2 012 S E A S O N

Wed 2 May 8pmFri 4 May 8pm Sat 5 May 8pm

Mozart’s Requiem

Ausgrid Master Series

Choral Contrasts

Welcome to tonight’s concert at the Sydney Opera House, featuring two great works for chorus and orchestra: the Poulenc Gloria and Mozart’s Requiem.

Poulenc and Mozart give us polar opposites in mood: joyful music of praise in the Gloria and a dramatic and solemn farewell to life in the Requiem. But both works come from the rich tradition of music for the church, bringing with them spiritual transcendence even when heard in a secular context.

It has been ten years since David Zinman conducted the Sydney Symphony and we are delighted to welcome him back to the Sydney Opera House and to this series. In this concert he is joined by the Sydney Philharmonia Choir, which gave such an impressive performance in the first concerts of the season. Also appearing in this concert is American soprano Jennifer Welch-Babidge, making her debut with the orchestra in both the Mozart and the sublime solo part of the Poulenc. The evening promises to be an especially exciting one, with the unfailing combination of powerful emotions, great music and compelling performances.

The Ausgrid network includes the poles, wires and substations that deliver electricity to more than 1.6 million homes and businesses in New South Wales. Ausgrid is transforming the traditional electricity network into a grid that is smarter, more reliable and more interactive – something we are very proud of.

We’re also extremely proud of our partnership with the Sydney Symphony and our support of the orchestra’s flagship Master Series. We are supporting the orchestra as a Community Partner, with the goal of bringing great music and exciting performances to an even wider audience.

We trust that you will enjoy tonight’s performance and we look forward to seeing you again at Ausgrid Master Series concerts throughout the season.

WELCOME TO THE AUSGRID MASTER SERIES

GEORGE MALTABAROW Managing Director

Mozart’s Requiem: Choral ContrastsDavid Zinman CONDUCTOR

Jennifer Welch-Babidge SOPRANO

Fiona Campbell MEZZO-SOPRANO

Paul McMahon TENOR

Paul Whelan BARITONE

Sydney Philharmonia ChoirsBrett Weymark chorusmaster

Francis Poulenc (1899–1963)Gloria for soprano, choir and orchestra

INTERVAL

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)Requiem in D minor, K626

Wednesday night’s performance will be recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM on Saturday 12 May at 8pm.

Pre-concert talk by Natalie Shea at 7.15pm in the Northern Foyer. Visit sydneysymphony.com/talk-bios for speaker biographies.

Estimated durations: 28 minutes, 20-minute interval, 48 minutesThe concert will conclude at approximately 9.45pm.

2012 season

ausgrid master seriesWednesday 2 May, 8pmFriday 4 May, 8pmSaturday 5 May, 8pm

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

PRESENTING PARTNER

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Detail from Benozzo Gozzoli’s fresco “Worshipping angel” (1459), located in the altar room of the Chapel of the Magi in the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence. Poulenc said he had images like this

in mind when he composed his Gloria.

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INTRODUCTION

Choral Contrasts

This week brings our second collaboration with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs for the 2012 season, following the much-praised Beethoven 9 concerts in February. But where Beethoven keeps the chorus and his vocal soloists back until the fi nale of the Ninth Symphony, tonight’s program makes the voice the focus with two great sacred choral works.

Mozart’s Requiem is the better-known music in this concert. Not only is it powerful music in its own right but its fame has been enhanced by the circumstances of its commission and creation and by the poignant knowledge that this funeral mass was left unfi nished at Mozart’s death in 1791. Not all the stories surrounding the Mozart Requiem are entirely true, but they stimulate the imagination nonetheless, as anyone familiar with Amadeus will know.

Poulenc’s Gloria, representing the 20th century, is completely diff erent in character – the Gloria is a song of praise rather than a funeral mass and reveals another side to Christian faith. One of the reasons that Poulenc’s setting of the Gloria is so appealing is that it combines its expressions of faith with sheer pleasure and delight, even moments of irreverence.

‘When I wrote this piece,’ said Poulenc, ‘I had in mind those frescoes by Gozzoli where the angels stick out their tongues; and also some serious Benedictine monks I had once seen revelling in a game of football.’ The result is music that is good-humoured as well as serious, sumptuous as well as restrained, theatrical as well as sacred.

Mozart, too, understood the value of ‘theatre’ in sacred contexts, especially in his dramatic use of the orchestra – it’s no accident that in the 18th century the trombone was an instrument for the opera pit and the church, but not so much the concert hall. (Beethoven was almost certainly the fi rst composer to include trombones in a symphony.) In his funeral prayer, the composer who shone so brightly in the opera house was perfectly equipped to portray fear, trust, sorrow, optimism and hope – the emotions that touch the souls of the faithful in the face of death.

Historical Timeline

We are developing an interactive historical timeline, presenting images, documents, audio and video from our past and into the future. It will feature landmark Sydney Symphony events and performances and some of the personalities associated with the orchestra.

The timeline will be launched with our new website later this year, and you can play a part in building it into into a rich and valuable resource. If you know of any events, images or stories that belong in the timeline visit sydneysymphony.com/80years/timeline_contributi ons

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ABOUT THE MUSIC

Francis Poulenc GloriaJennifer Welch-Babidge sopranoSydney Philharmonia Choirs

Two clear phases are usually distinguished in the development of the art of Francis Poulenc: the fi rst musically irreverent, light-hearted, perhaps short-winded; the second serious, spiritually searching, marked by more ambitious themes and a heartfelt lyricism of some stamina. The turning point, it is said, was the death of Poulenc’s close friend, the composer and critic Pierre-Octave Ferroud, who was killed in a car accident in 1935. Poulenc then set out on a pilgrimage to Rocamadour, in south central France, where a statue of the Virgin carved out of blackwood inspired his fi rst religious work, the Litanies à la vierge noire (1936). The composer described this time as one ‘where I was seeking to drop roots into the very depths of my being,’ and certainly the music which followed refl ected a greater depth and seriousness.

The Mass of 1937 (for a cappella choir), the Motets for a Time of Penitence (1938/39) and the Stabat mater (1950) show a return to the religious faith of Poulenc’s childhood, his father’s faith. The range and concerns of this new style and approach are nowhere better experienced than in Poulenc’s largest-scale work, the opera Dialogues of the Carmelites (1954/56), which uses the adaptation, by the Catholic intellectual Georges Bernanos, of a novella by Gertrud von Le Fort to explore the themes of transference of grace, and the theologically daring notion that we die not for ourselves but for each other, or even in the place of others.

