What's On

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

Pre-concert talk by David Garrett at 6.15pm in the first floor reception room.

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

 

Since the release of his 2004 album When I Fall in Love, jazz trumpeter Chris Botti (pronounced 'boat-tee') has become the top-selling American instrumental artist. The success of his particular brand of cool jazz has crossed over to audiences usually reserved for pop music, and has led to four No.1 jazz albums and multiple Grammy Awards.

Over the past three decades, Chris Botti has recorded and performed with some of the best in music, from Frank Sinatra to Sting to violinist Joshua Bell, as well as some of the finest orchestras on the planet.

"Stupendous energy, slippery grooves, dazzling interaction and brilliant improvising" Sydney Morning Herald, June 2011

Don't miss his first orchestral show in Sydney!

Classic standards and contemporary hits

Chris Botti trumpet
and his band
with the Sydney Symphony
Brett Kelly conductor

What do you do when you acquire a Stradivarius viola? The 19th-century virtuoso Paganini turned to the French composer Berlioz and asked him to write a new concerto. But he didn't get what he bargained for. Harold in Italy was the result - an extravagant blend of concerto and symphony - and Roger Benedict's role as soloist will be to play a "character", a Byronic dreamer.

Dreams are set aside in Prokofiev's wide-awake piano concerto. It's his most popular and rewarding concerto - memorable, good-humoured and bracing. Behzod Abduraimov has joined the Sydney Symphony and Ashkenazy on tour in Europe and Asia, and we're delighted to introduce this exceptional young pianist to audiences at home.

We’re also delighted to present the first performances of the winner of our 80th anniversary composition prize. Elliott Gyger’s on air is a response to the Sydney Symphony’s origins as a broadcast orchestra and our shared history with the ABC, which also turns 80 this year.

GYGER on air, dialogue for orchestra
PROKOFIEV Piano Concerto No.3
BERLIOZ Harold in Italy

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Roger Benedict viola
Behzod Abduraimov piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No.3: III Allegro ma non troppo Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andre Previn
DECCA 473 259-2

Track 2 - BERLIOZ Harold in Italy: II March of the Pilgrims
Track 3 - BERLIOZ Harold in Italy: III Serenade of the Mountaineer
Track 4 - BERLIOZ Harold in Italy: IV Orgy of the Brigands
 Daniel Benyamini (viola) with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by
Zubin Mehta
DECCA ELOQUENCE 466 907-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music.

Behzod Abduraimov is no stranger to the Sydney Symphony - he's appeared with the orchestra on tour in Europe and Asia - but 2012 is the first year he'll perform on Australian soil. Ashkenazy says Abduraimov has "has a big future" and this richly diverse program is sure to prove it.

The music-making begins with inventive and glittering sonatas from an Italian-turned-Spaniard, followed by the youthful Beethoven at his most assured (and splendid) and Brahms at his most challenging (and thrilling).

The breakneck virtuosity continues with the Danse macabre, made pianistic by Liszt with added pyrotechnics by Horowitz. Aburaimov's performance of it has prompted at least one critic to ask: "could this fresh-faced child be a new Horowitz?" Then there's original Liszt, concluding with the equally diabolical Mephisto Waltz No.1.

"For all the drama, aural spectacle and electricity in his playing, it's substantial, disciplined, and accurate. He doesn't splash, he doesn't fake. It's real."
The Telegraph

D SCARLATTI Three Keyboard Sonatas
BEETHOVEN Sonata in D, Op.10 No.3
BRAHMS Variations on a theme of Paganini, Book 1
SAINT-SAËNS arr. Liszt/Horowitz Danse macabre
LISZT Bénediction de Dieu dans la solitude
LISZT Mephisto Waltz No.1

Behzod Abduraimov piano

Hear Behzod Abduraimov play Prokofiev's Third Piano Concerto on 22, 23, 24 March.

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1- D. SCARLATTI Sonata in G minor, Kk450
Ivo Pogorelich (piano)
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 435 855-2

Track 2 - BRAHMS Variations on a theme of Paganini, Book 1:  Theme, Variation 2, Variation 6
Jean-Yves Thibaudet (piano)
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 8503

Track 3 - SAINT-SAENS Danse macabre: conclusion
Tamara Anna Cislowska (piano)
ABC CLASSICS 476 6301

Track 4 - LISZT Mephisto Waltz, No.1, S514
Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano)
DEUTSCHE GRAMOPHON DECCA 477 9526

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music and ABC Classics

The curtain rises with a charming French ballet-cum-piano concerto from the 1920s, a "morning serenade" for Diana, virgin goddess of the hunt. Poulenc's mercurial music captures her tempestuous feelings and her cool purity, the whole coloured by his trademark sophistication.

Mozart provides a diversion, literally, before the soloist, Louis Lortie, returns to the stage in a piano concerto composed for Mme Jenamy, the daughter of a French choreographer. Mozart was just 21 when he wrote it and it shows him in the full flight of his genius with music that's imaginative, witty and bold.

