2 012 S E A S O N

Fri 18 May 8pmSat 19 May 8pm Mon 21 May 7pm

A Gershwin Tribute

Kaleidoscope

Mondays @ 7

Summertime, Rhapsody in Blue...

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Monday night’s performance will be broadcast live across Australia on ABC Classic FM.

Monday’s performance will also be webcast live via BigPond, available for later viewing on demand. Visit bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony

Pre-concert talk by Ilmar Leetberg in the Northern Foyer, 45 minutes before each performance. Visit sydneysymphony.com/talk-bios for speaker biographies.

Estimated durations: 10 minutes, 16 minutes, 20-minute interval, 20 minutes, 25 minutesThe concert will conclude at approximately 9.50pm (8.50pm Monday).

A Gershwin TributeBramwell Tovey PIANO-CONDUCTOR

Tracy Dahl SOPRANO

George Gershwin (1898–1937)

Cuban Overture

Rhapsody in Blueorchestrated Ferde Grofé

Bramwell Tovey PIANO

INTERVAL

Gershwin Songbook

The man I loveThey can’t take that away from meA foggy dayFascinatin’ rhythm

Tracy Dahl SOPRANO

Catfi sh Row – Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess

Catfi sh Row (including Summertime)Porgy SingsFugueHurricaneGood Morning, SistuhWITH Tracy Dahl

2012 seasonkaleidoscopeFriday 18 May, 8pmSaturday 19 May, 8pm

mondays @ 7Monday 21 May, 7pm

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

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INTRODUCTION

A Gershwin TributeGeorge Gershwin was one of those 20th-century composers whose legacy has touched all aspects of musical life. His songs have become ‘standards’ that lend themselves to nearly every interpretative approach – jazz, pop, theatrical and classical. He is one of the most frequently recorded of songwriters and the hit tunes have lived on long after the shows that held them. The fi lms that feature his music remain classics: An American in Paris with Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron, Shall We Dance with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Funny Face with Astaire and Audrey Hepburn. Porgy and Bess has been produced in great opera houses all over the world, but is also the source of that much-loved songbook number, ‘Summertime’.

Then there is the concert hall. An American in Paris, Rhapsody in Blue and the Piano Concerto in F, to name just three, never fail to please. They make the backbone of programs like tonight’s – when an orchestra lets its hair down – but they’re equally at ease in ‘serious’ programs, matched with works that show Gershwin in a wider musical milieu.

And that would have pleased Gershwin more than anything. Gershwin moved fl uidly between musical disciplines. He struck gold on Tin Pan Alley with ‘Swanee’ – recorded in 1919 by Al Jolson and bringing him $10,000 in royalties in its fi rst year. He was the darling of Broadway and Hollywood, writing indelible show tunes for the likes of Fred Astaire. But he also fought hard for classical credentials and a classical craft as composer and orchestrator, because, above all, he wanted to be recognised as a ‘serious’ composer. And posterity has paid him the ultimate tribute: we do take Gershwin seriously, but he’s also ‘the man we love’.

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ABOUT THE MUSIC

Cuban Overture

Cuba was American café society’s playground for many decades before Fidel Castro’s revolution. In the 1920s and early 1930s, its many natural attractions were enhanced by the American holiday maker’s ability to drink alcohol in public at a time of Prohibition at home.

Gershwin’s own Cuban holiday of 1932 was as much about wine and women (and of course, cigars) as it was about song. He frequented the nightspots, lay in the sun, gambled at the casinos, caroused with his cronies and was seen in the company of many attractive women. He also found the inspiration for his next orchestral piece.

On his numerous spins on Havana’s dance fl oors he became intrigued by the many special Latin percussion instruments featured by the native dance bands. He brought some of these back with him to New York in July and began work on the Cuban Overture immediately. An all-Gershwin concert by the New York Philharmonic at New York’s Lewisohn stadium was imminent, and he wanted to include the work on the program. Writing at speed, he fi nished the whole piece in three weeks, completing the orchestration just a few days before the fi rst performance on 16 August 1932. Nearly 18,000 people attended, 5,000 were left trying to get in, and Gershwin described it as ‘the most exciting night I have ever had’.

‘two hysterical weeks in Cuba, where no sleep was had’

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GERSHWINBorn Brooklyn, New York, 1898Died Hollywood, California, 1937

The all-too-brief life and career of George Gershwin reads like a metaphor for the American Dream. The Brooklyn boy born Jacob Gershovitz to Russian Jewish parents started out as a Tin Pan Alley song plugger before conquering Broadway and Hollywood. His songwriting partnership with older brother Ira produced a string of hit shows and songs that defined an era. Lauded by composers such as Ravel and Schoenberg, he strove to be recognised as a ‘serious’ composer and to develop an American contribution to the classical tradition with concert works such as Rhapsody in Blue and his Piano Concerto in F.

Vain, competitive, demanding, but always generous to a fault, Gershwin lived life with a frantic energy as incandescent as the New York skyline that his music still so powerfully evokes. His last major work, the folk-opera Porgy and Bess, hinted at the yet-to-be-fulfilled promise of a soaring artistic trajectory cut short by his untimely death of a brain tumour at 38. At his funeral service on 15 July 1937 at Temple Emanu-El on New York’s Fifth Avenue, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise described Gershwin as ‘the singer of the songs of America’s soul’. Even Ira couldn’t have put it better.

At that fi rst performance it went under the title ‘Rumba’. Three months later, when it was reprised at a Metropolitan Opera gala, Gershwin renamed it Cuban Overture, ‘a symphonic overture which embodies the essence of Cuban dance’. The music is constructed in three parts, the two outer, dance-inspired sections framing a central idyll that might be regarded as the Cuban equivalent of the ‘Blues’ section in Gershwin’s other musical travelogue, An American in Paris.

The work’s novelty lies in the changes Gershwin’s musical language had undergone as a result of his recent studies with the teacher and theorist Joseph Schillinger. This work brought to the Cuban Overture a greater textural diversity and harmonic complexity than in many of Gershwin’s previous works. The other major innovation for Gershwin was his use of Cuban percussion instruments, including gourds, bongos and maracas. These are the work’s driving force, and dominate many of its most memorable passages.

Adapted from a note by PHILLIP SAMETZ © 2000

Rhapsody in Blue

Gershwin was nervous when band leader Paul Whiteman commissioned him to write a serious ‘jazz concerto’ for a projected concert, An Experiment in Modern Music, in 1924, but Whiteman eventually convinced Gershwin that he truly had the talent to write the piece in less than a month(!) and assured him that he could delegate the orchestration to Ferde Grofé, the band’s arranger, later composer of the Grand Canyon Suite.

The concert took place at New York’s Aeolian Hall on 12 February 1924, with people such as Jascha Heifetz, Sergei Rachmaninoff , numerous critics and Tin Pan Alley composers in the audience. Rhapsody in Blue was so successful – and suffi ciently controversial – that Gershwin was soon fulfi lling commissions for Walter Damrosch, conductor of the New York Symphony-Philharmonic (Concerto in F and An American in Paris). And he determined that henceforward – to complete his musical education – he would do his own orchestrations.

