July 2022 | Concert Program

CONCERT PROGRAM

J U LY 2 0 2 2 H O M E A N D A B R OA D

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A N ( A N T I ) H E R O’ S L I F E

VA S I LY P E T R E N KO C O N D U C T S E LG A R SHINING STRINGS

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CONTENTS

04

THE MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Acknowledging Country Your MSO

8 14 16 24 28

HOME AND ABROAD

AN (ANTI) HERO’S LIFE

VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTS ELGAR

SHINING STRINGS

SUPPORTERS

These concerts may be recorded for future broadcast on MSO.LIVE. Please note audience members are strongly recommended to wear face masks where 1.5m distancing is not possible, however wearing a mask is no longer a requirement for entry.

In consideration of your fellow patrons, the MSO thanks you for silencing and dimming the light on your phone.

mso.com.au

(03) 9929 9600

Acknowledging Country In the first project of its kind in Australia, the MSO has developed a musical Acknowledgment of Country with music composed by Yorta Yorta composer Deborah Cheetham AO, featuring Indigenous languages from across Victoria. Generously supported

by Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and the Commonwealth Government through the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, the MSO is working in partnership with Short Black Opera and Indigenous language custodians who are generously sharing their cultural knowledge.

The Acknowledgement of Country allows us to pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land on which we perform in the language of that country and in the orchestral language of music.

Australian National Commission for UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

About Long Time Living Here In all the world, only Australia can lay claim to the longest continuing cultures and we celebrate this more today than in any other time since our shared history began. We live each day drawing energy from a land which has been nurtured by the traditional owners for more than 2000 generations. When we acknowledge country we pay respect to the land and to the people in equal measure.

As a composer I have specialised in coupling the beauty and diversity of our Indigenous languages with the power and intensity of classical music.

In order to compose the music for this Acknowledgement of Country Project I have had the great privilege of working with no fewer than eleven ancient languages from the state of Victoria, including the language of my late Grandmother, Yorta Yorta woman Frances McGee. I pay my deepest respects to the elders and ancestors who are represented in these songs of acknowledgement and to the language custodians who have shared their knowledge and expertise in providing each text.

I am so proud of the MSO for initiating this landmark project and grateful that they afforded me the opportunity to make this contribution to the ongoing quest of understanding our belonging in this land.

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— Deborah Cheetham AO

Your MSO

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Established in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s pre-eminent orchestra and a cornerstone of Victoria’s rich, cultural heritage.

Each year, the MSO engages with more than 5 million people, presenting in excess of 180 public events across live performances, TV, radio and online broadcasts, and via its online concert hall, MSO.LIVE, with audiences in 56 countries.

With a reputation for excellence, versatility and innovation, the MSO works with culturally diverse and First Nations leaders to build community and deliver music to people across Melbourne, the state of Victoria and around the world.

In 2022, the MSO ‘s new Chief Conductor, Jaime Martín has ushered in an exciting new phase in the Orchestra’s history. Maestro Martín joins an Artistic Family that includes Principal Guest Conductor Xian Zhang, Principal Conductor in Residence, Benjamin Northey, Conductor Laureate, Sir Andrew Davis CBE, Composer in Residence, Paul Grabowsky and Young Artist in Association, Christian Li. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the people of the Eastern Kulin Nations, on whose un‑ceded lands we honour the continuation of the oldest music practice in the world.

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Your MSO

Your MSO Jaime Martín

Chief Conductor Dr Marc Besen AC and the late Dr Eva Besen AO#

Xian Zhang

Principal Guest Conductor

Benjamin Northey Principal Conductor in Residence

Carlo Antonioli Cybec Assistant Conductor Fellow

CELLOS

Matthew Tomkins

David Berlin

Robert Macindoe

Rachael Tobin

Monica Curro

Nicholas Bochner Miranda Brockman

Principal The Gross Foundation# Associate Principal Assistant Principal Danny Gorog and Lindy Susskind#