But the division of Poulenc’s career should not be too sharply marked. Not all his religious music is deeply serious in tone, nor is his serious music to be found only in his religious works; it was anticipated much earlier in his career, even when he was associated with the adventures of Les Six (with fellow young composers Auric, Durey, Honegger, Milhaud and Tailleferre) and their literary mentor Jean Cocteau. Some of his most profound music is written to the secular poetry of Paul Eluard, as in the song cycle Tel jour, telle nuit (1937), or the choral piece Figure humaine (1943). In fact, as the French critic Claude Rostand has rightly observed, there was always in Poulenc ‘something of the monk and something of the street urchin’.

The Gloria, one of Poulenc’s last works, reminds us of the dangers of compartmentalising his music. It is, in places, irrepressibly, almost jauntily cheerful. So painless is this

Keynotes

POULENCBorn Paris, 1899Died Paris, 1963

Francis Poulenc was a French composer and pianist who belonged to Les Six. This group of composers flourished briefly in Paris in the 1920s, but Poulenc retained much of its aesthetic throughout his career, in particular what Jean Cocteau described as ‘the sophistication of the graceful’. Poulenc’s first big success was a ballet for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, Les Biches (usually translated as ‘The House Party’). He once said that there was room for ‘new’ music that didn’t mind using other people’s chords, and it’s no surprise that his style was bewitchingly melodic and frequently influenced by musical language from the past. He avoided sentiment, however, and much of his music is coloured by wit and irony.

GLORIA

Poulenc’s Gloria, premiered in 1961, establishes him as one of the most important 20th-century composers of religious choral music. He had described his personal faith as resembling that ‘of a simple country priest’ and the Gloria has an appealing directness and sincerity, as if composed in ‘very clear, primary colours’.

The text is from the Latin Mass and in this setting there are six movements – the soprano soloist is featured in the third (Domine Deus), fifth (Domine Deus, Agnus Dei) and sixth (Qui sedes).

Sung texts and translations begin on page 11.

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praise of God that some critics have labelled it sacrilegious. Poulenc’s religion never bans the natural impulse to pleasure. He chose religious subjects without idolatry or sanctimony: ‘God preserve me from the drearier saintly fi gures of history,’ said he, explaining why he had chosen for his opera the drama of the nuns of Compiègne martyred in the French Revolution. Poulenc described his faith as that of a country priest – genuine, often intense, but positive and uncomplicated by sophistication. Replying to criticism of his Gloria, he said, ‘As I wrote it, I was simply thinking of those frescoes by Gozzoli where the angels stick out their tongues; and also of some solemn Benedictine monks I once saw playing football…’

No wonder laughter and high seriousness are often inextricably linked, as James Harding has written, in the same work by Poulenc. There are many glimpses in the Gloria of what a dreadful pun calls ‘leg-Poulenc’ (leg-pulling). This is the composer who loved to go to the circus, and loved the popular music of the cabaret, the brass band and the dance orchestra. But note his own assessment of his choral religious music: ‘I’ve put the best and most genuine part of myself into it…I have a feeling that in that sphere I’ve really produced something new…With the Sept répons des ténèbres, the Stabat, and the Gloria, I have to my credit, I hope, three worthwhile religious works. May they spare me a few days of Purgatory, if, with a bit of luck, I manage to avoid Hell.’

The musical form of Poulenc’s Gloria refl ects his selective interest in the music of the past and his assessment of what he does best. Setting the Gloria from the Mass on its own harks back to the practice of both medieval and Baroque composers, and the division of the text into separate movements is similar to the ‘cantata-mass’ convention used by Vivaldi in his celebrated Gloria and by J.S. Bach in the Gloria of his Mass in B minor. But here the resemblance ends – Poulenc writes for a soloist, but she is given no elaborate display or coloratura arias; instead she leads and alternates with the chorus, in a re-creation of the ancient antiphonal relationship of the priest leading the people. This solo part is a manifestation of Poulenc’s long love-aff air with the female voice – not for nothing had he written an opera dominated by female characters, and another, La Voix humaine, which is a monologue for soprano and orchestra.

The choral writing itself is almost entirely homophonic, in block chords, like most of Poulenc’s writing for choir. One of his early teachers, the composer Charles Koechlin, recognised that his pupil had no gift for counterpoint, and

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set him the exercise of studying Bach’s chorales and making his own harmonisations. Koechlin had spotted Poulenc’s talent for fresh, clear and uncluttered setting of words. Poulenc became a master of ear-tickling and emotionally aff ecting shifts of harmony. He departs from tradition by not setting the fi nal clause of the Gloria text, ‘Cum Sancto Spiritu…’ in the almost compulsory fugal manner – indeed, he doesn’t even end with these words, preferring to stress the elevation of the Son to high holiness, and the prayer for mercy.

Poulenc’s very suggestive tempo indications, printed below, convey the fl avour and contrasts of the Gloria: ‘Very lively and joyful’, ‘Very slow and calm’, ‘Unusually calm without dragging’ (‘sans traîner’, one of Poulenc’s favourite instructions), warning against any sentimentality in his intensely refl ective devotion. The pungency of some of the orchestral sound of the Gloria contains some of Poulenc’s characteristic ‘jibes and salutations to other composers’, in this case Stravinsky, who infl uences his later compositions more and more. The Stravinsky reference is no accident, since the Gloria was commissioned by the Koussevitzky Foundation, and dedicated to the memory of the conductor Serge Koussevitzky and his wife. In 1930 Koussevitzky had given the fi rst performance of Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, which he had commissioned, and which was dedicated to the Glory of God and to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The same orchestra gave the fi rst performance of Poulenc’s Gloria, completed in December 1959, on 20 January 1961, conducted by Charles Münch.

DAVID GARRETT © 1998

Poulenc’s Gloria calls for soprano soloist, mixed choir and an orchestra of piccolo, two flutes (one doubling piccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon; four horns, three trumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani, harp and strings.

Charles Münch conducted the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Chorus Pro Musica in the premiere of Poulenc’s Gloria on 20 January 1961; the soloist was Adele Addison. The first Australian performance was given four years later by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The only Sydney Symphony performance on record was given in 1979 with conductor Louis Frémaux, soprano Pearl Berridge and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

‘jibes and salutations to other composers’

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I Gloria (Maestoso)Gloria in excelsis Deo;et in terra paxhominibus bonae voluntatis.

II Laudamus te (Très vif et joyeux)Laudamus te, benedicimus te,Adoramus te, glorifi camus te, Gratias agimus tibipropter magnam gloriam tuam.

