mahler said of the songs, ‘and I grieve for the world which will one day have to hear them.’

Mahler also worked on setting a further group of five Rückert poems. He published them as separate works (for voice and piano initially), but after his death a publisher grouped them together with two songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (the collection of folk-poetry which so inspired the composer) and, with the benefit of hindsight, named them Sieben Lieder aus letzter Zeit – effectively, ‘Seven last songs’. The five Rückertlieder do not constitute a song-cycle, in that there is no overarching narrative as in Schubert’s Winterreise, or central theme as in the Kindertotenlieder. The songs can therefore be sung in whatever order the soloist decides.

There are some recurrent poetic ideas, however, one of which is the subject of the first of the songs to be composed. Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder (Do not look into my songs) dramatises the conviction of many artists that a poem or song should not be seen until it is finished, and that the work itself should happen in secrecy, as bees make honey in the privacy of their hive. Mahler, of course, can’t resist the gentle evocation of bees in the song’s accompaniment.

Always sensitive to the beauties of the natural environment, Mahler then set Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft (I breathed the scent of linden); the poet describes entering a room where a sprig from a linden (or lime-tree), picked by the beloved, is filling the house with the fragrance of love. The delicacy of the orchestration and the seemingly rhapsodic form of the song beautifully represent the subtlety of the scent and the fragility of the emotion.

Um Mitternacht (At midnight) dramatises the soul’s experience of existential despair in imagery of an empty universe and eternally suffering humanity. Mahler eschews any orchestral warmth by omitting the string sections from this song. The climax of the song (and its power is such that it is frequently placed last in performance) arrives as the poet commends all things into the hand of God.

Liebst du um Schönheit (If you love for beauty) offers sets of short stanzas, matched by Mahler’s strophic musical form, in which the poet admits he can’t offer beauty or treasure to the beloved but will love for love’s sake, faithfully and forever.

Arguably Mahler’s greatest single song, Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (I am lost to the world) is, like Blicke mir nicht in die Lieder, about the artist’s necessary withdrawal from the world in order to make art. Mahler, of course, was one of the busiest and most visible musicians of his time, making time to compose only during his precious summer vacations. But this song makes clear how single-minded an artist must be; the reward for creation is to live alone ‘in my heaven…my love…my song’. The melody of

this song is used in heavily modified form in the famous Adagietto of the Fifth Symphony, and its plangent opening pages look forward to the ecstatic dissolution of Das Lied von der Erde (1911).

While the Rückertlieder make no claims to being a cycle, the five songs each examine some aspect of those three things that are brought together in Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen: heaven, love and song.Gordon Kerry © 2007

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra first performed Mahler’s Rückertlieder on 9 February 1974 with conductor Henry Krips and baritone Jonathan Summers. The MSO’s most recent performance took place on 11 September 1979 with Georg Tintner and mezzo-soprano Yvonne Minton.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)

Symphony No.1, Jeremiah

Prophecy

Profanation

Lamentation

Liane Keegan alto

‘It is impossible for me to make an exclusive choice among the various activities of conducting, symphonic composition, writing for the theatre or playing the piano. What seems right for me at any given moment is what I must do…’ So Leonard Bernstein wrote in the 1940s, and so it was when he created this, his first large-scale orchestral work.

There were many ‘banner’ years in Bernstein’s crowded musical life, but 1944 was one of the most remarkable. He had made his conducting debut at the New York Philharmonic in November 1943; by the end of the following year he had conducted the symphony orchestras of Pittsburgh, Boston and Montreal, and had made his Hollywood Bowl debut, and this symphony, the ballet Fancy Free, and the musical On the Town – for which Bernstein composed the score – had all premiered. All three works would become major successes and announce that a new, multi-faceted musical voice had arrived on the American scene.

Jeremiah was Bernstein’s response to a competition sponsored by the New England Conservatory of Music in 1942; he had a mad scramble to meet the deadline, so much so that his sister Shirley and several of Bernstein’s friends were roped in to help get the score and parts ready on time.

This is the first of many Bernstein works concerned with a crisis of faith (including his two subsequent symphonies and his Mass). According to Jewish tradition, the biblical Jeremiah lived around the year 600 BC, and was the principal author of the books of Jeremiah, Kings and Lamentations. He prophesied Jerusalem’s destruction by invaders from the north, as Israel had been unfaithful to the laws of the covenant and had forsaken God. According to Bernstein, the symphony’s opening Prophecy – intense and often anguished – aims to ‘parallel in feeling the intensity

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of the prophet’s pleas with his people’. The Profanation is a feverish, rhythmically vibrant scherzo which, the composer wrote, ‘gives a general sense of the destruction and chaos brought on by the pagan corruption of the priesthood and the people’. The final Lamentation introduces the mezzo-soprano soloist, representing Jeremiah mourning his beloved Jerusalem. The city is, in the composer’s words, ‘ruined, pillaged and dishonoured after his desperate attempts to save it’. Yet there is also consolation, even hope, in the symphony’s final moments.

Jeremiah is an exceptionally single-minded piece, and as Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton wrote: ‘It remains unequalled among mid-20th century symphonies for the fervour with which it reaches out to audiences.’ It debuted at an almost unbearably poignant moment, just as the wider world was coming to an understanding of the Nazis’ ‘final solution’. ‘How can I be blind to the problems of my own people? I’d give everything I have to be able to strike a death blow at Fascism,’ Bernstein told a journalist when the work was performed for the first time, in Pittsburgh.

The symphony’s success was swift and assured: it was voted outstanding new classical work of the season by the New York Music Critics circle, and broadcast to a coast-to-coast radio audience by the NBC Symphony Orchestra while, by 1947, Bernstein had conducted it across the USA, in Prague and in Jerusalem. The part of his life devoted to composing orchestral music had got off to an incredible start.© Phillip Sametz 2018

The only previous performance of this symphony by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra took place on 5 August 1978 under the direction of Elyakum Shapirra. The soloist was Lauris Elms.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918-1990)

Chichester Psalms

I. Psalm 108 vs. 2, Psalm 100

II. Psalm 23, Psalm 2 vs. 1-4

III. Psalm 131, Psalm 133 vs. 1

Nicholas Tolputt counter-tenor

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus

After six seasons as the New York Philharmonic’s Music Director, years of hectic travel and guest conducting, and always torn between the imperatives of composing and conducting, in 1964/65 Leonard Bernstein took a year’s sabbatical. The year began poorly when plans for a Broadway show based on Thornton Wilder’s play The Skin of Our Teeth collapsed.

However a commission arrived from an unexpected source – Walter Hussey, the Dean of England’s Chichester Cathedral whose choir joined forces every year with those of the cathedrals of Winchester and Salisbury to present the Southern Cathedrals Festival. Hussey was a visionary arts patron responsible for commissions from Benjamin Britten,

BERNSTEIN CLASSICSPROGRAM NOTES

William Walton, Marc Chagall, W.H. Auden, Graham Sutherland, and Henry Moore. The seed planted by John Birch, the Cathedral’s Organist and Choirmaster, was bold: to ask a world-renowned conductor, a ‘Broadway composer’ of Jewish background, to compose for a very Anglican affair. ‘The sort of thing that we had in mind was perhaps, say, a setting of the Psalm 2, or some part of it, either unaccompanied or accompanied by orchestra or organ, or both,’ wrote Hussey to Bernstein. ‘Many of us would be very delighted if there was a hint of West Side Story about the music.’