POULENC Aubade
MOZART Divertimento in D, K136
MOZART Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat, K271 (Jeunehomme)

Louis Lortie piano-director

Pre-concert talk by David Garrett at 6.15pm in the first floor reception room.

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - POULENC Aubade: Toilette de Diane (Presto) 
Pascal Rogé (piano) with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Charles Dutoit
DECCA 452 937-2

Track 2 - MOZART Divertimento in D, K136:  III Presto
Academy of St Martin in the Fields directed by Neville Marriner
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 4722

Track 3 - MOZART Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat, K271 (Jeunehomme): I Allegro
Track 4 - MOZART Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat, K271 (Jeunehomme): III Rondeau (Presto)
Mitsuko Uchida (piano) with the English Chamber Orchestra directed by Jeffrey Tate
PHILIPS 475 7306

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

"Macho, cool and dangerous" -- that's how Osvaldo Golijov's Last Round begins. It's a sublimated tango, inspired by the great Piazzolla. Hot passion becomes pure pattern, violin bows fly in abstract choreography and the whole thing ends with a sigh.

Manuel de Falla shifts the setting from Argentina to old-world Spain for a set of symphonic impressions in which a solo piano dances with the orchestra in a fragrant atmosphere of nostalgia.

The dancing continues with Tchaikovsky in highlights from two of his great ballets: Nutcracker with scenes from the Kingdom of the Sweets and the glorious Waltz of the Flowers, and the haunting, turbulent world of Swan Lake.

GOLIJOV Last Round
FALLA Nights in the Gardens of Spain
TCHAIKOVSKY Nutcracker: Highlights
TCHAIKOVSKY Swan Lake: Highlights

Andrew Grams conductor
Louis Lortie piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - GOLIJOV Last Round: II Lentissimo - Muertes del Angel
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Spano
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4776426

Track 2 - FALLA Nights in the Gardens of Spain: II Danza lejana
Track 3 - FALLA Nights in the Gardens of Spain: III In the Gardens of the Sierra Córdoba
Alicia de Larrocha (piano) with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
DECCA 466 128-2

Track 4 - TCHAIKOVSKY Nutcracker: Tea - Chinese Dance
Kirov Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev
PHILIPS 462 114-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partners Universal Music

Amadeus may have been a fiction, but this much is true: Mozart did have a wicked sense of humour. He could be irreverent and playful and he knew how to write music that would entertain. Francis Poulenc, living in Paris 150 years later, was much the same. But both men had a serious side, spiritual and profound. And the two personalities come together in this choral celebration.

Poulenc's Gloria is religious music that bubbles over with the joy of faith - there's nothing dreary about this call to praise. Mozart's Requiem brings a shift in mood with the terror, the sorrow and the sheer drama of life. And death.

POULENC Gloria
MOZART Requiem (completed Süssmayr)

David Zinman conductor
Jennifer Welch Babidge soprano
Fiona Campbell mezzo-soprano
Paul McMahon tenor
Paul Whelan bass
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - POULENC Gloria: Dominie Fili unigenite
Track 2 - POULENC Gloria: Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (conclusion)
Sylvia Greenberg (soprano), Choeur de la Radio Suisse Romande, Choeur Pro Arte de Lausanne and L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Jesús López-Cobos.
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 2947

Track 3 - MOZART Requiem: Dies irae
Track 4 - MOZART Requiem: Hostias (excerpt)
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Claudio Abbado
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 463 181-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Poor Berlioz: his opera Benvenuto Cellini was a “deadly failure” and “unmercifully hissed” (his words). But there was one part of it that was a huge success: the overture with its bold swagger and wistful tenderness. Later on, Berlioz rescued some of the opera’s most inspired moments to create an even bigger success: his whirlwind Roman Carnival overture.

These two “carnival” works frame a concerto from the young Beethoven – composer and virtuoso –  and a portrait of Shakespeare’s flawed knight, Falstaff. Elgar was a gallant soul, and he allows the fat and foolish knight a romantic nobility, all wrapped up in astonishingly detailed storytelling, where every escapade (and every quaffed ale!) has its musical representation.

BERLIOZ Benvenuto Cellini: Overture
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.2
ELGAR Falstaff
BERLIOZ Roman Carnival – Overture

David Zinman conductor
Andreas Haefliger piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.2: I Allegro con brio 
Track 2 - BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.2: II Adagio
Track 3 - BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.2: III Rondo (Molto allegro)
Radu Lupu (piano) with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta
DECCA ELOQUENCE 466 681-2

Track 4 - BERLIOZ Roman Carnival - Overture
Paris Conservatoire Orchestra conducted by Albert Wolff
DECCA 480 2385

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

Presented by Sydney Opera House and Sydney Symphony.

Sydney Symphony brings Jean de Brunhoff’s beloved story of Babar, the Little Elephant to life with Poulenc’s charming music, followed by Benjamin Britten’s The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Using a theme from the Baroque composer Henry Purcell, Britten’s piece shows how the ‘teams of players’ in an orchestra work together to take the audience on a lively journey towards a splendid finale.