III Domine Deus (Très lent et calme)Domine Deus, Rex coelestis,Deus Pater omnipotens.

IV Domine fi li unigenite (Très vite et joyeux)Domine fi li unigeniteJesu Christe.

V Domine Deus, Agnus Dei (Très lent)Domine Deus, Agnus DeiFilius Patris, Rex coelestis, Domine Deus,Qui tollis peccata mundi,miserere nobis.Qui tollis peccata mundi, suscipe deprecationem nostram;Domine Deus, Agnus Dei,Filius PatrisQui tollis peccata mundi…

VI Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris (Maestoso)Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris,miserere nobis,Quoniam tu solus Sanctus,tu solus Dominus, Amen.Tu solus altissimus, Jesu Christe,cum Sancto Spiritu, in gloria Dei Patris.Tu solus altissimus,miserere nobis.Amen.

Chorus (Majestic)Glory be to God on high,and on earth peaceto men of good will.

Chorus (Very lively and joyful)We praise you, we bless you,We adore you, we glorify you,We give thanks to youfor your great glory.

Soprano solo and chorus (Very slow and calm)O Lord God, heavenly King,God the Father Almighty.

Chorus (Very lively and joyful)O Lord, the only-begotten SonJesus Christ.

Soprano solo and chorus (Very slow)O Lord God, Lamb of God,Son of the Father, heavenly King, O Lord God,you take away the sins of the world,have mercy upon us.You take away the sins of the world,receive our prayer.O Lord God, Lamb of God,Son of the Father,you take away the sins of the world…

Soprano solo and chorus (Majestic)You sit at the right hand of the Father,have mercy on us,for you alone are holy,you alone are the Lord,you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,with the Holy Ghost, in the glory of God the Father.You alone are the Most High,have mercy on us.Amen.

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Wolfgang Amadeus MozartRequiem Mass, K626Completed by Franz Süssmayr

Jennifer Welch-Babidge sopranoFiona Campbell mezzoPaul McMahon tenorPaul Whelan baritoneSydney Philharmonia Choirs

Joseph Haydn said that Mozart’s fame would be secure if he had written nothing but the Requiem, but it is a problematical work, which Mozart did not live to complete and whose origins are surrounded by mystery. Mozart, mortally ill and in a state of great excitement while composing it, chose the key of D minor: one associated with tragic drama in some of his greatest works, as in Don Giovanni; and with tenderness and pathos as well, as in the Piano Concerto in D minor. The terrifying drive of the Dies irae of this Requiem; the powerful rhythmic bite of the Rex tremendae, with its contrasting tender interjection ‘Salva me’; the furious Confutatis – all these are painted with the dramatic intensity of a composer who had become convinced that he was writing his own Requiem. The messenger in grey who had delivered a commission from an anonymous patron had become in Mozart’s mind an emissary of death. We now know that he was a servant of Count Walsegg zu Stuppach, an aristocratic amateur who liked to pass off music by professional composers as his own.

Welcoming death as a friend, as in his letter of April 1787 (see margin, page 14), is closer to Mozart’s Masonic outlook than to Catholic teaching. Masonic ritual and belief marked this Requiem in more ways than one. Yet it turns out that these words come from a book by the Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and Mozart perhaps chose them as appropriate when writing to a father he knew to be fatally ill. In his letter of September 1791 (page 15), the tone of resignation with mild protest is probably closer to Mozart’s real feelings. Actually the Requiem itself is the best evidence – Mozart always reveals more of himself in music than in words. So great was his emotional involvement with the music of the Requiem that his anxious doctor had to take the manuscript from his hands. Hence the power and directness of those sections which are undoubtedly from his pen.

Mozart’s Requiem contains, besides powerful drama and intensity, much music of great tenderness, and of a consoling pity. This music seems to express Mozart’s acceptance of the transcendent, the world beyond life and death. We fi nd it

Keynotes

MOZARTBorn Salzburg, 1756 Died Vienna, 1791

Mozart’s musical genius was apparent from his childhood, and during his short life he composed masterpieces in every genre. But his professional success was mixed: at times he was wildly popular, especially after he first moved to Vienna; at other times he struggled and his father would despair at his lack of diplomacy and common sense. In his later years, as his income dwindled, Mozart moved to progressively less glamorous apartments and began writing letters begging assistance. But his creations during this time were anything but impoverished: today we can enjoy The Magic Flute, the last three symphonies, his clarinet concerto and the Requiem.

REQUIEM

The Requiem is a setting of the Latin Mass for the Dead, anonymously commissioned for liturgical (that is, church) use by a nobleman who intended to pass it off as his own work. It was Mozart’s final work, and death caught him mid-phrase in the ‘Lacrimosa’. Mozart’s wife Constanze subsequently arranged for it to be completed by his student Franz Xaver Süssmayr.

Mozart’s Requiem has the dramatic character you’d expect from an opera composer, and the music conveys in a very direct way the passion and fervour of faith.

Sung texts and translations begin on page 17.

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also in the opera The Magic Flute, and in the Masonic music Mozart was composing at the same time as the Requiem. Mozart’s instrumentation refl ects the two facets of the music: fi erce, with trumpets and drums in the sterner sections, but coloured elsewhere by the mild and liquid tones of basset horns. Flutes, oboes and horns are banished (though whether this was Mozart’s intention for the whole work is uncertain).

Mozart’s Requiem is a kind of summation of its models and counterparts in the music of his contemporaries and predecessors. Haydn’s admiration for the work was surely a tribute to the compact unity into which it succeeds in reconciling diff erent styles and forms. Haydn himself followed this example when he wrote his last six masses in the 1790s. Like Mozart’s unfi nished Great Mass in C minor K.427, his Requiem is a cantata mass in the sense that the Sequence (Dies irae) is divided up into separate choral and solo ensemble movements. In the earlier Mass, each movement was developed on a massive scale, whether in enormous fugues or in Italianate chamber music arias – so much so that Mozart may have abandoned it precisely because he felt the result lacked stylistic unity. In the Requiem, on the other hand, choral and solo movements are brought into balance with each other, and the solo writing has lost all traces of virtuosity for its own sake.

In many respects the Requiem is backward looking, with Baroque elements, signs of the tremendous impact on Mozart

An unfi nished portrait of Mozart by his brother-in-law Joseph Lange, dating from 1782, when he was 26 years old. The outline of the empty portions of the canvas suggests that the completed painting would have shown the composer seated at a piano.