A wave of ecumenism swept through the Anglican church in the early 1960s, and the Psalms, common texts for Jews and Christians, was fruitful territory for Bernstein, whose concern, that he could only ‘think of these Psalms in the original Hebrew’, was swiftly allayed by Hussey.

The orchestration calls for three trumpets, three trombones, two harps, timpani, percussion, and strings. The original conception, for a chorus of men and boys, was given its premiere in Chichester Cathedral in July 1965, while two weeks earlier Bernstein had conducted the world premiere in New York with the New York Philharmonic and the Camerata Singers.

The work opens with music Bernstein’s mentor Aaron Copland might have written – open-air, extrovert music, the choir blazing words from Psalm 108: ‘Awake, psaltery and harp!’. This confident opening breaks into an ebullient, jazzy 7/4 setting of Psalm 100, with percussion writing much to the fore in ‘Make a joyful noise’.

The second movement begins with a musical image of the psalmist David, the boy treble (or counter-tenor) accompanied by harp, keening the opening lines of Psalm 23. Sopranos and altos take up this melody, but its message of peace is insidiously undermined by the tenors’ and basses’ cabalistic chanting of verses from Psalm 2, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?’, creating a distinct tension throughout the rest of this movement.

The final movement opens with passionate string writing that dissolves all tension by way of a long, generous melody in 10/4 time setting words from Psalm 131. Out of this gorgeous warm sonority, the chorus, now unaccompanied, complete the work with a verse from Psalm 133, ‘How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together’, a vision of peace before the final ‘Amen’.

Months after the premiere Bernstein wrote a delightful verse:

These Psalms are a simple and modest affair.

Tonal and tuneful and somewhat square,

Certain to sicken a stout John Cager,

With its tonics and triads in B-flat major.Jonathan Grieves-Smith © 2018

The only previous performance of the Chichester Psalms by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra took place on 9-11 November 2000 with conductor Yaron Traub, treble soloist Mark Casey and the Melbourne Chorale Ensemble.

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GUSTAV MAHLER Rückertlieder (five songs to poems of Friedrich Rückert)

Liane Keegan alto

1. Blicke mir nicht in die LiederBlicke mir nicht in die Lieder!Meine Augen schlag’ ich nieder,Wie ertappt auf böser Tat.Selber darf ich nicht getrauen,Ihrem Wachsen zuzuschauen.Deine Neugier ist Verrat!

Bienen, wenn sie Zellen bauen,Lassen auch nicht zu sich schauen,Schauen selbst auch nicht zu.Wenn die reichen HonigwabenSie zu Tag gefördert haben,Dann vor allen nasche du!

2. Ich atmet’ einen linden DuftIch atmet’ einen linden Duft.Im Zimmer standEin Zweig der Linde,Ein AngebindeVon lieber Hand.Wie lieblich war der Lindenduft!

Wie lieblich ist der Lindenduft!Das LindenreisBrachst du gelinde;Ich atme leisIm Duft der LindeDer Liebe linden Duft.

3. Um MitternachtUm MitternachtHab’ ich gewachtUnd aufgeblickt zum Himmel;Kein Stern vom SterngewimmelHat mir gelacht Um Mitternacht.

Um MitternachtHab’ ich gedachtHinaus in dunkel Schranken.Es hat kein LichtgedankenMir Trost gebrachtUm Mitternacht.

Um MitternachtNahm ich in achtDie Schläge meines Herzens;Ein einz’ger Puls des SchmerzensWar angefachtUm Mitternacht.

1. Do not look at my songsDo not look at my songs!My eyes are lowered as if caught in a malicious act.Even I do not dareto watch them as they grow:your inquisitiveness is treason!

Bees too, when building their cellslet no-one behold them,neither do they perceive themselves.When the rich honeycombis hauled into the light of daythen you shall be the first to taste the sweetness.

2. I breathed a gentle fragranceI breathed a gentle fragrance.In the room stooda branch of a lime tree,a giftfrom a dear hand.How lovely was the lime fragrance!

How lovely is the lime fragrance!The sprig from the lime treeyou plucked so gently;softly I breathedLove’s delicate fragrance.

3. At midnightAt midnightI awokeand looked up to the Heavens;no star in the busy firmamentsmiled on meat midnight.

At midnightmy thoughtsstretched out beyond the darknessand no friendly lightbrought consolation to meat midnight.

At midnightI heeded the beating of my heart;a single pulse of painwas rousedat midnight.

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Um MitternachtKämpft’ ich die Schlacht,O Menschheit, deiner Leiden;Nicht konnt’ ich sie entscheidenMit meiner MachtUm Mitternacht.

Um MitternachtHab’ ich die MachtIn Deiner Hand gegebenHerr über Tod und Leben,Du hältst die WachtUm Mitternacht!

4. Liebst du um SchönheitLiebst du um Schönheit, o nicht mich liebe!Liebe die Sonne, sie trägt ein gold’nes Haar!Liebst du um Jugend, o nicht mich liebe!Liebe den Frühling, der jung ist jedes Jahr!Liebst du um Schätze, o nicht mich liebe!Liebe die Meerfrau, sie hat viel Perlen klar!Liebst du um Liebe, o ja – mich liebe!Liebe mich immer, dich lieb ich immerdar!

5. Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommenIch bin der Welt abhanden gekommenMit der ich sonst viele Zeit verdorben;Sie hat so lange nicht von mir vernommen,Sie mag wohl glauben, ich sei gestorben!

Es ist mir auch gar nichts daran gelegen,Ob sie mich für gestorben hält.Ich kann auch gar nichts sagen dagegen,Denn wirklich bin ich gestorben der Welt.

Ich bin gestorben dem WeltgetümmelUnd ruh’ in einem stillen Gebiet.Ich leb’ allein in meinem Himmel,In meinem Lieben, in meinem Lied.

At midnightI fought the battle,O humanity, of your suffering,but could not resolve itwith my strengthat midnight.

At midnightI gave up all my strengthinto your hand;Lord over death and life,You keep watch at midnight!

4. If you love for beautyIf you love for beauty, do not love me!Love the sun, with its golden hair!If you love for youth, do not love me!Love the Spring, which is young every year!If you love for treasure, then do not love me!Love the mermaid, who has many bright pearls!If you love for love, oh yes, then love me!Love me always, as I will always love you!

5. I have lost touch with the worldI have lost touch with the worldwhere once too much time I wasted.For so long has nothing been heard of methat those who think of me imagine me dead.

It is nothing to me that they think me dead.I cannot say that they are wrong,for truly I am dead to the world.

