Experience an unforgettable evening with R&B and jazz legend Natalie Cole and the Sydney Symphony at the Sydney Opera House. The nine-time Grammy Award-winning artist will perform treasured standards, including songs made immortal by her father, Nat King Cole, along with her own award-winning songbook, including Unforgettable,  This Will Be and Smile.

Three performances only, Thu 2, Fri 3 & Sat 4 Feb 8pm.

Metamorphosen is an "ode to sorrow" - one composer's response to the devastation of World War II. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony ends with the "Ode to Joy" - triumphant and optimistic. But, says Vladimir Ashkenazy, both these great musical works relate to the humanity of mankind - "one is pessimistic, the other is gloriously open."

Richard Strauss gives us weighty, tormented music, tinged with personal suffering. At the end there's a Beethoven quotation he says "escaped from his pen" - a funeral march for a hero.

Beethoven's Ninth shows a composer who wrestled with fate, who believed in freedom, who was a voice for the world. He still is. And that's why this monumental symphony resonates, nearly two hundred years later.

R STRAUSS Metamorphosen
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.9 (Choral)

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Lorina Gore soprano
Sally-Anne Russell mezzo-soprano
James Egglestone tenor
Michael Nagy baritone
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
(Symphony Chorus, Chamber Singers and VOX)

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - RICHARD STRAUSS Metamorphosen
Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON Eloquence 480 0478

Track 2 - BEETHOVEN Symphony No.9 (Choral): 1st movement
Track 3 - BEETHOVEN Symphony No.9 (Choral: 2nd movement
Track 4 - BEETHOVEN Symphony No.9 (Choral): 4th movement
Measha Brueggergosman (soprano), Kelley O'Connor (mezzo-soprano); Frank Lopardo (tenor); René Pape (bass) and the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Franz Welser-Möst
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 7132

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Thanks to our partner Telstra BigPond, you can watch Beethoven 9: Ode to Joy live via webcast at 7pm on Monday 13 February on your computer, or viaSSO's mobile app on your smartphone or tablet, and on Telstra T-Box on Channel 919. Visitbigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony for more info.

Richard Strauss has a reputation for big music. He fills the stage with instruments and takes on bold subjects and ambitious musical forms. And it's all on show in An Alpine Symphony. Strauss calls for 120 musicians, including 20 horns (4 or 5 is the norm!), and he takes you on a breathtaking journey that brings nature - and the mountaintop - into the concert hall.

In this concert, our principal conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy is joined by one of the world's most distinguished pianists, Stephen Kovacevich, playing music by Beethoven. This revolutionary music is lyrical and exhilarating, powerful and poetic - the creation of a composer at the pinnacle of inventiveness.

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.4
R STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Stephen Kovacevich piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.4 in G, Op.58:  3rd movement Steven Kovacevich (piano) with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by
Sir Colin Davis
PHILIPS 475 6319

Track 2 - R STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony:  Sunrise
Track 3 - R STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony:  On the Alm
Track 4 - R STRAUSS An Alpine Symphony:  Storm
Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0408

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music.

If you've seem Stanley Kubrick's astonishing 2001 - A Space Odyssey, then you'll know he lifted the soundtrack from some of the greatest composers of all time. And that includes the awesome musical sunrise from Thus Spake Zarathustra.

This is your chance to hear the whole thing, as the music blossoms into something colourful, mysterious and spine-tingling, until it reaches what Vladimir Ashkenazy calls "an incredible ending".

Beethoven brings an overture from the theatre, infused with imperious pride and tragic indecision. And Brahms's Violin Concerto is the jewel in the crown, played by Georgian-born violinist Lisa Batiashvili. It's serious music and seriously difficult to play, but you can't help but enjoy its sweet melodies and exhilarating gypsy finale.

BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture
BRAHMS Violin Concerto
R STRAUSS Thus Spake Zarathustra

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Lisa Batiashvili violin

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - BEETHOVEN Coriolan Overture
Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ELOQUENCE 445 112-2

Track 2 - BRAHMS Violin Concerto in D: II Adagio
Track 3 - BRAHMS Violin Concerto in D: III Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo vivace
Joshua Bell (violin) with the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Christoph von Dohnányi
DECCA 4756703

Track 4 - R STRAUSS - Thus spake Zarathustra:  Introduction
New York Philharmonic conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ELOQUENCE 480 0411

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music.

 

François Leleux is one of the finest oboists in the world today. And when he last visited Sydney, in 2003, our own principal oboe Diana Doherty invited him to play guest principal in the orchestra - a sure tribute to his reputation. Now he returns as leader and soloist in a concert that puts the oboe in the spotlight.