Although it’s cast in a single movement, Rhapsody in Blue falls clearly into the three-movement fast–slow–fast pattern found in classical piano concertos. Its popular feel comes from the cast of its melodies and the odd blues infl ection. The opening clarinet cadenza – that famous swooping run from low in the instrument’s register to high – is probably the most obvious ‘jazz’ feature. Rhapsody in Blue is probably more often criticised these days for not really being jazz,

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which is, after all, by defi nition, improvised. But we could ask if any of this criticism is much to the point.

It seems strange now, when composers who are ignorant of jazz seem out of touch, that Gershwin ever had a hang-up about being regarded as ‘serious’. When he sought out established concert composers for advice and tuition, Ravel supposedly advised him to remain a fi rst-rate Gershwin, not seek to be a second-rate Ravel. Stravinsky found out how much he earned and said, ‘How about I take lessons from you?’. Schoenberg – as serious as they come – recognised his innate musicality. Indeed Gershwin testifi ed to themes for this piece welling up spontaneously in his head: ‘I suddenly heard – and even saw on paper – the complete construction for the Rhapsody, from beginning to end.’

Those spontaneous themes began to run through Gershwin’s head on a train trip to Boston for the premiere of his musical comedy Sweet Little Devil. The clickety-clack of the long-distance trip inspired rhythms which we recognise to be as American as anything which came out of Hollywood or Broadway in the 1920s. Gershwin himself heard the piece as ‘a sort of musical kaleidoscope of America – of our vast melting pot, of our unduplicated national pep, of our blues, our metropolitan madness’. As the American conductor William Eddins said, ‘Gershwin’s Gershwin…it just reeks of the Roaring Twenties, and the Depression. It’s part of our culture, part of our DNA.’

Adapted from a note by GORDON KALTON WILLIAMSSYMPHONY AUSTRALIA © 2001

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a classically trained musician who’d enjoyed great success with jazz-infl uenced popular music. In 1924 he planned and presented a concert called ‘An Experiment in Modern Music’. The program segments began with ‘True Form of Jazz’, included a contrast of ‘Legitimate Scoring vs. Jazzing’ and came to a climax with the fi rst performance of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. The concert ended with one of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance marches (still modern in 1924) representing ‘The Field of Classics’.

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Gershwin SongbookThe man I loveThey can’t take that away from meA foggy dayFascinatin’ rhythm

1924 was a milestone year for George Gershwin: it opened with the premiere of Rhapsody in Blue, and the resulting tidal wave of publicity, and drew to a close with his fi rst hit show with brother Ira, Lady, Be Good. Starring brother-and-sister act Fred and Adele Astaire, it ran for 330 performances on Broadway and established a writing partnership that produced the hit shows Tip-Toes, Oh Kay!, Funny Face, Girl Crazy and Of Thee I Sing.

In addition to the title song, Lady, Be Good also included the toe-tapping Fascinatin’ rhythm and, originally, The man I love. Gershwin once told a friend that he wanted to write songs ‘for young girls sitting on fi re escapes on hot summer nights in New York and dreaming of love’. With ‘The man I love’ he certainly succeeded, but it was cut from the show because it was too sentimental. That didn’t stop this wistful number achieving extraordinary popularity outside the context of any show, and much more recently it found a home in the all-Gershwin musical Crazy for You.

Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and George Gershwin on the set of Shall We Dance.

George Gershwin and his brother Ira

A World of Travel Australia’s finest collection of cultural and special interest tours

Autumn Festivals of Europewith Andrea Hull AOGRAFENEGG FESTIVAL – LJUBLJANA FESTIVAL – MARIBOR FESTIVAL28 August–11 September 2012

This tour begins with the Grafenegg Festival, outside Vienna. See and hear baritone Thomas Hampson, pianist Rudolph Buchbinder, and the London and Rotterdam Philharmonic orchestras conducted respectively by Vladimir Jurowski and Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

The highlight of the 60th Ljubljana Festival is a special concert with Valery Gergiev conducting the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra.

Finish with Richard Tognetti’s fifth and final Maribor Festival, with the ACO as the guest orchestra in residence. The festival features the premiere of Brett Dean’s second violin concerto, written especially for Richard Tognetti.

For detailed information call 1300 727 095 or visit www.renaissancetours.com.au

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Gershwin had fi rst met Fred Astaire in 1916 and their collaboration, which had begun on Broadway during the 1920s, continued after both stars moved to Hollywood. While Gershwin may not have rated Astaire’s voice too highly, he did write some of his best songs for him and Astaire came to be acknowledged as one of the most original and personal interpreters of Gershwin’s music. From the 1937 RKO picture Shall We Dance comes They can’t take that away from me, which earned Astaire a No.1 hit and Gershwin a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. In A Damsel In Distress (1937), Astaire also introduced the standards ‘Nice work if you can get it’ and A foggy day, with its enduring images of London town and the British Museum.

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Catfi sh Row – Symphonic Suite from Porgy and Bess

Catfi sh Row (including Summertime)Porgy SingsFugueHurricaneGood Morning, Sistuh

Over a single night in 1926 Gershwin, an insomniac, read a novella called Porgy by the Charleston writer DuBose Heyward. The next morning he wrote to the Heywards (Dorothy Heyward was herself a writer-dramatist) suggesting that the story be turned into a ‘folk-opera’.

It would be years before the collaboration would see the light of day. Only in 1934 was Broadway’s over-committed favourite able to spend six weeks with the Heywards. They fl eshed out DuBose’s tale of a poor black cripple who trundled around Charleston’s cobblestone streets in a goat-drawn cart. Based on the real-life saga of Sammy Smalls, Porgy relates the story of ‘that old wreck’, as Heyward called him, and a sometime cocaine addict, Bess, set in a black communal tenement, Catfi sh Row, a short distance from Charleston’s wharves.

George drafted his brother Ira to help the Heywards with the libretto, but all the songs and most of the orchestrations were his own. He auditioned more than a hundred applicants for the role of Porgy, selecting a Washington singing teacher, Todd Duncan. For Bess, he chose a young Juilliard graduate, Anne Brown

After tryouts in Boston in September 1935, Porgy and Bess was ready for Broadway, where it ran for 124 performances. A pretty good run for an American folk-opera with its

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In 1928 Gershwin’s cousin, the painter Henry Botkin, encouraged him to begin collecting art, which quickly led to an enthusiasm for sketching and painting himself. This portrait of Dubose Heyward, author of the book Porgy, was painted in 1934.

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virtually all-black cast, one might think, but for the Gershwins and the Heywards, Porgy and Bess was a fi nancial disaster. They lost their entire investment of $40,000, a tidy sum that today would translate into about $540,000.

Gershwin promoted various schemes which might recoup their investment. He asked his publisher and long-time supporter Max Dreyfus to arrange an international tour of the opera. Nothing came of this. (It would take another decade before the US State Department saw the goodwill propaganda kudos that could be gained from promoting a tour of an all-black American opera.) In 1937 he engaged Todd Duncan for two all-Gershwin concerts with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. They performed excerpts from the opera in the hope that they ‘might whip up some enthusiasm for picture possibilities on the part of the studios’.