I am dead to the world’s tumultand rest in calm domains.I live alone in my Heavenin my devotion, in my song.

Translations by David Vivian Russell

Symphony Australia © 2000

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Rückertlieder continued

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Ēcha From The Lamentations of Jeremiah

1: 1-3Ēcha yashva vadad ha-irRabati amHay’ta k’almana;Rabati vagoyimSarati bam’dinotHay’ta lamas.

Bacho tivkeh balaila,V’dim’ata al lecheya;Ēn la m’nachēmMikol ohaveha;Kol reeha bag’du va;Hayu la l’oy’vim.

Galta Y’huda mēoni,Umērov avoda;Hi yashva vagoyim,Lo matsa mano-ach;Kol rod’feha hisiguhaBen hamitsarim.

1: 8Chēt chata Y’rushalyim…(Ēcha yashva ha-ir…k’almana.)

4: 14-15Na-u ivrim bachutsotN’go-alu badam,B’lo yuchluYig’u bilvushēhem.

Suru tamē! kar’u lamo,Suru, suru! al tiga-u…

5: 20-21Lama lanetsach tishkachēnu…Lanetsach taazvēnu…

Hashivēnu Adonai ēlecha…

1: 1-3How doth the city sit solitary,That was full of people!How is she become as a widow!She that was great among the nations,And princess among the provinces,How is she become tributary!

She weepeth sore in the night,And her tears are on her cheeks;She hath none to comfort herAmong all her lovers;All her friends have dealt treacherously with her.They are become her enemies.

Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction,And because of great servitude;She dwelleth among the heathen,She findeth no rest.All her persecutors overtook herBetween the straits.

1: 8Jerusalem hath grievously sinned…(How doth the city sit solitary…a widow.)

4: 14-15They have wandered as blind men in the streets,They have polluted themselves with blood,So that men could notTouch their garments.

Depart ye, it is unclean! they cried unto them,Depart, depart! touch not…

5: 20-21Wherefore dost Thou forget us forever,And forsake us so long time?…

Turn Thou us unto Thee, O Lord…

LEONARD BERNSTEIN Symphony No.1, Jeremiah

III. Lamentation

Liane Keegan alto

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IPs. 108, vs. 2:Urah, hanevel, v’chinor!A-irah shahar!

Ps. 100, entireHariu l’Adonai kol haarets.Iv’du et Adonai b’simha.Bo-u l’fanav bir’nanah.D’u ki Adonai Hu Elohim.Hu asanu, v’lo anahnu.Amo v’tson mar’ito.Bo-u sh’arav b’todah,Hatseirotav bit’hilah,Hodu lo, bar’chu sh’mo.Ki tov Adonai, l’olam has’do,V’ad dor vador emunato.

IIPs. 23, entireAdonai ro-i, lo ehsar.Bin’ot deshe yarbitseini,Al mei m’nuhot y’nahaleiniNaf’shi y’shovev,Yan’heini b’ma’aglei tsedek,L’ma’an sh’mo.Gam ki eilechB’gei tsalmavet,Lo ira ra,Ki Atah imadi.Shiv’t’cha umishan’techaHemah y’nahamuni.

Ta’aroch l’fanai shulchanNeged tsor’raiDishanta vashemen roshiCosi r’vayah.Ach tov vahesedYird’funi kol y’mei hayai,V’shav’ti b’veit AdonaiL’orech yamim.

IPs. 108, vs. 2:Awake, psaltery and harp:I will rouse the dawn!

Ps. 100, entireMake a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.Serve the Lord with gladness.Come before His presence with singing.Know ye that the Lord, He is God.It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves.We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,And into His courts with praise.Be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting,And His truth endureth to all generations.

IIPs. 23, entireThe Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.He maketh me to lie down in green pastures,He leadeth me beside the still waters,He restoreth my soul,He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness,For His name’s sake.Yea, though I walkThrough the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,For thou art with me.Thy rod and Thy staffThey comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before meIn the presence of mine enemies,Thou anointest my head with oil,My cup runneth over.Surely goodness and mercy Shall follow me all the days of my life,And I will dwell in the house of the LordForever.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms

I. Psalm 108 vs. 2, Psalm 100

II. Psalm 23, Psalm 2 vs. 1-4

III. Psalm 131, Psalm 133 vs. 1

Nicholas Tolputt counter-tenor

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus

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BERNSTEIN CLASSICSTEXTS

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Please turn your page quietly

Ps. 2, vs. 1-4:Lamah rag’shu goyimUl’umim yeh’gu rik?Yit’yats’vu malchei erets,V’roznim nos’du yahadAl Adonai v’al m’shiho.N’natkah et mos’roteimo,V’nashlichah mimenu avoteimo.Yoshev bashamayimYis’hak, AdonaiYil’ag lamo!

IIIPs. 131, entireAdonai, Adonai,Lo gavah libi,V’lo ramu einai,V’lo hilachtiBig’dolot uv’niflaotMimeni.Im lo shivitiV’domam’ti,Naf’shi k’gamul alei imo,Kagamul alai naf’shi.Yahel Yis’rael el AdonaiMe’atah v’ad olam.

Ps. 133, vs. 1:Hineh mah tov,Umah naim,Shevet ahimGam yahad.Amen.

Ps. 2, vs. 1-4:Why do the nations rage,And the people imagine a vain thing?The kings of the earth set themselves,And the rulers take counsel togetherAgainst the Lord and against His anointed.Saying, let us break their bands asunder,And cast away their cords from us.He that sitteth in the heavens Shall laugh, and the LordShall have them in derision!

IIIPs. 131, entireLord, Lord,My heart is not haughty,Nor mine eyes lofty,Neither do I exercise myselfIn great matters or in thingsToo wonderful for me.Surely I have calmedAnd quieted myself,As a child that is weaned of his mother,My soul is even as a weaned child.Let Israel hope in the LordFrom henceforth and forever.

Ps. 133, vs. 1:Behold how good,And how pleasant it is,For brethren to dwell Together in unity.Amen.

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SEPHARDIC HEBREW PRONUNCIATION GUIDE TO THE TRANSLITERATION

All vowels and diphthongs as in Italianch as in the german word achē as in weighg as in goh as in hopeh slightly guttural Hr rolled as in Italians as in sonsh as in fishts as in witsy as in yesz as in zeal

An apostrophe (’) after a consonant (e.g. hay’ta) is a short neutral vowel as in the first syllable of variety or as in the last syllable of the French word table.