Recommended for Ages 5+

POULENC Babar, the Elephant
BRITTEN The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra

Duration: 55 minutes

In 2012, we present two Family Classics matinee concerts. For more info about Family Classics #2 on Sunday 4 November click here

In 2012 Andreas Haefliger returns to Sydney with a recital program that exploits his brilliant technique, his ear for colour and his commanding expression. Liszt's musical tour of Switzerland follows in the footsteps of Byron, taking in the chapel of William Tell, the valley of Obermann, the bells of Geneva and the tug of homesickness.

In music by Debussy, delicate variations of colour and light can be heard as bells through the leaves, goldfish, and the moon descending over 'the temple that was'  -- three fascinating pictures from the imagination.

But behind Debussy and Liszt stands Beethoven with his mighty Hammerklavier Sonata. It's a solitary monument among Beethoven's late sonatas, taking composer, musician, and listener to the outer limits with its grand conception and fiery and passionate sounds.

The welcome soloist was Andreas Haefliger, whose easy command of the keyboard meant that lyricism shone through even in the most technically demanding moments.
The Times

LISZT Years of Pilgrimage: Book I (Switzerland): Selections
DEBUSSY Images, Series 2
BEETHOVEN Hammerklavier Sonata, Op.106

Andreas Haefliger piano

Hear Andreas Haefliger play Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.2 on 10, 11, 12 May.

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - LISZT Years of Pilgrimage - Book 1 (Switzerland):  Vallee d'Obermann

Track 2 - DEBUSSY Images Book 2: Poissons d'or
Zoltan Kocsis (piano)
DECCA ELOQUENCE 475 8051

Track 3 - BEETHOVEN Sonata No.29 in B flat, Op.106 'Hammerklavier':  1st movement
Track 4 - BEETHOVEN Sonata No.29 in B flat, Op.106 'Hammerklavier':  2nd movement
Mitsuko Uchida (piano)
Philips 475 8662

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Think of Wagner, think of opera - opera on an epic scale. But in his Siegfried Idyll - birthday music written for his wife - he demonstrates just how deftly he can write in miniature.

Whether Wagner was writing something on a massive scale or intensely felt music for a small ensemble there's one thing that's always obvious, says Richard Gill: he has a sure sense of scale and an instinct for endless melody.

WAGNER Siegfried Idyll

Richard Gill conductor

Discover Wagner then join us for Wagner Under the Sails with Simone Young (9, 10, 11 August).

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Tracks 1 to 4 - WAGNER Siegfried Idyll: excerpts
Academy of St Martin in the Fields directed by Sir Neville Marriner
DECCA 478 2759

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Music and sport don't really mix, but if you had to pick a piano concerto for the Olympics it might well be Brahms's Second Piano Concerto. It's huge in scale and character - full of confidence and power -  and in this concert French pianist Philippe Bianconi will be tackling a solo part that's one of the most challenging in the repertoire.

1930s Soviet Russia was no comfortable place to be - Shostakovich kept a suitcase packed in case he was arrested in the night. Fear and anguish kept company with the optimism of propaganda, and both emerge in Shostakovich's Sixth Symphony. Its emotional heart is the tragic first movement; then the symphony adopts a mask of thrilling energy for its race to the finish.

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.2
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.6

Oleg Caetani conductor
Philippe Bianconi piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.2: I Allegro ma non troppo
Track 2 - BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.2: IV Allegretto grazioso
Nelson Freire (piano) with the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester conducted by Riccardo Chailly
DECCA ELOQUENCE 475 7639
Track 3 - SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.6:  II Allegro
Track 4 - SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.6:  III Presto
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy
DECCA 475 8749

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Presented by Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Pop sensation and legendary songstress, Tina Arena, makes a triumphant return to Australia in 2012 for a series of stellar live performances across the country, including with the renowned Sydney Symphony.

Her loyal Australian audience will be treated to magnificent arrangements of her repertoire – as broad and diverse as her amazing career - specifically arranged for a symphony orchestra.

‘This was the best pop-meets-classical show I have ever seen... joined by a small rock band, the Orchestra was simply breathtaking... this was a musical partnership which moved together seamlessly and with a generosity and such openness that almost every instrument became thrillingly distinct.’
The West Australian

Music Lovers should not miss this opportunity to see one of Australia’s brightest stars performing with the acclaimed Sydney Symphony.

‘The concert reminded you what truly great songs and joyful musical partnerships are all about’
The West Australian

Watch Tina performs Maybe This Time, recorded live at Hamer Hall, Melbourne in 2009:

Two Austrian composers, two monuments of music - this will be one of the most profoundly moving concerts of the 2012 season.

Alban Berg's Violin Concerto was dedicated to "the memory of an angel", the beautiful Manon Gropius (daughter of Alma Mahler and the Bauhaus architect Walter Gropius) who died just 18 years old. This is deeply felt music that transcends the heartache of its inspiration.

Then, over the course of 70 minutes, Anton Bruckner builds a cathedral of sound and fills it with turbulent power, rhythmic vitality, brooding tragedy and radiant serenity. If you're new to Bruckner, then the concert hall is the place to hear his music: fully surrendered to the mighty sound of the symphony orchestra and Bruckner's epic vision.