The year before, Gershwin had launched a similar strategy on the East Coast. For a fi ve-city concert tour, he prepared a purely orchestral suite of fi ve scenes from Porgy and Bess. The fi rst performance of this suite was given by Alexander Smallens conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra on 21 January 1936; Gershwin himself played the prominent piano part.

There is usually commercial potential in creating a concert suite from a theatrical work, but even Gershwin’s suite was jinxed, and it disappeared from view until Ira Gershwin’s secretary stumbled upon it 1958. By then, Robert Russell Bennett’s Symphonic Portrait of Porgy and Bess (1943), commissioned by Fritz Reiner for the Pittsburgh Symphony, was fi rmly lodged in the orchestral repertory. To avoid confusion, Ira retitled his brother’s suite Catfi sh Row.

The Real Catfish RowThe ‘Catfish Row’ setting for DuBose Heyward’s novella Porgy was based on a Charleston neighbourhood near the fishing wharves. (The word ‘porgy’ itself refers to the local catfish, a seafood delicacy.) Originally known as Cabbage Row, at the turn of the 20th century over one hundred black people lived in twin tenement buildings there. They grew cabbages in the courtyard and sold them to passersby through the front windows.

One of the inhabitants of Cabbage Row was Sammy Smalls, a crippled black man who would ride around Charleston in his goat-driven cart, selling vegetables and stealing anything he could lay his hands on. ‘Swear to God,’ declared a local old-timer several years ago, ‘you could never tell which one smelled the worse, the goat or Sammy Smalls!’

In March 1924, Sammy was hauled before court and charged for attempting to shoot a girlfriend. DuBose Heyward read the report in the local newspaper and created the figure who would become the central character of Porgy and Bess.

George Gershwin conducting in Los Angeles, 1937

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Gershwin’s suite is in fi ve clearly defi ned sections. The fi rst section includes the opera’s overture and a solo piano segment ‘Jazzbo Brown’s Piano Blues’ as well as ‘Summertime’. (In the original suite Gershwin shares the languid melody of the song between various instruments in the orchestra; in this performance soloist Tracy Dahl will sing the lullaby.)

Porgy Sings includes ‘I got plenty o’ nuttin’’ and the duet ‘Bess, you is my woman now’. The tiny Fugue is a tense movement based on the music that accompanies the death of Crown. Hurricane begins with morning bells and a serene melody for the cor anglais before depicting the violence of the storm from Act II.

The fi nal scene, Good Morning, Sistuh begins with the prelude to Act III and includes the children’s song ‘Sure to go to heaven’ and the fi nale ‘Lord, I’m on my way.’

Gershwin assembled his suite economically from the original material – a ‘scissors-and-paste job’ some have said – but it is also, writes biographer Edward Jablonski, ‘a carefully thought out musical précis’. The result is an ‘impressive compendium’ that conveys the musical essence and also rescues sections (such as the Piano Blues) that had been jettisoned from early productions of the opera.

Adapted from notes by VINCENT PLUSH © 2003

The Sydney Symphony was the first ABC orchestra to perform Catfish Row, in concerts in 1995, and then 1998, under William Southgate. Our most recent performance of Gershwin’s suite was in 2003, with conductor Michael Christie. Bramwell Tovey conducted the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in performances of the suite in 2011. The opera was first presented in Australia in a touring production by the New Zealand Opera Company in 1965–66.

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Broadway production of Porgy and Bess (1935–36) with John W Bubbles as Sportin’ Life, Todd Duncan as Porgy and Anne Brown as Bess.

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MORE MUSIC

GERSHWINGo overboard with the music of Gershwin by indulging in the 7-CD Gershwin Collection, released last year. The program includes: Cuban Overture with the Cleveland Orchestra and Riccardo Chailly; Rhapsody in Blue in a version for two pianos and orchestra with Katia and Marielle Labèque; and Porgy and Bess – A Symphonic Picture with Antal Doráti conducting the Detroit Symphony Orchestra; as well as plenty of songs with the Labèques accompanying soprano Barbara Hendricks. A treat and excellent value.DECCA 478 2687

For a single-disc collection that includes the orchestral works in this concert, look for the all-Gershwin release in EMI’s American Classics series. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and Leonard Slatkin play Catfi sh Row, as well as An American in Paris and Lullaby. Peter Donohoe and the London Sinfonietta conducted by Simon Rattle perform Rhapsody in Blue, and André Previn conducts the London Symphony Orchestra in Cuban Overture.EMI CLASSICS 06628

If you’re interested in the original jazz band version of Rhapsody in Blue, look for Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Marin Alsop with members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.DECCA 478 2189

Clarinettist Al Gallodoro, a member of Whiteman’s band in the 1930s, claimed to have performed in Rhapsody in Blue more than any other person. He recorded it for the last time just a couple of years ago in a much-praised recording that brings together the Ferde Grofé orchestrations and instrumental arrangements of Gershwin. He’s joined by pianist Lincoln Mayorga, conductor Steven Richman and the Harmonie Ensemble for a program that begins with the Rhapsody, ends with Summertime and includes great songbook numbers such as The man I love and Fascinatin’ rhythm in between.HARMONIA MUNDI 907492

BRAMWELL TOVEYBramwell Tovey’s most recent release is British Flute Concertos, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and soloist Emily Beynon, performing concertos by Alwyn, Berkeley, Dove. Frenchman Poulenc sneaks in as an honorary Brit via Berkeley’s ingenious orchestration of the his Flute Sonata.CHANDOS 10718

Last year he released the inaugural CD in the Naxos Canada Classics series: a recording of music by Jeff rey Ryan with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Gryphon Trio.NAXOS 8572765

His 2007 recording with violinist James Ehnes of the Korngold, Barber and Walton concertos won Grammy and Juno awards. Again, the orchestra is the Vancouver Symphony.ONYX 4016

TRACY DAHL

Tracy Dahl’s coloratura gifts are highlighted in Glitter and Be Gay, a collection of brilliant arias with Bernstein’s showstopper from Candide providing the title track. Mario Bernardi conducts the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. This CBC Records release is available through iTunes.CBC SMCD 5125

Her interpretation of Madame Mao in John Adams’ Nixon in China has been captured in the 2009 recording of the complete opera, conducted by Marin Alsop with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. NAXOS 8669022-24

Tracy Dahl sings operetta in A Gilbert & Sullivan Gala, with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Singers, a cast of soloists including Maureen Forrester, and Bramwell Tovey conducting. A delectable selection of some of the best solos and ensemble numbers. Again, look for this on iTunes.CBC SMCD 5139

Broadcast Diary

May

Monday 21 May, 7pma gershwin tributeBramwell Tovey piano-conductorTracy Dahl soprano

Friday 25 May, 8pmcarnevaleDavid Zinman conductorAndreas Haefl iger pianoBerlioz, Beethoven, Elgar

2MBS-FM 102.5

sydney symphony 2012 Tuesday 15 May, 6pm

Musicians, staff and guest artists discuss what’s in store in our forthcoming concerts.