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Sir Andrew Davis Chief Conductor

Benjamin Northey Associate Conductor Anthony Pratt#

Tianyi Lu Cybec Assistant Conductor

Hiroyuki Iwaki Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)

FIRST VIOLINS

Dale Barltrop Concertmaster

Sophie Rowell Concertmaster The Ullmer Family Foundation#

Kirsty Hilton*† Guest Associate Concertmaster

Peter Edwards Assistant Principal John McKay and Lois McKay#

Kirsty BremnerSarah Curro Michael Aquilina#

Peter FellinDeborah GoodallLorraine HookAnne-Marie JohnsonKirstin KennyJi Won KimEleanor ManciniMark Mogilevski Michelle RuffoloKathryn Taylor Michael Aquilina#

Nicholas Waters*

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins Principal The Gross Foundation#

Robert Macindoe Associate Principal

Monica Curro Assistant Principal Danny Gorog and Lindy Susskind#

Mary AllisonIsin CakmakciogluFreya FranzenCong GuAndrew HallIsy WassermanPhilippa WestPatrick WongRoger YoungAaron Barnden*Michael Loftus-Hills*

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore Principal Di Jameson#

Fiona Sargeant Associate Principal

Lauren Brigden Mr Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman#

Katharine BrockmanChristopher Cartlidge Michael Aquilina#

Anthony Chataway Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#

Gabrielle Halloran Maria Solà#

Trevor Jones Cindy WatkinElizabeth WoolnoughCaleb WrightWilliam Clark*Ceridwen Davies*

CELLOS

David Berlin Principal MS Newman Family#

Rachael Tobin Associate Principal

Nicholas Bochner Assistant Principal

Miranda Brockman Geelong Friends of the MSO#

Rohan de Korte Andrew Dudgeon#

Keith JohnsonSarah MorseAngela Sargeant Maria Solà#

Michelle Wood Andrew and Theresa Dyer#

Mee Na Lojewski*Josephine Vains*

DOUBLE BASSES

Steve Reeves Principal

Andrew Moon Associate Principal

Sylvia Hosking Assistant Principal

Damien EckersleyBenjamin HanlonSuzanne LeeStephen Newton Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Kylie Davies*Vivian Siyuan Qu*Esther Toh*

FLUTES

Prudence Davis Principal Anonymous#

Wendy Clarke Associate Principal

Sarah BeggsLauren Gorman*

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod Principal

OBOES

Jeffrey Crellin Principal

Thomas Hutchinson Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

Rachel Curkpatrick*

COR ANGLAIS

Michael Pisani Principal

CLARINETS

David Thomas Principal

Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal

Craig Hill

BASS CLARINET

Jon Craven Principal

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller Principal

Elise Millman Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

CONTRABASSOON

Brock Imison Principal

HORNS

Saul Lewis Acting Associate Principal

Ian Wildsmith* Guest Principal Third

Abbey Edlin Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

Trinette McClimontRebecca Luton*Alexander Morton*

TRUMPETS

Shane Hooton Associate Principal

Tristan Rebien* Guest Associate Principal

William EvansRosie Turner John and Diana Frew#

TROMBONES

Brett Kelly Principal

Tim Dowling* Guest Associate Principal

Richard Shirley Tim and Lyn Edward#

Mike Szabo Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal

David J. Saltzman*

TIMPANI**

Brent Miller*

PERCUSSION

Robert Clarke Principal

John Arcaro Tim and Lyn Edward#

Robert CossomTimothy Hook*Evan Pritchard*Greg Sully*

HARP

Yinuo Mu Principal

Melina van Leeuwen*

PIANO/CELESTE

Donald Nicolson*

# Position supported by

* Guest Musician

† Courtesy of Sydney Symphony Orchestra

** Timpani Chair position supported by Lady Potter AC CMRI

BERNSTEIN CLASSICSMELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

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Warren Trevelyan-Jones Chorus MasterTom Griffiths Phillipa Safey Repetiteurs

SOPRANO

Philippa AllenAviva BarazaniAnne-Marie BrownhillEva ButcherSamantha DaviesLaura FaheyRita FitzgeraldCatherine FolleySusan FoneCamilla GormanEmma HamleyPenny HuggettTania JacobsGwen KennellyAnna KidmanClancye MilneCaitlin NobleSusie NovellaKarin OttoTiffany PangNatalie ReidJanelle RichardsonMhairi RiddetJo RobinElizabeth RusliNatalia SalazarJillian SamuelsJemima Sim Shu XianFreja SoininenChiara StebbingEmily SwansonElizabeth TindallFabienne VandenburieIvy Weng

ALTO

Ruth AndersonCatherine BickellKate BramleyJane BrodieElize BrozgulAlexandra CameronSerena CarmelAlexandra ChubatyKatharine DaleyNicola EveleighLisa FaulksJill GieseRos HarbisonJennifer HenryKristine HenselSara Kogan-LazarusJoy LukmanHelen MacLeanChristina McCowanRosemary McKelvieStephanie MitchellNicole PatersonAlison RalphHelen RommelaarKerry RoulstonLisa SavigeJulienne SealLibby TimckeJenny Vallins

TENOR

James AllenAlexandra AmeridesTony BarnettSteve BurnettPeter CampbellGeoffrey CollinsJames DipnallDavid FloydSimon GaitesWayne KinradeMichael MobachJean-Francois RavatNathan Guan Kiat TeoTim Wright

BASS

Richard BolithoRoger DargavilleTed DaviesAndrew HamAndrew HibbardJoseph HieJordan JanssenEvan LawsonGary LevyVern O’HaraAlexander OwensStephen PykLiam StraughanTom TurnbullFoon WongSimon WrightMaciek Zielinski

mso.com.au (03) 9929 9600

BERNSTEIN CLASSICSMELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS

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BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAYSATURDAY 18 AUGUST 2018

Melbourne Symphony OrchestraBramwell Tovey conductorSarah Fox sopranoLiane Keegan altoBrenton Spiteri tenorBrett Polegato baritone

Bernstein On The Town: Lonely Town

Bernstein Three Dance Episodes from On The Town: Times Square 1944

Bernstein On The Town: Come Up To My Place

Bernstein Ain’t Got No Tears Left

Gershwin A Foggy Day

Gershwin The Goldwyn Follies: Love is Here To Stay

Bernstein Wonderful Town: A Quiet Girl

Bernstein Three Dance Episodes from On The Town: Lonely Town pas de deux

Bernstein Wonderful Town: A Little Bit In Love

Bernstein Wonderful Town: It’s Love

INTERVAL

Bernstein Candide: Overture

Bernstein Peter Pan: Dream With Me

Bernstein Candide: I Am Easily Assimilated

Bernstein Fancy Free: Danzon Variation

Sondheim A Little Night Music: Send In The Clowns

Bernstein West Side Story: I Feel Pretty

Bernstein West Side Story: Suite No. 1

Pre-concert conversation Join us for a pre-concert conversation with Vincent Plush and Stephen McAllan inside Hamer Hall from 6.15pm.

Running time: 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval

If memory serves me correctly, Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts used to be shown on Melbourne’s Channel 10, when Channel 10 was Channel 0 broadcasting from new studios in Nunawading. Even then, Leonard Bernstein was known to straddle the worlds of classical and popular music. He wrote symphonies and conducted the New York Philharmonic. He conquered Broadway. Leonard Bernstein, though born in Massachusetts to a beauty products supplier and his wife, became musical New York’s chief representative. This concert celebrates Bernstein’s Broadway, with works premiered or set there.