Dale Barltrop

Mary Allison Isin Cakmakcioglu Tiffany Cheng Freya Franzen Cong Gu Andrew Hall Isy Wasserman Philippa West

Sophie Rowell

Patrick Wong Roger Young

Sir Andrew Davis Conductor Laureate

Hiroyuki Iwaki †

Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)

FIRST VIOLINS Concertmaster David Li AM and Angela Li# Concertmaster The Ullmer Family Foundation#

Tair Khisambeev

Assistant Concertmaster Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Peter Edwards

Assistant Principal

Kirsty Bremner Sarah Curro Peter Fellin Deborah Goodall Lorraine Hook Anne-Marie Johnson Kirstin Kenny Eleanor Mancini Mark Mogilevski Michelle Ruffolo Kathryn Taylor

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SECOND VIOLINS

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan#

VIOLAS Christopher Moore Principal Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio#

Lauren Brigden Katharine Brockman Anthony Chataway

Dr Elizabeth E Lewis AM#

Gabrielle Halloran Trevor Jones Anne Neil#

Fiona Sargeant

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website.

Principal Hyon Ju Newman# Associate Principal

Geelong Friends of the MSO#

Rohan de Korte

Andrew Dudgeon AM#

Sarah Morse Angela Sargeant Michelle Wood

Andrew and Judy Rogers#

DOUBLE BASSES Benjamin Hanlon

Frank Mercurio and Di Jameson#

Rohan Dasika Suzanne Lee FLUTES Prudence Davis Principal Anonymous#

Wendy Clarke

Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs PICCOLO Andrew Macleod Principal

Thomas Hutchinson

Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn

The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

HORNS Nicolas Fleury

Principal Margaret Jackson AC#

Saul Lewis

COR ANGLAIS

Principal Third The Hon Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall#

Michael Pisani

Abbey Edlin

CLARINETS

Trinette McClimont Rachel Shaw

Principal

David Thomas

Principal

Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM#

TRUMPETS

Craig Hill

Owen Morris

BASS CLARINET Jon Craven Principal

BASSOONS Jack Schiller

Principal

Elise Millman

Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

Dr Martin Tymms and Patricia Nilsson#

CONTRABASSOON Brock Imison

PERCUSSION John Arcaro Anonymous#

Robert Cossom

Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen#

HARP Yinuo Mu Principal

Gary McPherson#

Philip Arkinstall

Associate Principal

TIMPANI

Your MSO

OBOES

Principal

Shane Hooton

Associate Principal

William Evans Rosie Turner

John and Diana Frew#

TROMBONES Richard Shirley Mike Szabo

Principal Bass Trombone

TUBA Timothy Buzbee

Principal

Principal

# Position supported by

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Home and Abroad Sunday 3 July / 3pm Deakin Edge, Federation Square Sam Allchurch conductor Mark O’Leary conductor Gondwana Voices Tim Mallis piano MSO Academy* with musicians of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra MICHAEL ATHERTON Shall We Dream KENNETH LAMPL Memory’s Wavering Echo LYN WILLIAMS Festive Alleluia PAUL JARMAN Sea of Berries ELENA KATS-CHERNIN Deep Sea Dreaming ERIC WHITACRE Seal Lullaby MICHAEL NEAUM The Water of Tyne MATTI HYÖKKI On suuri sun rantas autius LAJOS BARDOS Menyecske MENDELSSOHN arr. Rotar Three Lieder RAVEL arr. Linckelmann Mother Goose: Suite MARTINU Nonet No.2 HARRI WESSMAN Vesy väsyy lumen alle PAUL STANHOPE Songs of Innocence and Joy * The MSO Academy is supported by Platinum Patron and MSO Co-Deputy Chair, Di Jameson.

A musical Acknowledgement of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham AO, will be performed before the start of this concert.

