KALEIDOSCOPE

Fri 21 Jun 8pm Sat 22 Jun 8pm

DAME EDNA WITH THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY

* Selected performances. Booking fees of $7.50 – $8.95 may apply. #Additional fees may apply.

2 012 S E A S O NJUNE – JULY WITH THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY

DISCOVER CHOPIN’S SECOND CONCERTOCHOPIN Les Sylphides: Grande valse brillante Piano Concerto No.2

Richard Gill conductor Raymond Yong piano

TENIX DISCOVERY

Tue 18 Jun 6.30pmCity Recital Hall Angel Place

DAME EDNA WITH THE SYDNEY SYMPHONYFOR GROWN-UPS ONLYDUKAS The Sorcerer’s Apprentice† SAINT-SAËNS Carnival of the Animals FALLA Two Dances from The Three-Cornered Hat PROKOFIEV Peter and the Wolf† HASLAM Juanita, the Spanish Lobster†

Benjamin Northey conductor Dame Edna Everage

† A special family matinee Peter and the Wolf with Dame Edna

GROWN-UPS ONLY

Fri 21 Jun 8pmSat 22 Jun 8pmFAMILIES

Sun 23 Jun 2pm†

Pre-concert talk by Scott Davie (21, 22 June only)

IDINA MENZELWITH THE SYDNEY SYMPHONYThe Tony Award winning star of the Broadway and West End seasons of Wicked (Elphaba).

Wed 26 Jun 8pmThu 27 Jun 8pm

DISNEY’S FANTASIAWITH THE SYDNEY SYMPHONYDisney’s groundbreaking animations projected on the big screen to music performed by the Sydney Symphony.

Sat 29 Jun 2pmSat 29 Jun 7pm

Presentation licensed by Disney Concert Library © Disney

VERDI’S REQUIEMROBERTSON CONDUCTSVERDI Requiem

David Robertson conductor Erin Wall soprano Olesya Petrova mezzo-soprano John Daszak tenor Ain Anger bass Sydney Philharmonia Choirs Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Chorus

MASTER SERIES

Wed 10 Jul 8pmFri 12 Jul 8pmSat 13 Jul 8pm

Pre-concert talk by Martin Buzacott

Book Now! Tickets from $35*sydneysymphony.com or call 8215 4600 | Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

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cityrecitalhall.com# 8256 2222 | Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

You can enjoy six selected live performances of the Sydney Symphony during its 2013 season in the comfort of your own home, only at BigPond® Music online or on T-Box®.

Visit bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony

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CONDUCT A SYMPHONYAT YOUR PLACE

Dame Edna with the Sydney SymphonyDame Edna Everage NARRATOR

Ben Northey CONDUCTOR

Caroline Almonte PIANO

Bernadette Harvey PIANO

Paul Dukas (1865–1935)The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921)Carnival of the Animals –Grand Zoological Fantasy for two pianos and ensemblewith a narration by Barry HumphriesSee page 8 for a listing of the menagerie

INTERVAL

Manuel de Falla (1876–1946)Two Dances from The Three-Cornered HatThe Miller’s DanceFinal Dance

Sergei Prokofi ev (1891–1953)Peter and the Wolfwith a narration by Barry Humphries

David Haslam and Johnny MorrisJuanita the Spanish Lobster

2013 season kaleidoscopeFriday 21 June, 8pmSaturday 22 June, 8pmSydney Opera House Concert Hall

Saturday’s performance will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM.

Saturday’s performance will also be webcast via BigPond and will be available for later viewing on demand for a limited period. Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony

Pre-concert talk by Scott Davie at 7.15pm in the Northern Foyer. Visit sydneysymphony.com/talk-bios for speaker biographies.

Estimated durations: 12 minutes, 25 minutes, 20-minute interval, 8 minutes, 27 minutes, 17 minutesThe concert will conclude at approximately 10.10pm.

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ABOUT THE MUSIC

Keynotes

DUKAS

Born Paris, 1865Died Paris, 1935

Paul Dukas (pronounced doo-KUSS) was a critic and teacher as well as a composer, and he saved his harshest criticism for his own work, destroying up to 80 per cent of his music. On his death only seven major works of a once large output remained: a symphony; the opera Ariane and Bluebeard; an epic piano sonata and a set of variations for piano; the ‘dance poem’ La Péri with its famous fanfare; a theatre overture; and the one piece which established his name outside France and for posterity, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. It is ironic that a composer of such high seriousness should be known for his one overtly comic work.

SORCERER’S APPRENTICE

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is an orchestral scherzo (literally a joke) composed in 1897. It takes its narrative from a ballad by the German poet Goethe, and yes, Walt Disney’s Fantasia did stay true to the original story, even if the apprentice looked suspiciously like Mickey Mouse.

Paul Dukas The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Symphonic Scherzo

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice tells of a magician who can transform a broomstick into an animate being and have it perform all his menial tasks for him. The magician’s apprentice one day overhears the magic formula with which the broomstick becomes alive and tries to apply it himself in his master’s absence. The broom is ordered to bring water from the well. It performs this routine mechanically and effi ciently. When the apprentice tires of this game, he wants to transform the water carrier back into a broomstick, but fi nds that he does not know the necessary formula. The enchanted stick continues to bring in bucket upon bucket of water until the room overfl ows. The apprentice passes from annoyance to despair. Fortunately, the sorcerer comes home, pronounces the magic words, the broom becomes inanimate, and all is quiet again.

Paul Dukas was a composer who cared deeply about the integrity of his musical structures, and in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice he manages to write a formal scherzo and still, with exactness, follow the story of Goethe’s narrative.

With the fi rst theme – announced softly by the violins – we seem to be present as the apprentice utters his incantations, while with the second (given to the clarinet, then oboe, then fl ute) we meet the dormant broom, before it begins its spooky activity. These two themes dominate the work, and in various ingenious guises chart our progress through the story. The true musical climax appears at the point where the desperate apprentice believes he has transformed the broom back to its inactive state once again, after which the ‘broom’ theme scampers about in an even more feverish manner than it has previously, until the sorcerer returns and summons an imperious calm.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was already well-known in the concert hall before Leopold Stokowski conducted it in Walt Disney’s animated fi lm Fantasia (1940). Since then it has attained a popularity that cannot (it seems) be divorced from the image of Mickey Mouse as the apprentice. The music responded so well to such treatment because its themes are so memorable and its storytelling so immediate and clear.

ADAPTED FROM A NOTE BY PHILLIP SAMETZ © 1996/1999

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice calls for an orchestra of two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, bass clarinet, three bassoons and contrabassoon; four horns, four trumpets and three trombones; timpani and a large percussion section; harp and strings.

The Sydney Symphony first performed it in 1939 with Edgar Bainton conducting, and most recently in 1996 in grown-up concerts conducted by Edo de Waart and a family concert conducted by Leif Sundstrup.

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Camille Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals – Grand Zoological FantasyNarration by Barry Humphries

Introduction and Royal March of the LionHens and RoostersHémiones (Speedy Animals)TortoisesThe ElephantKangaroosAquariumPersonages with Long EarsThe Cuckoo in the Depths of the ForestAviaryPianistsFossilsThe SwanGrand Finale

Dame Edna Everage narratorCaroline Almonte and Bernadette Harvey pianos

Camille Saint-Saëns reminded many people of a bird, with his hooked nose, his stocky frame perched on thin legs, and his way of bouncing along energetically, so that you could recognise him even from a distance by his walk. A parrot, perhaps, and a talkative one – loud-voiced and noisily opinionated.

He also struck those who knew him as childlike in a way, in spite of his great and unquestioned mastery of his art. No wonder he wrote one of the most enduring musical entertainments for children of all ages!

Despite tremendous talent and all outward signs of professional success, Saint-Saëns’ personal life was not very happy. He married late, the marriage broke down, and his two young sons died tragically. Saint-Saëns’ feelings for children, thwarted in his own fatherhood, found a substitute in his relationships with his pupils at the École Niedermeyer, founded to train church organists and choirmasters. One of these, the budding composer Gabriel Fauré, became a lifelong friend, almost the son Saint-Saëns was never granted. With friends such as Fauré, Saint-Saëns enjoyed bantering, and many private jokes. (Saint-Saëns was given to appearing in drag at parties, sending up the singing of famous sopranos.)