ON THE TOWN

On the Town was arguably Bernstein’s first real Broadway success, composed in 1944 not long after he had written his first symphony (Jeremiah), and not very long after he had become a household name when standing in at short notice for Bruno Walter conducting the New York Philharmonic on a national broadcast. It contains typically brash, infectious, tender music of the sort that became a Bernstein signature. The plot concerns three young sailors on shore leave for 24 precious hours prior to embarkation and trying to squeeze in as much fun as their last full day of ‘liberty’ will allow. The plot-line – kind of a chase – allows for rambunctious high spirits but also subtle allusions to sadder moments. It’s not all ‘chasing broads’. Gabey is looking for real love and his number ‘Lonely Town’ injects some real tenderness into the show.

One of the most striking features of On the Town is the prevalence of dance numbers (a result of the influence of co-creator, choreographer Jerome Robbins). The concert work Three Dance Episodes capitalises on this choreographic strength. Episode III is based on the Act I finale when all the sailors come to Times Square for some fun. In Bernstein’s brash, shouting orchestration and spiky rhythms we can hear the crowdedness, anxiety and desperate fun of ‘every-moment-matters’ wartime New York. Bernstein always worried whether his music was deep, but in the context of the show, this is poignant. Will these fun-loving boys return? In the meantime, some ‘broads’ chase the boys. Female cab driver Hildy wants Chip to ‘come up to my place’, getting increasingly frustrated with his wish to see the sights.

On the Town was written at frenetic pace. At one stage Bernstein and his lyricists Betty Comden and Adolph Green worked in hospital while Bernstein and Green were recovering from minor operations. But On the Town was subject to the cuts, rewrites and amplifications that are customary in a Broadway musical composed at high speed, especially after director George Abbott was brought in. ‘Ain’t Got No Tears Left’ is one such cut. Kind of a nightclub number, it proves that Bernstein, who conducted Schumann, Strauss, Rózsa and Wagner on that career-launching Saturday afternoon broadcast, could make a creditable contribution to the Great American Songbook.

PROGRAM NOTES

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FOGGY DAY IN LONDON TOWN / LOVE IS HERE TO STAY

Prior to Bernstein there was another New York composer who aimed to straddle what was then the classical/popular music divide, and that was George Gershwin. Bernstein’s senior thesis at Boston’s Harvard University explored how two of his favourite American composers, Gershwin and Copland (both born in Brooklyn), ‘had responded creatively to jazz and Latin-American influences to create a national musical style’ (to quote Humphrey Burton’s Bernstein biography). Gershwin first came to fame with a number he wrote as a ‘song plugger’ on Tin Pan Alley – Swanee, recorded in 1920 by Al Jolson. But Gershwin always aspired to write music for the concert hall and his biggest orchestral hit – Rhapsody in Blue – predates some of his best-known shows. Gershwin moved to Hollywood after the apparent failure of Porgy and Bess (West Side Story’s only competitor for the title of Great American Opera?) and composed music for films. ‘A Foggy Day in London Town’ was introduced by Fred Astaire in A Damsel in Distress. ‘Love is Here to Stay’ was written for The Goldwyn Follies. It was George’s last composition before his death, on 11 July 1937.

WONDERFUL TOWN

Though not as popular as On the Town, Wonderful Town (1953) is another of Bernstein’s works set in New York, this time the East Village, an exciting, intimidating beacon to two young Midwestern girls, an aspiring writer and aspiring actress. The lyricist duo of Comden and Green again wrote the words, as they had for On the Town, and although Wonderful Town never quite achieved On the Town’s acclaim and lacks the wartime background that gives On the Town that extra bit of poignancy, it contains some great numbers.

‘A Quiet Girl’ is sung after editor Bob Baker has hurt aspiring writer Ruth Sherwood’s feelings by telling her she should write what she knows, not indulge in flights of fancy. ‘A Little Bit in Love’ is sung when Eileen finds herself infatuated with Frank Lippencott, a Walgreens supermarket manager. When Bob quits his job in defence of one of Ruth’s stories, Eileen is chuffed by Bob’s defence of her sister and assures him that ‘It’s Love’ that he feels for Ruth.

CANDIDE

Wonderful Town was really, in Burton’s words, a ‘sparkling entertainment’. Candide was a more serious proposition.

Candide premiered on Broadway (in 1956), but in a sense dramatised Bernstein’s constant vacillation between Broadway and the so-called ‘serious’ stage. Candide was based on Voltaire’s 1759 satirical novel of Enlightenment optimism about a young man who attempts to hold to his mentor’s philosophy that ‘all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds’ even after all sorts of setbacks, including earthquake, Spanish Inquisition, losing (temporarily) his beloved who is prostituted and raped… Lillian Hellman, who wrote the script, intended the musical as a critique of Eisenhower’s America and McCarthyism (hence the

Inquisition), but her earnest approach sat oddly with music that poured out of Bernstein faster almost than a storyline could frame it. In Broadway terms Candide was at first a flop even though its Original Cast Album became popular. It took six lyricists and three or so new scripts before the work achieved a final version, much closer to opera. Its overture, however, was always the ‘best overture for a Broadway show ever’ (in critic Mark Swed’s recent words).

PETER PAN

Of all the music in Bernstein’s output, incidental music for plays is possibly the least appreciated. He wrote music for Aristophanes’ The Birds and for Jean Anouilh’s play about Joan of Arc, The Lark (in a translation by Hellman). He also wrote a film score (On the Waterfront), but the music for Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie’s 1904 play about the boy who never grows up, is some of Bernstein’s simplest and most accessible music.

Bernstein wrote the music for a 1950 Broadway production starring Boris Karloff and Jean Arthur. He was only meant to write a few dances and incidental cues, but found himself ‘losing his head’ composing much more than that. Biographer Humphrey Burton says that Bernstein’s ‘songs display the innocent directness of the child’s mind and because of the limited singing skills of the Peter Pan case they are simpler and more diatonic than anything in [Bernstein’s recent] I Hate Music cycle…’

Bernstein sailed for Europe before the show opened, leaving composer friend Marc Blitzstein in charge, a responsibility Blitzstein later regretted. Among the casualties of the Broadway process: the best song, ‘Dream With Me’, was cut.

Bernstein considered that he was taking time off to compose this show so what was he ‘taking time off’ from? He had conducted the world premiere of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-symphonie at Tanglewood the previous December. Then, a week later, taken part in the Boston Symphony’s first telecast. Overseas, while Peter Pan was playing on Broadway, he conducted numerous performances of his next symphony – No.2, The Age of Anxiety.

BERNSTEIN’S LATIN DANCE STYLE

It would be fair to say that Leonard Bernstein was almost volcanically creative – composer, conductor, TV presenter; symphonist, soloist, song-writer. Not only did he write the music for Candide but he was also one of the lyricists. ‘I am Easily Assimilated’ occurs after Candide has found his true-love Cunegonde alive (after all) and fled with her and the Old Lady to Buenos Aires, where the Old Lady persuades Cunegonde to live in the palace with the governor, remarking that she is easily assimilated. It is a brilliantly funny song – with a touch of autobiography about it. Rovny-Gubernya, supposed birthplace of the Old Lady, is the hometown of Bernstein’s Polish forebears.

BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAYPROGRAM NOTES

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‘I Am Easily Assimilated’ is a prime example of Bernstein’s ability to compose in a Latin dance style as is his Danzón from Fancy Free, based on a Cuban style. Fancy Free, a ballet, was the precursor of On the Town. The storyline was similar if slimmer – the adventures of three sailors on leave. But it had enough potential for George Abbott to propose a full-blown musical from it. Actually, the work is a reminder that the energy of Bernstein’s music makes it ripe for dance.

COLLABORATION WITH SONDHEIM

Bernstein was fortunate in his collaborators. Robbins is cited above, as are Lillian Hellman, and Comden and Green. Aaron Copland and Laurence Olivier took part in the Boston Symphony telecast, already mentioned. It’s as if you can pair Bernstein’s name with any other great

performing artist of the 20th century. The lyricist for West Side Story, perhaps Bernstein’s greatest show, was Stephen Sondheim, who would go on to write the lyrics for Gypsy (promoted for the job by West Side Story collaborators Jerome Robbins and Arthur Laurents) and then become his own composer/lyricist starting with A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Although Sondheim was a protégé of Oscar Hammerstein II (of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame), Sondheim’s later shows took a more quizzical, less optimistic view of human relations. A Little Night Music (1973) is based on an Ingmar Bergman film, Smiles of a Summer Night, concerning the relations between five couples. ‘Send in the Clowns’ was a late inclusion, added when Sondheim realised the character Desiree needed a second-act song. It’s a song for someone who has seen it all before – as critic Max Cryer describes it: ‘an anthem to regret for unwise decisions in the past’.

Sondheim got to write the lyrics for West Side Story when he ran into Arthur Laurents at a party. Laurents knew that Bernstein’s regular lyricists Comden and Green were tied up in Hollywood. He liked what he had seen of Sondheim’s lyrics in a show called Saturday Night and he suggested that Sondheim audition for Bernstein. Sondheim later admitted that he thought he could have written lyrics that were less self-conscious. Maria is a 17-year-old street girl, yet she opines, ‘It’s alarming how charming I feel’. But second thoughts don’t alter the song’s classic status.

WEST SIDE STORY

Having worked with Jerome Robbins on Fancy Free and On the Town, Bernstein was no doubt receptive when Robbins approached him and playwright Arthur Laurents in 1947 with the idea for a modern-day Romeo and Juliet, set on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. By the time the collaborators could find time in their diaries to begin work on the show, though, the location had shifted to Manhattan’s west side and the original conflict become one between white kids and Puerto Ricans.

Robbins’ conception called for much of the work to be told through dance and this is why Bernstein’s own symphonic suite revolves around the Mambo and so on. This concert suite, however, concentrates on the music of Maria and Tony, the ill-fated lovers, including Tony’s meditation on the name ‘Maria’, their realisation that despite ethnic differences they have ‘One Hand, One Heart’ and perhaps ‘Somewhere’ a ‘place for us’.

West Side Story was Bernstein’s fourth show after On The Town, Wonderful Town, and Candide. It opened its New York run in September 1957 and the 1961 film version garnered ten Academy Awards. What productive decades Bernstein had in the 1940s and 50s, and what a mark he left on Broadway in that period – soon he would be seen on television screens in Australia on Sunday afternoons.Gordon Kalton Williams © 2018

BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAYPROGRAM NOTES

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BERNSTEIN ON BROADWAYMELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Sir Andrew Davis Chief Conductor

Benjamin Northey Associate Conductor Anthony Pratt#

Tianyi Lu Cybec Assistant Conductor

Hiroyuki Iwaki Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)

FIRST VIOLINS

Dale Barltrop Concertmaster

Sophie Rowell Concertmaster The Ullmer Family Foundation#

Peter Edwards Assistant Principal John McKay and Lois McKay#

Kirsty BremnerSarah Curro Michael Aquilina#

Peter FellinDeborah GoodallLorraine HookAnne-Marie JohnsonKirstin KennyJi Won KimEleanor ManciniMark Mogilevski Michelle RuffoloKathryn Taylor Michael Aquilina#

Tiffany Cheng*Nicholas Waters*

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins Principal The Gross Foundation#

Robert Macindoe Associate Principal

Monica Curro Assistant Principal Danny Gorog and Lindy Susskind#

Mary AllisonIsin CakmakciogluFreya FranzenCong GuAndrew HallIsy WassermanPhilippa WestPatrick WongRoger YoungMichael Loftus-Hills*

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore Principal Di Jameson#

Fiona Sargeant Associate Principal

Lauren Brigden Mr Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman#

Katharine BrockmanChristopher Cartlidge Michael Aquilina#

Anthony Chataway Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#

Gabrielle Halloran Maria Solà#

Trevor Jones Cindy WatkinElizabeth WoolnoughCaleb WrightWilliam Clark*Ceridwen Davies*

CELLOS

David Berlin Principal MS Newman Family#

Rachael Tobin Associate Principal

Nicholas Bochner Assistant Principal

Miranda Brockman Geelong Friends of the MSO#

Rohan de Korte Andrew Dudgeon#

Keith JohnsonSarah MorseAngela Sargeant Maria Solà#

Michelle Wood Andrew and Theresa Dyer#

Anna Pokorny*

DOUBLE BASSES

Steve Reeves Principal

Andrew Moon Associate Principal

Sylvia Hosking Assistant Principal

Damien EckersleyBenjamin HanlonSuzanne LeeStephen Newton Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#

Vivian Siyuan Qu*Esther Toh*

FLUTES

Prudence Davis Principal Anonymous#

Wendy Clarke Associate Principal

Sarah BeggsLauren Gorman*

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod Principal

OBOES

Jeffrey Crellin Principal

Thomas Hutchinson Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

Rachel Curkpatrick*

COR ANGLAIS

Michael Pisani Principal

CLARINETS

David Thomas Principal

Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal

Craig Hill

BASS CLARINET

Jon Craven Principal

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller Principal

Elise Millman Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

CONTRABASSOON

Brock Imison Principal

HORNS

Saul Lewis Acting Associate Principal

Ian Wildsmith* Guest Principal Third

Abbey Edlin Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

Trinette McClimontAlexander Morton*

TRUMPETS

Shane Hooton Associate Principal

Tristan Rebien* Guest Associate Principal

William EvansRosie Turner John and Diana Frew#

TROMBONES

Brett Kelly Principal

Richard Shirley Tim and Lyn Edward

Mike Szabo Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal

David J. Saltzman*

TIMPANI**

Brent Miller*

PERCUSSION

Robert Clarke Principal

John Arcaro Tim and Lyn Edward#

Robert CossomEvan Pritchard*

HARP

Yinuo Mu Principal

PIANO/CELESTE

Donald Nicolson*

SAXOPHONE

Tim Wilson*

GUITAR

Doug de Vries*

# Position supported by

* Guest Musician

** Timpani Chair position supported by Lady Potter AC CMRI

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SUPPORTERS

MSO PATRON

The Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE

Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO Gandel PhilanthropyThe Gross Foundation Harold Mitchell FoundationDavid and Angela LiHarold Mitchell ACMS Newman Family FoundationLady Potter AC CMRIJoy Selby SmithThe Cybec FoundationThe Pratt FoundationThe Ullmer Family FoundationAnonymous (1)

