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1341_WESF - Arts Sponsorship Campaign 2014 - Musica Viva_Ad 2015_240x150_V2_UPDATE 03.02.15.indd 1 3/02/15 9:51 AM

1341_WESF - Arts Sponsorship Campaign 2014 - Musica Viva_Ad 2015_240x150_V2_UPDATE 03.02.15.indd 1 3/02/15 9:51 AM

ADELAIDEADELAIDE TOWN HALL THURSDAY 21 SEPTEMBER, 7.30PM Pre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Prince Alfred Room) Meet the Artists after concert

BRISBANECONSERVATORIUM THEATRE, GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY, SOUTH BANK WEDNESDAY 27 SEPTEMBER, 7PMPresented in association with Brisbane FestivalRecorded for delayed broadcast on 4MBS Classic FMPre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Boardroom)Meet the Artists after concert

CANBERRALLEWELLYN HALL, ANU SCHOOL OF MUSIC THURSDAY 14 SEPTEMBER, 7PMPre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Athenaeum [foyer])CD signing after concert

MELBOURNEELISABETH MURDOCH HALL, MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE TUESDAY 19 SEPTEMBER, 7PMPre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Boardroom, Level 2)Meet the Artists after concert

SATURDAY 23 SEPTEMBER, 7PM Pre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Boardroom, Level 2)CD signing after concert

NEWCASTLEHAROLD LOBB CONCERT HALL, NEWCASTLE CONSERVATORIUM OF MUSIC THURSDAY 28 SEPTEMBER, 7.30PMRecorded for delayed broadcast on 2NURFMPre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Room 118 – entry via foyer)Meet the Artists after concert (on stage)

PERTHPERTH CONCERT HALL SATURDAY 30 SEPTEMBER, 7.30PMPre-concert talk, 6.45pm (Corner Stage, Riverside, Terrace Level)Meet the Artists after concert

SYDNEYCITY RECITAL HALL MONDAY 11 SEPTEMBER, 7PMPre-concert talk, 6.15pm (Function Room, Level 1)CD signing after concert

SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER, 2PMLive broadcast on ABC Classic FMPre-concert talk, 1.15pm (Function Room, Level 1)Meet the Artists after concert

NicolasAltstaedt cello AleksandarMadžar piano

Musica Viva is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Musica Viva is assisted

by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

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ADDITIONALACTIVITYNicolas and Aleksandar will perform at Coffs Harbour Education Campus on Tuesday 12 September at 8pm and in Hobart Town Hall on Monday 25 September at 8pm as part of Musica Viva’s CountryWide program.

Nicolas and Aleksandar will present the following masterclasses during this tour:

Brisbane (Aleksandar): Tuesday 26 September, 6.30pm–8pm, Ian Hanger Recital Hall, Queensland Conservatorium of Music

Newcastle (Nicolas): Friday 29 September, 10am–11.30am, Newcastle Conservatorium of Music

Perth (Nicolas): Sunday 1 October, 10.30am–12.30pm, Callaway Music Auditorium, University of Western Australia

The Musica Viva Masterclass program is supported by principal patrons Stephen Johns & Michele Bender, the Sydney Conservatorium Association (NSW), Lyn Hamill & Ian Dover (QLD), Wesfarmers Arts (WA), Anonymous Donor (SA) and Mary Turner oam (Newcastle).

FROMTHEARTISTICDIRECTOR

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CARLVINEaoARTISTIC DIRECTOR MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA

The last time that Nicolas Altstaedt and Aleksandar Madžar were in Australia, they appeared at the 2015 Musica Viva Festival in Sydney. These two superlative musicians bring a level of focus and finesse to their performances that is the hallmark of only the finest chamber music. Both have extraordinarily diverse careers that typically include performances at major chamber music festivals throughout Europe every summer. Nicolas is also the Artistic Director of both the Lockenhaus Festival and the Haydn Philharmonie, while Aleksandar is Professor of Piano at the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Bern.

Both programs for this tour include Debussy’s Cello Sonata and Nadia Boulanger’s delightful and epigrammatic Three Pieces. The Debussy dates from the last few years of the composer’s life, and although arising from a period of personal retrospection and darkness, outlines a sense of rediscovery and affirmation. Boulanger is possibly the world’s most important teacher of composition in the last hundred years, but her music is rarely heard in concert, and her Three Pieces are a perfect model of musical architecture that deserve wider appreciation.

Four acknowledged masterworks make up the remainder of the two programs on

this tour, being the cello sonatas of Barber, Britten and Shostakovich, plus Brahms’s second foray into the form. At the heart of each program is the world premiere of a new sonata by young Adelaide composer Jakub Jankowski, himself a cellist, and already a polished creator of impressive accomplishment. Cast in three movements – Prologue, Nocturne and Capriccio – this challenging work pushes the boundaries of technique and ensemble coordination in exciting new ways.

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FROMTHECHIEFEXECUTIVEOFFICERThe opening concerts of this tour coincide with a very important week in the history of Musica Viva: on 14–15 September we officially throw open the doors to our new National Office, located in Green Square in Sydney.

Our early founders – notably Charles Berg, Ken Tribe and Donald McDonald – were true visionaries in recognising that the modest profits created in the 1960s should be reinvested in a building to house the MVA administration. They bought a decrepit building in Sydney’s CBD which proved to be well located in the property boom of the 1980s, prompting the sale of that building and the purchase of new quarters in Surry Hills, a suburb which was then a far cry from the hipster heaven of today.

Thirty years on again, MVA board and management recognised it was time to capitalise on this prudent investment. After 18 months of searching, new quarters were located and, with the outstanding assistance of Katherine Grinberg in the legal matters, the transactions were concluded.

This new building represents so much more than mere bricks and mortar. It will be the central administration for our concerts and for our education and artist development programs. It will also have a purpose-built studio to enable the recording of our extensive online content as well as serving the needs of this busy national company with regard to live rehearsals, teacher professional development and program development. In an exciting innovation, the studio will be available to small to medium music organisations, to ease the burden of finding rehearsal space in the increasingly impossible Sydney property situation.

Above all, it is tangible evidence of the responsible stewardship that has characterised Musica Viva’s 72-year history. We have been able to realise the dream of the studio thanks to a wonderful bequest from long-

time subscriber, violin teacher and former member of the Musica Viva Younger Set, Janette Hamilton. It will bear her name to acknowledge how her kindness will inspire and assist the chamber musicians of today and tomorrow.

Details of our Custodians program are on our website. And if you find yourself in Sydney and would like to visit the new building and the Janette Hamilton Studio, please contact us directly at the National Office or via your State Manager. We would love to welcome you to our new music-filled national home.

MARYJOCAPPSCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA

Musica Viva’s new National Office: 757 Elizabeth Street, Zetland

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MEETTHEARTISTS

NICOLAS ALTSTAEDT

As a chamber musician, Nicolas regularly plays with Janine Jansen, Vilde Frang, Pekka Kuusisto, Antoine Tamestit, Jonathan Cohen and the Quatuor Ébène, performing at the Salzburg, Verbier and Lucerne Festivals, Musikfest Berlin and the BBC Proms.