BERG Violin Concerto
BRUCKNER Symphony No.8 (Nowak 1890)

Donald Runnicles conductor
Julian Rachlin violin

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - BERG Violin Concerto: I Andante Allegro
Track 2 - BERG Violin Concerto: II Allegro - Adagio
Arthur Grumiaux (violin) with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Igor Markevitch
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0481

Track 3 - BRUCKNER Symphony No.8: II Scherzo (Allegro moderato)
Track 4 - BRUCKNER Symphony No.8: IV Finale (Feierlich, nicht schnell)
Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Sir Georg Solti
DECCA ELOQUENCE 442 9235
Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

In 2008, a couple of months after Kevin Rudd said 'sorry' to the Stolen Generations, the Sydney Symphony premiered a groundbreaking collaboration between composers William Barton and Matthew Hindson, Kalkadungu. This vibrant meeting of Indigenous Australian and Western music won a standing ovation from young and old. Now we're excited to bring it back in a well-deserved reprise.

In this program, it's joined by even newer music: Stumble to Grace, a piano concerto composed especially for Orli Shaham and David Robertson by American Steven Mackey.

And framing the thrilling effects of solo virtuosity and haunting drama are two 'classical' symphonies: Mozart's ambitious Paris Symphony and Prokofiev's 20th-century take on Haydn.

MOZART Symphony No.31 (Paris)
MACKEY Stumble to Grace - Piano Concerto (Australian premiere)
BARTON & HINDSON Kalkadungu
PROKOFIEV Classical Symphony

David Robertson conductor
William Barton didjeridu
Orli Shaham piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - MOZART Symphony No.31 in D, K297 (Paris): 3rd movement
Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Karl Böhm
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ELOQUENCE 463 230-2

Track 2 - MACKEY [sample work] Tuck and Roll, for electric guitar and orchestra: excerpt
New World Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas with the composer as soloist

Track 3 - PROKOFIEV Classical Symphony: I Allegro
Track 4 - PROKOFIEV Classical Symphony: III Gavotta (Non troppo allegro)
Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy
DECCA 470 528-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music
and by composer Steve Mackey

In what's possibly his most popular creation, Ralph Vaughan Williams eavesdrops on an Elizabethan world of stained-glass beauty, conjuring up the atmosphere of an English cathedral.

Thomas Adès also nods to the past in his violin concerto, although the result has the dazzling verve of a contemporary voice renowned for its energy and imagination. The music journeys through perpetual motion to a fierce Baroque lament and on to the playful finale - the soloist spiralling above a contemporary dance beat.

Tchaikovsky's impassioned Sixth Symphony runs a gamut of emotions. There's the confidence of the first movement - thirsty for life, there's malevolence and false triumph, and the haunting mood of the finale. This is music in which to hear the Sydney Symphony in all its elegance, brilliance and power.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
ADÈS Violin Concerto - Concentric Paths
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.6, Pathétique

David Robertson conductor
Anthony Marwood violin

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Academy of St Martin in the Fields directed by Sir Neville Marriner
DECCA ELOQUENCE 442 8341

Track 2 - TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.6, Pathétique: I Adagio
Track 3 - TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.6, Pathétique: II Allegro con grazia
Track 4 - TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No.6, Pathétique: IV Finale
Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8699

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Clarinettist Benny Goodman made jazz respectable, then set his sights on classical music. In 1947 the King of Swing gave American composer Aaron Copland $2000 ("real money") and free rein to write him a concerto. The result shows off the clarinet in all its colours, sometimes languid, sometimes vibrant.

Copland's concerto sits between music straight out of the theatre: ambitious ballet music by Mozart and music inspired by Molière. Richard Strauss pokes merciless fun at the "Would-be Gentleman" of his title - you can hear the clumsy attempts at dancing, the gauche clothing, and possibly the most extravagantly over-catered feast in all music.

MOZART Idomeneo: Ballet music
COPLAND Clarinet Concerto
R STRAUSS Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme: Suite

Nicholas Carter conductor
Lawrence Dobell clarinet

Pre-concert talk by David Garrett at 6.15pm in the first floor reception room.

(Tea & Symphony: Copland and Strauss only)

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - MOZART Idomeneo Ballet Music: Chaconne
The Academy of Ancient Music directed by Christopher Hogwood
DECCA 452 604-2

Track 2 - COPLAND Clarinet Concerto: I Slowly and expressively (conclusion)
Track 3 - COPLAND Clarinet Concerto: II Rather fast
Stanley Drucker (clarinet) with the New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4749402

Track 4 - R STRAUSS Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme: III Fencing Master
Friedrich Guld (piano), Willi Boskovsky (violin), Emanuel Brabec (cello) with the
Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Lorin Maazel
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0404

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Brahms's First Piano Concerto began life as an attempt at a symphony - no wonder it's so ambitious in scope - almost a symphony for piano and orchestra. Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances began life as a ballet score - and its dance inspiration gave the world a glamorous and intoxicating work for the concert hall.