ARTIST CHAIR BENEFACTORS

Associate Conductor Chair Benjamin Northey Anthony Pratt Orchestral Leadership Joy Selby SmithCybec Assistant Conductor Chair Tianyi Lu The Cybec FoundationAssociate Concertmaster Chair Sophie Rowell The Ullmer Family Foundation2018 Soloist in Residence Chair Anne-Sophie Mutter Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AOYoung Composer in Residence Ade Vincent The Cybec Foundation

PROGRAM BENEFACTORS

Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program The Cybec FoundationEast Meets West Supported by the Li Family TrustMeet The Orchestra Made possible by The Ullmer Family FoundationMSO Audience Access Crown Resorts Foundation, Packer Family FoundationMSO Building Capacity Gandel Philanthropy (Director of Philanthropy)MSO Education Supported by Mrs Margaret Ross AM and Dr Ian RossMSO International Touring Supported by Harold Mitchell ACMSO Regional Touring Creative Victoria, Freemasons Foundation Victoria, The Robert Salzer Foundation, AnonymousThe Pizzicato Effect (Anonymous), Collier Charitable Fund, The Marian and E.H. Flack Trust, Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust, Supported by the Hume City Council’s Community Grants Program

Sidney Myer Free Concerts Supported by the Myer Foundation and the University of Melbourne

PLATINUM PATRONS $100,000+

Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel The Gross Foundation David and Angela LiMS Newman Family Foundation Anthony Pratt The Pratt FoundationLady Potter AC CMRIJoy Selby SmithUllmer Family Foundation Anonymous (1)

VIRTUOSO PATRONS $50,000+

Di Jameson David Krasnostein and Pat StragalinosHarold Mitchell ACKim Williams AM

IMPRESARIO PATRONS $20,000+

Michael Aquilina The John and Jennifer Brukner FoundationMary and Frederick Davidson AMMargaret Jackson ACAndrew JohnstonMimie MacLarenJohn and Lois McKay Maria Solà

MAESTRO PATRONS $10,000+

Kaye and David BirksMitchell ChipmanTim and Lyn EdwardDanny Gorog and Lindy Susskind Robert & Jan GreenHilary Hall, in memory of Wilma CollieThe Hogan Family Foundation International Music and Arts FoundationSuzanne KirkhamThe Cuming BequestGordan Moffat AMIan and Jeannie PatersonElizabeth Proust AOXijian Ren and Qian LiGlenn SedgwickHelen Silver AO and Harrison YoungGai and David TaylorJuliet TootellAlice VaughanHarry and Michelle WongJason Yeap OAM – Mering Management Corporation

PRINCIPAL PATRONS $5,000+

Christine and Mark ArmourJohn and Mary BarlowBarbara Bell, in memory of Elsa BellStephen and Caroline BrainProf Ian BrighthopeDavid Capponi and Fiona McNeilMay and James ChenWendy DimmickAndrew Dudgeon AM Andrew and Theresa Dyer Mr Bill FlemingJohn and Diana FrewSusan Fry and Don Fry AOSophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser Geelong Friends of the MSO R Goldberg and FamilyLeon GoldmanJennifer GorogHMA FoundationLouis Hamon OAMNereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AMHans and Petra HenkellHartmut and Ruth HofmannDoug HooleyJenny and Peter HordernDr Alastair Jackson AMRosemary and James JacobyDr Elizabeth A Lewis AMNorman Lewis, in memory of Dr Phyllis LewisPeter LovellLesley McMullin FoundationMr Douglas and Mrs Rosemary MeagherMarie Morton FRSADr Paul Nisselle AMThe Rosemary Norman Foundation Ken Ong, in memory of Lin OngBruce Parncutt AO Jim and Fran PfeifferPzena Investment Charitable FundRae RothfieldMax and Jill SchultzJeffrey Sher QC and Diana Sher OAMProfs. G & G Stephenson, in honour of the great Romanian musicians George Enescu and Dinu LipattiTasco PetroleumMr Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman The Hon. Michael Watt QC and Cecilie HallLyn Williams AMAnonymous (2)

ASSOCIATE PATRONS $2,500+

Dandolo PartnersWill and Dorothy Bailey BequestDavid Blackwell OAM

Anne BowdenJulia and Jim BreenLynne BurgessOliver CartonJohn and Lyn CoppockAnn Darby, in memory of Leslie J. DarbyNatasha Davies, for the Trikojus Education FundMerrowyn DeaconSandra DentPeter and Leila DoyleDuxton VineyardsLisa Dwyer and Dr Ian DicksonJaan EndenDr Helen M FergusonMr Peter Gallagher and Dr Karen MorleyDina and Ron GoldschlagerLeon GoldmanColin Golvan AM QC and Dr Deborah GolvanLouise Gourlay OAMSusan and Gary HearstColin Heggen, in memory of Marjorie Drysdale HeggenJenkins Family FoundationJohn JonesGeorge and Grace KassIrene Kearsey and M J RidleyThe Ilma Kelson Music FoundationBryan LawrenceJohn and Margaret MasonH E McKenzieAllan and Evelyn McLarenAlan and Dorothy PattisonSue and Barry PeakeMrs W PeartGraham and Christine PeirsonJulie and Ian ReidRalph and Ruth RenardPeter and Carolyn RenditS M Richards AM and M R RichardsTom and Elizabeth RomanowskiDiana and Brian Snape AMPeter J StirlingJenny TatchellFrank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam TisherAnonymous (8)

PLAYER PATRONS $1,000+

David and Cindy AbbeyChrista AbdallahDr Sally AdamsMary ArmourDr Rosemary Ayton and Dr Sam RicketsonMarlyn and Peter Bancroft OAMAdrienne BasserJanice Bate and the Late Prof Weston BateJanet H BellJohn and Sally BourneMichael F BoytPatricia BrockmanDr John Brookes