Around 1861 Saint-Saëns promised his students a ‘grand zoological fantasy’, which he fi nally got around to writing

Keynotes

SAINT-SAËNS

Born Paris, 1835Died Algiers, 1921

Camille Saint-Saëns began his career as a prodigy – precocious both as a pianist and as a composer and mastering everything he tackled with disconcerting ease. When he gave his first public concert, aged ten, he played a Mozart concerto and offered to perform any one of the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven from memory as an encore! His interest and abilities outside music included astronomy, botany, and literature – he wrote several plays.

He was a classicist among the French Romantics and emerges best in traditional forms such as concertos and symphonies, but he also wrote exotic and colourful salon pieces that were popular in his day. He outlived most of his contemporaries, and became, long before his death, a national institution.

CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS

This music was completed 25 years after Saint-Saëns had promised to write it for his students. It became a surprise offering for a much-admired old cellist, who played its most famous number: The Swan. (This was later used as the music for Anna Pavlova’s solo ballet The Dying Swan.)

The Carnival is a collection of pictorial miniatures and belongs to a rare species of composition: the musical joke. It’s full of witty references to other composers and music – no doubt the original listeners recognised even more.

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25 years later. It was intended as a surprise for the famous cellist Charles Lebouc. The man for whom ‘The Swan’ was written was getting on in years and had acquired, as James Harding charmingly puts it, a habit of grunting for breath as he bowed rheumatically over his instrument. But he played his solo so touchingly that his colleagues forgot their amusement and spoke tenderly of the old man’s ‘swansong’.

‘The Swan’ was the only part of the Carnival of the Animals Saint-Saëns allowed to be published or even performed during his lifetime. His fear that this musical jest would harm his reputation as a serious composer has been amply justifi ed since his death. Nevertheless, it is a very good member of a rare species – the musical joke. (Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice makes good company.)

The Carnival can be appreciated as witty characterisation in music of various animals. That’s the level on which it is usually taken, and which has inspired the narrations by poets and humorists with which it’s often accompanied.

But Carnival of the Animals is also a private joke, conceived by a musician for musicians. No doubt it contains many references which would have been clear to its fi rst audience, but not to us. In keeping with the private occasion of its fi rst performance, the Carnival of the Animals was scored for two solo pianos and a large chamber music ensemble, with one string instrument to each part. It is equally eff ective with full orchestral strings, as in this concert.

The Menagerie

Rumblings and a regal fanfare make an obvious enough Introduction and Royal March of the Lions, and the barnyard noises of Hens and Roosters pay homage to a long French tradition of illustrative music, of which a famous example is The Hen by 18th-century composer Rameau.

What are Hémiones but ‘Wild Asses’? Or are the ‘Speedy Animals’ (Saint-Saëns’ subtitle) –perhaps pianists who insist on playing music in strict time and with unvaried loudness?

The can-can – the risqué, high-stepping dance from Off enbach’s satirical opera Orpheus in the Underworld – is almost unrecognisable when slowed down to Tortoise pace.

Recognisable but absurd is the exquisite gossamer of Berlioz’s Dance of the Sylphs (from The Damnation of Faust) transferred to the elephantine double bass! The Elephant also features a fl eeting quote from the Fairy Scherzo in Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.

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Sydney Symphony LiveThe Sydney Symphony Live label was founded in 2006 and we’ve since released more than a dozen recordings featuring the orchestra in live concert performances with our titled conductors and leading guest artists, including the Mahler Odyssey cycle, begun in 2010. To purchase, visit sydneysymphony.com/shop

Glazunov & ShostakovichAlexander Lazarev conducts a thrilling performance of Shostakovich 9 and Glazunov’s Seasons. SSO 2

Strauss & SchubertGianluigi Gelmetti conducts Schubert’s Unfi nished and R Strauss’s Four Last Songs with Ricarda Merbeth.SSO 200803

Sir Charles MackerrasA 2CD set featuring Sir Charles’s fi nal performances with the orchestra, in October 2007. SSO 200705

Brett DeanBrett Dean performs his own viola concerto, conducted by Simone Young, in this all-Dean release. SSO 200702

RavelGelmetti conducts music by one of his favourite composers: Maurice Ravel. Includes Bolero. SSO 200801

Rare Rachmaninoff Rachmaninoff chamber music with Dene Olding, the Goldner Quartet, soprano Joan Rodgers and Vladimir Ashkenazy at the piano. SSO 200901

Prokofi ev’s Romeo and JulietVladimir Ashkenazy conducts the complete Romeo and Juliet ballet music of Prokofi ev – a fi ery and impassioned performance.SSO 201205

Tchaikovsky Violin ConcertoIn May this recording with James Ehnes and Ashkenazy was awarded a Juno (the Canadian Grammy). Lyrical miniatures fi ll out the disc. SSO 201206

Sydney Symphony Online

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MAHLER ODYSSEY

During the 2010 and 2011 concert seasons, the Sydney Symphony and Vladimir Ashkenazy set out to perform all the Mahler symphonies, together with some of the song cycles. These concerts were recorded for CD and the set is now complete, together with a special disc of historical SSO Mahler performances. Available individually or as a handsome boxed set.

Mahler 1 & Songs of a Wayfarer SSO 201001

Mahler 2 SSO 201203

Mahler 3 SSO 201101

Mahler 4 SSO 201102

Mahler 5 SSO 201003

Mahler 6 SSO 201103

Mahler 7 SSO 201104

Mahler 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) SSO 201002

Mahler 9 SSO 201201

Mahler 10 (Barshai completion) SSO 201202

Song of the Earth SSO 201004

From the archives:

Rückert-Lieder, Kindertotenlieder, Das Lied von der Erde SSO 201204

LOOK OUT FOR…

Forthcoming releases featuring music by Brett Dean and Garrick Ohlsson playing Tchaikovsky.

MORE MUSIC

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What mental picture can Saint-Saëns have had of Australia? His Kangaroos belong in a landscaped park rather than the bush. The bell-like celesta which features in the Aquarium was a new instrument then – invented in 1886. In fact, although the slippery fi shy passages are usually played on celesta, Saint-Saëns intended them for an even more unusual instrument, the glass harmonica, which works on the principle of musical glasses (and was said to induce madness).

Were Personages with Long Ears music critics, perhaps? And what do the inane interruptions of the Cuckoo tell us about these beautiful calm processions of harmonies? That they were stolen from another composer?

Anyone who has lived in a musical household will recognise the animals depicted in Pianists, but Saint-Saëns may have been thinking of the Niedermeyer School, whose pupils practised simultaneously on 18 pianos in the same room! Under the heading Fossils, Saint-Saëns has had the good grace to put himself fi rst, parodying the xylophone tune from his own Danse macabre. Then three French folk songs (including one known in English as ‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’) come up for burlesque, and a phrase from Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville.

The ballerina Anna Pavlova gave Australia a name for one of our favourite desserts – she whose most lasting fame came from dancing The Dying Swan to Saint-Saëns’ ineff able cello tune. In the vaudeville Finale, the long-eared personages seem to have almost the last word, as all the animals try to join in.

ABRIDGED FROM A NOTE BY DAVID GARRETT © 2013

In addition to the two featured pianos, Carnival of the Animals calls for flute (doubling piccolo), clarinet, a percussionist, celesta and strings (either one player for each of the five parts or full orchestral strings).

The Sydney Symphony first performed Carnival of the Animals in a Young People’s concert conducted by Bernard Heinze in 1943. The pianists were Vaila Pender and Marion Tennent. Our most recent performance was in 1991 with conductor Peter Grunberg, pianists Anthony Bald win and David Bollard, and narrator Noni Hazlehurst.

Anna Pavlova in costume for the Dying Swan, Buenos Aires, c.1928, photo by Frans van Riel.

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Keynotes

FALLA

Born Cadiz, 1876 Died Alta Gracia, Argentina, 1946

Manuel de Falla (pronounced ‘fire’) was one of the leading Spanish composers of the first part of the 20th century. He studied in Paris, where he was influenced by the colours and harmonies of Debussy and Dukas, and the emerging trend for reviving classical forms from the past. His reputation was made by the piano and orchestra work Nights in the Gardens of Spain, originally conceived for solo piano. In addition to his two ballets, he composed an opera, La vida breve. The Spanish Civil War prompted him to leave Granada for Argentina in 1939.