…As death, when we come to consider it closely, is the true goal of our existence, I have formed during the last few years, such close relations with this best and truest friend of mankind, that his image is not only no longer terrifying to me, but is indeed very soothing and consoling…I never lie down at night without reflecting that – young as I am – I may not live to see another day. Letter from Mozart to his father, 4 April 1787

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of his study of the music of Bach and Handel, and also of his familiarity with works by less celebrated Austrian musicians. The Kyrie fugue, with the leap of a diminished seventh in its subject, reminds one of ‘And with his stripes’ from Messiah. The Rex tremendae has the dotted rhythms of a French overture, and its choral entries may have been suggested by the crashing chords of the opening chorus of Bach’s St John Passion. The use of Gregorian melodies, as at the words ‘Te decet hymnus’, was common in Austrian masses, and occurs in a strikingly similar way in a Requiem by Michael Haydn, brother of Josef and a colleague of Mozart’s in Salzburg. This Requiem, which Mozart certainly heard 20 years before, came back to his mind, whether consciously or not, as he wrote his own setting. Michael Haydn’s is a remarkable and stern work, with resemblances to Mozart’s in content and in scoring: like Mozart, the younger Haydn banishes fl utes, oboes and horns, and uses the three trombones characteristic of Salzburg, but not of Viennese church music. So the musical experience of Mozart’s youth and maturity fused, in the urgency of death’s imminence, into a testament of church music, a composition, writes Karl Geiringer, ‘as transcendental as it is human, as out of terror and guilt it leads us gently towards peace and salvation’.

Mozart’s Requiem, then, is a treasure of artistic heritage, but it is a fl awed masterpiece. Its unsatisfactory features stem from Mozart’s failure to complete it. More has been written about this problem, perhaps, than about any other aspect of Mozart’s work, and the details of the controversy are out of place in a program note. Nevertheless, a summary

My spirit is broken and I cannot divert my eyes from the vision of that stranger. I see him continually before me, he entreats and urges me, and impatiently asks for my work… I know well that my hour is near, that I am on the point of death: I shall die without having known any of the delights my talents would have brought me, and yet life is so full of beauty! Alas, one cannot alter one’s own destiny, and I must be resigned.Letter from Mozart to Da Ponte, S eptember 1791

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The last bars Mozart wrote of his Requiem score – ‘Judicandus homo reus’ from the Lacrimosa.

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of the circumstances may help listeners to understand any disquiet they may experience. The manuscript shows that Mozart had completed the Introitus and Kyrie in full score. Some other sections are in a half-fi nished state, the vocal parts written in full, the instrumental parts sometimes complete, sometimes only sketched. These are: the Dies irae as far as the Lacrimosa, which breaks off in the eighth bar; the Domine Jesu Christe and Hostias. There is nothing of Mozart’s writing in the ending of the Lacrimosa, the Sanctus, Benedictus and Agnus Dei.

Mozart’s widow was naturally anxious to collect the composition fee, and after other musicians had declined the task of completion she gave it to Franz Xavier Süssmayr, a pupil of Mozart’s who had assisted him with the Requiem and other late works. We do not know what sketches of Mozart’s he may have had to work from, partly because Constanze Mozart was keen to conceal the role of other hands in the fi nished Requiem. It seems unlikely, on the basis of Süssmayr’s original compositions, that he could have composed such a movement as the Benedictus unaided by any sketches by Mozart. It is not known whether the repetition of the Kyrie fugue for the ‘Cum sanctis tuis’ was his idea or Mozart’s.

The chief criticisms of Süssmayr’s completion concern the instrumentation and the fi lling out of inner parts. Some of the part-writing and distribution is inept and un-Mozartian; above all, the scoring of the entire work for the same instrumental palette is monotonous and often heavy. The trombones are used in inappropriate places and with a lack of restraint, but the tenor trombone solo in the Tuba mirum is undoubtedly Mozart’s even though it gives the impression, as Alfred Einstein says, that the player is showing off his own skill rather than announcing the Last

Constanze Mozart was keen to conceal the role of other hands in the finished Requiem.

Margaret Whitlam (1919–2012)For many years in the Sydney Symphony’s Wednesday night Master Series, one of the seats in the stalls of the Concert Hall was occupied by Margaret Whitlam, who attended concerts with her daughter. Subscribers in surrounding seats remember her with warmth and affection. Many more will recall the role of the Gough Whitlam government in encouraging the arts in the 1970s. Margaret Whitlam was an extraordinary public fi gure and an enthusiastic music lover – she will be missed on both counts.

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Gough and Margaret Whitlam at the Sydney Opera House in 1975.

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Judgment. The extent of Süssmayr’s contribution has always been a matter of controversy, and scholars incline to the view that it was less than used to be thought.

For better or for worse, Mozart’s Requiem is with us in a form partly determined by Süssmayr, and in that form it has remained one of his most admired and loved works. One of the wisest and most knowledgeable students of music of the Classical era, H.C. Robbins Landon, illuminatingly compared the Requiem to a great building which we know was not completed as its designer intended, but which to change would destroy a view dear and close to us.

© DAVID GARRETT

Mozart’s Requiem calls for four vocal soloists and mixed choir with an orchestra of two basset borns, two bassoons, two trumpets, three trombones, timpani, organ and strings.

The Sydney Symphony first performed the Requiem in 1962 in a Mozart concert conducted by Dean Dixon. The soloists were Valda Bagnall, Florence Taylor, William Herbert and Raymond Myers, with the Hurlstone Choral Society. Our most recent performance of the complete work was in the 1999 Master Series, conducted by Arnold Östman with Cheryl Barker, Kirsti Harms, David Hamilton, Stephen Bennett and the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. In 2003 we presented a program in which the movements of the Requiem were interspersed with other works; those concerts were conducted by Rolf Gupta with Joanna Cole, Catherine Carby, Paul McMahon, Karl Huml and Cantillation. Cantillation also performed selected choral movements in Gianluigi Gelmetti’s 2006 Shock of the New concerts.

Introit (Chorus and soprano solo)Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,et lux perpetua luceat eis.Te decet hymnus Deus in Sion,et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.Exaudi orationem meam,ad te omnis caro veniet.Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine,et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Kyrie (Chorus)Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison.Kyrie eleison.

Sequence:Dies irae (Chorus)Dies irae, dies illa,Solvet saeclum in favilla,Teste David cum Sibylla,Quantus tremor est futurus,Quando judex est venturus,Cuncta stricte discussurus!

Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,and may light perpetual shine upon them.To you, O God, praise is given in Zion,and prayer shall go up to you in Jerusalem.Give ear to my supplication,to you shall all flesh come.Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,and may light perpetual shine upon them.

Lord, have mercy upon us.Christ, have mercy upon us.Lord, have mercy upon us.