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Webcasts

Selected Sydney Symphony concerts are webcast live on BigPond and Telstra T-box and made available for later viewing On Demand.Coming up next:a gershwin tribute – from Monday 21 May, 7pmkalkadungu – from Thursday 28 June, 6.30pm

Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony

Live webcasts can also be viewed via our mobile app.

Sydney Symphony Live

The 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

Sydney Symphony Online

Join us on Facebookfacebook.com/sydneysymphony

Follow us on Twittertwitter.com/sydsymph

Watch us on YouTubewww.youtube.com/SydneySymphony

Visit sydneysymphony.com for concert information, podcasts, and to read the program book in the week of the concert.

Stay tuned. Sign up to receive our fortnightly e-newslettersydneysymphony.com/staytuned

Download our free mobile app for iPhone or Androidsydneysymphony.com/mobile_app

MAHLER ODYSSEY ON CDDuring 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, with nine releases so far and more to come.

Mahler 9 OUT NOW

In March, Mahler’s Ninth, his last completed symphony, was released. SSO 201201

ALSO CURRENTLY AVAILABLE

Mahler 1 & Songs of a WayfarerSSO 201001

Mahler 8 (Symphony of a Thousand)SSO 201002

Mahler 5 SSO 201003

Song of the Earth SSO 201004

Mahler 3 SSO 201101

Mahler 4 SSO 201102

Mahler 6 SSO 201103

Mahler 7 SSO 201104

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

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Bramwell Tovey CONDUCTOR

Bramwell Tovey was born in England and studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music and the University of London. His subsequent work as a conductor has been enhanced by this perspective as a pianist and composer.

He has been music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2000 and has also held music director posts at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (1989–2001) and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra (2002–2006). These tenures have been characterised by his expertise in operatic, choral, British and contemporary repertoire, as well as his stylistic versatility. He is also Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and founding host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series, and in 2008 both orchestras commissioned him to write a new work, Urban Runway.

Bramwell Tovey is deeply committed to new music and was the fi rst artist to win a Juno Award in both conducting and composing. In Winnipeg he founded the highly regarded New Music Festival, giving the premieres of more than 250 works by international and Canadian composers. He has also built a strong reputation as a jazz pianist.

As a guest conductor, he has appeared with leading orchestras throughout North America as well as in Europe and China. Recent American debuts have included the Cleveland Orchestra and Boston Symphony Orchestra. This season he also appears with the China Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Trondheim and Helsingborg Symphony orchestras, and in the UK with the Ulster Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC orchestras.

He has an extensive and diverse discography, featuring recordings with leading orchestras and distinguished soloists such as percussionist Evelyn Glennie. In 2007 his recording of the Walton, Korngold and Barber violin concertos with James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra received a Grammy and a Juno Award.

Other awards and accolades include numerous honorary degrees and doctorates, and fellowships from the Royal Academy of Music (London) the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto).

Bramwell Tovey appears regularly with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; this is his Sydney Symphony debut.

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Tracy Dahl SOPRANO

Tracy Dahl was born in Winnipeg and began her studies at the Banff School of Fine Arts as a musical theatre major. She changed her focus to opera after singing Barbarina (The Marriage of Figaro) for Manitoba Opera, and subsequently graduated from San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and the Western Opera Theatre Program. She attracted wider attention in 1986 when she appeared in Carnegie Hall in the premiere of David Del Tredici’s Child Alice, and the following year she made her American opera debut with San Francisco Opera as Olympia (The Tales of Hoff mann), appearing opposite Placido Domingo. In 1991 she made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Adele in Die Fledermaus.

She has since become known for her sparkling musical presence and superlative coloratura. With her 2006 debut at La Scala as Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), she added another milestone in a career that has seen her perform with Houston Grand Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Dallas Opera, New York City Opera, Canadian Opera Company and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, in addition to San Francisco and the Met. In 2009 she received the Opera Canada Award.

As a concert artist, Tracy Dahl has performed with every major Canadian orchestra, as well as appearing with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, under such conductors as David Zinman and Leonard Slatkin. In Europe she has performed with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Recent highlights have included creating the role of Violet Beauregard in The Golden Ticket, Mahler’s Eighth Symphony with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Madame Mao in Nixon in China for Houston. This year she returns to the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis to sing the Cheshire Cat in Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland.

Her recordings include Glitter and Be Gay with the Calgary Philharmonic and Love Walked In, a Gershwin collection, with the Bramwell Tovey Trio.

Tracy Dahl made her Australian debut with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Bramwell Tovey in 2011; this is her fi rst appearance with the Sydney Symphony.

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MUSICIANS

Vladimir AshkenazyPrincipal Conductor and Artistic Advisor supported by Emirates

Dene OldingConcertmaster

Nicholas CarterAssociate Conductor supported by Premier Partner Credit Suisse

FIRST VIOLINS Kirsten WilliamsAssociate Concertmaster

Sun Yi Associate Concertmaster

Fiona Ziegler Assistant Concertmaster

Jennifer Booth Marianne BroadfootBrielle ClapsonSophie Cole Amber Davis Jennifer Hoy Nicola Lewis Alexander NortonElizabeth Jones°Claire Herrick°Martin Silverton*Dene Olding Concertmaster

Katherine Lukey Assistant Concertmaster

Julie Batty Léone Ziegler

SECOND VIOLINS Sophie Rowell*Emily Long A/Assistant Principal

Susan Dobbie Principal Emeritus

Maria Durek Emma Hayes Shuti Huang Stan W Kornel Benjamin Li Nicole Masters Philippa Paige Biyana Rozenblit Maja Verunica Kirsty Hilton Marina Marsden Emma West Assistant Principal

VIOLASAnne-Louise Comerford Sandro Costantino Jane Hazelwood Graham Hennings Stuart Johnson Leonid Volovelsky Jacqueline Cronin*Rosemary Curtin*Tara Houghton°David Wicks*Roger Benedict Tobias Breider Robyn Brookfield Justine Marsden Felicity Tsai

CELLOSTeije Hylkema*Leah Lynn Assistant Principal

Fenella Gill Christopher PidcockAdrian Wallis David Wickham Adam Szabo°Rachael Tobin°Catherine Hewgill Timothy NankervisElizabeth Neville

DOUBLE BASSESKees Boersma Alex Henery David Campbell Steven Larson Richard Lynn David Murray Neil Brawley Principal Emeritus

Benjamin Ward

FLUTES Janet Webb Carolyn HarrisKatie Zagorski*Emma Sholl Rosamund Plummer Principal Piccolo

OBOESDiana Doherty Alexandre Oguey Principal Cor Anglais

Jess Foot*Shefali Pryor David Papp

CLARINETSFrancesco Celata Christopher Tingay Craig Wernicke Principal Bass Clarinet

Lisa McCowage*Lawrence Dobell

SAXOPHONESMichael Duke*Christina Leonard*Andrew Smith*

BASSOONSMatthew Wilkie Nicole Tait°Noriko Shimada Principal Contrabassoon

Fiona McNamara

HORNSBen Jacks Geoffrey O’Reilly Principal 3rd

Katy Grisdale*Jenny McLeod-Sneyd°Robert Johnson Marnie Sebire Euan Harvey

TRUMPETSDavid Elton Anthony Heinrichs Andrew Evans*Paul Goodchild John Foster

TROMBONESRonald Prussing Nick Byrne Christopher Harris Principal Bass Trombone

Scott Kinmont

TUBASteve Rossé

TIMPANIRichard Miller PERCUSSIONRebecca Lagos Mark Robinson John Douglas*Claire Edwardes*Joshua Hill*Alison Pratt*Bree van Reyk*Colin Piper

DRUM KITDavid Jones*

GUITARStephen Lalor*

HARP Louise Johnson

PIANO Catherine Davis*

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

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.

sydney symphony 21

THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY

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 2011 tour of Japan and Korea.