THE THREE-CORNERED HAT

Based on a 19th-century comic novel, The Three-Cornered Hat began life as a pantomime. Towards the end of World War I, Falla was persuaded to adapt it as a ballet score for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes. (In this version it included an offstage soprano.) Later he published two concert suites, from which tonight’s dances are taken.

The music mirrors the light-hearted mood of the story, in which the plot turns on the mutual devotion of a miller and his beautiful wife, and the hapless attempt of the town’s amorous corregidor (governor) to seduce her. Most of the dances – including the Miller’s Dance and the Final Dance – are based on authentic Spanish types.

Manuel de Falla Two Dances from The Three-Cornered HatThe Miller’s Dance (Farruca) Final Dance (Jota)

Falla’s two ballet masterpieces, written in quick succession, could hardly be more diff erent from each other within their common Spanishness. Whereas Love, the Magician (El Amor Brujo) of 1915 has been described as the fi rst blending of academic European music with the music of gypsies and captures the smouldering sun-drenched passion of Andalusia, The Three-Cornered Hat (El Sombrero de Tres Picos) of 1917–1919 is a manifestation of Spanish humour, biting and ironic.

The original ballet is based on a comic novel by Pedro de Alarcón, written in 1874 but with an 18th-century spirit. Falla had intended to turn it into an opera, but he found that Alarcón had expressly forbidden in his will that any libretto should be drawn from his story (this seems not to have hindered Hugo Wolf, whose opera Der Corregidor of 1895 is based on it). Instead, the story became the basis for a mimed play with music, El Corregidor y la Molinera (The Governor and the Miller’s Wife), presented in Madrid in 1917.

Manuel de Falla (left) and choreographer Léonide Massine at the Fountain of the Lions in the Alhambra, Granada.

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When he heard Falla’s pantomime music, Serge Diaghilev, who had been considering producing a Spanish ballet for his Ballets Russes, encouraged him to adapt it for a ballet, The Three-Cornered Hat. This required extensive reorchestration by Falla and new material, including the thrilling Final Dance. One new number, the Miller’s Dance, was composed literally overnight, when the choreography of Léonide Massine required it. Thus Falla for once belied his reputation as a slow worker. Falla can be seen in a famous photograph with Massine leaning against the Fountain of the Lions in the Alhambra of Granada, the city where the composer made his home during those years.

The Diaghilev company, fascinated by Spain, had gone to considerable trouble to absorb its culture: Picasso’s costume and scenery designs, Falla’s music and Massine’s choreography are one of the most genuine tributes ballet has paid to Spain. The result is a masterpiece of passion, colour and spirited comedy – satirical but delicate.

The plot is simple: the miller’s attractive young wife is being pursued by the pompous old governor or magistrate (the corregidor), whose amorous designs are eventually confounded by the miller.

The two dances that we play in this concert come from Part II of the ballet and both are based on traditional Spanish dance types. First, the Miller’s Dance, which allows him to show his dancing prowess in a farruca, fi ery and impressive, its natural vigour gradually building to a frenzy. Olé!

Soon after, he is arrested by the henchmen of the Corregidor, who is determined to seduce the Miller’s wife. But the Corregidor ends up in the millstream. He hangs up his clothes and three-cornered hat to dry off and the Miller, having escaped, returns and puts them on, leaving a teasing note: Your wife is no less beautiful than mine. The Corregidor ends up in the Miller’s clothes and is promptly ‘re-arrested’. Eventually the confusion is sorted out, and an effi gy of the Corregidor is tossed in a blanket as the townspeople dance an exhilarating jota with castanets – the Final Dance signals that the despotic reign of the three-cornered hat is at an end.

ADAPTED FROM A NOTE BY GORDON KALTON WILLIAMS SYMPHONY AUSTRALIA © 1998

These dances from The Three-Cornered Hat calls for piccolo, two flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets and two bassoons; four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani and a large percussion section; harp, piano, celesta and strings.

The premiere of the ballet took place in London in 1919, conducted by Ernest Ansermet. The Sydney Symphony first performed music from The Three-Cornered Hat in 1938 under Joseph Post, and most recently in 2010 conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya.

Picasso’s portrait of Manuel de Falla

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Keynotes

PROKOFIEV

Born Sontsovka (Ukraine), 1891 Died Moscow, 1953

For his graduation in 1914, Prokofiev played his own piano concerto, displaying remarkable skills as both composer and performer. But composition became his main focus and he developed a style that balanced four distinct characteristics: classical, modern or ‘grotesque’, motoric and lyrical.

He was one of many Russian artists who left their homeland for the West after the October Revolution of 1917, but the only composer to eventually return, in 1936. In the Soviet Union he found new audiences flocking to concert halls – ‘expectant and enquiring’. In the years that followed he composed popular successes such as Peter and the Wolf, the ballet Romeo and Juliet and his film music, later a cantata, for Eisenstein’s film Alexander Nevsky.

PETER AND THE WOLF

In 1935 Prokofiev took his two young sons to the Moscow Children’s Theatre to see an opera called The Tale of the Fisherman and the Goldfish. They came back the next week to see a play, and the theatre’s director, Natalia Satz, joined them, excited to see a world-famous composer in her theatre. ‘It was my greatest passion,’ she wrote later, ‘to stimulate creative genius to add to the treasury of artistic works devoted to children.’ Peter and the Wolf is the result of her dream.

Sergei Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf, Op.67Introduction and narration by Barry Humphries

Dame Edna Everage narrator

If there is a piece concert music that has no need of a program note, it would probably be Peter and the Wolf. This musical fairytale is self-contained: the orchestra tells the story with the assistance of the narrator, and, once introduced, the cast of characters is as easily recognised and followed as in any play.

Each character in Prokofi ev’s musical fairytale is represented by a diff erent instrument of the orchestra with its own signature tune: the bird by the twittering fl ute, the duck by the plangent oboe, the cat by the mellifl uous clarinet, Peter’s stern grandfather by the bassoon, the dreaded wolf by three horns, and Peter by the strings playing a jaunty march tune. The timpani (or kettledrums) have a part to play when the hunters turn up, shooting their rifl es.

There was a reason for this approach to the story. Prokofi ev wrote Peter and the Wolf at the invitation of Natalia Satz, the director of the Moscow Children’s Theatre. Satz gave him the idea of composing music that would entertain through its narrative, but which would also help children get to know the instruments of the orchestra. So this fantastic tale-in-music has an ulterior motive, and in the process Prokofi ev achieved something that has never really been equalled: ‘the learning is so much fun that the teaching passes unnoticed.’ This music may be more than 70 years old, but it remains the most popular and successful of pieces ever devised to teach children – and adults too – about the sound and character of orchestral instruments.

What then, is its place in a concert for grown-ups? We like to think that by removing this entertainment from its usual context of the family or educational concert, we’re able to hear it as the masterpiece it is. Young Peter himself would no doubt have said: ‘Pay no attention to those who grumble and say this music is not for formal concerts; listeners like us are not afraid to hear music for children with grown-up ears.’

The toughest critics of all – children – have always been able to recognise this, and Peter and the Wolf was an ‘instant hit’ at its premiere. This can partly be credited to its musical invention. When Prokofi ev returned permanently to Soviet Russia in 1936 he was already dreaming of a new kind of music for the audiences who had begun fl ocking to concert halls.

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Peter and the Wolf was given a trial run for an audience of about a dozen children at the Central Children’s Theatre in Moscow, with Prokofiev playing the piano and Natalia Satz (far right) narrating. The children liked the piece, she recalled. ‘I could tell that at once by the way they listened. Children sometimes praise a work enthusiastically when it is over, but they fidget and chat during the performance. And here the little imps were sitting as quiet as mice, though it lasted 24 minutes without a break.’

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The time is past when music was composed for a circle of aesthetes. Now, the great mass of people in touch with serious music is expectant and enquiring...I would describe the music needed here as ‘light serious’ or ‘serious light’ music; it is by no means easy to fi nd the term which suits it. Above all, it must be tuneful, simply and comprehensively tuneful, and must not be repetitious or stamped with triviality.