In 2012 Nicolas was chosen by Gidon Kremer to become his successor as Artistic Director of the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, and in 2014, Adam Fischer asked him to follow in his footsteps as Artistic Director of the Haydn Philharmonie, with whom he regularly performs at the Vienna Konzerthaus and Esterházy Festival, and with whom he will tour both China and Japan next season.

Nicolas premieres new music and performs with composers such as Thomas Adès, Jörg Widmann, Thomas Larcher, Nico Muhly and Fazil Say. He has commissioned cello concertos from Sebastian Fagerlund, Thomas Larcher, Bryce Dessner and Helena Winkelman.

Nicolas’ recent recording on Hyperion of CPE Bach concertos with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen received the 2017 BBC Music Magazine Concerto Award. This year, he released a recital disc with Fazil Say on Warner Classics.

Renowned worldwide for his musical integrity and effortless virtuosity, German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt is one of the most sought after and versatile artists today. As a soloist, chamber musician, conductor and artistic director, he enthralls audiences with repertoire spanning from the Baroque to the contemporary.

Awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award in 2010, he gave a highly acclaimed performance of the Schumann Cello Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel at the Lucerne Festival. Since then he has performed worldwide with orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic, working with conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Andrew Manze, Lahav Shani, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sir Neville Marriner, Giovanni Antonini and Andrea Marcon.

In recital, Nicolas performs solo and with partners Fazil Say and Alexander Lonquich, among others. He has toured both Europe and the US, with appearances in Istanbul, the Wigmore Hall in London, BOZAR in Brussels, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris and New York’s Carnegie Hall, amongst many other venues.

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Nicolas Altstaedt and Aleksandar Madžar first performed together as part of the 2015 Musica Viva Festival. This is their first recital tour as a duo.

ALEKSANDAR MADŽAR

Aleksandar Madžar was born in Belgrade in 1968. He started playing the piano under the guidance of Gordana Malinovic at the age of six, and later studied with Arbo Valdma, Eliso Virsaladze and Daniel Blumenthal in Novi Sad, Belgrade, Moscow and Brussels.

He won prizes in Geneva, Leeds and at the Busoni and Umberto Micheli competitions, and made his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Iván Fischer in 1990. He has since then been performing regularly all over Europe, enjoying a rich and varied career in recitals, concertos (with André Previn, Marcello Viotti, Paavo Järvi and Andris Nelsons) and chamber music, occasionally also touring North and South America, South Africa, Asia and Australia.

Aleksandar is a frequent guest of the Wigmore Hall in London, Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, BOZAR in Brussels and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, as well as the Milan Conservatorium and the Delft, Lockenhaus, Peasmarsh and Juventus (Cambrai) summer festivals. His regular

chamber music partners include the Takács Quartet, Anthony Marwood, Vilde Frang and the soprano Juliane Banse.

Recent and forthcoming appearances include recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London and the Luxembourg Philharmonie, a concerto tour of Germany, the Netherlands and Italy with the North-West German Philharmonic (performing both Chopin concertos), and César Franck’s Variations symphoniques under the baton of Zubin Mehta to celebrate 50 years of the maestro’s collaboration with the Belgrade Philharmonic, in March 2018.

Aleksandar teaches at the Royal Flemish Conservatoire in Brussels, and gives frequent masterclasses in other colleges.

Last but not least, Aleksandar is a tireless walker, and the seven-year stroll from Brussels to Belgrade is about to reach a conclusion this year. Current position, after 80 days spread over seven summers: Novi Sad in Serbia.

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DRGRAEMEDOUGLASWATSON(1936–2004)

A brilliant scholar and gifted linguist, with Italian as well as French and German, Graeme Watson served for some years on the editorial board of the Australian Journal of French Studies. His own publications, though not many, conveyed acute insights. Graeme also had a wry sense of humour and a sharp wit; but the opportunities for others to relish these were rare, for throughout his life he was always extremely shy and self-effacing, and in his latter years became almost a recluse.

Graeme Watson’s attachment to France and its culture embraced the works of French composers. His love of music had begun early, with piano study that made him an able pianist, and regular attendance at Musica Viva concerts in Adelaide. His quiet support of Musica Viva continued during his years in Melbourne and, at his death on 8 November 2004, his will bestowed upon Musica Viva a munificent bequest for its lasting benefit.

Dr Anthea Hyslop and Prof Colin Nettelbeck

Graeme Douglas Watson was born in England on 25 January 1936, the only child of Australian parents, Douglas and Jean Watson. He grew up in Adelaide, where he attended Scotch College and demonstrated outstanding ability, becoming dux of his school in humanities subjects, and topping the state in French at both Leaving and Leaving Honours levels.

From 1953 to 1956 Graeme was a student at the University of Adelaide, graduating with first-class honours in French and German, and winning a PhD scholarship to the University of Paris. At the Sorbonne from 1957 to 1960, supervised by Pierre Moreau, he worked on the novels of Romain Rolland, and his defence of his thesis earned him a mention très honorable.

Upon graduation, Graeme Watson joined the French Department of Britain’s University of Birmingham and was soon promoted to lecturer. Then in 1964 he returned to Australia, to take up a lectureship in the Department of French at the University of Melbourne. There he became a senior lecturer in 1967, and there spent the rest of his academic career, until ill health curtailed it in 1989, ending it some years later.

A benefactor of Musica Viva

The performance in Melbourne on 19 September is dedicated to the memory of Dr Graeme Douglas Watson.

For a confidential discussion about making a bequest to Musica Viva or to learn more about our Custodians program, please contact Amelia Morgan-Hunn, Director of Development, on 02 8394 6616 or amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au

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PROGRAM 1 (Adelaide, Melbourne 19 September, Perth, Sydney 11 September)

PROGRAMS

ClaudeDEBUSSY(1862–1918)Cello Sonata (1915) 12 min I Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto (Slow, sustained and very resolute) II Sérénade: Modérément animé (Moderately animated) III Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux (Animated, light and nervous)

NadiaBOULANGER(1887–1979)Three Pieces for cello and piano (1914) 7 min I Modéré (At a moderate speed) II Sans vitesse et à l’aise (Not fast, at a comfortable speed) III Vite et nerveusement rythmé (Fast and nervously rhythmic)

SamuelBARBER (1910–1981)Cello Sonata, op 6 (1932) 19 min I Allegro ma non troppo (Fast, but not too fast) II Adagio (Slow) III Allegro appassionato (Fast and passionate)

I N T E R VA L

JakubJANKOWSKI (b 1994)Aspects of Return for cello and piano (2017) 18 minCommissioned for Musica Viva with support from the Adelaide Commissioning Circle and Australian Executor Trustees Community Program

I Prologue II Nocturne III Capriccio

DmitrySHOSTAKOVICH(1906–1975)Cello Sonata, op 40 (1934) 27 min I Allegro non troppo (Fast, but not too fast) II Allegro (Fast) III Largo (Slow) IV Allegro (Fast)