HOME AND ABROAD | 3 July

Sam Allchurch

Mark O’Leary

Sam Allchurch is recognised as one of Australia’s leading conductors of choirs and began his life in choral music as a chorister in the Sydney Children’s Choir and Gondwana Voices. Sam now holds multiple posts across the choral network in Sydney, including Artistic Director of the acclaimed Sydney Chamber Choir and Director of Music at Christ Church St Laurence. He is also Associate Artistic Director of Gondwana Choirs and conducts the Young Men’s Choir, capturing the unique sound of changing male voices. Sam is frequently invited to conduct the City Recital Hall’s Flash Mob Choir and has appeared as a guest conductor at Festival of Voices, Tasmania and the Combined Schools Music Festival.

Mark O’Leary OAM is well known in Australia, widely respected for his work with Young Voices of Melbourne, Exaudi and Gondwana Voices. He has made 37 tours with YVM and Exaudi to all states and territories of Australia as well as Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Canada, the USA, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Samoa, New Zealand and Japan, and recorded 13 CDs with these choirs.

With Gondwana Voices he has made 5 international tours to Europe, North America, China and Taiwan and conducted the choir on 3 recordings.

conductor

Sam holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Melbourne and a Master in Music (Choral Studies) from the University of Cambridge, where he studied with Geoffrey Webber and Stephen Layton, supported by a scholarship from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

conductor

Mark is a regular guest conductor and presenter at choral festivals and music education conferences around the country. He publishes Australian choral music in the Young Voices of Melbourne Choral Series and is the creator of the Sight Singing School books and website used in more than 45 countries. He has three degrees from the University of Melbourne, is a Churchill Fellow, and an Honorary Life Member of the Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia.

In 2018 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to education and choral music.

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HOME AND ABROAD | 3 July

Gondwana Voices Gondwana Voices is Australia’s national children’s choir for treble singers aged 10–17. It regularly performs with the country’s leading ensembles and has built a reputation for performances of outstanding musicianship. Gondwana Voices is conducted by Gondwana Choirs Founder and Artistic Director Lyn Williams AM and Mark O’Leary.

The choir tours nationally and internationally and has taken part in international choral festivals including the World Symposium on Choral Music, Rotterdam; America Cantat, Mexico City; Polyfollia, Normandy; and Festival 500, Newfoundland.

In 2007 Gondwana Voices was the first Australian children’s choir to perform at the BBC Proms.

Recent tours include a 20th anniversary trip to the Baltic States and Iceland in 2017, which included a collaboration with the acclaimed TIARA Riga Cathedral Girls’ Choir and a tour of northern Queensland in October 2018, performing in Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Innsifail and Cairns.

In 2019, Gondwana Voices performed Brett Dean’s Vexations and Devotions with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra under maestro Vladimir Jurowksi at the Berlin Philharmonie.

Gondwana Voices Chorus Hilde Andreasen Imogene Blake Teya Catterall Johanna Collins Holly Dauparas Emily Ellis Jojo Ellis Isabelle Epps Sienna Flannery Gemma Golding Tessa Gunther

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Zoe Humberstone Amber Jarman Ruby Jarman Tiko Lay Alexia Leake Esther Lindeman Esther Little Paisley Motum Claire Moulds Katie Nielsen Hannah Pocknee

Chelsea Porritt Mia Rogers Saskia Scheib Imogen Taylor Eleanor Tehan Miranda Vaz Grace Veitch Clare Warwick Ebbeny Williams-Cherry Cadence Wone De Rungs

HOME AND ABROAD | 3 July

Tim Mallis piano

Tim Mallis is a Melbourne-based musician specialising in composition and piano accompaniment. Tim is a passionate advocate for music education and bringing new Australian compositions to life.

Tim is a graduate of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music specialising in organ and composition. As an awardwinning composer, he has written for some of Australia’s finest ensembles and is frequently commissioned for works by local arts bodies including Arts Centre Melbourne in their ‘5x5x5’ program, and Choral Edge in their award-nominated ‘Stories from the Choir’.

As a former member of Young Songmakers Australia and former student of the Franz-SchubertInstitut, Tim is in high demand as an accompanist, organist, and conductor.

He is the current Associate Director of Music at St Andrew’s Anglican Church in Brighton and has held positions as Director of Music at both St Bartholomew’s and St Stephen’s Anglican Churches in Richmond.

