A celebration of Australian music and the thrilling and sultry sounds of Debussy in Spanish mode.
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