PROGRAM 2 (Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne 23 September, Newcastle, Sydney 16 September)

ClaudeDEBUSSY(1862–1918)Cello Sonata (1915) 12 min I Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto (Slow, sustained and very resolute) II Sérénade: Modérément animé (Moderately animated) III Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux (Animated, light and nervous)

NadiaBOULANGER(1887–1979)Three Pieces for cello and piano (1914) 7 min I Modéré (At a moderate speed) II Sans vitesse et à l’aise (Not fast, at a comfortable speed) III Vite et nerveusement rythmé (Fast and nervously rhythmic)

BenjaminBRITTEN(1913–1976)Cello Sonata in C major, op 65 (1961) 20 min I Dialogo (Dialogue) II Scherzo – pizzicato III Elegia (Elegy) IV Marcia (March) V Moto perpetuo (Perpetual motion)

I N T E R VA L

JakubJANKOWSKI (b 1994)Aspects of Return for cello and piano (2017) 18 minCommissioned for Musica Viva with support from the Adelaide Commissioning Circle and Australian Executor Trustees Community Program

I Prologue II Nocturne III Capriccio

JohannesBRAHMS(1833–1897)Cello Sonata no 2, op 99 (1886) 27 min I Allegro vivace (Fast and lively) II Adagio affettuoso (Slow, with feeling) III Allegro passionato (Fast, with passion) IV Allegro molto (Very fast)

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ABOUTTHEMUSICfrom delicate and enchanting tenderness…without that German affectation of profundity, without the need to underline or explain everything with thumping of fists.’

Although Debussy described this sonata to Stravinsky as ‘pure music’, it is not entirely abstract. The first movement Prologue begins in declamatory style – many commentators describe the piano’s opening flourish as a ‘fanfare’ but if that’s so, it’s anything but triumphant, and the whole movement is tinged with melancholy. The theme which follows in the cello is almost hesitant, made up of tiny sighing fragments that slip down like a tear on a cheek; a countermelody rises plaintively up a few steps of a whole-tone scale before falling back down again. All these motifs will appear in different guises throughout the sonata. An agitated central section is full of menace, with an insistent repeated motif in the depths of the cello.

But it is the second movement, Sérénade, which is the heart of the sonata. The cello now takes the role of a guitar – the instrument of choice for lovestruck swains serenading their ladies, but here the mood is sinister rather than tender. Or does the combination of cello pizzicato and piano staccato have a comical flavour, as if accompanying a cartoon burglar tiptoeing around in the dark? Claims that Debussy meant to call the sonata ‘Pierrot Angry with the Moon’ have never been confirmed, but the tragicomic commedia dell’arte character of Pierrot the lonely clown had inspired many artists of the period, and it has been suggested that this serenade expresses a spirit of disillusionment, a recognition that masks and pretences had no place in a world at war.

The Finale with its jaunty folk-like melody attempts to sweep away the melancholia; midway through, though, the jollity ceases abruptly for a few long, slow, quiet bars: a tender but deeply unsettling lullaby that lingers in the memory well beyond the dramatic final flourish. .

ClaudeDEBUSSY(1862–1918)Cello Sonata (1915) I Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto (Slow, sustained and very resolute) II Sérénade: Modérément animé (Moderately animated) III Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux (Animated, light and nervous)

In 1915, with his health and strength failing in the grip of colorectal cancer and the whole of Europe at war, Claude Debussy came to see composing as the one act through which he could defend and affirm his country. ‘I want to work not so much for myself, but to give proof, however small it may be, that not even 30 million boches can destroy French thought.’

It may seem ironic that the composer who had created a completely new and uniquely French musical language now turned to a musical form which was not only firmly within the traditions of Western harmony, but also strongly associated with the German musical heritage: the sonata. This apparent step backwards and across enemy lines, however, was actually an embrace of a distinctively French tradition: the sonatas not of Mozart and Beethoven, but of Couperin and Rameau. As Debussy had written more than ten years earlier, ‘We have a pure French tradition in the work of Rameau, made

PROGRAM 1 (Adelaide, Melbourne 19 September, Perth, Sydney 11 September)

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NadiaBOULANGER (1887–1979)Three Pieces for cello and piano (1914) I Modéré (At a moderate speed) II Sans vitesse et à l’aise (Not fast, at a comfortable speed) III Vite et nerveusement rythmé (Fast and nervously rhythmic)

Nadia Boulanger has been described as ‘the most influential teacher since Socrates’: in the course of her seven decades of teaching, she counted among her hundreds of students such future luminaries as Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, Daniel Barenboim, John Eliot Gardiner, Jean Françaix, Peggy Glanville-Hicks, Philip Glass, Astor Piazzolla and Burt Bacharach. She was also a conductor: the first woman to conduct the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Boston Symphony, the New York Philharmonic and many others. (When asked for her reaction to the Boston debut, Boulanger answered drily, ‘I’ve been a woman for a little over 50 years and have gotten over my initial astonishment.’)

As a composer, she is not well known, mostly because she wrote very little. She had some success in the prestigious Prix de Rome competition, coming second in 1908, but it was her younger sister Lili Boulanger who would become the first woman to win the competition, in 1913. There is no doubt that Lili was the more talented composer, as Nadia herself readily admitted, and when Lili (aged just 24) died in 1918, Nadia, who had already been struggling to find time to compose due to her teaching commitments – she had been

supporting the family single-handedly since their father died in 1900 – gave up composing altogether. ‘If there is one thing of which I am certain,’ she said, ‘it is that my music is worthless.’

The Three Pieces for cello and piano were written in 1914. The first two are reworkings from an earlier work, Three Improvisations, for organ solo; Boulanger was a virtuoso organist and had a successful early career as a concert soloist, as well as working as Gabriel Fauré’s assistant at the church of La Madeleine in Paris. The first movement in particular has something of the flavour of Fauré’s writing in its eloquent melody and gentle accompaniment. The second is a canon, with the cello’s melody copied in the right hand of the piano part just one beat later. The third movement is more energetic – ‘nervously rhythmic’ is the composer’s direction to performers – with a central section in five beats to the bar.

SamuelBARBER(1910–1981)Cello Sonata, op 6 (1932) I Allegro ma non troppo (Fast, but not too fast) II Adagio (Slow) III Allegro appassionato (Fast and passionate)

Like Ravel with his Boléro, as far as most people today are concerned Samuel Barber’s music consists of a single piece: the Adagio for Strings. Its widespread popularity has

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ABOUTTHEMUSICtended to obscure the fact that Barber in the course of his long career wrote many other works which were enthusiastically acclaimed, with a slew of honours and awards including two Pulitzer Prizes. Orchestras, ballet companies and even the US Air Force commissioned him to write for them, and conductors such as Toscanini, Furtwängler and Ormandy wasted no time in including his music in their concert programs.