Prokofi ev took the opportunity to write for an audience of children just as seriously.

But equally important to the success of Peter and the Wolf was the story itself. Originally, Satz had hired a poet – a woman who admired Prokofi ev’s music – to write the libretto. It was all in rhyme and Prokofi ev threw it out at once, explaining ‘…the balance between words and music in a work like this is very delicate. The words must know their place, otherwise they may lead the listener’s attention astray…’

In the end Prokofi ev wrote his own narration, in his characteristic laconic style. With two sons of his own, he knew exactly how to capture the youthful imagination by making Peter a bold, rebellious hero. This original narration set the tone for those who’ve followed, retelling the tale for a modern audience while celebrating the humour and spirit of the music.

ADAPTED FROM A NOTE BY YVONNE FRINDLE © 2008

Peter and the Wolf calls for a small orchestra of flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, three horns, trumpet, trombone, timpani, percussion and strings.

Peter and the Wolf was premiered in Moscow in 1936. The Sydney Symphony first performed Peter and the Wolf in a set of Young People’s Concerts conducted by Bernard Heinze in 1943; Frank D Clewlow was the narrator. Since then it has been performed many times in schools, youth and family concerts. The orchestra has performed Peter and the Wolf once before in a grown-up concert: in the 2009 Prokofiev Festival conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy.

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David Haslam and Johnny MorrisJuanita the Spanish Lobster

Dame Edna Everage narrator

Not content to knit seaweed with the other lobsters in the grotto, Juanita dances a fi erce fl amenco and sings about her troubles. She loathes her boring underwater life and longs for more excitement. Thinking she can fi nd more fun on the land, she leaps into a fi sherman’s lobster trap one day. Her admirer, a lovesick little lobster named Caradoc (as in the Arthurian knight) saves her from certain doom. In the end, a newly contented Juanita learns to love the grotto, and she sings about her marvellous life with all of the other sea creatures.

Peter and the Wolf is the grandfather of all narrated orchestral stories for children – the inspiration for those who’ve followed in that path, not least Juanita the Spanish Lobster. But they’re diff erent in this respect: Peter and the Wolf is the creation of a composer, whose own narration, while perfectly judged for its audience, was devised simply to support the music. Juanita, on the other hand, emerged from the imagination of a television personality, a mimic and an impersonator with an irrepressible sense of humour. It’s no exaggeration to say that it’s a tour de force and the music is there to support the narrator’s performance, not the other way around.

Which is not to say that David Haslam’s music isn’t brilliantly clever. The frustrated and bossy Juanita might be living off the coast of Wales with all the other lobsters, but she is Spanish and she is given vibrant and sultry music that evokes the poignant wailing and foot-stamping dances of fl amenco. Her admirer, Caradoc, embodies the Welsh love of song and is given music in the style of bel canto opera: a tender aria and then a dramatic recitative when danger threatens his beloved.

SYDNEY SYMPHONY © 2013

Juanita the Spanish Lobster calls for an orchestra of two flutes (one doubling piccolo), oboe, cor anglais, clarinet, bass clarinet and bassoon; two horns; timpani and percussion and strings.

This is the Sydney Symphony’s first performance of Juanita.

A recording of Juanita with conductor Stephen Simon and the London Philharmonic Orchestra can be purchased atwww.maestroclassics.com

Keynotes

HASLAM

Born Loughborough, England

David Haslam took up the flute while at school and at 17 won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied flute, piano and composition. He was offered his first principal flute position (Royal Scottish National Orchestra) while still a student then joined the newly formed Northern Sinfonia as principal in 1962. Four years later the Sinfonia also appointed him associate conductor with responsibility for programming. To expand the repertoire for the Sinfonia’s children’s concerts he collaborated with Johnny Morris on the creation of Juanita the Spanish Lobster, the first of six such collaborations.

MORRIS

Born Newport, Wales, 1916Died Wiltshire, England, 1999

Johnny Morris, was born in Wales, the land of song, and studied violin as a child, but the main part of his early career was spent managing a pig farm in Wiltshire. A natural mimic and entertainer, he was discovered telling stories in a pub by a BBC producer, made his radio debut in 1946 and narrated various programs until his breakthrough in the children’s television program Animal Magic. The creation of Juanita arose from his work as a narrator with orchestra – frequently engaged to give voice to Peter and the Wolf, he rose to the challenge when conductor David Haslam suggest they write their own children’s tale with orchestra.

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Dame Edna Everage NARRATOR

Dame Edna Everage is probably the most popular and gifted woman in the world today: housewife, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, talk show host, swami, children’s book illustrator, spin doctor, Megastar and Icon. With Olivia Newton-John, Kylie Minogue and Nicole Kidman, she is one of a remarkable succession of female stars to emerge from Australia. Her success Down Under was repeated in London with stage shows including Housewife, Superstar; A Night with Dame Edna and countless command performances for the royal family.

Her recent Broadway show, Dame Edna: The Royal Tour, received the Tony Award for Live Theatrical Event and was met with unanimous critical acclaim.

Television credits include the now legendary UK special, A Night on Mt Edna, and two series of her own innovative chat show, The Dame Edna Experience, with special guests Cher, Robin Williams, Roseanne Barr, Sean Connery and Mel Gibson.

Her books include Dame Edna’s Coff ee Table Book, Dame Edna’s Bedside Companion and her seminal autobiography, My Gorgeous Life, which is currently being adapted for the stage and screen.

Possibly Jewish, Dame Edna is a widow, with three grown children. She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Los Angeles, London, Sydney, Switzerland and Martha’s Vineyard. She is the Founder and Governor of Friends of the Prostate and the creator of The World Prostate Olympics.

This is Dame Edna’s 21st-century debut with the Sydney Symphony. Older possums may recall her performance with the orchestra of First Day Covers, a philharmonic philatelia, inspired by those wonderful little windows on our Way of Life, Australian postage stamps. The composer was that youngster Nigel Butterley and the poems were devised by Barry Humphries.

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Benjamin Northey CONDUCTOR

Since returning to Australia from Europe in 2006, Benjamin Northey has rapidly emerged as one of the nation’s leading musical fi gures. His breadth of experience has enabled him to traverse the widest range of musical styles from mainstage orchestral programs and new music to opera and ballet, and on to groundbreaking cross-genre collaborations and education and community outreach projects.

A graduate of Finland’s Sibelius Academy, he has appeared with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Zealand and Christchurch symphony orchestras, and the Southbank Sinfonia of London. He has also collaborated with artists such as Julian Rachlin, Alban Gerhardt, Marc-Andre Hamelin, Arnaldo Cohen, the Silver-Garburg Piano Duo, kd Lang, Kurt Elling, Tim Minchin, Slava Grigoryan and Emma Matthews.

In Australia he has made his mark through critically acclaimed appearances as a guest conductor with all the Australian state symphony orchestras as well as through opera productions, including L’elisir d’Amore, The Tales of Hoff mann and La sonnambula (State Opera of South Australia) and Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte (Opera Australia). And his recordings include award-winning releases for ABC Classics with the Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmanian, Adelaide and West Australian symphony orchestras.

In 2009, he was selected as one of three participants worldwide in the International Conductor’s Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation, during which he conducted the Philharmonia Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra and was mentored by conductors Vladimir Jurovsky and Christoph von Dohnányi. His teachers have been John Hopkins, Jorma Panula, Atso Almila and Leif Segerstam.

In 2001 Benjamin Northey won the Symphony Australia Young Conductor of the Year Competition. Other honours and accolades include the 2010 Melbourne Prize Outstanding Musician Award, Brian Stacey Memorial Award, Nelly Apt Scholarship and the 2007 Limelight Magazine Best Newcomer Award. From 2002 to 2006, he was Resident Guest Conductor of the Australia Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra, and from 2007 to 2010 Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra. He was appointed Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2011.

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Caroline Almonte PIANO

Melbourne-born Caroline Almonte studied with Stephen McIntyre and at the Juilliard School in New York. Since then, her solo and chamber music performances have taken her throughout Australia and around the world.