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, most recently, Gianluigi Gelmetti. 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 Sydney Symphony 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 a 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. The orchestra has recently completed recording the Mahler symphonies, and has also released recordings with Ashkenazy of Rachmaninoff and Elgar orchestral works on the Exton/Triton labels, as well as numerous recordings on the ABC Classics label.

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

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22 sydney symphony

BEHIND THE SCENES

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Rory JeffesEXECUTIVE TEAM ASSISTANT

Lisa Davies-Galli

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS

DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PLANNING

Peter Czornyj

Artistic AdministrationARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGER

Elaine ArmstrongARTIST LIAISON MANAGER

Ilmar LeetbergRECORDING ENTERPRISE MANAGER

Philip Powers

Education ProgramsHEAD OF EDUCATION

Kim WaldockEMERGING ARTISTS PROGRAM MANAGER

Mark LawrensonEDUCATION COORDINATOR

Rachel McLarin

LibraryLIBRARIAN

Anna CernikLIBRARY ASSISTANT

Victoria GrantLIBRARY ASSISTANT

Mary-Ann Mead

ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT

DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT

Aernout KerbertORCHESTRA MANAGER

Chris LewisORCHESTRA COORDINATOR

Georgia StamatopoulosOPERATIONS MANAGER

Kerry-Anne CookTECHNICAL MANAGER

Derek CouttsPRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Tim DaymanPRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Ian SpenceSTAGE MANAGER

Peter Gahan

SALES AND MARKETING

DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING

Mark J ElliottMARKETING MANAGER, SUBSCRIPTION SALES

Simon Crossley-MeatesA/SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER, SALES

Matthew RiveMARKETING MANAGER, BUSINESS RESOURCES

Katrina RiddleONLINE MARKETING MANAGER

Eve Le Gall

John C Conde ao ChairmanTerrey Arcus amEwen CrouchRoss GrantJennifer HoyRory JeffesAndrew KaldorIrene LeeDavid LivingstoneGoetz RichterDavid Smithers am

Sydney Symphony Board

Sydney Symphony Council

Sydney Symphony StaffMARKETING & ONLINE COORDINATOR

Kaisa HeinoGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Lucy McCulloughDATA ANALYST

Varsha KarnikMARKETING ASSISTANT

Jonathon Symonds

Box OfficeMANAGER OF BOX OFFICE SALES & OPERATIONS

Lynn McLaughlinMANAGER OF BOX OFFICE OPERATIONS

Tom DowneyCUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES

Steve Clarke – Senior CSRMichael DowlingDerek ReedJohn RobertsonBec Sheedy

COMMUNICATIONS

HEAD OF COMMUNICATIONS

Yvonne ZammitPUBLICIST

Katherine StevensonDIGITAL CONTENT PRODUCER

Ben Draisma

PublicationsPUBLICATIONS EDITOR & MUSIC PRESENTATION MANAGER

Yvonne Frindle

DEVELOPMENT

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Caroline SharpenCORPORATE RELATIONS

Julia OwensCORPORATE RELATIONS

Stephen AttfieldPHILANTHROPY, PATRONS PROGRAM

Ivana JirasekPHILANTHROPY, EVENTS & ENGAGEMENT

Amelia Morgan-Hunn

BUSINESS SERVICES

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

John HornFINANCE MANAGER

Ruth TolentinoACCOUNTANT

Minerva PrescottACCOUNTS ASSISTANT

Emma FerrerPAYROLL OFFICER

Geoff Ravenhill

HUMAN RESOURCES

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

Anna Kearsley

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 amJoan MacKenzieDavid 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 amMary WhelanRosemary White

sydney symphony 23

Watch us online

www.youtube.com/sydneysymphonybigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphony

SYDNEY SYMPHONY PATRONS

Maestro’s CirclePeter Weiss am – Founding President & Doris WeissJohn C Conde ao – ChairmanGeoff Ainsworth am & Vicki Ainsworth Tom Breen & Rachael KohnIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonAndrew Kaldor & Renata Kaldor aoRoslyn Packer aoPenelope Seidler amMr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy StreetWestfield GroupBrian & Rosemary WhiteRay Wilson oam in memory of the late James Agapitos oam

Sydney Symphony Leadership EnsembleDavid Livingstone, CEO, Credit Suisse, AustraliaAlan Fang, Chairman, Tianda GroupMacquarie Group FoundationJohn Morschel, Chairman, ANZAndrew Kaldor, Chairman, Pelikan Artline

Lynn Kraus, Sydney Office Managing Partner, Ernst & YoungShell Australia Pty LtdJames Stevens, CEO, Roses OnlyStephen Johns, Chairman, Leighton Holdings,and Michele Johns

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 & Renata Kaldor ao Chair

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

05 Jane Hazelwood Viola Veolia Environmental Services Chair

06 Catherine Hewgill Principal Cello Tony & Fran Meagher Chair

07 Elizabeth Neville Cello Ruth & Bob Magid Chair

08 Colin Piper Percussion Justice Jane Mathews ao Chair

09 Shefali Pryor Associate Principal Oboe Rose Herceg Chair

10 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 10

24 sydney symphony

PLAYING YOUR PART

Platinum Patrons$20,000+Brian AbelGeoff Ainsworth am & Vicki Ainsworth Robert Albert ao & Elizabeth AlbertTerrey Arcus am & Anne ArcusTom Breen & Rachael KohnSandra & Neil BurnsMr John C Conde aoRobert & Janet ConstableDr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda GiuffreIn memory of Hetty & Egon GordonMs Rose HercegMrs E HerrmanMr Andrew Kaldor & Mrs Renata Kaldor ao

D & I KallinikosJames N Kirby FoundationJustice Jane Mathews aoMrs Roslyn Packer aoDr John Roarty oam in memory of Mrs June Roarty

Paul & Sandra SalteriMrs Penelope Seidler amMrs W SteningMr Fred Street am & Mrs Dorothy Street

Mr Peter Weiss am & Mrs Doris Weiss

Westfield Group Mr Brian & Mrs Rosemary WhiteRay Wilson oam in memory of James Agapitos oam

Kim Williams am & Catherine DoveyJune & Alan Woods Family BequestAnonymous (1)