The Day of Wrath, that day shall dissolve the world in ashes, as David and the Sibyl testify.What trembling shall there bewhen the Judge shall comewho shall thresh out all thoroughly!

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Tuba mirum (Solo quartet)Tuba mirum spargens sonumPer sepulcra regionum,Coget omnes ante thronum.Mors stupebit et naturaCum resurget creaturaJudicanti responsura.Liber scriptus profereturIn quo totum contineturUnde mundus judicetur.Judex ergo cum sedebitQuidquid latet apparebit:Nil inultum remanebit.Quid sum miser tunc dicturus,Quem patronum rogaturus,Cum vix justus sit securus?

Rex tremendae (Chorus)Rex tremendae majestatis,Qui salvandos salvas gratis;Salva me, fons pietatis.

Recordare (Solo quartet)Recordare, Jesu pie,Quod sum causa tuae viaeNe me perdas illa die.Quaerens me sedisti lassusRedemisti crucem passus;Tantus labor non sit cassus.Juste judex ultionis,Donum fac remissionisAnte diem rationis.Ingemisco tamquam reus:Culpa rubet vultus meus.Supplicanti parce, Deus.Qui Mariam absolvistiEt latronem exaudisti,Mihi quoque spem dedisti.Preces meae non sunt dignae,Sed tu, bonus, fac benigne,Ne perenni cremer igne.Inter oves locum praestaEt ab haedis me sequestra,Statuens in parte dextra.

Confutatis (Chorus)Confutatis maledictis,Flammis acribus addictis,voca me cum benedictis.Oro supplex et acclinis,Cor contritum quasi cinis,Gere curam mei fi nis.

The trumpet, scattering a wondroussound through the tombs of all lands,shall drive all unto the throne.Death and nature shall be astoundedwhen all creation shall rise againto answer the judge.A written book shall be brought forthin which shall be contained allfor which the world shall be judged.And therefore when the Judge shall sit,whatsoever is hidden shall be manifest:and nothing shall remain unavenged.What shall I say in my misery?Whom shall I ask to be my advocate,When scarcely the righteous may be without fear?

King of awful majesty,you who freely save the redeemed;save me, O Fount of Pity.

Remember, merciful Jesus,that I am the reason for your journey,let me not be lost on that day.Seeking me, you sat weary.You redeemed me, suffering the Cross:let not such labour have been in vain.O just Judge of Vengeance,give the gift of redemptionbefore the day of reckoning.I groan as one guilty;my face blushes at my sin.Spare the supplicant, O God.You who absolved Maryand heard the prayer of the thief,you have also given hope to me.My prayers are not worthy,but you, O good one, show mercy,lest I burn in everlasting fire.Give me a place among the sheep,and separate me from the goats,setting me on the right hand.

When the damned are confoundedand consigned to sharp flames,call me with the blessed.I pray, kneeling in supplication,a heart as contrite as ashes,take my ending into your care.

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Lacrimosa (Chorus)Lacrimosa dies illaQua resurget ex favillaJudicandus homo reus.Huic ergo parce, Deus.Pie Jesu Domine:Dona eis requiem. Amen.

OffertoriumDomine Jesu Christe (Chorus and solo quartet)Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,libera animas omnium fi deliumdefunctorum de poenis inferni,et de profundo lacu;libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas Tartarus,ne cadant in obscurum.Sed signifer sanctus Michaelrepraesentet eas in lucem sanctam.Quam olim Abrahae promisisti,et semini ejus.

Hostias (Chorus)Hostias et preces tibi, Domine,laudis off erimus.Tu suscipe pro animabus illis,quarum hodie memoriam facimus.Fac eas, Domine, de morte transire ad vitam.Quam olim Abrahae promisisti,et semini ejus.

Sanctus (Chorus)Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,Dominus Deus Sabaoth.Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.Hosanna in excelsis.

Benedictus (Solo quartet and chorus)Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.Hosanna in excelsis.

Agnus Dei (Chorus)Agnus Dei qui tollis peccata mundi; dona eis requiem sempiternam.

Communio (Soprano solo and chorus)Lux aeterna luceat eis Domine,cum sanctis tuis in aeternumquia pius es. Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Cum sanctis tuis in aeternum: quia pius es.

That day is one of weepingon which shall rise again from the ashesguilty mankind, to be judged.Therefore spare this one, O God.Merciful Lord Jesus:Grant them rest. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,deliver the souls of all the departed faithful from the torments of Hell,and from the deep pit; deliver them from the mouth of the lion; that Hell may not swallow them up, and that they may not fall into darkness.But may the holy standard-bearer Michaelbring them into the holy light;which thou didst promise of old to Abrahamand his seed.

We offer unto you, O Lord,sacrifices and prayers of praise.Receive them on behalf of those souls whom we commemorate today.Make them, O Lord,to cross over from death to life,as once you promised to Abrahamand his seed.

Holy, holy, holy,Lord God of Hosts.Heaven and earth are full of your glory.Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world,give them eternal rest.

Let everlasting light shine on them,O Lord, with your saints for ever:for you are good. Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them,with your saints forever; for you are good.

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MORE MUSIC

POULENC GLORIA

Poulenc was one of the great sacred choral composers of the 20th century and a recording with the combined forces of Polyphony, the Choir of Trinity College Cambridge and the Britten Sinfonia, all conducted by Stephen Layton, brings together the Gloria and some of the smaller choral works such as the Motets pour un temps de pénitence and the Motets pour le temps de Noël. Susan Gritton is the soprano in the Gloria and the music-making has been praised for its ‘immense power and vibrancy’.HYPERION RECORDS CDA67623

If Poulenc is a new discovery for you and you’re curious to hear more, look for one of the excellent collections of his music. Perhaps the most generous of these is the 5CD set conducted by Charles Dutoit. In addition to the Gloria and the Stabat Mater (both with soloist Françoise Pollet and the French National Orchestra and Radio Choir), the piano and organ concertos, Concert Champêtre for harpsichord, Suite française, and his concerto-ballet Aubade (which the Sydney Symphony played with pianist Ian Munro last month).DECCA 475 8454

MOZART REQUIEM

Because Mozart’s Requiem was left unfi nished, there are various completions and editions to choose from. Some of these build on or ‘correct’ Süssmayr’s work as the fi rst to complete the Requiem, while others aim to begin with the material we can be sure was Mozart’s. Claudio Abbado’s recording with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Swedish Radio Choir uses reconstructions by Franz Beyer (1971 and 1979) and Robert Levin (1993). The soloists are Karita Mattila, Sara Mingardo, Michael Schade and Bryn Terfel.DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 463 1812