Last year she appeared at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, with violinist Ben Breen in Sydney and as part of Musica Viva’s Melbourne Coff ee Concert series, and in the Arts Centre Melbourne’s new Riverside Live series. She also performed with Elizabeth Drake in Flinders Street Station’s disused ballroom, as part of a project run by Contemporary Site Investigations, and she was honoured to perform at the state funeral of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, as well as in the Melbourne Recital Centre’s memorial concert.

Career highlights have included appearances in the Edinburgh International Festival, Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Melbourne Recital Centre) and Musica Viva’s Huntington Estate Music Festival. She has performed with Pieter Wispelwey for Musica Viva, and collaborated with renowned artists such as Yvonne Kenny and Ralph Kirshbaum. As a soloist, she has performed under conductors such as Oleg Caetani, Reinhard Goebel, Hiroyuki Iwaki, Sebastian Lang-Lessing, Richard Mills, David Porcelijn and Markus Stenz.

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Bernadette Harvey PIANO

Bernadette’s Harvey’s professional career as a pianist began when she won the 1987 ABC Young Performer’s Competition and performed in recitals and as soloist with all the Australian symphony orchestras, presenting eight diff erent concertos.

She studied with Dr Nelita True and was her teaching assistant at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, graduating with Masters and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees. She is now a piano lecturer at the Sydney Conservatorium.

Bernadette Harvey is dedicated to the promotion of Australian music. She was invited by Carl Vine to perform and record his Anne Landa Preludes and Five Bagatelles and she is currently performing his Piano Sonata No.1 in a Musica Viva tour. Ross Edwards composed his fi rst Piano Sonata for her in 2012, and in the 2013 Tucson Winter Chamber Music Festival she gave the premiere of Vine’s Piano Quintet. Other recent premieres include Jalbert’s piano quartet Secret Alchemy (Tucson), the Australian premiere of Messiaen’s Concert à Quatre (West Australian Symphony Orchestra) and Kevin Puts’ Piano Concerto (Canberra Youth Orchestra).

Other projects this year include a Sunday Live recital with Claire Edwardes and the Phoenix Chamber Music Festival.

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MUSICIANS

Vladimir AshkenazyPrincipal Conductor and Artistic Advisor supported by Emirates

Dene OldingConcertmaster

Jessica CottisAssistant Conductor supported by Premier Partner Credit Suisse

Andrew HaveronConcertmaster

To see photographs of the full roster of permanent musicians and find out more about the orchestra, visit our website: www.sydneysymphony.com/SSO_musiciansIf you don’t have access to the internet, ask one of our customer service representatives for a copy of our Musicians flyer.

The men of the Sydney Symphony are proudly outfitted by Van Heusen.

FIRST VIOLINS

Dene Olding Concertmaster

Kirsten WilliamsAssociate Concertmaster

Fiona Ziegler Assistant Concertmaster

Julie BattyJennifer BoothMarianne BroadfootAmber DavisSophie ColeNicola LewisAlexandra MitchellAlexander NortonLéone ZieglerClaire Herrick°Emily Qin°Sun Yi Associate Concertmaster

Brielle ClapsonJennifer HoyGeorges Lentz

SECOND VIOLINS

Marina Marsden Kirsty Hilton Emma Jezek A/ Associate Principal

Susan DobbiePrincipal Emeritus

Maria DurekEmma HayesShuti HuangBenjamin LiNicole MastersPhilippa PaigeBiyana RozenblitAlexandra D’Elia*Stan W KornelEmily Long Maja Verunica

VIOLAS

Roger Benedict Justin Williams Assistant Principal

Robyn BrookfieldSandro CostantinoJustine MarsdenLeonid VolovelskyElla Brinch*Jacqueline Cronin*Rosemary Curtin*Tara Houghton*Tobias Breider Anne-Louise Comerford Jane HazelwoodGraham HenningsStuart JohnsonFelicity TsaiAmanda VernerDavid Wicks*

CELLOS

Catherine Hewgill Leah Lynn Assistant Principal

Timothy NankervisChristopher PidcockAdrian WallisDavid WickhamEleanor Betts*Teije Hylkema*Kristy ConrauFenella GillElizabeth Neville

DOUBLE BASSES

Kees Boersma Alex Henery David CampbellSteven LarsonRichard LynnDavid MurrayNeil Brawley Principal Emeritus

Benjamin Ward

FLUTES

Janet Webb Emma Sholl Rosamund PlummerPrincipal Piccolo

Laura van Rijn†

Carolyn Harris

OBOES

Shefali Pryor David PappAlexandre OgueyPrincipal Cor Anglais

Diana Doherty

CLARINETS

Francesco Celata Christopher TingayCraig Wernicke Principal Bass Clarinet

Lawrence Dobell

BASSOONS

Matthew Wilkie Jack Schiller°† A/ Associate Principal

Fiona McNamaraMelissa Woodroffe*Noriko Shimada Principal Contrabassoon

HORNS

Robert Johnson Marnie SebireRachel SilverJenny McLeod-Sneyd*Ben Jacks Geoffrey O’ReillyPrincipal 3rd

Euan Harvey

TRUMPETS

David Elton Paul Goodchild Anthony HeinrichsColin Grisdale*

TROMBONES

Scott Kinmont Nick ByrneChristopher Harris Principal Bass Trombone

Ronald Prussing

TUBA

Steve Rossé

TIMPANI

Mark Robinson Assistant Principal

PERCUSSION

Rebecca Lagos Joshua HillChiron Meller*Alison Pratt*Philip South*Colin Piper

HARP

Louise Johnson

KEYBOARDS

Catherine Davis*

Bold = PrincipalItalics = Associate Principal° = Contract Musician* = Guest Musician† = Sydney Symphony FellowGrey = Permanent member of the Sydney Symphony not appearing in this concert

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SYDNEY SYMPHONYVladimir Ashkenazy, Principal Conductor and Artistic AdvisorPATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO

Founded in 1932 by the Australian Broadcasting Commission, the Sydney Symphony has evolved into one of the world’s fi nest orchestras as Sydney has become one of the world’s great cities.

Resident at the iconic Sydney Opera House, where it gives more than 100 performances each year, the Sydney Symphony also performs in venues throughout Sydney and regional New South Wales. International tours to Europe, Asia and the USA have earned the orchestra worldwide recognition for artistic excellence, most recently in the 2012 tour to China.

The Sydney Symphony’s fi rst Chief Conductor was Sir Eugene Goossens, appointed in 1947; he was followed by Nicolai Malko, Dean Dixon, Moshe Atzmon, Willem van Otterloo, Louis Frémaux, Sir Charles Mackerras, Zdenek Mácal, Stuart Challender, Edo de Waart and Gianluigi Gelmetti. David Robertson will take up the post of Chief Conductor in 2014. The orchestra’s history also boasts collaborations with legendary fi gures such as George Szell, Sir Thomas Beecham, Otto Klemperer and Igor Stravinsky.

The Sydney Symphony’s award-winning education program is central to its commitment to the future of live symphonic music, developing audiences and engaging the participation of young people. The orchestra promotes the work of Australian composers through performances, recordings and its commissioning program. Recent premieres have included major works by Ross Edwards, Liza Lim, Lee Bracegirdle, Gordon Kerry and Georges Lentz, and the orchestra’s recording of works by Brett Dean was released on both the BIS and Sydney Symphony Live labels.

Other releases on the Sydney Symphony Live label, established in 2006, include performances with Alexander Lazarev, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Sir Charles Mackerras and Vladimir Ashkenazy. In 2010–11 the orchestra made concert recordings of the complete Mahler symphonies with Ashkenazy, and has also released recordings of Rachmaninoff and Elgar orchestral works on the Exton/Triton labels, as well as numerous recordings on the ABC Classics label.

This is the fi fth year of Ashkenazy’s tenure as Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor.