Bach's first orchestral suite features a pair of oboes in music that embraces baroque pomp and sophistication. The oboe is equally prominent in Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin, his baroque-inspired tribute to friends killed in war.

And Mozart's Oboe Concerto brings the program to a buoyant conclusion with music to show off the ravishing sound and brilliant technique of a true virtuoso.

JS BACH Orchestral Suite No.1
RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin
MOZART Oboe Concerto in C, K314

François Leleux oboe-director

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - BACH Orchestral Suite No.1 in C, BWV 1066: Forlane
Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra conducted by Karl Münchinger
DECCA ELOQUENCE 458 169-2

Track 2 - RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin: Forlane
Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ELOQUENCE 476 8501

Track 3 - MOZART Oboe Concerto in C, K314:  I Allegro aperto
Track 4 - MOZART Oboe Concerto in C, K314:  III Rondo - Allegretto
Ernest Rombout (oboe) with the Concertgebouw Chamber Orchestra
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 2450

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

With special opening guest act Alfie Boe.

You'll be Hopelessly Devoted to her Summer Nights as she ties more than 40 years of greatest hits into a huge orchestral experience at the Sydney Opera House. From Xanadu to I Honestly Love You, Physical to Have You Never Been Mellow, experience on stage the songs that have become the soundtrack of our lives.
 
Embark on a night of pure delight. Tickets start at just $35, March 1, 2 & 3, 8pm. But hurry - this is a concert sure to sell out!

Want to come to the exclusive opening night party?

Following the show on Thursday 1st March,  After Party ticket holder will have the chance to meet ONJ and have a picture taken with Olivia (don’t forget your camera!) and your first drink is free!  All proceeds to Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre.
 
Thursday 1st March only, all tickets $99. Hurry, spots are strictly limited to 200 and once sold will no longer be available. Meet at the Utzon Room of the Sydney Opera House with your ticket after the performance. 

You will be prompted to purchase your ticket to the After Party after you’ve bought your 1st March concert ticket.

Everyone thinks of Richard Strauss as a "big composer", says Richard Gill. This is the man whose Alpine Symphony calls for 20 horns. But he had an intimate side as well, and in this concert with the Sydney Sinfonia, Richard Gill shows how a master musician can "orchestrate spectacularly in a chamber style".

The music comes from Strauss's one-act opera Ariadne auf Naxos and reveals his great theatrical gift and musical imagination. It's an opera within an opera and "Es gibt ein Reich" is sung by its prima donna - the fact that her character is in the depths of despair in no way dampens the supreme virtuosity of her singing!

R STRAUSS Ariadne auf Naxos: Prelude and 'Es gibt ein Reich'

Richard Gill conductor
Anke Höppner soprano

Discover Strauss then hear his suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme (12, 20 July).Or cast yourself in the deep endwith Ashkenazy's first three concerts of the season, featuring Metamorphosen (8, 10, 11, 13 February), An Alpine Symphony (17, 18 February) and Thus Spake Zarathustra (22, 24, 25February).

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - R STRAUSS Ariadne auf Naxos: Prelude
Track 2 - R STRAUSS Ariadne auf Naxos: 'Es gibt ein Reich, wo alles rein ist' (Ariadne's aria)
Deborah Voigt (Ariadne), with the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli 
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 471 323-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

In 1961 the ABC pulled off a coup, bringing the celebrity composer Igor Stravinsky to Australian shores to conduct his own music with the Sydney and Melbourne orchestras. It was a highlight of the decade, and the collaboration remains a memorable moment in the Sydney Symphony's history.

To conclude one of his concerts, Stravinsky conducted the exquisite Berceuse and Finale from his Firebird suite and in our 80th anniversary year we remember and celebrate by playing the whole suite. And Isabelle Faust returns to Sydney to play Stravinsky's brilliant Violin Concerto.

For his first visit to the Sydney Symphony, composer-conductor Matthias Pintscher brings some music of his own - an intense and dazzling piece inspired by Osiris, the Egyptian fertility god. And to begin the concert, he's chosen the Mother Goose suite - a direct contemporary of the original Firebird, from a composer who rivalled Stravinsky in his ear for luscious orchestral colour.

RAVEL Mother Goose: Suite
STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto
PINTSCHER towards Osiris
STRAVINSKY The Firebird: Suite (1945)

Matthias Pintscher conductor
Isabelle Faust violin

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 2 - STRAVINSKY Violin Concerto: I. Toccata
Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Ernest Bour
DECCA 480 0481

Track 3 - PINTSCHER towards Osiris
Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Simon Rattle
EMI CLASSICS 0946 3 59382 2 7

Track 4 - STRAVINSKY The Firebird : Suite (1945) : Dance of the Firebird
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly
DECCA 473 731-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music