This is a concert that moves in tragic and fatalistic realms - it has the beauty of storm clouds, the impetuosity of youth and the nostalgia of old age. At its centre is a moment of unrestrained celebration - noisy exuberance as Dvorák's nocturnal revellers sing and dance.

BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.1
DVORÁK Carnival Overture
RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances

Tugan Sokhiev conductor
Nicholas Angelich piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - BRAHMS Piano Concerto No.1 in D minor: III Rondo - Allegro non troppo
Nelson Freire (piano) with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Chailly
DECCA ELOQUENCE 475 7638

Track 2 - DVORAK Carnival Overture
Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 8482

Track 3 - RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances: I Non allegro
Track 4 - RACHMANINOFF Symphonic Dances: III Allegro vivace
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy
DECCA 455 7982

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

On 29 September 1973, we gave our first official performance in our new home: the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. Charles Mackerras returned home to conduct and Swedish soprano Birgit Nilsson was the soloist.

The gala program was all-Wagner with a ceremonial touch in the form of "Dich, teure Halle" from Tannhäuser. That, said Mackerras later, was most appropriate: teureHalle means, among other things, "expensive hall"!

Now we're recreating that concert in its entirety. This time Simone Young is the Australian conductor returning home and renowned Wagnerian soprano Christine Brewer is our guest.

WAGNER
Die Meistersinger: Prelude
Tannhäuser: Dich, teure Halle
Tristan und Isolde: Prelude and Liebestod
Götterdämmerung: Siegfried's Rhine Journey
Götterdämmerung: Siegfried's Funeral March
Götterdämmerung: Brünnhilde's Immolation

Simone Young conductor
Christine Brewer soprano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - WAGNER Die Meistersinger: Prelude
Track 2 - WAGNER Tannhäuser: 'Dich, teure Halle'*
Track 3 - WAGNER Götterdämmerung: Siegfried's Funeral March
Track 4 - WAGNER Tristan und Isolde: Prelude
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra with *Birgit Nilsson (soprano) conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras in the 1973 opening of the Sydney Opera House.
ABC CLASSICS 476 6440

Audio and video kindly supplied by ABC Classics

Three Russians make for a richly coloured and exhilarating concert. Liadov's jewel-like miniature has all the ingredients of the best Russian fairytales: it's haunting, mysterious and malevolent, and it's bewitching to the ear!

The irresistible melodies of Rachmaninoff's best-loved piano concerto sound as if they could be pop songs - and in fact several of them are.

The program ends with the whirling passion of Tchaikovsky's symphonic fantasia after Dante - a story of illicit love, murder and the tempests of hell.

And for his Sydney Symphony debut, Thomas Sanderling has chosen music by Peter Sculthorpe: the extrovert sounds, flowing melodies and entrancing rhythms of Sun Song.

LIADOV Kikimora
RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No.2
SCULTHORPE Sun Song (1984)
TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini

Thomas Sanderling conductor
Alexander Gavrylyuk piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - LIADOV Kikimora
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA 480 0038

Track 2 - RACHMANINOFF Piano Concerto No.2: III Allegretto scherzando
Alicia de Larrocha (piano) with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Charles Dutoit
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 7701

Track 3 - SCULTHORPE Sun Song
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Porcelijn 
ABC CLASSICS (Under Capricorn) 454 5052

Track 4 - TCHAIKOVSKY Francesca da Rimini, Op.32
Russian National Orchestra conducted by Mikhail Pletnev
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 8699

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

Piers Lane came to attention at the age of 19 as the Best Australian Pianist in the Sydney International Piano Competition. Since then he's performed all around the world and acquired a vast repertoire that extends from mainstream classics to the newest works.

But one composer he nearly always includes in his recitals is Frédéric Chopin, and in this concert he'll be playing the complete waltzes - not in their published order but in their order of composition. This is more than a spin around the ballroom, it's a musical journey.

The second half of his program celebrates the music of Debussy 150th anniversary year and ends with Liszt's take on songs and dances of Italy.

Piers Lane is surely at the zenith of his career. The Australian is an artist and a virtuoso as well...
John Amis, 2011

CHOPIN The Complete Waltzes
DEBUSSY
Two Arabesques
Jardins sous la pluie (from Estampes)
Reflets dans l'eau (from Images, Series 1)
L'Isle joyeuse
LISZT Venezia e Napoli, S162

Piers Lane piano

Hear Piers Lane give the premiere of Carl Vine's Piano Concerto No.2, composed especially for him, on 22, 24, 25 August.

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - CHOPIN Waltz No.11 in G flat, Op.70 No.1
Track 2 - CHOPIN Waltz No.14 in E minor, Op.posth
Zoltan Kocsis (piano)
DECCA ELOQUENCE 475 8051

Track 3 - DEBUSSY Arabesque No.2
Pascal Rogé (piano)
DECCA ELOQUENCE 443 0212

Track 4 - LISZT Venezia e Napoli, S162: Tarantella
Lazar Berman (piano)
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 9660

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

This concert is all about the colour of sound and three master composers for the orchestra - from 19th-century Germany, 20th-century France and the Australia of here and now.

