1 APRIL 2017 | 8PM

Executive Producer Anthony Pr at t, in support of the MSO

SOUVENIR CONCERT PROGRAM

Melbourne exclusive

AND OTHER BITS!

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WELCOME

I am so excited to welcome you to tonight’s special event, Classical Hits (and other bits). We at the MSO have had such fun in preparing for tonight’s concert, and I am certain that you will enjoy yourselves this evening.

Classical Hits is intended as a launch pad for you, our guest, to dive into the world of orchestral music. Through the MSO’s diverse offering of contemporary, family-friendly concerts and educational workshops for all ages, we aim to perform classical music for all Melburnians. Tonight is another example of our commitment to accessible music. You are sure to recognise much of tonight’s repertoire, and hopefully it will tempt you to return to see the MSO again soon.

Of course, tonight would not have been possible without the generosity and effort of Anthony Pratt. The consummate professional and a joy to work with, Anthony’s love of classical music—and of the MSO—is on show for you tonight, with a specially-curated selection of works. I extend my utmost thanks to Anthony for his patronage of the MSO and for his commitment to Melbourne’s arts community.

Enjoy the concert.

Sophie Galaise Managing Director Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Photo courtesy Daniel Aulsebrook

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A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

There’s something grand and wonderful about a symphony orchestra that you can only fully appreciate “live” in a concert hall. It’s not just the feast of sound, which no recording can match, but the excitement of seeing—as well as hearing—100 musicians playing as one for the conductor. Add 100 choral singers, brilliant soloists, and a dramatic sound and light show, and the combination is just awesome.

Which is why I’m so excited about tonight’s “different” program. Working with the MSO’s creative teams, I’ve selected some of the best-known favourites from the classical repertoire. They range from Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries to Ravel’s Bolero and from Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony to Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

And I’ve chosen familiar themes and tunes which most of us have heard, or recognise from popular culture. Except that we’re presenting the original versions, albeit in shortened form, because that’s what the great composers wanted us to enjoy.

The MSO is one of Melbourne’s cultural treasures, and the Pratt Foundation is proud of our long-standing support, especially for the orchestra’s programs for young people. So it’s a personal privilege to sponsor this concert, and I’m grateful to everybody who’s made it happen. I’m particularly indebted to Managing Director, Sophie Galaise, who enthusiastically agreed to my idea for Classical Hits, and to our conductor, the inimitable Ben Northey, who’s been my great guide and mentor.

Finally, a special thank you to all of you in the audience who’ve joined us for this memorable night of music-making. I hope it will inspire many of you to return for more wonderful MSO concerts.

Anthony Pratt Executive Producer

ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony OrchestraBenjamin Northey Conductor

Greta Bradman Soprano

Rosario La Spina Tenor

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra ChorusWarren Trevelyan-Jones

& Marilyn Phillips GUEST CHORUS MASTERS

Australian Girls Choir

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Running time 2 hours including interval

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REPERTOIRE

WAGNER Die Walküre: The Ride of the Valkyries

BEETHOVEN Symphony No.5 in C minor, Op.67: first movement

ORFF Carmina burana: O fortuna

MOZART The Marriage of Figaro, K.492: Overture

MOZART The Magic Flute K.620: ‘Der Hölle rache’

BIZET Carmen Suite No.1: Les Toréadors

VERDI Rigoletto: ‘La donna è mobile’

VERDI La traviata: Brindisi

MOZART Eine kleine Nachtmusik, K.525: first movement

ROTA Romeo and Juliet: Love Theme

RAVEL Bolero (with cuts)

INTERVAL

VERDI Aïda: Triumphal March

DI CAPUA O Sole Mio

GRIEG Peer Gynt Suite No.1: In the Hall of the Mountain King

J. STRAUSS II On the Beautiful Blue Danube, Op.314

PUCCINI Gianni Schicchi: ‘O mio babbino caro’

SOUSA The Liberty Bell March

MARTINI Plaisir d’amour

ANDERSON-LOPEZ Frozen: ‘Let It Go’

PUCCINI Turanodot: ‘Nessun dorma’

ROSSINI William Tell Overture: Galop

TCHAIKOVSKY Overture 1812, Op.49: Finale

‘Let It Go’ Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez

© 2013 Wonderland Music Company, Inc.

Australian conductor Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Northey also appears regularly as a guest conductor with all major Australian symphony orchestras, Opera Australia, New Zealand Opera and the State Opera South Australia. His international appearances include concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia, the Malaysian Philharmonic and the New Zealand and Auckland Symphony Orchestras.