His music appealed because of its tunefulness. Barber had a gift for creating strong and expressive melodic lines, and he was not afraid to use an essentially traditional harmonic language. ‘My aim is to write good music that will be comprehensible to as many people as possible.’

This approach put Barber out of step with the directions new music was taking in the US: his style lacks any identifiable ‘Americanness’ (compared with the music of Aaron Copland), and he had no interest in the edgier trends in 20th-century music such as jazz, 12-tone serial music or electronics. (‘He wrote nothing that required consulting the I Ching’, said his obituary in the New York Times, in a pointed reference to another of Barber’s contemporaries, John Cage.) Probably this is why his music was largely sidelined in the second half of the 20th century. In the Cello Sonata, the musical language recalls Brahms, not Schoenberg.

The sonata was begun in the summer of 1932; Barber was 22 years old, in Italy on holidays from his studies at the Curtis Institute. When he returned to Philadelphia, he showed the score to one of his student friends, the cellist Orlando Cole, who was to premiere the sonata. Cole worked with Barber on the piece in detail, playing through passages and offering suggestions. The result of this close collaboration with the performer is a piece which, as Cole would write half a century later, ‘takes advantage of the best qualities of the instrument … It’s very cellistic, very singing.’ This lyrical quality is also a

reflection of Barber’s own skill as a singer: he was studying voice as well as piano and composition at the Curtis Institute, and in his mid twenties he had a regular spot as a recitalist on NBC Radio.

The first movement is unashamedly neo-romantic in style, both in the dramatic opening melody and in the meltingly beautiful second theme. The tranquil, almost prayer-like second movement – its long-breathed melody giving hints of the Adagio for Strings that was to follow four years later – is interrupted by a skittish Scherzo featuring complex cross-rhythms between cello and piano. In the third movement the piano has a more prominent role, with the two instruments seizing the lead from each other to take the music off in almost improvisatory flights of fancy.

JakubJANKOWSKI (b 1994)Aspects of Return for cello and piano (2017) Commissioned for Musica Viva with support from the Adelaide Commissioning Circle and Australian Executor Trustees Community Program

I Prologue II Nocturne III Capriccio

Jakub Jankowski is a young Adelaide-based composer. He holds a Bachelor of Music with Honours in Composition from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, where he has studied with Charles Bodman-Rae, Graham Koehne, John Polglase and David Harris. In May 2015, Jakub’s double concerto

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Ritual, for two cellos and string orchestra, was featured in performance at Elder Hall, Adelaide. In 2014 he was the recipient of the Accompanists’ Guild of South Australia’s Composition Award, and in 2016 Musica Viva Australia commissioned Jakub to compose a String Octet for the Elias and Goldner Quartets, which concluded the final concert of this year’s Musica Viva Festival.

The composer writes:

Aspects of Return is a sonata for cello and piano which is cast in three distinct movements – Prologue, Nocturne and Capriccio. Each movement illustrates a different metaphor of return and is supplemented with a specific quotation. The authors of these quotations come from different backgrounds – psychology, philosophy and poetry respectively – and all point to this central idea of return in unique ways.

Prologue: ‘...there is always the danger that the things we have neglected will return with added force.’ – Carl Jung

The first movement begins with a dramatic musical statement which both instruments attempt to subdue and ignore. The music which follows features a range of different tone colours and timbres from both instruments, acting almost as distractions. However, the opening material returns with increased power, propelling the music towards a ‘hard-hitting’ conclusion.

Nocturne: ‘Ever-newer waters flow on those who step into the same rivers.’ – Heraclitus of Ephesus

Exploring the unique lyricism of both instruments, the Nocturne is the heart of the sonata. The music is based on two main ideas: a recurring B-flat resonance – evocative to me of moonlight – and a sinuous melodic theme. These two ideas are continually returned to and gradually transform upon every successive return. The final incarnation of these themes brings about an apotheosis

where the cello is hurled into the extreme heights of its register, engulfed by the piano.

Capriccio: ‘And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.’ – T.S. Eliot

I titled the final movement Capriccio not only in reference to its virtuosic demands, but also for the sudden changes of character and tempo throughout. The music dynamically shifts between idyllic scenery – mostly of mountains – and joyous energetic outbursts, which occasionally descend into mania. As the T.S. Eliot quote suggests, the movement progresses in a distinctly cyclical way and ends with the same material it began with, but seen from a different view.

Jakub Jankowski © 2017

DmitrySHOSTAKOVICH(1906–1975)Cello Sonata, op 40 (1934)

I Allegro non troppo (Fast, but not too fast) II Allegro (Fast) III Largo (Slow) IV Allegro (Fast)

In 1935, the Union of Soviet Composers announced that composers should henceforth direct their attention to the ‘victorious progressive principles of reality, towards all that is heroic, bright and beautiful’, rejecting ‘modernistic directions’ and ‘contemporary bourgeois art’. Shostakovich would be targeted almost immediately for his opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District; while he was not arrested, the anonymous threat ‘This may come to a bad end’, published in Pravda’s 1936 review of the opera, was no joke, and Shostakovich’s next musical offering was his Fifth Symphony, put forward as ‘A Soviet Artist’s Response to Just Criticism’.

In 1934, however, when Shostakovich composed his Cello Sonata, the future looked relatively bright. Lady Macbeth had been

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ABOUTTHEMUSIC

ClaudeDEBUSSY(1862–1918)Cello Sonata (1915) I Prologue: Lent, sostenuto e molto risoluto (Slow, sustained and very resolute) II Sérénade: Modérément animé (Moderately animated) III Finale: Animé, léger et nerveux (Animated, light and nervous)

See page 8.

NadiaBOULANGER(1887–1979)Three Pieces for cello and piano (1914) I Modéré (At a moderate speed) II Sans vitesse et à l’aise (Not fast, at a comfortable speed) III Vite et nerveusement rythmé (Fast and nervously rhythmic)

See page 9.

BenjaminBRITTEN (1913–1976)Cello Sonata in C major, op 65 (1961) I Dialogo (Dialogue) II Scherzo – pizzicato III Elegia (Elegy) IV Marcia (March) V Moto perpetuo (Perpetual motion)

After more than a decade of writing almost nothing but music featuring the human voice, Benjamin Britten in 1960 began a series of instrumental works showcasing the cello. His inspiration was not so much the instrument as the player: Mstislav Rostropovich. At a concert in London’s Royal Festival Hall, Britten had been so enthralled to discover the skill and artistry of Rostropovich’s playing that he

running for two years and was hugely popular. Even so, Shostakovich had already announced that he was no longer interested in ‘striving for originality at any cost’, and instead was seeking a new, simpler musical language. The Cello Sonata is the result of that search, but also a realisation of Shostakovich’s belief, stated in an article he wrote for Izvestiya the following year, that simple was not the same as simplistic, and that composers should avoid merely repeating the music of the past as keenly as they rejected the intellectual abstraction of modernism.

Thus the Cello Sonata, while written within established Classical forms, is still speaking its own musical language. The first movement, for example, is in sonata form, but it is difficult to pin down any sense of a shared tonality between the two instruments. The stubborn repetition of individual pitches seems to be insisting on something, but not on a key! Nor is it easy to identify where one phrase ends and the next begins.