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BEHIND THE SCENES

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Rory JeffesEXECUTIVE TEAM ASSISTANT

Lisa Davies-Galli

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS

DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PLANNING

Peter Czornyj

Artistic AdministrationARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGER

Eleasha MahARTIST LIAISON MANAGER

Ilmar LeetbergRECORDING ENTERPRISE MANAGER

Philip Powers

Education ProgramsHEAD OF EDUCATION

Kim WaldockEMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM MANAGER

Mark LawrensonEDUCATION COORDINATOR

Rachel McLarinCUSTOMER SERVICE OFFICER

Derek Reed

LibraryAnna CernikVictoria GrantMary-Ann Mead

ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT

DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT

Aernout KerbertORCHESTRA MANAGER

Chris Lewis ORCHESTRA COORDINATOR

Georgia StamatopoulosOPERATIONS MANAGER

Kerry-Anne CookPRODUCTION MANAGER

Laura DanielPRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Tim DaymanPRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Ian Spence

SALES AND MARKETING

DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING

Mark J ElliottSENIOR SALES & MARKETING MANAGER

Penny EvansMARKETING MANAGER, SUBSCRIPTION SALES

Simon Crossley-MeatesMARKETING MANAGER, CLASSICAL SALES

Matthew RiveMARKETING MANAGER, WEB & DIGITAL MEDIA

Eve Le GallMARKETING MANAGER, DATABASE & CRM

Matthew HodgeDATA ANALYST

Varsha KarnikGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Lucy McCulloughCREATIVE ARTWORKER

Nathanael van der Reyden

Sydney Symphony Staff

MARKETING COORDINATOR

Jonathon Symonds ONLINE MARKETING COORDINATOR

Jenny Sargant

Box OfficeMANAGER OF BOX OFFICE SALES & OPERATIONS

Lynn McLaughlinBOX OFFICE SYSTEMS SUPERVISOR

Jacqueline TooleyBOX OFFICE BUSINESS ADMINISTRATOR

John RobertsonCUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES

Steve Clarke – Senior CSRMichael DowlingSarah MorrisbyAmy Walsh

COMMUNICATIONS

HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS & SPONSOR RELATIONS

Yvonne ZammitPUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER

Katherine StevensonCOMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR

Janine Harris DIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER

Kai RaisbeckFELLOWSHIP SOCIAL MEDIA OFFICER

Caitlin Benetatos

PublicationsPUBLICATIONS EDITOR & MUSIC PRESENTATION MANAGER

Yvonne Frindle

DEVELOPMENT

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Caroline SharpenHEAD OF CORPORATE RELATIONS

Jeremy GoffHEAD OF MAJOR GIFTS

Luke Andrew GayDEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Amelia Morgan-HunnDEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR

Sarah Morrisby

BUSINESS SERVICES

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

John HornFINANCE MANAGER

Ruth TolentinoACCOUNTANT

Minerva PrescottACCOUNTS ASSISTANT

Emma FerrerPAYROLL OFFICER

Laura Soutter

HUMAN RESOURCES

HEAD OF HUMAN RESOURCES

Michel Maree Hryce

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John C Conde ao ChairmanTerrey Arcus amEwen Crouch amRoss GrantJennifer HoyRory JeffesAndrew Kaldor amIrene LeeDavid LivingstoneGoetz Richter

Sydney Symphony Board

Sydney Symphony Council

Geoff Ainsworth amAndrew Andersons aoMichael Baume aoChristine BishopIta Buttrose ao obePeter CudlippJohn Curtis amGreg Daniel amJohn Della BoscaAlan FangErin FlahertyDr Stephen FreibergDonald Hazelwood ao obeDr Michael Joel amSimon JohnsonYvonne Kenny amGary LinnaneAmanda LoveHelen Lynch amDavid MaloneyDavid Malouf aoJulie Manfredi-HughesDeborah MarrThe Hon. Justice Jane Mathews aoDanny MayWendy McCarthy aoJane MorschelGreg ParamorDr Timothy Pascoe amProf. Ron Penny aoJerome RowleyPaul SalteriSandra SalteriJuliana SchaefferLeo Schofield amFred Stein oamGabrielle TrainorIvan UngarJohn van OgtropPeter Weiss ao HonDLittMary WhelanRosemary White

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SYDNEY SYMPHONY PATRONS

Maestro’s CirclePeter William Weiss ao – Founding President & Doris WeissJohn C Conde ao – ChairmanGeoff Ainsworth am & Vicki Ainsworth Tom Breen & Rachael KohnIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonAndrew Kaldor am & Renata Kaldor aoRoslyn Packer ao

Penelope Seidler amMr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy StreetWestfield GroupBrian & Rosemary WhiteRay Wilson oam in memory of the late James Agapitos oam

Sydney Symphony Corporate AllianceTony Grierson, Braithwaite Steiner PrettyInsurance Australia Grou pJohn Morschel, Chairman, ANZ

01 Roger Benedict Principal Viola Kim Williams am & Catherine Dovey Chair

02 Lawrence Dobell Principal Clarinet Anne Arcus & Terrey Arcus am Chair

03 Diana Doherty Principal Oboe Andrew Kaldor am & Renata Kaldor ao Chair

04 Richard Gill oam Artistic Director Education Sandra & Paul Salteri Chair

05 Catherine Hewgill Principal Cello The Hon. Justice AJ & Mrs Fran Meagher Chair

06 Robert Johnson Principal Horn James & Leonie Furber Chair

07 Elizabeth Neville Cello Ruth & Bob Magid Chair

08 Colin Piper Percussion Justice Jane Mathews ao Chair

09 Emma Sholl Associate Principal Flute Robert & Janet Constable Chair

For information about the Directors’ Chairs program, please call (02) 8215 4619.

Directors’ Chairs

01 02 03 04 05

06 07 08 09

Sydney Symphony VanguardVanguard CollectiveJustin Di Lollo – ChairKees BoersmaMarina GoDavid McKeanAmelia Morgan-HunnJonathan PeaseSeamus R Quick

Benoît CocheteuxGeorge CondousMichael CookPaul CousinsJustin Di LolloRose GalloAlistair GibsonSam GiddingsMarina GoSebastian GoldspinkRose HercegPaolo HookePeter HowardJennifer HoyScott JacksonDamian Kassagbi

MembersCentric WealthMatti AlakargasJames ArmstrongStephen AttfieldDamien BaileyAndrew BaxterMar BeltranKees Boersma Andrew BraggPeter BraithwaiteAndrea BrownIan BurtonJennifer BurtonHahn ChauAlistair ClarkMatthew Clark

Jingmin QianSeamus R QuickLeah RanieMichael ReedeChris RobertsonEmma RodigariJacqueline RowlandsBernard RyanKatherine ShawRandal TameAdam WandJon WilkieJonathan WatkinsonDarren WoolleyMisha Zelinsky

Aernout KerbertAntony Lighten Gary LinnanePaul MacdonaldDavid McKeanHayden McLeanAmelia Morgan-HunnPhoebe Morgan-HunnTom O’DonnellTaine MoufarrigeHugh MunroFiona OslerJulia OwensArchie PaffasJonathan Pease

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PLAYING YOUR PART

The Sydney Symphony gratefully acknowledges the music lovers who donate to the orchestra each year. Each gift plays an important part in ensuring our continued artistic excellence and helping to sustain important education and regional touring programs. Donations of $50 and above are acknowledged on our website at www.sydneysymphony.com/patrons

Platinum Patrons $20,000+Brian AbelRobert Albert ao & Elizabeth AlbertGeoff AinsworthTerrey Arcus am & Anne ArcusTom Breen & Rachael KohnSandra & Neil BurnsMr John C Conde aoRobert & Janet ConstableMichael Crouch ao & Shanny CrouchJames & Leonie FurberDr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda Giuff reIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonMr Andrew Kaldor am & Mrs Renata Kaldor aoD & I KallinikosJames N Kirby FoundationThe late Joan MacKenzieVicki OlssonMrs Roslyn Packer aoPaul & Sandra SalteriMrs Penelope Seidler amG & C Solomon in memory of Joan MacKenzieMrs W SteningMr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy StreetPeter William Weiss ao & Doris WeissWestfi eld GroupMr Brian & Mrs Rosemary WhiteKim Williams am & Catherine DoveyRay Wilson oam in memory of James Agapitos oam