For a representative assembly of the music from Mozart’s fi nal years (together with some earlier works), look for the 6CD set from The Leonard Bernstein Collectors Edition. In addition to the Requiem (Franz Beyer/Kunzelmann edition), the set includes the Clarinet Concerto, K622, the last three symphonies, the Ave verum corpus, K618. Among the earlier creations are the Mass in C minor, K427 and the soprano motet Exsultate, jubilate, as well as the dramatic ‘Little G Minor’ Symphony (No.25) which proved so eff ective in the opening titles of the fi lm Amadeus.DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 477 6697

Among the period-instrument performances, Jordi Savall’s recording with Le Concert des Nations and La Capella Reial de Catalunya is well worth checking out. The soloists are Claudia Schubert, Gerd Türk, Stephan Schreckenberger and the late Montserrat Figueras, and the disc is completed with Mozart’s Masonic Funeral Music, K477.ALIA VOX 9880

DAVID ZINMAN

David Zinman and the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra have recently released three recordings, including a beautifully played and much praised Brahms symphonies set. RCA 793349

Also released this year were two Schubert discs, recorded using 19th-century instruments and prepared in consultation with the original editions of the scores: the fi rst and second symphonies, and a disc combining the much-loved ‘Unfi nished’ Symphony with Schubert’s pieces for solo violin and orchestra (Andreas Janke is the soloist).RCA 787147 (1 AND 2)RCA 795335 (UNFINISHED)

David Zinman’s Mozart recordings include the violin concertos with American soloist Pamela Frank and the Zurich orchestra. In addition to the fi ve canonical concertos, the 2CD set also includes the three-movement ‘violin concerto’ from the Haff ner Serenade, K250.ARTE NOVA 721040

Broadcast DiaryMay

Saturday 12 May, 8pmmozart’s requiem: choral contrastsDavid Zinman conductorWelch-Babidge, Campbell, McMahon, Whelan vocal soloistsSydney Philharmonia ChoirsPoulenc, MozartPlease note change of broadcast time from previously published information.

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

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

2MBS-FM 102.5sydney symphony 2012 Tuesday 15 May, 6pmMusicians, 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 tributeMonday 21 May at 7pm

Visit: bigpondmusic.com/sydneysymphonyLive webcasts can also be viewed via our mobile app.

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

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

Mystery& Motion

Mozart at his most Romantic, Beethoven at his most Classical, and the luminous,exotic sounds of a composer whounderstands the ‘mystery of the moment’.

DUTILLEUX Mystère de l’instant (Mystery of the Moment) AUSTRALIAN PREMIEREMOZART Piano Concerto No.20 in D minor, K466BEETHOVEN Symphony No.4

Hannu Lintu conductorAngela Hewitt piano

AUSGRID MASTER SERIES

19, 21 & 22 Sep 8pm

Angela Hewitt plays Mozart

BOOK NOW! Tickets available from $35*

SYDNEYSYMPHONY.COM or call 8215 4600 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm

Tickets also available at sydneyoperahouse.com 9250 7777 Mon-Sat 9am-8.30pm | Sun 10am-6pm

*Booking fees of $7.50 – $8.95 may apply

sydney symphony 23

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

PR

ISK

A K

ETT

ER

ERDavid Zinman CONDUCTOR

David Zinman is in his 17th season as Music Director of the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. His conducting career has been distinguished by his extraordinarily broad repertoire, strong commitment to contemporary music and introduction of historically informed performance practice.

He has conducted all the leading North American orchestras, including the Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras, and the New York Philharmonic. In Europe he has conducted the Berlin Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Vienna Symphony, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Philharmonia Orchestra and Orchestre National de France, as well as other leading orchestras. He has toured widely, including tours in Europe, Asia and the United States with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. He also conducts opera, most recently Off enbach’s Les contes d’Hoff mann for Geneva Opera in 2010.

He has more than 100 recordings, which have earned him fi ve Grammy awards, two Grand Prix du Disque, two Edison Prizes, the Deutsche Schallplattenpreis and a Gramophone Award. He recently completed a Mahler symphony cycle with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, following symphonic cycles by Beethoven, Strauss, Schumann and most recently Brahms. Their current project is the Schubert symphonies.

David Zinman studied conducting with Pierre Monteux, and made his major debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1967. He has been Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Conductor of the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. He has also been Music Director of the Aspen Music Festival and School, and of the American Academy of Conducting.

In 2000 the French Ministry of Culture made David Zinman a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2002 the City of Zurich awarded him its Art Prize – the fi rst conductor and the fi rst non-Swiss to receive it. In 1997 he received Columbia University’s Ditson Award for performing works by American composers, and in 2008 he was named Midem Classical Artist of the Year for his work with the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich.

David Zinman’s most recent appearance with the Sydney Symphony was in 2002 when he conducted an all-Brahms program in the Master Series and Pictures at an Exhibition in Meet the Music.

24 sydney symphony

Jennifer Welch-Babidge SOPRANO

Jennifer Welch-Babidge was born in Aulander, North Carolina and holds a Master’s degree in vocal performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts. Her achievements have included a Thomas Foundation ARIA award and Richard Tucker Career Grant (2001) and she was a winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1997. She subsequently joined the company’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, and since then has frequently appeared at the Metropolitan, where her performances have included Fidelio, The Queen of Spades, The Abduction from the Seraglio and Das Rheingold. In recent seasons she has also sung Lucia di Lammermoor (New York City Opera, Opera Colorado, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis), The Abduction from the Seraglio (San Francisco Opera and St Louis), Die Fledermaus (San Francisco), Don Pasquale (Houston Grand Opera), Rigoletto (Opera Colorado), La Traviata (Opera Pacific) and The Pearl Fishers (Washington National Opera).

Recent concert performances include Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and Berg’s Lulu Suite (Philadelphia Orchestra), Mahler’s Eighth Symphony and concert performances of Candide (San Francisco Symphony), Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony (Nashville Symphony) and Handel’s Messiah (Boston Baroque). This week’s concerts are her first performances of Poulenc’s Gloria as well as her Sydney Symphony debut.

Fiona Campbell MEZZO-SOPRANO

Australian-born mezzo-soprano Fiona Campbell is consistently praised for her exquisite musicianship and powerful performances on stage, in the concert hall and as a recording artist. Last year she won the Limelight Award for Best Solo Performance, and she has been a Vocal category winner in the ABC Young Performers Awards and an Opera Awards winner in the Australian Singing Competition.