The short triple-time second movement looks like a scherzo, but accents in every bar – often on every beat of the bar – undermine any sense of jesting good humour. The slow movement brings out the dark colours of the low registers of both instruments. The sonata closes with another Classical form: this time a rondo, with the refrain reshaped each time it occurs.

PROGRAM 2 (Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne 23 September, Newcastle, Sydney 16 September)

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almost bruised his host, Shostakovich, with enthusiastic digs to the ribs. At the end of the show, Rostropovich begged Britten to write something for him; the composer agreed, on condition that Rostropovich come to Aldeburgh to give the premiere at the following year’s Festival.

When the parcel with the score arrived in Moscow, Rostropovich literally ran to the post office to collect it: ‘I’m sure I broke all records for the 880 yards hurdles for cellists.’ The premiere six months later was a triumph, and within two weeks the pair were recording the piece for Decca. It was the beginning of an enduring artistic partnership that would produce four more masterworks: the Cello Symphony and three of a promised six suites for unaccompanied cello.

The sonata’s first movement, Dialogo, has been described as ‘a meditation on the wide expressive potential of whole steps and half steps’: Britten’s own program note calls it ‘the discussion of a tiny motif of a rising or falling second…lengthened to make a lyrical second subject which rises towards and falls from a pianissimo harmonic.’ (Rostropovich told his students that the slide up to the harmonic should be ‘as if the devil comes along and grabs your cello from you.’)

The second movement Scherzo is a virtuosic display of pizzicato technique, including chords, slurs and left-hand pizzicato. In the third movement Elegia, sombre piano chords support a bleakly eloquent tune from the cello; in the fourth movement Marcia, the cello provides what Britten describes as a

‘rumbustious bass to the piano’s jerky tune’. The sonata ends in full flight with a Moto perpetuo: the motion is indeed perpetual and laughs at such constraints as barlines, with the cello bow bouncing over the strings on a wild emotional ride: ‘now low and grumbling,’ wrote Britten, ‘now gay and carefree.’

JakubJANKOWSKI(b1994)Aspects of Return for cello and piano (2017)Commissioned for Musica Viva with support from the Adelaide Commissioning Circle and Australian Executor Trustees Community Program

I Prologue II Nocturne III Capriccio

See page 10.

JohannesBRAHMS (1833–1897)Cello Sonata no 2, op 99 (1886) I Allegro vivace (Fast and lively) II Adagio affettuoso (Slow, with feeling) III Allegro passionato (Fast, with passion) IV Allegro molto (Very fast)

Brahms’s second cello sonata was the fruit of a happy and extraordinarily productive summer holiday spent on the shores of Lake Thun in Switzerland, during which he also completed a violin sonata and a piano trio, along with five songs.

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These works were initially greeted by the critics as a welcome new phase in the composer’s development, in which ‘cheerful zest for life’ had swept away the brooding pessimism of his earlier works. Some saw this sudden effusion of musical good humour to be a betrayal of Brahms’s essential nature, an attempt to court popularity rather than profundity, but the power and beauty of his musical language thrive in sunshine no less than in storms.

The dramatic opening of this sonata sees the cello vaulting all over its range, while the piano expresses its nervous energy in a texture of tremolos; in a delicious touch, these roles will be reversed in a hushed passage towards the end of the development section.

The slow movement also subverts role stereotypes, by giving the usually ‘singing’

cello a pizzicato ‘walking bass’ style accompaniment, while the piano has the broad, arching melody. By the second phrase the instruments have swapped back again, but the pizzicato will return later in the movement to give an almost violently percussive edge to the melody which is elsewhere so tender and warm.

The tempestuous scherzo is full of cross-rhythms and surging dynamics – Brahms’s friend Elisabeth von Herzogenberg wrote that she could imagine the composer playing this movement, ‘constantly snorting and grunting’! – but in the eye of the storm is a lush and lyrical trio section. The final movement is a surprisingly short rondo with a gracious and song-like refrain.

Annotations © Natalie Shea 2017

ABOUTTHEMUSIC

Led by acclaimed violinist Rachel Podger, and playing on historical instruments, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment makes its first, widely anticipated tour of Australia. Brilliant execution is matched by gleeful enjoyment as they perform the music they love best: symphonies and concertos by Haydn, JC Bach and Mozart.

9 – 21 NOVEMBER musicaviva.com.au/orchestra1800 688 482 (No booking fee)

“THE SYMPHONY BECOMES A GLORIOUS FIERY BEAST”CLASSICAL SOURCE

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INTERVIEWWITHNICOLASALTSTAEDTFrom the first note you hear, or the first word he speaks, Nicolas Altstaedt’s probing thought and deep-delving artistry signal that he is a musician apart. The young German-French cellist’s passions span an eclectic range from historically informed performance to contemporary music, and from traditional chamber music partnerships to experimental collaborations with choreographers.

A frequent visitor to Australia, now undertaking his first tour for Musica Viva, he loves the country’s artistic atmosphere, which he describes as ‘very open-minded and creative’ – qualities central to his own approach to music-making.

Born in Heidelberg to a German father and French mother who were both music-loving doctors, Altstaedt grew up listening to Shostakovich and Berg ahead of Mozart and Beethoven: ‘On the LP shelf the 20th-century music was at the side, so those were the records I took down first,’ he recalls, laughing. Shostakovich became an obsession before he was eight years old.

He cites as his chief mentor the German professor Eberhard Feltz, who knew Shostakovich and, says Altstaedt, was present at the first performance of the String Quartet no 8: ‘One had lessons of literally eight to ten hours with him, and his insights into scores, into the composer’s mind and into the background of the music, were a revelation.”

Another vital influence was the violinist Gidon Kremer. ‘I met Gidon when I was in Berlin studying at the Hanns Eisler School and I played the Lutosławski concerto for him,’ he says. ‘I have always been a great admirer of his: since I was small I’ve read his books and I could always very much understand his feelings, his personality and what he wanted to achieve for himself and

for art – I could feel the same thoughts in myself. I came every summer to his festival at Lockenhaus and we spent a lot of time together. After about six or seven years he said he wanted to stop the festival because he had run it for about 30 years, and asked if I would feel like carrying it on.’

He did indeed, and is still its Artistic Director. ‘Friends take part who are very inspiring, and for me it’s an important place to exchange ideas,’ he says. ‘I think the festival liberated me – it made me trust more in the things I believe. It has made me concentrate on what I really want to do: I try to take on less, but to do what I do to 2000 per cent, concentrating on quality, not quantity.’

Among those inspiring friends is his partner for this Musica Viva tour, the Serbian-born pianist Aleksandar Madžar, who first drew wide public acclaim winning Third Prize in the 1996 Leeds International Piano Competition. ‘It’s a luxury to work with him,’ Altstaedt says. ‘He’s a really genuine artist with no ego. Music is his world and his whole life. He is a very noble player: he does not make one single movement that is too much. All his energy and all his thoughts flow into what comes out of the piano.’