Northey studied conducting with John Hopkins at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music from 2000-2002. In 2001 he was awarded first prize in the Symphony Australia Young Conductor of the Year Competition under the direction of Jorma Panula. In 2002 he was he was accepted as the highest placed

applicant to Finland’s prestigious Sibelius Academy where he studied with Leif Segerstam and Atso Almila until 2005. He completed his studies at the Stockholm Royal College of Music with Jorma Panula in 2006. In 2009/10 he was chosen as one of three conductors worldwide to participate in the Allianz International Conductor’s Academy with the LPO and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

With a progressive and diverse approach to repertoire he has collaborated with a broad range of artists including Maxim Vengerov, Piers Lane, Alban Gerhardt, Slava Grigoryan and Marc-André Hamelin as well as popular artists Tim Minchin, KD Lang, Kate Miller-Heidke, Barry Humphries, Kurt Elling, James Morrison & Tori Amos.

An Honorary Fellow at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, his awards include the prestigious 2010 Melbourne Prize Outstanding Musician’s Award and the 2002 Brian Stacey Memorial Scholarship.

BENJAMIN NORTHEY

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GRETA BRADMAN ROSARIO LA SPINASince commencing her professional career in 2010 primarily as a concert classical singer, Greta has presented more than 1000 performances with orchestras including state symphony orchestras (Adelaide, Melbourne, Queensland, Western Australian, Sydney), the Australian Chamber Ensemble, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Australian Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Wellington Symphony Orchestra, Australian World Orchestra, opera companies ensembles and choirs, demonstrating her extraordinary vocal stamina and skill and her capability to learn music extremely quickly.

The result is the relatively rapid amassing of experience in a vast array of repertoire from Baroque, classical, romantic, 20th and 21st century repertory. Australian composers who have written or arranged for Greta since 2010 include Peter Sculthorpe, Calvin Bowman and Natalie Williams amongst others.

Rosario La Spina trained at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music continuing his studies at RNCM, Manchester under the tutelage of Joseph Ward OBE.

In 2002, Rosario won first prize in the Mario Del Monaco International Opera Competition and made his principal role debut at La Scala as Riccardo (Oberto) reprising the role in Genoa.

He made his Opera Australia debut as Cavaradossi (Tosca) in 2005 and has subsequently appeared for the national company as Radames (Aida) The Prince (Love for Three Oranges), Alfredo (Latraviata), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly),The Duke (Rigoletto) and the title role in The Tales of Hoffmann.

Rosario has also been a regular soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne, Queensland and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras and appears on the CD/DVD Classical Spectacular with the MSO (ABC Classics).

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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS

For more than half a century, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus has been the unstinting voice of the Orchestra’s choral repertoire. In 2017 the Chorus joins forces with the Orchestra on more than 20 different occasions to perform some of the most moving and inspiring repertoire from the canon, as well as once again presenting its own a cappella performances.

Recordings by the MSO Chorus for Chandos and ABC Classics have received critical acclaim.

It has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in Sao Paolo, in Kuala Lumpur with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, at the AFL Grand Final, and Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies.

The MSO Chorus is always welcoming new members. If you would like to audition please visit mso.com.au/chorus for more information.

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AUSTRALIAN GIRLS CHOIR

The Australian Girls Choir (AGC) was founded in 1984 by Judith Curphey OAM and was made up of 150 girls in Melbourne; today it is an organisation with 5,500 choristers in training in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Singing for Nelson Mandela, Queen Elizabeth II and President Barack Obama, and at major events including the ‘Broadway to Oz’ Arena Tour

with Hugh Jackman, Melbourne Cup and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra just a few of their crowning achievements. A true recognition of the choir’s success is their selection to represent Qantas in the ‘I Still Call Australia Home’ advertising campaigns since 1998.

www.ausgirlschoir.com.au

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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Established in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an arts leader and Australia’s oldest professional orchestra. With Chief Conductor Sir Andrew Davis at the helm of MSO since 2013, it engages more than 2.5 million people each year through live performances, recordings, TV and radio broadcasts and live streaming.

The MSO performs a variety of concerts ranging from core classical performances at its home, Hamer Hall at Arts Centre Melbourne, to its annual free concerts at Melbourne’s largest outdoor venue, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl.