Gold Patrons$10,000–$19,999Mr C R AdamsonAlan & Christine BishopIan & Jennifer BurtonCopyright Agency LimitedThe Estate of Ruth M DavidsonThe Hon. Ashley Dawson-DamerPaul R EspieFerris Family FoundationJames & Leonie FurberMr Ross GrantThe Estate of the l ate Ida GuggerHelen Lynch am & Helen BauerMrs Joan MacKenzieRuth & Bob MagidMrs T Merewether oamTony & Fran MeagherMr B G O’ConorMrs Joyce Sproat & Mrs Janet CookeMs Caroline WilkinsonAnonymous (2)

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 sydneysymphony.com/patrons

Silver Patrons$5,000–$9,999Mark Bethwaite am & Carolyn BethwaiteJan BowenMr Alexander & Mrs Vera BoyarskyMr Robert BrakspearMr Robert & Mrs L Alison CarrBob & Julie ClampettIan Dickson & Reg HollowayMr Colin Draper & Mary Jane Brodribb Penny EdwardsMichael & Gabrielle FieldMr James Graham am & Mrs Helen Graham

Mrs Jennifer HershonMichelle Hilton Stephen Johns & Michele BenderJudges of the Supreme Court of NSW Mr Ervin KatzThe Estate of the late Patricia LanceGary LinnaneMr David LivingstoneWilliam McIlrath Charitable FoundationDavid Maloney & Erin FlahertyEva & Timothy PascoeRodney Rosenblum am & Sylvia Rosenblum

Manfred & Linda SalamonThe Sherry Hogan FoundationDavid & Isabel SmithersIan & Wendy ThompsonMichael & Mary Whelan TrustDr Richard WingateJill WranAnonymous (1)

Bronze Patrons$2,500 – $4,999Dr Lilon BandlerStephen J BellMarc Besen ao & Eva Besen aoMr David & Mrs Halina BrettLenore P BuckleHoward ConnorsEwen & Catherine CrouchVic & Katie FrenchMr Erich GockelMs Kylie GreenAnthony Gregg & Deanne WhittlestonAnn HobanIrwin Imhof in memory of Herta ImhofJ A McKernanR & S Maple-BrownGreg & Susan MarieMora MaxwellJames & Elsie MooreJustice George Palmer amBruce & Joy Reid Foundation

Mary Rossi TravelMrs Hedy SwitzerMarliese & Georges TeitlerMs Gabrielle TrainorJ F & A van OgtropAnonymous (3)

Bronze Patrons$1,000-$2,499Charles & Renee AbramsAndrew Andersons aoMr Henri W Aram oamDr Francis J AugustusRichard BanksDavid BarnesDoug & Alison BattersbyMichael Baume ao & Toni BaumePhil & Elese BennettNicole BergerMrs Jan BiberJulie BlighM BulmerIn memory of R W BurleyEric & Rosemary CampbellDr John H CaseyDebby Cramer & Bill CaukillDr Diana Choquette & Mr Robert Milliner

Joan Connery oam & Maxwell Connery oam

Mr John Cunningham scm & Mrs Margaret Cunningham

Lisa & Miro DavisMatthew DelaseyJohn FavaloroMr Edward FedermanMr Ian Fenwicke & Prof. N R WillsFirehold Pty LtdDr & Mrs C GoldschmidtAkiko GregoryIn memory of the late Dora & Oscar Grynberg

Janette HamiltonDorothy Hoddinott aoPaul & Susan HotzThe Hon. David Hunt ao qc & Mrs Margaret Hunt

Dr & Mrs Michael HunterMr Peter HutchisonMichael & Anna JoelThe Hon. Paul KeatingIn Memory of Bernard MH KhawAnna-Lisa KlettenbergMr Justin Lam Wendy LapointeMs Jan Lee Martin & Mr Peter LazarKevin & Deidre McCannRobert McDougallIan & Pam McGaw

sydney symphony 25

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

Matthew McInnesMacquarie Group FoundationMr Robert & Mrs Renee MarkovicAlan & Joy MartinHarry M Miller, Lauren Miller Cilento & Josh Cilento

Miss An NhanMrs Rachel O’ConorDrs Keith & Eileen OngMr R A OppenMr Robert OrrellMr & Mrs OrtisMaria PagePiatti Holdings Pty LtdAdrian & Dairneen PiltonDr Raffi QasabianErnest & Judith RapeeKenneth R Reed Patricia H Reid Endowment Pty LtdJohn SaundersIn memory of H St P ScarlettJuliana SchaefferMr & Mrs Jean-Marie SimartCatherine StephenJohn & Alix SullivanThe Hon Brian Sully qcMildred TeitlerAndrew & Isolde TornyaGerry & Carolyn TraversJohn E TuckeyMrs M TurkingtonIn memory of Dr Reg WalkerHenry & Ruth WeinbergThe Hon. Justice A G WhealyGeoff Wood & Melissa WaitesWarren GreenMr R R WoodwardDr John Yu & Dr George SoutterAnonymous (12)

Bronze Patrons$500–$999Mr Peter J ArmstrongMr & Mrs Garry S AshMrs Baiba B Berzins & Dr Peter Loveday Dr & Mrs Hannes BoshoffMinnie BriggsDr Miles BurgessPat & Jenny BurnettIta Buttrose ao obe

Stephen Bryne & Susie GleesonThe Hon. Justice J C & Mrs CampbellMr Percy ChissickMrs Catherine J ClarkJen CornishGreta DavisElizabeth DonatiDr Nita & Dr James DurhamGreg Earl & Debbie CameronMr & Mrs FarrellRobert GellingVivienne GoldschmidtMr Robert GreenMr Richard Griffin amJules & Tanya HallMr Hugh HallardMr Ken HawkingsMrs A HaywardDr Heng & Mrs Cilla TeyMr Roger HenningRev Harry & Mrs Meg HerbertSue HewittMr Joerg HofmannMs Dominique Hogan-DoranMr Brian HorsfieldAlex HoughtonBill & Pam HughesSusie & Geoff IsraelMrs W G KeighleyMr & Mrs Gilles T KrygerMrs M J LawrenceDr & Mrs Leo LeaderMargaret LedermanMrs Yolanda LeeMartine LettsAnita & Chris LevyErna & Gerry Levy amDr Winston LiauwMrs Helen LittleSydney & Airdrie LloydMrs A LohanMrs Panee LowCarolyn & Peter Lowry oamDr David LuisMelvyn MadiganDr Jean MalcolmMrs Silvana MantellatoMr K J MartinGeoff & Jane McClellanMrs Flora MacDonald