They are bringing two typically fascinating recital programmes to Australia. ‘I wanted to bring on tour some pieces I know well,’ says Altstaedt: ‘the Debussy and Shostakovich sonatas. I’ve always loved the Three Pieces by Nadia Boulanger, which like the Debussy sonata were composed at the time of the First World War. I’ve never understood why they are not mainstream cello repertoire, because to me it’s music on the same level as Debussy and Franck.’

He rates the Britten sonata as one of the century’s finest. ‘I’m a huge fan of Britten and I also love very much his personality

17

as a performer: I love to listen to recordings of him playing the piano because he’s such a clean, pure and honest musician.’ Next, he wanted to play a work he had never tackled before, and selected the Barber sonata as a must-have repertoire addition.

Brahms’s Second Sonata is anything but new, but no less challenging for that: ‘I played it a lot at one point, then less and less because you see how big the piece is and how small you are!’ he acknowledges. ‘But now I want to reach out to a piece that is so high it automatically makes you grow.’

The new Jankowski work was suggested by Carl Vine. ‘I very much like what I’ve heard of his music,’ says Altstaedt. ‘I think it’s a fantastic idea that if we do an Australian tour there should be an Australian piece in it: we have to support composers from here. This is how a society is created and how a culture develops.’

Besides Madžar, Altstaedt has another vital performance partner: his Giulio Cesare Gigli cello, made in the 1750s, which he has played since 2013. ‘I had to return the beautiful Nicolas Lupot cello that I had had on loan,’ he says, ‘because it was from a foundation for young musicians and I turned 30. So I was without an instrument. The auction house Tarisio asked if they could help and soon they called me saying I should see this Gigli in London. I’m normally very picky and careful about things I do. But it was love at first sight!’

And so Madžar, Altstaedt and the Gigli are here for several weeks of thrilling music-making ‘down under’. ‘I love coming to Australia and Sasha loves it as much as I do,’ says Altstaedt. ‘We are looking forward to doing this together!’

Jessica Duchen © 2016

© M

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MUSICAVIVAPATRONSWe thank the generous individuals and families who make an important contribution to our activities each year. Every gift is important, ensuring that Musica Viva remains at the forefront of artistic excellence and that our award-winning education program continues to reach children who would otherwise have no access to the inspirational experience of live music. To make a gift to Musica Viva, please contact Callum Close on (02) 8394 6636 or cclose@musicaviva.com.au

ACTGeoffrey & Margaret BrennanThe late Ernest Spinner

NSWThe late Sibilla BaerThe late Charles BergThe late Dr Anthony J BookallilCatherine Brown-Watt psm & Derek WattLloyd & Mary Jo CappsThe late Moya Jean CraneLiz GeeSuzanne GleesonThe late Janette HamiltonDavid & Christine HartgillThe late Margaret HedvigThe late Dr Ralph Hockin, in memory of Mabel HockinThe late Irwin ImhofElaine Lindsay

The late Joyce MarchantThe late Suzanne MellerTrevor NoffkeThe late Michael RobinsonThe late John RobsonDr David SchwartzThe late Alison TerryThe late Kenneth W Tribe ac

Mary Vallentine ao

Deirdre Nagle WhitfordKim Williams am

Ray Wilson oam

The late Elisabeth WynhausenAnonymous (4)

QLDThe late Miss A HartshornThe late Steven Kinston

SAThe late Ms K Lillemor AndersenThe late Patricia Baker

The late Edith DubskyMrs G Lesley LynnAnonymous (1)

TASKim Paterson qc

VICJulian Burnside ao qc

Ms Helen DickIn memory of Anita MorawetzThe family of the late Paul MorawetzThe late Mrs Catherine SabeyThe late Mrs Barbara ShearerThe late Dr G D WatsonAnonymous (3)

WAThe late Dr Andrew StewartAnonymous (2)

People who have notified us of their intention to leave a gift to Musica Viva in their will are part of a very special group of Musica Viva Custodians. A bequest to Musica Viva will enable us to continue presenting performances of the highest quality to the widest range of audiences across Australia, well into the future. To discuss, in confidence, a bequest gift, please contact Amelia Morgan-Hunn on (02) 8394 6616 or amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au

MUSICA VIVA CUSTODIANS

Julian Burnside ao qc (President, Melbourne) & Kate DurhamRuth Magid (Chair, Sydney) & Bob MagidThe Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett ao sc

Tony Berg am & Carol BergMarc Besen ac & Eva Besen ao

Di Bresciani oam

Ms Jan Bowen am

Tom Breen & Rachael KohnDavid Constable am & Dr Ida LichterDr Cyril CurtainJennifer Darin & Dennis CooperDaryl & Kate DixonDr Helen FergusonMs Annabella FletcherEleanore GoodridgeReg & Katherine GrinbergJennifer Hershon & Russell Black

Penelope HughesJacqueline HuieAndrew JohnstonMichael & Frederique KatzThe Hon. Jane Mathews ao

Isobel Morgan oam

Prof. John RickardBarbara RowleyRay Wilson oam

The Amadeus Society exists to help bring the excitement and inspiration of the world’s most extraordinary musicians to Australian audiences. In 2016, the Society provided significant support for the world premiere and national tour of Voyage to the Moon. This year, the Society is proud to support the national tours of Eighth Blackbird and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & Rachel Podger. To learn more about the Amadeus Society and how you can help bring some of the world’s leading international artists to Australia, please contact Amelia Morgan-Hunn on (02) 8394 6616 or amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au

AMADEUS SOCIETY

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MUSICAVIVAPATRONS

NSW$100,000 +The Berg Family FoundationKatherine Grinberg, in honour of Adrienne Nagy & Yolanda (Nagy) Daniel

$20,000 – $99,999David Constable am & Dr Ida Lichter Tom & Elisabeth Karplus The Hon. Jane Mathews ao John & Jo Strutt Kim Williams am

Ray Wilson oam

$10,000 – $19,999Anne & Terrey Arcus am Ruth Armytage am Tom Breen & Rachael Kohn Jennifer Darin & Dennis Cooper John B Fairfax ao

Jennifer Hershon & Russell BlackHilmer Family Endowment Michael & Frederique Katz Ruth & Bob MagidVicki Olsson Edward & Anne SimpsonAnthony Strachan Anonymous (1)

$5,000 – $9,999Michael & Margaret Ahrens The Hon. Dr Annabelle Bennett ao sc

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Christine Davis Daryl & Kate Dixon Gardos FamilyEleanore Goodridge Charles & Wallis Graham Warren Kinston & Verity GoiteinProf. Iven Klineberg am rfd & Mrs Sylvia Klineberg Lesley & Andrew Rosenberg David & Carole Singer Geoff Stearn Geoffrey White oam & Sally White oam Anonymous (3)

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$10,000 – $19,999Aldridge Family EndowmentDay Family FoundationLang FoundationMarsden Szwarcbord FoundationP M Menz