Gold Patrons$10,000–$19,999Stephen J BellAlan & Christine BishopIan & Jennifer BurtonHoward ConnorsCopyright Agency Cutlural Fund Edward FedermanNora GoodridgeMr Ross GrantThe Estate of the late Ida GuggerHelen Lynch am & Helen BauerRuth & Bob MagidJustice Jane Mathews aoThe Hon. Justice AJ Meagher & Mrs Fran MeagherMrs T Merewether oamMr B G O’ConorHenry & Ruth WeinbergCaroline WilkinsonJune & Alan Woods Family Bequest

Silver Patrons $5000–$9,999Doug & Alison BattersbyMr Robert BrakspearMr David & Mrs Halina BrettMr Robert & Mrs L Alison Carr Bob & Julie ClampettIan Dickson & Reg HollowayDr C GoldschmidtThe Greatorex Foundation Mr Rory Jeff esJudges of the Supreme Court of NSW Mr Ervin KatzThe Estate of the late Patricia LanceTimothy & Eva PascoeWilliam McIlrath Charitable FoundationRodney Rosenblum am & Sylvia RosenblumManfred & Linda SalamonMrs Joyce Sproat & Mrs Janet CookeMichael & Mary Whelan TrustAnonymous (1)

Bronze Patrons $2,500–$4,999Ewen Crouch am & Catherine CrouchThe Hon. Ashley Dawson-DamerFirehold Pty LtdStephen Freiberg & Donald CampbellVic & Katie FrenchMrs Jennifer HershonMichael & Anna JoelGary LinnaneMatthew McInnesJ A McKernanR & S Maple-BrownRenee MarkovicMora MaxwellJames & Elsie MooreDrs Keith & Eileen OngIn memory of Sandra Paul PottingerDr John Roarty oam in memory of Mrs June RoartyIn memory of H St P ScarlettJulianna Schaeff erDavid & Isabel SmithersMarliese & Georges TeitlerMr & Mrs T & D YimAnonymous (2)

Bronze Patrons $1,000–$2,499Mrs Antoinette AlbertAndrew Andersons aoMr Henri W Aram oamDr Francis J AugustusRichard and Christine Banks David BarnesNicole BergerAllan & Julie BlighDr & Mrs Hannes Boshoff Jan BowenLenore P BuckleM BulmerIn memory of RW BurleyIta Buttrose ao obeJoan Connery oam & Maxwell Connery oamConstable Estate Vineyards Debby Cramer & Bill CaukillMr John Cunningham SCM & Mrs Margaret CunninghamGreta DavisLisa & Miro DavisMatthew DelaseyMr & Mrs Grant DixonColin Draper & Mary Jane BrodribbMrs Margaret EppsMr Ian Fenwicke & Prof. Neville WillsMr James Graham am & Mrs Helen GrahamWarren GreenAnthony Gregg & Deanne WhittlestonAkiko GregoryTony GriersonEdward & Deborah Griffi nRichard Griffi n amIn memory of Dora & Oscar GrynbergJanette HamiltonMichelle HiltonThe Hon. David Hunt ao qc & Mrs Margaret HuntDr & Mrs Michael HunterIn memory of Bernard M H KhawMr Justin LamMr Peter Lazar amIrene LeeAssociate Professor Winston LiauwDr David LuisCarolyn & Peter Lowry oamDeirdre & Kevin McCannIan & Pam McGawMacquarie Group Foundation

sydney symphony 25

To find out more about becominga Sydney Symphony Patron, pleasecontact the Philanthropy Officeon (02) 8215 4625 or emailphilanthropy@sydneysymphony.com

Ms Jackie O’BrienJF & A van OgtropMr & Mrs OrtisMr Andrew C PattersonPiatti Holdings Pty LtdAndy & Deirdre Plummer Robin PotterErnest & Judith RapeeKenneth R ReedPatricia H Reid Endowment Pty LtdCaroline SharpenDr Agnes E SinclairCatherine StephenJohn & Alix SullivanThe Hon. Brian Sully qcMildred TeitlerJohn E TuckeyMrs M TurkingtonIn memory of Joan & Rupert VallentineDr Alla WaldmanMr Robert & Mrs Rosemary WalshAnn & Brooks Wilson amDr Richard WingMr R R WoodwardIn memory of Lorna WrightDr John YuAnonymous (9)

Bronze Patrons $500–$999Mrs Lenore AdamsonMr & Mrs Garry S AshBarlow Cleaning Pty LtdBeauty Point Retirement ResortMrs Margaret BellMinnie BiggsMrs Jan BiberDr Anthony BookallilR D & L M BroadfootArnaldo BuchAnn & Miles BurgessPat & Jenny BurnettThe Hon. Justice JC & Mrs CampbellDr Rebecca ChinMrs Sarah ChissickMrs Catherine J ClarkR A & M J ClarkeMr & Mrs Coates

Coff s Airport Security Car ParkMr B & Mrs M ColesMrs Joan Connery oamJen CornishMr David CrossPhil Diment am & Bill Zafi ropoulosElizabeth DonatiThe Dowe FamilyJohn FavaloroMalcolm Ellis & Erin O’NeillIn memory of Peter EverettMr Tom FrancisMr John GadenVivienne GoldschmidtClive & Jenny GoodwinRoger HenningHarry & Meg HerbertSue HewittDorothy Hoddinott aoMr Joerg HofmannMrs Kimberley HoldenMr Gregory HoskingNiki KallenbergerMrs Margaret KeoghDr Henry KilhamChris J KitchingAnna-Lisa KlettenbergSonia LalMr Luigi LampratiDr & Mrs Leo LeaderMargaret LedermanErna & Gerry Levy amSydney & Airdrie LloydMrs A LohanMrs Panee LowDr David LuisPhilip & Catherine McClellandMelvyn MadiganAlan & Joy MartinMrs Toshiko MericMs Irene Miller & Ms Kim HardingP J MillerDavid MillsKenneth N MitchellMs Margaret Moore oam & Dr Paul Hutchins amChris Morgan-HunnMrs Milja Morris

A NhanMr Graham NorthDr Mike O’Connor amMr R A OppenOrigin FoundationDr A J PalmerDr Kevin PedemontDr Natalie E PelhamMichael QuaileyRenaissance ToursAnna RoLesley & Andrew RosenbergMrs Pamela SayersGarry Scarf & Morgie BlaxillPeter & Virginia ShawMrs Diane Shteinman amMs Stephanie SmeeMs Tatiana SokolovaDoug & Judy SotherenMrs Judith SouthamMrs Karen Spiegal-KeighleyMargaret SuthersNorman & Lydia TaylorDr Heng Tey & Mrs Cilla TeyMrs Alma Toohey & Mr Edward SpicerKevin TroyGillian Turner & Rob BishopProf Gordon E WallMrs Margaret WallisRonald WalledgeMs Elizabeth WilkinsonAudrey & Michael WilsonA Willmers & R PalDr Peter Wong & Mrs Emmy K WongGeoff Wood & Melissa WaitesGlen & Everly WyssMrs Robin YabsleyAnonymous (22)

List correct as of 1 May 2013

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The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body

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I think of the piccolo as the icing on the cake in the orchestra.

from decades of experience of playing with an orchestra that plays in tune. I know I can’t make them tune to me.’ Rose explains that on the piccolo, some notes are more ‘flexible’ than others. For instance, at the end of the Elegia movement in Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, the piccolo, harp and violins (playing harmonics) play a unison D flat. ‘I remember when I went to Chicago on a Friends [of the SSO] scholarship, I was working through all the orchestral excerpts with Walfrid Kujala, who was the Principal Piccolo of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the time. When we got to that very note in the Bartók, he turned to me and asked quite sincerely, “Do you have any luck with that note?”’ It seems piccolo players the world over are facing the same musical challenges. Though perhaps not all of them are doing it in between marathons…

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‘It’s all about the food,’ jokes Rosamund Plummer, Principal Piccolo. ‘I do it so I can eat more.’ This is the first explanation she gives for her relatively newfound love of long-distance running. Actually, running was something that she’d tried on and off for decades, but it never stuck. ‘I used to think I wasn’t built for it, couldn’t do it. That I’d only end up hurting my knees. When I turned 50, I thought I’m either going to go down the drain, or choose not to. I did a course in learning to run at a community college and learnt so much. In nearly four years, I’ve never been injured, and I’ve run two marathons!’