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SUPPORTERS

Stuart BrownSuzie Brown OAM and Harvey BrownRoger and Col BuckleJill and Christopher BuckleyShane BuggleJohn CarrollAndrew Crockett AM and Pamela CrockettPanch Das and Laurel Young-DasBeryl DeanRick and Sue DeeringDominic and Natalie DirupoJohn and Anne DuncanJane Edmanson OAMValerie Falconer and the Rayner Family in memory of Keith FalconerGrant Fisher and Helen BirdElizabeth FosterBarry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam FradkinApplebay Pty LtdDavid Frenkiel and Esther Frenkiel OAMDavid Gibbs and Susie O’NeillMerwyn and Greta GoldblattGeorge Golvan QC and Naomi GolvanDr Marged GoodeProf Denise Grocke AOMax GulbinDr Sandra Hacker AO and Mr Ian Kennedy AMJean HadgesMichael and Susie HamsonPaula Hansky OAMMerv Keehn & Sue HarlowTilda and Brian HaughneyAnna and John HoldsworthPenelope HughesBasil and Rita JenkinsDorothy KarpinBrett Kelly and Cindy WatkinDr Anne KennedyJulie and Simon KesselKerry LandmanDiedrie LazarusWilliam and Magdalena LeadstonDr Anne LierseGaelle LindreaDr Susan LintonAndrew LockwoodElizabeth H LoftusChris and Anna LongThe Hon Ian Macphee AO and Mrs Julie MacpheeEleanor & Phillip ManciniIn memory of Leigh MaselRuth MaxwellDon and Anne MeadowsIan Morrey and Geoffrey Minternew U MilduraWayne and Penny MorganPatricia NilssonLaurence O’Keefe and Christopher James

Kerryn PratchettPeter PriestTreena QuarinEli RaskinRaspin Family TrustJoan P RobinsonCathy and Peter RogersAndrew and Judy Rogers Peter Rose and Christopher MenzMartin and Susan ShirleyPenny ShoreDr Sam Smorgon AO and Mrs Minnie SmorgonDr Norman and Dr Sue SonenbergDr Michael SoonLady Southey ACGeoff and Judy SteinickeJennifer SteinickeDr Peter StricklandPamela SwanssonAnn and Larry TurnerDavid ValentineMary Valentine AOThe Hon. Rosemary VartyLeon and Sandra VelikDavid and Yazni VennerSue Walker AMElaine Walters OAM and Gregory WaltersEdward and Paddy WhiteNic and Ann WillcockMarian and Terry Wills CookeLorraine WoolleyRichard YeAnonymous (21)

THE MAHLER SYNDICATE

David and Kaye BirksMary and Frederick Davidson AMTim and Lyn EdwardJohn and Diana FrewFrancis and Robyn HofmannThe Hon Dr Barry Jones ACDr Paul Nisselle AMMaria Solà The Hon Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall

TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS

Collier Charitable FundCrown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family FoundationThe Cybec FoundationThe Marian and E.H. Flack TrustFreemasons Foundation VictoriaGandel PhilanthropyThe International Music and Arts FoundationThe Scobie and Claire Mackinnon TrustThe Harold Mitchell FoundationThe Sidney Myer MSO Trust FundThe Pratt FoundationThe Robert Salzer FoundationTelematics TrustAnonymous

CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE

Current Conductor’s Circle MembersJenny AndersonDavid AngelovichG C Bawden and L de KievitLesley BawdenJoyce BownMrs Jenny Brukner and the late Mr John BruknerKen BullenPeter A CaldwellLuci and Ron ChambersBeryl DeanSandra DentLyn EdwardAlan Egan JPGunta EgliteMr Derek GranthamMarguerite Garnon-WilliamsDrs Clem Gruen and Rhyl WadeLouis Hamon OAMCarol HayTony HoweLaurence O’Keefe and Christopher JamesAudrey M JenkinsJohn JonesGeorge and Grace KassMrs Sylvia LavellePauline and David LawtonCameron MowatDavid OrrRosia PasteurElizabeth Proust AOPenny RawlinsJoan P RobinsonNeil RoussacAnne Roussac-HoyneSuzette SherazeeMichael Ryan and Wendy MeadAnne Kieni-Serpell and Andrew SerpellJennifer ShepherdProfs. Gabriela and George StephensonPamela SwanssonLillian TarryDr Cherilyn TillmanMr and Mrs R P TrebilcockMichael UllmerIla VanrenenThe Hon. Rosemary VartyMr Tam VuMarian and Terry Wills CookeMark YoungAnonymous (26)

The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Estates:Angela BeagleyNeilma GantnerThe Hon Dr Alan Goldberg AO QCGwen HuntAudrey JenkinsJoan JonesPauline Marie Johnston

Joan JonesC P KempPeter Forbes MacLarenJoan Winsome MaslenLorraine Maxine MeldrumProf Andrew McCredieMiss Sheila Scotter AM MBEMarion A I H M SpenceMolly StephensJennifer May TeagueJean TweedieHerta and Fred B VogelDorothy Wood

HONORARY APPOINTMENTS

Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO Life MembersSir Elton John CBE Life MemberLady Potter AC CMRI Life MemberMrs Jeanne Pratt AC Life MemberGeoffrey Rush AC Ambassador

The MSO honours the memory ofJohn Brockman OAM Life MemberThe Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC Life MemberIla Vanrenen Life Member

The MSO relies on your ongoing philanthropic support to sustain our artists, and support access, education, community engagement and more. We invite our suporters 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+ (Virtuoso)

$100,000+ (Platinum)

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

Enquiries: P (03) 8646 1551 E philanthropy@mso.com.au

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Honouring John Gandel AC and Pauline GandelTonight, as we pay tribute to the legendary Leonard Bernstein, we also celebrate two outstanding patrons – John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel. We are delighted to welcome John and Pauline as MSO Honorary Life Members. In doing so, we are acknowledging their extraordinary commitment to the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra over many years.

In 1978, John and Pauline established the Gandel Charitable Trust. Now known as Gandel Philanthropy, today it is one of the largest philanthropic family funds in Australia, giving to a variety of causes including Judaism, education, medical causes and the arts.

The strength of the Gandels’ commitment to MSO is reflected in the variety of projects they give to – both on and off the stage. From helping MSO purchase a new grand piano, to supporting our education and community activities, John and Pauline Gandel’s generosity has enabled us to continue our mission to touch the lives of as many people as possible through high-quality music-making experiences.

A generous grant from Gandel Philanthropy enabled MSO to tour to Europe and the UK in 2014. More recently, in 2017 Gandel Philanthropy awarded MSO a three-year capacity-building grant to co-fund the position of Director of Philanthropy – a role which is integral to ensuring a bright and prosperous future for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

From all of us at MSO, thank you John and Pauline for your outstanding generosity and belief in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA BOARD

MSO BOARD

ChairmanMichael Ullmer

Managing DirectorSophie Galaise

Board MembersAndrew DyerDanny GorogMargaret Jackson ACDavid KrasnosteinDavid LiHyon-Ju NewmanHelen Silver AO

Company SecretaryOliver Carton

Come dream with us by adopting your own MSO musician!Support the music and the orchestra you love while getting to know your favourite player. Honour their talent, artistry and life-long commitment to music, and become part of the MSO family.

Adopt Principal Harp, Yinuo Mu, or any of our wonderful musicians today.

– Arthur O’Shaughnessy

‘ We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.'

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Media And Broadcast Partners

Principal Partner

Government Partners

Premier Partners Venue Partner

Major Partners Education Partners

Supporting Partners

The CEO InstituteQuest Southbank Bows for Strings The Observership ProgramErnst & Young

Trusts And Foundations

Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund, The Gross Foundation, MS Newman Family Foundation, The Ullmer Family Foundation, Erica Foundation Pty Ltd