VIC$20,000 – $99,999Julian Burnside ao qc

Anonymous (1)

$10,000 – $19,999Di Bresciani oam & Lino Bresciani

$5,000 – $9,999Marc Besen ac & Eva Besen ao Dr Cyril Curtain Dr Helen Ferguson William J Forrest am Doug & Ross Hooley, in memory of Beryl Hooley Penelope Hughes Isobel Morgan oam

Prof. John Rickard Barbara RowleyGreg Shalit & Miriam Faine Stephen Shanasy Wendy TaylorAnonymous (1)

WA$20,000 – $99,999Anonymous (1)

$10,000 – $19,999Deborah Lehmann & Michael Alpers

MAJOR GIFTS

MASTERCLASSESMusica Viva’s Masterclass program is supported by principal patrons Stephen Johns & Michele Bender, the Sydney Conservatorium Association (NSW), Lyn Hamill & Ian Dover (QLD), Wesfarmers Arts (WA), Anonymous Donor (SA) and Mary Turner oam (Newcastle).

THEHILDEGARDPROJECTinsupportofwomenincompositionThis project is made possible by a generous gift from Katherine Grinberg in honour of the late Adrienne Nagy and her sister Yolanda (Nagy) Daniel.

Friends of Peter Burch am bm

Julian Burnside ao qc

Carnegie Hall

The Huntington Estate Music Festival CollectiveSeattle Commissioning Club

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KENTRIBEFUNDFORAUSTRALIANCOMPOSITION

MELBOURNEINTERNATIONALCHAMBERMUSICCOMPETITION$20,000 + $5,000 – $9,999Beth Brown & Tom Bruce am Joanna Baevski Peter Lovell

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ACT$2,500 – $4,999Kristin van Brunschot & John HollidayAnonymous (1)$1,000 – $2,499Gudrun GeneeMargaret & Peter Janssens Garth Mansfield oam & Margaret Mansfield oam S G & K L Nogrady Margaret Oates Sue Packer Craig Reynolds Dr Andrew Singer Sue Terry & Len Whyte Anonymous (4)$500 – $999Christine Bollen Geoffrey & Margaret Brennan Anthony G Cashman Dudley & Helen CreaghJoanne Ferguson & Malcolm SnowLesley Fisk Margaret Goode Kingsley Herbert Dr Marian Hill Vivien & Roger Hillman Elspeth Humphries Claudia Hyles Margaret Lovell & Grant WebeckRobyn McKay Clive & Lynlea Rodger Michael & Kiri Sollis Arn Sprogis & Margot Woods Robert & Valerie Tupper Janice C Tynan Dr Paul & Dr Lel Whitbread Anonymous (2)

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$1,000 – $2,499David & Rae Allen Judith Allen Dr Warwick Anderson Andrew Andersons ao & Sara Bennett Penny BeranBaiba Berzins

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QLD$2,500 – $4,999Lyn Hamill & Ian Dover Andrew & Kate Lister B & D Moore

$1,000 – $2,499George Booker & Denise BondRobin Harvey Lynn & John KellyJocelyn Luck Dr Nita Vasilescu Anonymous (1)

VIRTUOSI

MUSICAVIVAPATRONS

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$500 – $999Marion Alford William Edwards A A & A Grant Dr Amanda Hume Marie Isackson M F Lejeune Debra & Patrick Mullins Joanne Rennick Michelle Wade & James Sinclair Dr Karen Watson Barbara Williams & Jankees van der Have Anonymous (3)

SA$2,500 – $4,999Mark Lloyd & Elizabeth Raupach H & I Pollard$1,000 – $2,499Ivan & Joan Blanchard The Hon D J & Mrs E M Bleby David & Kate Bullen John & Libby Clapp Peter CliftonGeoffrey Day Lorraine DrogemullerBrian L Jones oam Bronwen L Jones Jenny & Christopher Legoe Skye McGregor Fiona MacLachlan oam

Ruth Marshall & Tim Muecke Ms Judy Potter Tony & Joan Seymour Roderick Shire & Judy HargraveSTARSAnn Woodroffe Robert & Glenys Woolcock Anonymous (3)

$500 – $999Richard Blomfield Beverley A Brown Josephine Cooper Jacqueline Cornell Carolyn Grantskalns Raymond & Jenny Greet Richard Hawkes Dr E H & Mrs A Hirsch Elizabeth Ho oam, in honour of the late Tom Steel Alison Kinsman am Dr Peter & Mrs Jenny Last Robert & Delysia Lawson Andrew & Virginia Ligertwood Marie ReichsteinTrish & Richard Ryan ao Michael SteeleJune Ward Jeffrey Whitford

Dr Richard Willis & Gretta Willis Jim & Ann Wilson Anonymous (4)

TAS$500 – $999Mr Peter Fay

VIC$2,500 – $4,999Mary & Arnold BramAlastair & Sue Campbell Carrillo Gantner ao Peter Griffin am & Terry SwannJianguo Pty LtdMegan O’ConnorRalph & Ruth Renard Maria Sola Helen Vorrath

$1,000 – $2,499Dr William Abud Alison & John Cameron Caroline & Robert ClementeDhar Family Virginia Henry Helen Imber & Ian Proctor Dorothea Josem John V Kaufman qc Irene Kearsey & Michael RidleyJune K Marks Project 11Murray Sandland Hywel Sims Ray Turner & Jennifer SeabrookDr Victor & Dr Karen Wayne Bibi & David WilkinsonAnna & Mark Yates Anonymous (7)

$500 – $999Helena Anderson Dr David Bernshaw Wendy & Michael BertramSuzie & Harvey Brown Pat BurkeMrs Maggie Cash John & Mandy Collins Dr Judy Davey Lord & Lady Ebury Vivien & Jack Fajgenbaum Geoffrey & Mary GlosterBrian Goddard Judy Gordon Barbara HamerDr Anthea Hyslop Angela Kayser Diana LempriereRowena & Richard McDonaldDennis & Fairlie NassauHannah & Larry Neff Robert Peters Margaret Plant

Greg J Reinhardt Eda Ritchie am Mrs Suzy & Dr Mark SussPhilip ThielJuliet Tootell Sefton Warner Jennifer Whitehead

WA$2,500 – $4,999Alan & Anne Blanckensee David Cooke David Wallace & Jamelia Gubgub

$1,000 – $2,499Mrs Susan Bogle Michael & Wendy Davis Alan Dodge & Neil Archibald In memory of Raymond Dudley Haylie EckerFreda & Jim Irenic Anne Last & Steve Scudamore M E M Loton oam Mrs Frances Morrell Prichard Panizza FamilyMargaret & Rodger SearesElizabeth Syme Robyn Tamke Anonymous (4)

$500 – $999Harry Anstey Fred & Angela Chaney S CherianNerida Dilworth am Clifford GoochDr Penny Herbert, in memory of Dunstan Herbert Ms Helen Hollingshead & Mr John HollingsheadMr Graham Lovelock & Mr Steve SingerMegan Lowe Geoffrey MasseyJenny Mills, in memory of Flora Bunning Colleen Mizen John Overton Mark & Ingrid PuzeyLindsay Silbert Cisca SpencerEllie Steinhardt Margaret Wallace Helen Westcott Anonymous (1)

If you have any questions about this list, please contact Vennisa Santoro on 1300 786 186 or vsantoro@musicaviva.com.au

This list is complete as at 11 August 2017.