‘The experience of getting older,’ reflects Rose, ‘is kind of the opposite of what most people think. You actually get tougher. You get over all your earlier hang-ups.’

So how does Rose’s newly acquired habit affect her performance in the orchestra? ‘I’ve found that it makes me fearless. If I can run a marathon, I know I can do anything. Tchaikovsky’s Fourth five times in a row? Sure. Shostakovich Ten in every concert in China? Doesn’t faze me. As a piccolo player, it’s quite handy to be fearless.’

‘I think of the piccolo as the icing on the cake in the orchestra. I love it. I’ve learnt

RUNNING ROSEPrincipal Piccolo Rosamund Plummer knows no fear

ORCHESTRA NEWS | JUNE 2013

Photo: Brendan Read

You can enjoy six selected live performances of the Sydney Symphony during its 2013 season in the comfort of your own home, only at BigPond® Music online or on T-Box®.

Visit bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony

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CONDUCT A SYMPHONYAT YOUR PLACE

Sponsorship Highlight

Ara Vartoukian reveals the innards of a Steinway concert grand.

Deconstructing the SteinwayEver wondered about the mechanism behind the sound of a glorious grand piano? At a recent event at Theme & Variations Piano Services showroom, an audience of patrons, guests and Sydney Symphony friends witnessed the ‘deconstruction’ of a Steinway grand before their very eyes!

Theme & Variations director Ara Vartoukian has years of experience here and in Europe – tuning, voicing and regulating these instruments and in the course of the evening he shared his vast knowledge, shining a light on the evolution of the iconic sound of the Steinway, explaining the intricacies of the

mechanism and how technology has changed the instrument.

Theme & Variations is the presenting partner of our International Pianists in Recital series. Jonathan Biss performs Beethoven sonatas on 29 July at City Recital Hall Angel Place.

In May we visited Canberra and Albury for concerts and workshops. During the tour the Fellowship Quartet performed in the Great Hall of Parliament House.

Ask a MusicianWhat’s the difference between a concertmaster, an associate concertmaster and an assistant concertmaster?

Traditionally, the concertmaster’s role was to take over from the conductor if he fell ill, though that’s less likely these days because we’re lucky enough to have assistant conductors who train to do that. The concert-master is expected to liaise with the conductor, determine the

bowings, demonstrate phrasing and monitor ensemble in the first violins, and in the orchestra more broadly. In a tricky acoustic environment, lots of people will keep an eye on the leader’s bow, to know exactly when to play.

The associate and assistant concertmasters are also required

to lead the orchestra from time to time, if the concertmaster falls ill or is away. More often, though, we’re there to support the concertmaster. I often have to pass information back to the rest of the section, or resolve any seating issues. We also play the front-desk solos when required.

My job requires a different kind of leading to sitting in the concertmaster’s seat, where you’re the one who’s initiating any translation of the conductor’s beat. I see my role as transmitting a lot of what else is going on in the orchestra, particularly from the second violins because I sit so close to them. Sometimes too, people in our section can’t actually see the concertmaster, and so they watch me instead. It’s vital that I don’t move in a direction contrary to what the concertmaster is showing.

Kirsten Williams, Associate Concertmaster

THANK YOU CONCERTOutreach Focus

Handel’s Water Music together with a brass fanfare by French composer Paul Dukas.

‘I’m delighted this tradition continues today. Our musicians asked for an opportunity to thank the John Holland employees who are working to improve the conditions of our home,’ continued Rory.

Due to be completed late next year, the new underground loading dock and tunnel will give all Opera House users vastly improved access to the Concert Hall and allow us to move large instruments and other equipment in and out of the venue more efficiently. Wholly funded by the NSW Government, the work is being completed by John Holland, a subsidiary of Leighton Holdings.

Hamish Tyrwhitt, Chief Executive Officer of Leighton Holdings, said: ‘Leighton Holdings is extremely proud of its ten-year partnership with the Sydney Symphony. It’s based on supporting young and emerging talent, a theme very much in line with our philosophy of fostering the development of our employees.’

It’s not every day that SSO musicians are required to don hard hats and high visibility vests to go to work. In May, however, it was entirely appropriate concert clobber as our musicians performed for construction workers at the Sydney Opera House. This special concert was our way of saying thank you to the crews for all their work in improving the orchestra’s home behind the scenes.

This wasn’t the first time such a concert had been arranged. ‘The Sydney Symphony gave the very first performance in the Concert Hall in December 1972,’ said Managing Director Rory Jeffes. ‘This was almost one year before the official opening of the Opera House, for an audience of construction workers and their families, in a concert designed to test the acoustics of the Concert Hall.’

This time it was the acoustics of the excavated site deep beneath the Opera House forecourt that was given a work out. Five of our brass musicians performed some of the music that was played at that 1972 concert: an Allegro from

Recently our musicians took their (hard) hats off to the men and women working on improvements to the Sydney Opera House.

David Robertson on the Verdi RequiemThere’s something extremely primal about the way Verdi uses the sound – the simplicity of rhythm, right at the beginning, and that feeling that everything is tumbling around you. He somehow goes right into the most primitive part of everyone’s brain stem and wiggles the parts that make us all scared, and he does it very effectively.

The thing I find really extraordinary is that the Dies Irae can be played on earbuds or a car radio or the television and it really grabs you, because it’s strong, and overwhelming in its power. But when people are hearing the Requiem with live musicians in real time, the experience that’s the strongest, I find, is that amazing moment right near the beginning where he moves from minor into major, and brings in the words ‘And perpetual light they’ll have’ – after ‘Rest in peace’ this is as loud and tsunami-like as the Dies Irae.

The Dies Irae is like music for a large stadium – Verdi knows that – but he also includes these little tiny moments of quietude which are in certain ways like ‘the still small voice’, and even though there is fury in the whirlwind, it is that very calm, solid voice that Verdi puts in the Requiem that I think brings us back to it again and again.

Verdi’s RequiemMaster Series10, 12, 13 July | 8pm

The Score

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VALE HAZEL HAWKEWe were saddened to learn recently of the death of Hazel Hawke. Her tremendous legacy includes her role as a patron of the arts, and specifically of the ABC Young Performers Awards. Many of us in the orchestra remember the time she performed with us as a piano soloist! It was in a pair of Meet the Music concerts in 1990, conducted by John Hopkins, in which Hazel Hawke was joined by two former YPA winners, Rebecca Chambers and Duncan Gifford, in Mozart’s Concerto in F for three pianos, K242.

EMERGING ARTISTS 2014: APPLICATIONS OPENSydney Sinfonia and Fellowship applications are closing on Friday 19 July. More information, including online applications, is available through our website

at bit.ly/EmergingArtists Application2014 Any questions? Call Mark Lawrenson on (02) 8215 4652.

ASHKENAZY’S FAVOURITE THINGSRecently Vladimir Ashkenazy joined us for a fortnight of concerts, including a program we dubbed ‘Ashkenazy’s Favourites’. While he was in town he shared a few of his favourite things in a series of videos. Enjoy the full playlist for Ashkenazy’s favourite joke, favourite clothing, favourite food and a top restaurant recommendation should you ever find yourself in Iceland! bit.ly/AshkenazyFavesPlaylist

YOUR SAYA concertgoer response we simply had to share…

Stuck in a rainstorm traffic snarl on the M4, I sometimes wonder in this age of high-fidelity recordings why we concert-goers haul

ourselves up to 160 kilometres round trip to attend a live concert. The performance of Carmina Burana on 22 March provided the answer, especially when directed with the rhythmic subtlety and excitement of Long Yu. Sitting 10 metres away from massed choirs, gongs, drums and brass during ‘O Fortuna’ is an experience you cannot re-create with a CD or a DVD.

Now I must admit that Carmina Burana is a guilty pleasure, because it is about as profound as an Iced Vo-Vo, and when listening to it, I feel like a scholar skipping a visit to the British Museum to go pole dancing. On the other hand, which other orchestral piece features as much sex, booze and gambling, along with cameo appearances by the Pope and the Queen? No wonder the percussionists had such broad smiles on their faces at the end. They probably felt the earth move, too. David Potter

CODA

BRAVO EDITOR Genevieve Lang sydneysymphony.com/bravo