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A NOTE ON CLASSICAL HITS (AND OTHER BITS)

Great music can occupy parallel universes. For example, the past and present, or a particular piece's context depending on its original composition or how it may be interpreted and perceived by its audience. Classical also means popular. Here are four examples from tonight’s program.

The Ride of the ValkyriesTo Wagnerites, this triumphant music, which begins Act III of Die Walküre, heralds the eight horsewomen of the apocalypse: the Valkyries who bear the bodies of dead heroes to Valhalla. To filmgoers, the music signifies a different apocalypse, the savagery of the Vietnam War depicted in Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Think of the Ride, ear-splittingly broadcast through loudspeakers in the US helicopter raid led by Robert Duvall’s mad Colonel “I love the smell of napalm in the morning!” Kilgore.

Carmina BuranaCarl Orff’s cantata of 24 13th-century poems in Latin and High German, composed in 1937, was intended as a feast for the senses—pure spectacle, involving flashy lighting, opulent scenery, and dancing. Orff’s setting of O Fortuna has proved one of the most enduring and popular classical works ever: the stuff of many film scores and commercials.

O Sole MioThis 1898 Neapolitan song by Eduardo di Capua with lyrics by Giovanni Capurro has been sung by countless troubadours, including Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, the Three Tenors and Elvis Presley. Presley’s recording of 1960, rebranded as It’s Now or Never (“Come hold me tight / Kiss me my darling / Be mine tonight”), was one of his biggest hits—certainly more so than the B-side, A Mess of Blues.

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Beethoven’s FifthThe eternal da-da-da-dum (fate-at-the-door) are the most famous four notes in the classical repertoire. English conductor John Eliot Gardiner, stressing the revolutionary aspects of the work, calls it “an alarm call, an incitement, a call to arms”. This is of course only the beginning of a half-hour symphony—one that changed the face of music.

All of the works in Classical Hits (and other bits) have one thing in common: they are immediately recognisable, not only to regular concertgoers but to anyone who hears them. Such is the persuasive power of these works, that a fragment is enough to connect the notes and ignite familiarity. Any performance is of course nothing unless it completes the circuitry between what is being played and how it is being heard. Make no mistake, you, the members of the audience, are vital to overall appreciation.

What makes these works (or extracts thereof) so universally popular? Reasons abound. For example, Nessun Dorma, from Puccini’s Turandot, made a spectacular leap from opera house to the soccer pitch as the BBC’s theme for its coverage of the 1990 World Cup —the three tenors helped, too. Or the galloping theme from Rossini’s William Tell Overture, which thundered into the hearts of millions of viewers of The Lone Ranger in the mid-20th century.

The criterion, though, whether it be Ravel’s Bolero or Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, is that the music must be great to begin with. It can be rescored or reduced by platoons of arrangers and advertising agencies, but it counts for nothing unless the heart and soul of the original is retained.

Returning to Wagner for a moment. It’s worth remembering that the composer once forbade using The Ride of the Valkyries as a stand-alone piece, considering it an “utter indiscretion”. Much later, he changed his mind. The royalties probably won the day.

On the podium tonight is the MSO’s Associate Conductor, Benjamin Northey, who is himself passionate about music education, and opening the repertoire to one and all. “The angle is about access,” Ben says. “It’s really an old-fashioned orchestra pops concert with visual spectacle and an entertainment angle.”

The Executive Producer of Classical Hits (and other bits) is Anthony Pratt, the philanthropic Executive Chairman of Visy Industries and, says Ben, “a man of big ideas”. Between them they hope to create “an immersive experience, with visual as well as musical elements”.

It also comes down to generating curiosity and, Ben hopes, creating an abiding love of music. “This concert starts that journey”.

Four, three, two, one … Da-da-da-dum!

– Michael Shmith

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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

FIRST VIOLINS

Dale Barltrop Concertmaster

Eoin Andersen Concertmaster

Sophie Rowell Associate ConcertmasterThe Ullmer Family Foundation#

Peter Edwards Assistant Principal

Kirsty BremnerSarah Curro Michael Aquilina#

Peter FellinDeborah GoodallLorraine HookKirstin KennyJi Won KimEleanor ManciniDavid and Helen Moses#

Mark Mogilevski Michelle RuffoloKathryn TaylorMichael Aquilina#

Jo Beaumont*Jacqueline Edwards*Robert John*Markiyan Melnychenko*Oksana Thompson*

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins Principal The Gross Foundation#