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Musica Viva is assisted by the Commonwealth Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. Musica Viva is assisted by the NSW Government through Create NSW.

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MUSICAVIVAEDUCATIONPARTNERS

ARTS & HEALTH PARTNER

ACT NT

MUSICA VIVA IN SCHOOLS

National

QLD TAS

NSW VIC

The Marian & E H Flack Trust

Hamer Family Fund

In memory of Anita Morawetz

M S Newman Family FoundationGodfrey Turner

Memorial Music Trust

SA WA

Aldridge Family Endowment Carthew Foundation

Day Family Foundation FWH Foundation

Lang Foundation Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation

Coopers Brewery Foundation

Through the generosity of donors, Musica Viva continues to commission exciting new music from

Australia’s leading and emerging composers. New compositions feature strongly in Musica

Viva’s concert programs, and we are proud of our extensive history of supporting fine music from

Australian composers.

Jakub Jankowski’s Aspects of Return, commissioned by Adelaide Commissioning Circle and the

Australian Executor Trustees Community Program, receives its world premiere performances

from Altstaedt & Madžar on this tour.

To learn more about commissioning at Musica Viva, please contact:

Amelia Morgan-Hunn amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au

or call 02 8394 6616.

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MAIN FESTIVAL • 22 – 26 NOVEMBER 2017 (4 OR 8 CONCERTS)

Experience the internationally renowned Huntington Estate Music Festival featuring world-class chamber music concerts, gourmet canapés and meals, and award-winning wines. Featuring a dazzling array of international and local artists including

Olga Kern (Piano), Danish String Quartet, Goldner String Quartet, Paul Merkelo (Trumpet), Caitlin Hulcup (Mezzo-soprano), Alexandre Da Costa (Violin), Ian Munro (Piano), Orava Quartet, Caroline Almonte (Piano) and Benett Tsai (Cello).

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Through the generosity of donors, Musica Viva continues to commission exciting new music from

Australia’s leading and emerging composers. New compositions feature strongly in Musica

Viva’s concert programs, and we are proud of our extensive history of supporting fine music from

Australian composers.

Jakub Jankowski’s Aspects of Return, commissioned by Adelaide Commissioning Circle and the

Australian Executor Trustees Community Program, receives its world premiere performances

from Altstaedt & Madžar on this tour.

To learn more about commissioning at Musica Viva, please contact:

Amelia Morgan-Hunn amorgan-hunn@musicaviva.com.au

or call 02 8394 6616.

CREATE THE FINEST MUSIC

WITH US

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STORIESTOINSPIRE

Maureen JonesAustralian pianist Maureen Jones, whose early career was closely linked with Musica Viva, has celebrated a significant birthday. This is an edited excerpt from a recent interview by Miriam Cosic.

In June 2017, Maureen Jones performed in a concert in Trieste to mark her 90th birthday. ‘A splendid figure, an exceptional talent, a tangible example of youth outside time, a great artist, rich in vital energy who still has so much to give and provides a spur toward the future,’ Trieste’s Councillor for the Arts and Culture said. The feeling seems to be mutual. ‘I’m very attached to Trieste,’ Jones says, with some understatement. After all, she married there twice and raised a daughter who still lives there.

Jones was born in Sydney in 1927, and grew up in Warrawee and Turramurra. The then

director of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Dr Edgar Bainton, invited her to study at the primary school. She was just 10 when she made her debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

She was later part of a talented cohort at the Con, with fellow tertiary students including Charles Mackerras and Barry Tuckwell. The popular saxophonist and clarinettist Clive Amadio had an afternoon music program on ABC radio and Jones began to play for it. Then a call came out of the blue. Richard Goldner, who had founded Sydney Musica Viva in 1945, heard a broadcast and invited her to join the Musica Viva Ensemble as its pianist. Jones remembers the performance that impressed him very well: she had hurt her right ankle and was struggling to pedal with her left foot throughout it.

Maureen Jones with the Musica Viva Players, 1948

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She was with the group from 1948 to 1950, when the organisation went through a bad financial spell and the permanent ensemble was disbanded. ‘That part of my life was very, very important for me,’ she says now. ‘My chamber music education came from Musica Viva.’ She says professional chamber musicians immersed themselves in continual study in those days, very different to today’s busy and competitive environment. She loved the way of life, the whole ‘ambiente’ as she puts it, calling on the Italian word. ‘They all used to come up to Turramurra,’ she says, describing her hectic routine of music and socialising. She now pronounces the place name with a distinctly Italian lilt.

Jones eventually did what all young Australians did then: headed for London. She couldn’t stand it. She decided to go to Zurich, where a friend, the violinist, conductor and composer Brenton Langbein, lived. He and Jones formed a duo, which soon won acclaim. They went on to form an even more celebrated all-Australian trio with Barry Tuckwell.

Then fate intervened once again. Asked why she moved to Italy and stayed there, she

Maureen Jones, 1940s

replies, ‘Because I married two Italians!’ Her international career continued to bloom, including with the famous Trio di Trieste; and when the Trieste phase of her life came to an end, moves to Rome and then Florence followed. ‘I gave a concert there three weeks ago,’ she remarks.

The marvel of conversation with Maureen Jones is that she is old enough to speak of such long interludes – decades here and there – yet it is not with the nostalgia of retirement. Jones says curiosity and work keep her young. She practises daily. ‘You’re lucky if you’re in good health, of course,’ she adds. The fact that she is still performing professionally at 90 years old seems all of a piece with the rest of her life. ‘Well, yes,’ she says, ‘because I still play well. If I didn’t play well I wouldn’t keep going.’

The full version of this interview can be found at www.musicaviva.com.au/blogMaureen Jones in 1947

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Head Office: Suite A, Level 1, Building 16, Fox Studios Australia, Park Road North, Moore Park NSW 2021; PO Box 410 Paddington NSW 2021

Chairman Brian Nebenzahl OAM RFD

Managing Director Michael Nebenzahl Editorial Director Jocelyn Nebenzahl Manager — Production — Classical Music David Cooper

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When performance is your passionQueensland Conservatorium continues to produce musical theatre professionals of the highest calibre.

From 2018, we are proud to also offer a Bachelor of Acting, with study across a range of genres, ensemble work, technique classes, acting for camera, industry-led workshops and public performances.

Find your place on the world stage.

griffith.edu.au/acting | griffith.edu.au/musicaltheatre

Every Sunday and Tuesday nights be transported with the best orchestral music from around the world.

Check your Foxtel guide for more details.

foxtelarts.com.au @FoxtelArts