It begins with French impressions of English jigs and springtime dances - subtle and evocative. Then there's a brand new piano concerto, composed for pianist Piers Lane by a composer who sometimes describes his music as "radically tonal"  - big tunes and Technicolor richness.

Finally, Brahms's Second Symphony brings warm colours and a lyrical mood -  easy-going Romantic impulse shaped by Classical genius.

DEBUSSY Gigues and Rondes de printemps (from Images)
VINE Piano Concerto No.2 PREMIERE
BRAHMS Symphony No.2

Hugh Wolff conductor
Piers Lane piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - DEBUSSY Images: Gigues
Track 2 - DEBUSSY Images: Rondes de printemps
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0127

Track 3 - BRAHMS Symphony No.2: III Allegretto grazioso
Track 4 - BRAHMS Symphony No.2: IV Allegro con spirito

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Claude Debussy brought music into the 20th century and along the way he created a distinctive French style. He did it by breaking the 'rules' of harmony and structure, and by taking a whole new approach to melody and rhythm and the way he used the sounds of the orchestra. 

It all began with one piece: Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun - pure poetry in music. Discover the colours and innovations of Debussy.

DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun

Richard Gill conductor

Discover Debussy throughout his 150th anniversary year with Images for piano (14 May) and other piano pieces (20 August), his Images for orchestra (22, 24, 25 August; 7, 8, 9 November) and concert performances of Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (6, 7, 8 September).

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Tracks 1 to 4 - DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun : excerpts
L'Orchestre de Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ensermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0127

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

With a yearning flute solo, Debussy's ethereal and elusive Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun ushered in the 20th century. Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu begins From me flows whatyou call Time with another flute solo and a wash of impressionistic colour - Debussy's legacy is unmistakeable.

Takemitsu's music for five percussionists and orchestra literally "flows" through the venue with awesome spatial effects, suspended chimes and coloured ribbons representing water, fire, earth, wind and sky. This is a piece you need to see.

Aaron Copland grew up under the influence of Debussy and his successors, but this was just one of many influences that shaped his distinctive "American voice". The spacious nobility of his third symphony comes to a climax with thrilling references to his Fanfare for the Common Man.

DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
TAKEMITSU From me flows what you call Time
COPLAND Symphony No.3

Robert Spano conductor
Rebecca Lagos, Colin Piper, Mark Robinson, Ian Cleworth, Tim Constable percussion

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - DEBUSSY Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0127

Track 2 - TAKEMITSU From me flows what you call time
Sydney Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edo de Waart
ABC CLASSICS 454 516-2

Track 3 - COPLAND Symphony No.3: II Allegro molto
Track 4 - COPLAND Symphony No.3: IV Molto deliberato (Fanfare) - Allegro risoluto
New York Philharmonic conducted by Leonard Bernstein
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 474 9402

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

You may not always be able to see the brass players of the Sydney Symphony sitting at the back of the stage, but you can certainly hear them as they bring colour and zing to the sound of the orchestra.

In 2012 we once again display the talents of these fabulous musicians in a concert that promenades from the high Renaissance to high Romanticism and on to music of our own time and place. The program culminates in Elgar Howarth's spectacular arrangement of Pictures at an Exhibition.

Preludes, fanfares and canzonas by
Giovanni Gabrieli, Richard Strauss,
Wagner and Australian composers, with
MUSSORGSKY arr. Howarth Pictures at an Exhibition

Michael Mulcahy conductor
Sydney Symphony Brass Ensemble

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - MUSSORGSKY arr. HOWARTH Pictures at an Exhibition: Baba Yaga
Track 2 - MUSSORGSKY arr. HOWARTH Pictures at an Exhibition: The Great Gate of Kiev
Philip Jones Brass Ensemble directed by Elgar Howarth
DECCA 411 955-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

Boogie your way into the Sydney Opera House for a night of ABBA’s disco classics including Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia and Waterloo. Relive your favourite hits by one of the world’s most successful pop groups, performed by international vocal phenomenon, Rajaton.

An unforgettable entertainment that will leave you singing Thank You for the Music as you dance down the Sydney Opera House steps!

Tickets start at just $35.

This concert begins with a string of gems - tiny "moments", captivating and luminous. In Mystery of the Moment, Henri Dutilleux brings together a string orchestra, percussion and the exotic ringing tones of the cimbalom to evoke the fleeting sounds of night.

From the stillness of night emerges the sound of Mozart at his most Romantic. Angela Hewitt, acclaimed for her radiant interpretations, plays Mozart's D minor piano concerto - turbulent and dramatic.

Beethoven, on the other hand, sheds his reputation as a scowling genius in the sunny classicism of his Fourth Symphony. 

DUTILLEUX Mystère de l'instant (Mystery of the Moment) AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE
MOZART Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K466
BEETHOVEN Symphony No.4

Hannu Lintu conductor
Angela Hewitt piano

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - MOZART Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K466: I Allegro
Track 2 - MOZART Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K466: II Romance
Mitsuko Uchida (piano) with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Tate
PHILIPS 475 7306

Track 3 - BEETHOVEN Symphony No.4: III Allegro vivace
Track 4 - BEETHOVEN Symphony No.4: IV Allegro ma non troppo
Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON Eloquence 429 0382

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

When Ravel decided to include the saxophone in his orchestra for Bolero he was on to something. A provocative new sound - it was a fad that caught on.