Fiona Campbell is a touring favourite of tenor José Carreras and American soprano Barbara Bonney, and sings regularly as a guest artist with Australia’s major ensembles and orchestras, including appearances in Sydney with the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australia Ensemble and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. She has also appeared with the Brodsky Quartet, Tokyo Philharmonic, Soloists of Royal Opera House Orchestra, Manchester Camerata, Prague Chamber Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic, and with Grange Park Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Opera North, Opera Australia and Pinchgut Opera.

Her recordings include her first solo album Love+Loss and Baroque Duets with countertenor David Walker. This season she again tours with the ACO and ABO, appears for Musica Viva at the Huntington Festival and in Orfeo for the Brisbane Festival, and will give recitals at the Art Gallery of NSW and in Europe. This is Fiona Campbell’s Sydney Symphony debut.

sydney symphony 25

Paul McMahon TENOR

Tenor Paul McMahon is one of Australia’s leading singers of baroque and classical repertoire. He performs regularly as a soloist with symphony orchestras, chamber music groups and choirs throughout Australia, New Zealand and Asia, and is in special demand for the part of the Evangelist in the Passions of JS Bach. Performance highlights include the St John Passion (Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti), St Matthew Passion (Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Roy Goodman); Haydn’s Creation (Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Richard Hickox) and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Markus Stenz). His recordings include the solo album A Painted Tale – English, French and Italian lute songs, Handel’s Messiah, Handel’s Semele, Monteverdi’s Orfeo, Purcell’s Fairy Queen, Mozart’s Requiem and Idomeneo, and Carl Orff ’s Carmina Burana.

In 2011 he sang the Evangelist in both Bach Passions (Orpheus Choir Wellington, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and St George’s Cathedral, Perth), Bach’s Magnificat (Adelaide Symphony Orchestra), Mozart’s Mass in C Minor (Melbourne and West Australian Symphony Orchestras) and Orff ’s Carmina Burana (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra). This season he performs with the Sydney and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, the Australia Ensemble, Auckland Choral Society, Melbourne Bach Choir and St George’s Cathedral, Perth. His most recent appearance with the Sydney Symphony was in 2009, in Carmina Burana.

Paul Whelan BARITONE

Paul Whelan studied in Wellington and at the Royal Northern College of Music. At the beginning of his career he won the Lieder Prize in the 1993 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition, and since then has performed with Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, Netherlands Opera, English National Opera, Glyndeborne, Opéra de Paris, Opéra de Genève and Bavarian State Opera (Munich), among others. As his voice matured and settled, he began concentrating on the bass-baritone and lyric bass repertoire. Recent roles have included Seneca in L’Incoronazione di Poppea (Opera de Lille and Opera Dijon) and Harry Joy in Bliss (Hamburg State Opera) and last year he performed his first Wotan in Das Rheingold (Auckland Philharmonia). For Opera Australia he has sung the title roles in Don Giovanni and Onegin, Demetrius in Britten’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Count (The Marriage of Figaro) and Olivier (Capriccio), and this year will sing Ramfis in Aida.

He has sung in concert with such conductors as Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Richard Hickox, Charles Mackerras and Valery Gergiev, and recital appearances include Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room, St David’s Hall Cardiff, the BBC, Perth Festival and the Châtelet Paris. Paul Whelan’s most recent appearance with the Sydney Symphony was in Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis in 2008.

26 sydney symphony

Brett Weymark artistic and musical directorBrett Weymark studied singing at the University of Sydney and conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium. In 2003 he was appointed Musical Director of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. He has conducted the choirs in premieres of works by composers such as Elena Kats-Chernin and Peter Sculthorpe, and has also prepared the choirs for concerts with conductors such as Charles Mackerras, Charles Dutoit and Simon Rattle. Most recently, he has conducted Die Fledermaus at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts and Symphony in the Domain for the 2012 Sydney Festival, and this season he will conduct the OzOpera tour of Don Giovanni and return to WAAPA to conduct Goetz’s Taming of the Shrew.

Anthony Pasquill assistant chorusmasterBorn in Royal Leamington Spa, Anthony began his musical training in the choir of Lichfield Cathedral, where he has appeared with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Michael George and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Before moving to Australia, he gained a degree in clarinet performance from Leeds University and spent a year studying at the University of North Texas. In addition to his work with the Sydney Philharmonia choruses, he is currently Musical Director of Sydney-based chamber choir Bel a cappella, and this year he conducts the Australian premieres of Peteris Vasks’ Missa and George Dyson’s Hierusalem with Bel.

Sydney Philharmonia ChoirsFormed in 1920, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs is Australia’s largest choral organisation. The three principal choirs – the Chamber Singers, Symphony Chorus and the young adult choir VOX – perform a diverse repertoire each year, ranging from early a cappella works to challenging contemporary music. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents an annual concert series featuring sacred and secular choral masterpieces, and has premiered several commissioned works, most recently Peter Sculthorpe’s To Music. In 2002, Sydney Philharmonia was the first Australian choir to sing at the BBC Proms (Mahler’s Eighth Symphony under Simon Rattle), returning again in 2010. Other highlights have included Beethoven’s Ninth for the Nagano Winter Olympics, concerts with Barbra Streisand and Britten’s War Requiem at the 2007 Perth Festival.

Appearances with the Sydney Symphony have included Mahler’s Eighth for the Olympic Arts Festival (2000), Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms, ‘Midsummer Shakespeare’ (2011 Sydney Festival) and the choral symphonies in Ashkenazy’s Mahler Odyssey (2010–11). Last year VOX made its first independent appearance with the orchestra, performing in Grieg’s Peer Gynt. The choir’s most recent appearance with the orchestra was in Beethoven 9 in February.

sydney symphony 27

Brett Weymark Artistic and Musical DirectorAtul Joshi General ManagerAnthony Pasquill Assistant ChorusmasterJosephine Allan and Estella Roche Rehearsal pianists

SOPRANOSHeather AirdShelley Andrews*Ruth BeecherSandi BellAmy BentleyJacqui BinetskyGeorgina BitconAnne BlakeOlga BodrovaJodie BoehmeNikki BogardLarissa BurakClaire Burrell-McDonaldElizabeth CartmerAnne CookePam CunninghamRouna DaleyCatherine De LucaShamistha De Soysa*Alya DrobotSoline Epain-MarzacKarina FallandNatalie FisherDorothy GillJudith GorryBelinda GriffithsCaroline GudeStephanie HallMaria HemphillRebecca HowardCarine JenkinsSue JusticeMichelle KangRychelle KielyKarolina KulczynskaVictoria LaverickCarolyn LowryJayne OishiLindsey Paget-CookeDympna PatersonGeorgia RiversSusie RobertsMeg ShawRachel SibleySarah ThompsonKaren WalmsleyCindy Yang