Mrs Helen MeddingsDavid & Andree MilmanKenneth N MitchellChris Morgan-HunnNola NettheimMrs Margaret NewtonMr Graham NorthDr M C O’Connor amA Willmers & R PalDr A J PalmerMr Andrew C PattersonDr Kevin PedemontDr Natalie E PelhamMr Allan PidgeonRobin PotterLois & Ken RaeMr Donald RichardsonPamela RogersAgnes RossDr Mark & Mrs Gillian SelikowitzCaroline SharpenMrs Diane Shteinman amDr Agnes E SinclairDoug & Judy SotherenMrs Elsie StaffordMr Lindsay & Mrs Suzanne StoneMr D M SwanMr Norman TaylorMs Wendy ThompsonKevin TroyJudge Robyn TupmanGillian Turner & Rob BishopProf. Gordon E WallRonald WalledgeMr Robert & Mrs Rosemary WalshMr Palmer WangDavid & Katrina WilliamsAudrey & Michael WilsonDr Richard WingMr Robert WoodsMr & Mrs Glenn WyssMrs Robin YabsleyAnonymous (18)

26 sydney symphony

SALUTE

PRINCIPAL PARTNER

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

The Sydney Symphony is assisted by the NSW Government through Arts NSW

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

PREMIER PARTNER

COMMUNITY PARTNER MAJOR PARTNERSPLATINUM PARTNER

SILVER PARTNERS

REGIONAL TOUR PARTNERS

2MBS 102.5 Sydney’s Fine Music Station

MARKETING PARTNER

GOLD PARTNERS

ORCHESTRA NEWS |MAY 2012

Ten years ago, two young bass players from Minneapolis, whose mothers had taught at the same school, auditioned for the Sydney Symphony on the same day. David Murray was in Sydney on a job swap from his orchestra in Bergen, Norway when the audition was announced. Steven Larson, working in Spain, heard through the international music grape-vine. Here ’s a snapshot of where they’re at.

Besides playing in the orches-tra, David Murray has another big string to his… er… bass? Jazz. ‘It’s a strict discipline in terms of what notes you can put over what chords, what beat

you should emphasise. The difference with classical is in the style of learning: the tools are the same – like scales and arpeggios – but with jazz you learn how to use them for your own purposes, you get creative with an arpeggio, maybe even turn it into a melody.’

The similarities with classi cal music are in the listening. ‘You’re actively listening to the harmony, to what everyone else is doing. In many respects it isn’t that different [to playing in the orchestra].’

Steven and David agree it’s the role of the bass in the orchestra that they like. ‘It’s a supporting instrument, the backbone of the

sound,’ says Steve. ‘It’s funny – I don’t like the solo sound of the instrument at all! But it’s the sound that they make as a section that I really get.’

So which composers write best for the bass? ‘Beethoven, Mozart, Shostakovich,’ says Steven. ‘They write well because they keep it as a fundamental harmonic instrument. They understand that it’s impor-tant within the context of the orchestra – a bit like the rhy thm section of the orchestra.’

Steven has just bought a second bass. ‘I’ve been waiting 30 years to buy this instrument – it was the one I learned on when I was young, belonged to my teacher. He promised me fi rst shot at buying it when he retired.’ It took Steve’s teacher a little longer than expected to honour his promise. ‘Ten years!’ But his ‘brand new’ 300-year-old bass was worth waiting for: ‘It looks like it’s been through the wars, but the sound is solid. It’s an instrument from Italy that was made before Italy was Italy!’

❝The backbone of the sound.

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DOUBLE DOUBLE BASSTwo bass players from Minneapolis end up playing in the same orchestra on the other side of the planet. For David Murray and Steven Larson, it’s a small musical world…

Steven Larson and David Murray on stage.

Proud sponsor of theSydney Symphonyin their 80th yearof timeless entertainment

We like to hear from you. Write to yoursay@sydneysymphony.com or Bravo! Reply Paid 4338, Sydney NSW 2001.

Your SayIn Harold in Italy [March 2012] I was intrigued to see an ophicleide in the brass section. I cannot remember seeing one in action before. There are other less common instruments that appear in the orchestra from time to time. When they are included, would you consider putting a little note in the program, explaining what they are and why the composer chose to include them? Richard W Manuell

This is something we do from time to time, although not in every program. Meanwhile you’ve given us an idea for Ask a Musician…

At recent concerts, announcements have been made thanking the audience for their support. We are told how many have been subscribing for 10 and 20 years, but not for 30, 40 or even 50 years. I am sure there must be many who fi t into this unannounced group. We have beensubscribers since 1971 at least!

I would be interested to know how many other long-term subscribers there are. It would be an interesting project and refl ect the role the orchestra has in the cultural life of this city. Professor Barry and Dr Judith Batts

Beyond 20 years, our information is patchy and reliant on self-reported information. But we are always glad to hear from concertgoers who can help us update our records.

Cultivating the FutureAccess to a World of Music‘Inventing, and reinventing, meaningful access to the world of music…is a challenge’, says Graham Sattler, Director of the Orange Regional Conservatorium. ‘In my opinion, those [arts organisations] that are truly effective are those that welcome children into the wonderful, rich, evocative world of “fi ne” music; communicating the genuine joy, without resorting to patronising novelty.’

Graham says that over the past decade the Sydney Symphony has consistently demonstrated ‘a serious approach to the business of education’. And in the lead up to our annual fundraising campaign, it’s encouraging to hear that our education programs are playing a vital role in regional areas. Activities such as Playerlink (mini music camps in NSW centres), the Sinfonietta composition project and annual regional tours, demonstrate how seriously we take the business of education and outreach.

These remarkable programs fl ourish through the generous and sustained support of Sydney Symphony concertgoers. Our appeal will commence in May, enabling you to claim a tax deduction this fi nancial year – please continue and extend your support to keep your orchestra at the forefront of music education in Australia.

At the launch event Sydney Symphony musicians and Fellows were joined on stage by a surprise guest performer: hip-hop artist and dj Nacho Pop.

Event News Sydney Symphony VanguardIn April we launched Sydney Symphony Vanguard, a membership program for new orchestra fans and future philanthropists. Private events throughout the year will introduce Vanguard members to classical music in intimate settings and unexpected contexts, and the program is supported and advised by the Vanguard Collective (pictured below, from left): Anna Swan, Jonathan Pease, Rose Herceg, Justin Di Lollo, Amelia Morgan-Hunn and Kees Boersma.

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So you think you can’t clap?Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique Sym-phony has a trick up its sleeve: the third movement ends loudly, the fi nale dies away. Experienced concert-goers are wise to this and know not to clap after the third movement, but is fi ghting against instinct the right response?

‘I sincerely believe,’ says con-ductor David Robertson, ‘that Tchaikovsky wants us to release our enthusiasm at the end of the third movement with wild applause, much like we would at a sporting event. What then follows is a movement about the terrible fact that each one of us is an individual, isolated being. That he manages to make an entire audience experi-ence that sense of solitude together is brilliant beyond description.’

The unexpected sequence of extrovert–introvert is one of the ways Tchaikovsky shows his ‘uncanny genius’. It’s also some-thing that can’t be fully experi-enced except in the live concert setting. Some music, explains Robertson, needs to be experi-enced in ‘real time’. This way, he says, ‘the emotional impact comes through without any distractions’.

All three works in his July program are examples of this. Tchaikovsky’s meditation on feelings is ‘as per-sonally compelling as when he fi rst wrote it’. Then there’s ‘something about the atmosphere of music from the 1600s inspiring Vaughan Williams and the whole history of the violin inspiring Adès in his Concentric Paths violin concerto’. And in each movement of the Adès, ‘the violin holds our attention from its fi rst note until its last, spinning a magical web of narra-tive, like some sort of enchanter’.