Now, a century later, Australian composer Ross Edwards is putting it out front of the orchestra as a soloist. Our saxophone virtuoso is Amy Dickson, and in Full Moon Dances we get to hear Edwards' irresistible dance-chant style.

There's more dancing and more Ravel in the mercurial Alborada del gracioso - a morning song for a jester - and in the tempestuous climaxes of La Valse, giving Bolero a run for its money!

VERDI The Force of Destiny: Overture
EDWARDS Full Moon Dances - Saxophone Concerto
RAVEL
Alborada del gracioso
La Valse
Bolero

Miguel Harth-Bedoya conductor
Amy Dickson saxophone

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - VERDI The Force of Destiny:  Overture
Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Zubin Mehta
DECCA ELOQUENCE 476 9907

Track 2 - RAVEL Alborada del gracioso
Track 3 - RAVEL La Valse
Track 4 - RAVEL Bolero
Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Seiji Ozawa
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON ELOQUENCE 476 8500

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

Cellist Jian Wang is praised for the strength and bravura of his playing, his rich, dark-hued tone and the impassioned ardour of his interpretations. And you can be sure these are the qualities he'll bring to the poetry and tender feeling of Dvorák's great Romantic cello concerto.

In one of his first concerts as Principal Conductor of the Sydney Symphony, Vladimir Ashkenazy gave what The Sydney Morning Herald called a "magnificently emphatic" performance of Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony. This is your chance to experience the insight and emotional honesty he brings to this deeply moving symphony in a concert of two masterpieces.

DVORÁK Cello Concerto in B minor
SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.10

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Jian Wang cello

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - DVORAK Cello Concerto: I Allegro
Track 2 - DVORAK Cello Concerto: III Finale (Allegro moderato)
Heinrich Schiff (cello) with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Sir Colin Davis
PHILIPS ELOQUENCE 476 8482

Track 3 - SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.10: II Allegro
Track 4 - SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.10: III Allegretto
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy DECCA 475 8756

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

Presented by Sydney Opera House and Sydney Symphony.

An eerie ghost ship tossed on the stormy waves, clunky skeletons dancing in the moonlight to the tune of Death’s fiddle, and gorgeous, exotic dancers performing for a Russian prince. Our three composers had a special gift for creating atmosphere, a gift that will fire the imagination of every child – and adult. Following the concert kids will have the opportunity to meet the musicians and get up close to the instruments.

Recommended for Ages 5+

WAGNER: The Flying Dutchman, Overture
SAINT-SAËNS: Danse Macabre
BORODIN: Polovtsian Dances

Duration: 55 minutes

In 2012, we present two Family Classics matinee concerts. For more info about Family Classics #1 on Sunday 13 May click here.

Ariel - perhaps you think of Shakespeare's Tempest, or Disney's Little Mermaid. For Brett Dean, Ariel is Ariel Glaser, who died of AIDS in 1988, just seven years old, and Ariel's Music for clarinet and orchestra is a tribute to her heroic mother. The result is lamenting, agitated, impassioned and defiant in turn - music that speaks to the heart of a heart-breaking ordeal.

On this program Brett Dean's music will be joined by a new work by Australian Barry Conyngham. It will be his first symphony, inspired by and dedicated to Richard Gill - music to celebrate the struggle, the joy and the sheer excitement of learning.

Debussy's thrilling evocation of Spain gives the concert a festive beginning. And the First Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra is a miniature masterpiece, languid and sultry - imagine the Spain of the Moors.

DEBUSSY Ibéria (from Images)
DEAN Ariel's Music
DEBUSSY First Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra
CONYNGHAM Symphony PREMIERE

Richard Gill conductor
David Thomas clarinet

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - DEBUSSY Images: Ibéria: Les parfums de la nuit
Track 2 - DEBUSSY Images: Ibéria: Le matin d'un jour de fête
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0127

Track 3 - BRETT DEAN Ariel's Music: II Circumstances
Paul Dean (clarinet) with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Richard Mills
ABC CLASSICS 456 678-2

Track 4 - DEBUSSY First Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra
Robert Gugholz (clarinet) with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0127

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

The French impressions in this concert gaze abroad. Debussy's Ibéria is a riot of colour - castanets, tambourines and strummed violins in a stirring evocation of Spain. The First Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra is a miniature masterpiece, languid and sultry - imagine the Spain of the Moors.

The highlight, though, will be a brand new work by Australian Barry Conyngham, commissioned for our 80th anniversary season. This is his first symphony and he blames the delay on the composers who've influenced him: there are no symphonies by Takemitsu and Sculthorpe, no symphonies by Bartók, Ravel...or Debussy.

Conyngham's inspiration has been Richard Gill, the symphony's dedicatee, and this will be music that celebrates the struggle, the joy and the sheer excitement of learning.