ALTOSLeonie ArmitageJan BorrieGae BristowHeather BurnettKate ClowesRuth CollersonPenny CraswellPip DaviesCatriona DebelleClaire DuffyAlison DuttonRuth EdenboroughHelen EsmondJan FawkePhoebe FergusonNadia FriedElizabeth GallowayPenny GayLinda GerrytsJennifer GillmanRebecca Gladys-LeeJemma GoldingEdith GrayRitu GuptaTracy HallSue HarrisJenny HarryKathryn HarwoodMargaret HofmanSarah HowellHelen HughsonSanne HulstSooJin KimPia KostiainenNatalie LaneRachel MaidenHannah Mason*Donna McIntoshJanice McKeandMaggie McKelveyTijana MiljovskaPenny MorrisSusie NorthHelen PedersenArwen SeccombeJan ShawMegan SolomonVanessa South*Erica SvampaMelvin TanMaree TyrrellSheli Wallach

TENORSMatthew AllchurchPaul BoswellDaniel ComarmondMalcolm DayRobert ElliottLius FirdausDenys Gillespie*Steven HankeyJude HoldsworthKeyan KarroobeeMichael KerteszDavid LarkinSelwyn LemosVincent LoThomas MacDonaldFrank MaioStephen McDonnellMark MeehanDimitry MoraitisPaul SoperMartin StebbingsTijl StynenBruce Turner+Michael WallachAlex Walter*Ben Wirfler

BASSESBryan BanstonDominic BlakeSimon BoileauAndrew BrotenKyle BuchananEdwin CarterGordon ChengJulian CoghlanDion CondackPaul CouvretPhilip Crenigan*Paul Cunningham*Robert CunninghamIan Davies*Graham DickDavid FaulknerTom Forrester-PatonMatthew GytonEric HansenDerek HodgkinsTimothy JenkinsMartin KuskisSamuel MerrickPeter PooleMichael RyanEdwin TomlinsNicholas TongRobert TotonjianRobert WilliamsArthur WincklerDavid WoodKen Zhang

* section leader+ tenor soloist (Poulenc)

To find about Sydney Philharmonia concerts or joining one of the choirs, visit www.sydneyphilharmonia.com.au

28 sydney symphony28 sydney symphony

MUSICIANS

Vladimir AshkenazyPrincipal Conductor and Artistic Advisor supported by Emirates

Dene OldingConcertmaster

Nicholas CarterAssociate Conductor supported by Premier Partner Credit Suisse

FIRST VIOLINS Andrew Haveron* Concertmaster

Dene Olding Concertmaster

Sun Yi Associate Concertmaster

Kirsten Williams Associate Concertmaster

Fiona Ziegler Assistant Concertmaster

Jennifer Booth Marianne BroadfootBrielle ClapsonSophie Cole Jennifer Hoy Nicola Lewis Alexander NortonLéone Ziegler Elizabeth Jones°Katherine Lukey Assistant Concertmaster

Julie Batty Amber Davis

SECOND VIOLINS Kirsty Hilton Marina Marsden Emily Long A/Assistant Principal

Susan Dobbie Principal Emeritus

Maria Durek Shuti Huang Benjamin Li Nicole Masters Philippa Paige Biyana Rozenblit Maja Verunica Emily Qin°Emma West Assistant Principal

Emma Hayes Stan W Kornel

VIOLASRoger Benedict Anne-Louise Comerford Jane Hazelwood Sandro Costantino Graham Hennings Stuart Johnson Justine Marsden Leonid Volovelsky Rosemary Curtin*Tara Houghton°Tobias Breider Robyn Brookfield Felicity Tsai

CELLOSCatherine Hewgill Teije Hylkema*Leah Lynn Assistant Principal

Timothy NankervisElizabeth NevilleChristopher PidcockAdrian Wallis David Wickham Fenella Gill Kristy Conrau

DOUBLE BASSESKees Boersma Alex Henery Neil Brawley Principal Emeritus

David Campbell David MurrayBenjamin Ward Steven LarsonRichard Lynn

FLUTES Emma Sholl Carolyn HarrisRosamund Plummer Principal Piccolo

Janet Webb

OBOESShefali Pryor Alexandre Oguey Principal Cor Anglais

Rachel Cashmore†

Diana DohertyDavid Papp

CLARINETS &BASSET HORNSFrancesco CelataChristopher Tingay Craig Wernicke Principal Bass Clarinet

Lawrence Dobell

BASSOONSMatthew WilkieNicole Tait°Noriko Shimada Principal Contrabassoon

Fiona McNamara

HORNSRobert Johnson Geoffrey O’Reilly Principal 3rd

Sharn McIver†

Jenny McLeod-Sneyd°Ben JacksEuan HarveyMarnie Sebire

TRUMPETSPaul Goodchild Anthony Heinrichs Andrew Evans°David EltonJohn Foster

TROMBONESScott Kinmont Nick Byrne Christopher Harris Principal Bass Trombone

Ronald Prussing

TUBASteve Rossé

TIMPANIRichard Miller

PERCUSSIONRebecca Lagos Colin Piper Mark Robinson HARP Louise Johnson

ORGANDavid Drury*

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 29

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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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 31

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

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32 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 GrantHelen 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 McDougall

sydney symphony 33

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

Ian & Pam McGawMatthew 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 Burnett

Ita Buttrose ao obeStephen 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 McClellan

Mrs Flora MacDonaldMrs 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)

34 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

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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, Ms Helen Coonan, Mr Wesley Enoch, Ms Renata Kaldor AO, Mr Robert Leece AM RFD, Mr Peter Mason AM,Dr Thomas (Tom) Parry AM, Mr Leo Schofi eld AM, Mr John Symond AM

EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENTChief Executive Officer Richard Evans Chief Operating Officer David Antaw Chief Financial Officer Claire Spencer Director, Building Development & Maintenance Greg McTaggart Director, Marketing Communications & Customer Services Victoria Doidge Director, Venue Partners & Safety Julia Pucci Executive Producer, SOH Presents Jonathan Bielski

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

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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.

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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.

MUSICIANS IN JAIL

Just recently the Sydney Symphony Fellows spent some time in jail! For two mornings at the end of April (during the course of a weeklong retreat at the Bundanon Trust property) they worked with inmates of the South Coast Correctional Centre near Nowra – a fi rst for both Bundanon Trust and the Fellowship program.

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