Robert Macindoe Associate Principal

Monica Curro Assistant PrincipalDanny Gorog and Lindy Susskind#

Mary AllisonIsin CakmakciogluFreya Franzen Anonymous#

Cong GuAndrew Hall Andrew and Judy Rogers#

Francesca HiewTam Vu, Peter and Lyndsey Hawkins#

Rachel Homburg Isy WassermanPhilippa WestPatrick WongRoger YoungIona Allan*Amy Brookman*Madeleine Jevons*Lawrence Lee*Susannah Ng*

VIOLAS

Christopher Moore PrincipalDi Jameson#

Fiona Sargeant Associate Principal

Lauren BrigdenKatharine BrockmanChristopher CartlidgeAnthony ChatawayGabrielle HalloranTrevor Jones Cindy WatkinElizabeth WoolnoughCaleb WrightGaëlle Bayet†Ceridwen Davies*Helen Ireland*Isabel Morse*

CELLOS

David Berlin Principal MS Newman Family#

Rachael Tobin Associate Principal

Nicholas Bochner Assistant Principal

Miranda Brockman Geelong Friends of the MSO#

Rohan de KorteKeith JohnsonSarah MorseAngela SargeantMichelle WoodAndrew and Theresa Dyer#

Rachel Atkinson*Zoe Wallace*

Sir Andrew Davis Chief Conductor

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DOUBLE BASSES

Steve Reeves Principal

Andrew Moon Associate Principal

Sylvia Hosking Assistant Principal

Damien EckersleyBenjamin HanlonSuzanne LeeStephen Newton Sophie Galaise and Clarence Frase#

Rohan Dasika*Emma Sullivan*

FLUTES

Prudence Davis Principal Anonymous#

Wendy Clarke Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

PICCOLO

Andrew Macleod Principal

OBOES

Jeffrey Crellin Principal

Thomas Hutchinson Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn Rachel Curkpatrick*

COR ANGLAIS

Michael Pisani Principal

CLARINETS

David Thomas Principal

Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal

Craig Hill

BASS CLARINET

Jon Craven Principal

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller Principal

Lyndon Watts* Guest Principal

Elise Millman Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

CONTRABASSOON

Brock Imison Principal

HORNS

Deborah Hart* Guest Principal

Saul Lewis Principal Third

Jenna BreenAbbey Edlin Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

Trinette McClimontRebecca Luton*

TRUMPETS

Geoffrey Payne Principal

Shane Hooton Associate Principal

William EvansRosie Turner*

TROMBONES

Brett Kelly Principal

Don Immel* Guest Associate Principal

Iain Faragher*Mike Szabo Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal

TIMPANI

Brent Miller*

PERCUSSION

Robert Clarke Principal

John ArcaroRobert CossomRobert Allan*Lara Wilson*

HARP

Yinuo Mu Principal

PIANO/CELESTE

Peter de Jager* Laurence Matheson*

SAXOPHONE

Justin Kenealy*

# Position supported by* Guest Musician† On exchange from West German

Radio Symphony

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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS

SOPRANO

Philippa AllenAviva Barazani Eva ButcherVeryan CroggonEmma Di MaggioCatherine FolleyCamilla GormanJuliana HassettPenny HuggettNaomi HyndmanTania JacobsRuth McIntoshSusie NovellaKarin OttoNatalie ReidJo RobinElizabeth RusliNatalia SalazarJemima Sim Shu XianFreja Soininen Elizabeth TindallEloise Verbeek Tara Zamin

ALTO

Satu AhoRuth AndersonCatherine BickellCecilia BjörkegrenJill GieseNatasha Godfrey Ros HarbisonKristine HenselRebecca KmitJade Leigh

Helen MacLeanChristina McCowanAlison RalphLisa SavigeLibby TimckeJenny Vallins

TENOR

James AllenTony BarnettSteve BurnettPeter ClayJames DipnallLyndon HorsburghWayne KinradeMichael MobachJean-Francois RavatTim Wright

BASS

Maurice Amor Richard BolithoPhil ElphinstoneGerard EvansAndrew HibbardVern O'HaraEdward OunapuuLiam StraughanMaurice WanMaciek Zielinski

AUSTRALIAN GIRLS CHOIR

PRODUCTION CREDITS

Mei Wah ChanRebecca CollinKathryn DesmierNatasha DysonEmma HowlettMichaela JanssenAlessandra RannoMeg WalkerOlivia White

Ben Skene – VideographyAlex Saad – LightingNiki Sama – Floral displays

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