DEBUSSY Ibéria (from Images)
DEBUSSY First Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra
CONYNGHAM Symphony PREMIERE

Richard Gill conductor
David Thomas clarinet

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - DEBUSSY Image: Ibéria: Par les rues et par les chemins
L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0127

Track 4 - DEBUSSY First Rhapsody for clarinet and orchestra
Robert Gugholz (clarinet) with L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ernest Ansermet
DECCA ELOQUENCE 480 0127

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

Mozart was the ultimate Classical composer – a master of all the elegant forms that brought Enlightenment sense and structure to the music of the 18th century. He was a such a master that he rarely bowed to convention; instead, he placed a distinctive stamp on nearly everything he wrote.

One of most common Classical forms was the rondo – the concert hall answer to the verse-chorus structure of popular song, and the perfect way for a composer to play with the twin pleasures of repetition and variation.

In this concert, young Australian composer Phil Jameson demonstrates the elegant structure of a two-century-old form. And Mozart, being Mozart, goes off on a tangent with a rondo theme that is guaranteed to stick in your mind all evening!

JAMESON Introduction and Rondo
MOZART Rondo in D for piano and orchestra, K382

Richard Gill conductor
Kathryn Selby piano

Don’t wait till November to discover Mozart. Join us for the Mozart in the City series (1 Mar, 12 Apr, 12 Jul, 30 Aug), his Requiem (2, 4, 5 May), Symphony No.31 (27, 28, 29 Jun), and the dramatic Piano Concerto K466 (19, 21, 22 Sep).

PLAYER LISTING:
MOZART Rondo in D, K382: 1 fast and graceful
MOZART Rondo in D, K382: 2 slow
MOZART Rondo in D, K382: 3 fast

CREDITS:
Track 1 – MOZART Rondo in D, K382: Allegretto grazioso
Track 2 – MOZART Rondo in D, K382: Adagio
Track 3 – MOZART Rondo in D, K382: Allegro
Mitsuko Uchida (piano) with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Tate
PHILIPS 475 7306

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music.

The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet makes its Australian debut in a concert full of Spanish colour. They're the soloists in Rodrigo's Concierto andaluz - a sparkling concoction of flamenco dance rhythms and Rodrigo's inimitable melodic voice.

And they amplify the spirit of Andalusia in their own arrangement for guitar quartet and orchestra of highlights from Manuel de Falla's ballet Love, the Magician.

From Spain to the Americas, this magnetic program takes in the indigenous sounds of Mexico, the virile rhythms of the Argentinean plains, and John Adams in exhilarating fanfare mode.

CHÁVEZ Sinfonia india (Symphony No.2)
RODRIGO Concierto andaluz
FALLA El Amor Brujo (Love, the Magician): Selections
ADAMS Lollapalooza
GINASTERA Four Dances from Estancia

Michael Stern conductor
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet
(John Dearman, Matthew Greif,
William Kanengiser, Scott Tennant)

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - CHAVEZ Sinfonia India (Symphony No.2)
New World Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
DECCA 467 603-2

Track 2 - RODRIGO Concierto andaluz: 1st movement
Los Angeles Guitar Quartet with the Delaware Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Amado
TELARC TEL 31754-02
Excerpt from the recording Interchange used with permission

Track 3 - FALLA El Amor Brujo (Love, the Magician): Ritual Fire Dance
New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos
DECCA 466 128-2

Track 4 - GINASTERA Four dances from Estancia: Los peones de hacienda (The Cattlemen)
New World Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas
DECCA 467 603-2

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music

 

Tchaikovsky's fantastic tragedy moves in the aristocratic salons of 18th-century St Petersburg. There's an angry young man - a damaged soul. There's the beautiful young woman he desires. And there's an obsession - gambling at cards. The secret to success is held by an aged countess, the "Queen of Spades". But, despite ghostly interventions , it all ends badly and it wouldn't be opera without a double suicide.

The last time Sydney audiences experienced this opera was in 1979 in a production by the Australian Opera. Now Ashkenazy brings a concert version to the stage of the Concert Hall.

TCHAIKOVSKY The Queen of Spades
Sung in Russian with English surtitles

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor
Dina Kuznetsova soprano (Lisa)
Stuart Skelton tenor (Herman)
Irina Tchistjakova mezzo-soprano (Countess)
Deborah Humble mezzo-soprano (Pauline)
José Carbo baritone (Yeletsky)
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

AUDIO PLAYER LISTING

Track 1 - TCHAIKOVSKY The Queen of Spades: Overture
Track 2 - TCHAIKOVSKY The Queen of Spades: Act II/1 Ya vas lyublyu (Yeletsky's aria)
Track 3 - TCHAIKOVSKY The Queen of Spades: Act III/2 Uzh polnoch blizitsya (Lisa, Canal Scene)
Track 4 - TCHAIKOVSKY The Queen of Spades: Act III/ 2 Akh, istomilas ya gorme (Lisa's arioso)
Galina Vishnevskaya, soprano (Lisa), Bernd Weikl, tenor (Yeletsky) with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Mstislav Rostropovich
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 463 6792

Audio kindly supplied by Silver Partner Universal Music