Tchaikovsky’s PathétiqueConducted by David RobertsonAusgrid Master SeriesWed 4, Fri 6, Sat 7 July | 8pm

The Score

David Robertson

Artistic Focus

SOUND INVESTMENTSFor four years, slowly but surely, the orchestra has been improving the quality of instruments in the string section.

Not all musical instruments are created equal, whether in price tag or in quality of sound. ‘The sounds of the individual string instruments must fi rstly blend well in the section,’ says Sydney Symphony Concertmaster Dene Olding. When new players join the orchestra, they naturally bring their own violin, viola, cello or double bass. ‘Without detracting from the individual worth and sweetness of sound of those instruments, they won’t neces-sarily be capable of the colours and complexities of sound that we need.’

In 2008, the orchestra set up the Instrument Acquisition Fund to purchase instruments that are then loaned to our musicians. ‘This project is going to help us build a superior sound,’ says Dene.

Many imagine the price tag attached to a violin might reach into the millions. And some times that’s true (think Stradivarius). How much, then, do you imagine it would cost to purchase, say, six violins, one viola and a cello, of a standard suitable for a lead ing symphony orchestra?

Gifts and pledged bequests to the Instrument Acquisition Fund totalling over $1.5m have enabled us so far to purchase seven in stru-

ments. As custodians of these instruments – some as old as 150 years – the orchestra now holds these appreciating assets on its balance sheet.

The process of identifying which instruments to buy has been exhaustive and impartial. It’s easy to imagine that a higher price tag or more prestigious maker might bias our assessment of the quality of an instrument and its sound. We’re only human, after all! To eliminate this possibility, every time the orchestra has arranged for a group of instruments to be trialled – within the orchestra and at separate listening sessions – the instruments have been identifi ed only by a number (their true iden-tities known only by a select few, who are sworn to secrecy).

Once a decision is made, the chosen instrument’s maker and age are revealed. The most recent recommendation to the Board is for the purchase of a 1901 Vincenzo Sannino cello, made in Naples. It will be played by Leah Lynn, our Assistant Principal Cello.Further instrument trials and listening sessions will take place later this year. Perhaps you’d like to attend? Call (02) 8215 4663 or email philanthropy@sydneysymphony.com to register your interest.

In 2009 the orchestra purchased its fi rst three violins, courtesy of the instrument acquisition fund, and these are now played by (from left) Sophie Cole, Alexandra Mitchell and Emma West.

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TRUSTMr Kim Williams AM [Chair]Ms Catherine Brenner, The Hon Helen Coonan, Mr Wesley Enoch,Ms Renata Kaldor AO, Mr Robert Leece AM RFD, Mr Peter Mason AM,Dr Thomas Parry AM, Mr Leo Schofi eld AM, Mr John Symond AM

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENTActing Chief Executive Offi cer Jonathan BielskiDirector, Theatre and Events David ClaringboldDirector, Marketing, Communications and Director, Customer Services Victoria DoidgeBuilding Development and Maintenance Greg McTaggartDirector, Venue Partners and Safety Julia PucciChief Financial Offi cer Claire Spencer

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSEBennelong Point GPO Box 4274, Sydney NSW 2001Administration (02) 9250 7111 Box Offi ce (02) 9250 7777Facsimile (02) 9250 7666 Website sydneyoperahouse.com

Clocktower Square, Argyle Street, The Rocks NSW 2000GPO Box 4972, Sydney NSW 2001Telephone (02) 8215 4644Box Offi ce (02) 8215 4600Facsimile (02) 8215 4646www.sydneysymphony.com

All rights reserved, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing. The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily refl ect the beliefs of the editor, publisher or any distributor of the programs. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy of statements in this publication, we cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions, or for matters arising from clerical or printers’ errors. Every effort has been made to secure permission for copyright material prior to printing.

Please address all correspondence to the Publications Editor: Email program.editor@sydneysymphony.com

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By arrangement with the Sydney Symphony, this publication is offered free of charge to its patrons subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be sold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s consent in writing. It is a further condition that this publication shall not be circulated in any form of binding or cover than that in which it was published, or distributed at any other event than specifi ed on the title page of this publication 16798 — 1/180512 — 16K/MO S35/37

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SSO CHAMBER MUSIC

This month, hear musicians from the orchestra in the more intimate context of a lunchtime chamber music concert at St James’ King Street (at the northern end of Hyde Park):

Wednesday 23 May at 1.15pmAlexandre Oguey (cor anglais), Jennifer Hoy (violin), Sandro Costantino (viola), Fenella Gill (cello) and David Campbell (double bass) play charming music by Michael Haydn, Rossini and Françaix.

FELLOWS GO TO BUNDANON

Just recently the Sydney Symphony Fellows spent a week in retreat at the Bundanon Trust’s Riversdale Property on the banks of the Shoalhaven River near Nowra. They were rehearsing music for forthcoming performances as well as developing a children’s concert to present in a nearby primary school as part of Bundanon Trust’s Community Outreach Program. The week away, rehearsing and performing under the direction of Roger Benedict, gave them valuable time to strengthen their ensemble skills. The fi nale was an informal

concert where the program ranged from German Lieder to magic tricks and poetry recitals – proof that our Fellows have many talents!

The Fellows are also looking forward to masterclasses with visiting violinists Julian Rachlin and Anthony Marwood.

TEACHING THE TEACHERS

This month the Education team visits Coffs Harbour, Grafton, Taree and Newcastle to present professional learning programs for local teachers. These programs enable teachers to be better prepared for bringing their students to hear the orchestra in our regional schools concerts.

The team has also gone halfway around the country preparing teachers and students for this year’s Sinfonietta composition project, with workshops in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Hobart. We’re hoping to take the program to Perth in mid-May.

NEW PARTNERSHIP

We’re delighted to announce a new hotel partnership with The Sebel Pier One.

ON TOUR IN NSW

Friday 13 April was a lucky day for the orchestra – marked by a very successful return to the Orange Civic Theatre after several years. We took our Mozart and the French Connection program (from the Mozart in the City series), with pianist Ian Munro as guest soloist. In a bonus treat, the touring party and audience were lured to Robertson Park across the road from the theatre where a night market was being held to open Orange F.O.O.D. Week. Good timing!

Coming up at the end of May is our annual regional tour featuring the Sydney Symphony and our Sinfonia training orchestra in a side-by-side program conducted by Benjamin Northey. Our destinations: Grafton (29 May), Taree (30 May) and Newcastle (1 June). We will also be presenting schools concerts in each city. Our guest soloist is the charismatic young saxophonist Nicholas Russoniello, who was the ABC Symphony Australia Young Performer of the Year in 2011. In Grafton we’ll be performing in a fi ne surviving example of a two-level cinema, the Saraton Theatre, which dates from 1926.

CODA

BRAVO EDITOR Genevieve Lang sydneysymphony.com/bravo