As part of his ongoing relationship with the Australian Boys Choral Institute since 2003, Tim is involved both as a Teacher-in-Charge and member of The Vocal Consort. Tim is also employed by Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as a surtitle specialist since 2014.

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HOME AND ABROAD | 3 July 12

MSO Academy The MSO academy is intended to provide the vital final step of training for musicians who have completed, or will soon complete tertiary music studies, who wish to pursue a career as orchestral musicians. The program is open to Australian and New Zealand citizens.

Lily Bryant (Flute)

Ryan Humphrey (Horn)

Lily is a graduate of Griffith University (B.Mus, 2016) and currently studies at ANAM under Virginia Taylor and Alison Mitchell. Professional engagements include Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Q, Queensland Pops Orchestra, as well as performances with the Australian Youth Orchestra and Musica Viva.

Ryan is a graduate of Griffith University (B.Mus, 2019) and currently studies at ANAM under Carla Blackwood.

Professional engagements include Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Q, Camerata (Queensland Chamber Orchestra), as well as performances with the Australian Youth Orchestra.

Jamie Dodd (Bassoon)

Andy Leask (Cello)

Jamie is a graduate of Griffith University (B.Mus, 2021) and currently studies at ANAM. Professional engagements include Queensland Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Q, as well as performances with the Australian Youth Orchestra. Jamie was studying at the Eastman School of Music (New York, USA) before COVID forced him to return to Australia.

Andy is a graduate of Griffith University (B.Mus, 2015). Professional engagements include Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, London’s Firebird Orchestra, as well as performances with the Australian Youth Orchestra and Musica Viva. Commercial work includes performances alongside Tina Arena and Delta Goodrem and a tour of China with the Australian International Opera Company. If you’ve been bingeing Bridgerton, you’ve heard Andy play cello on it with the National Symphony Orchestra (London, UK)!

Midweek classical in the CBD 1 HOUR CONCERTS, NO INTERVAL NEW WORLD SYMPHONY Monday 1 August

HAROLD IN ITALY Thursday 18 August

TCHAIKOVSKY’S PATHÉTIQUE Monday 5 September

BRETT DEAN AND BEETHOVEN Monday 7 November

All concerts 6.30pm | Hamer Hall

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An (Anti) Hero’s Life Sunday 10 July / 11am Deakin Edge, Federation Square Christopher Moore conductor David Greco baritone Musicians of the MSO H.K. GRUBER Frankenstein!!

R. STRAUSS (arr. Joolz Gale) Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life)

A musical Acknowledgement of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham AO, will be performed before the start of this concert.

Running time: Approximately 95 minutes, inc. 20-min interval.

AN (ANTI) HERO’S LIFE | 10july

Christopher Moore

David Greco

Christopher Moore is supported by Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio.

Internationally regarded for his interpretations of Schubert Lieder and the works of J.S. Bach, baritone David Greco has sung on some of the finest stages across Europe and has appeared as a principal in opera festivals such as Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and Glyndebourne. In 2014 he was the first Australian appointed to a position with the Sistine Chapel Choir in the Vatican.

conductor

Principal Viola of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Christopher Moore spent nine years travelling the globe as Principal Viola of Australian Chamber Orchestra. As romantic as that sounds, he missed his old chums Mahler, Schoenberg and Adès, and so returned to these and other old friends at the MSO. Not surprisingly, Christopher’s wife and two daughters are pleased that Papa has hung up his rock star garb and come home to roost like their pet chickens. If you’re lucky, he may hand you a bona fide free-range egg; if you’re unlucky, you’ll be stuck hearing about how much he loves brewing beer and riding his bike into town from the suburbs, in an attempt to prevent his waistline expanding to the size of his chickens’ coop.

Christopher Moore plays a viola attributed to Giovanni Paolo Maggini dating from circa 1600-10 AD, loaned anonymously to the MSO.

Instead of artistic notes being presented in this concert program, we are delighted for MSO Creative Producer, Chris Moore to introduce the repertoire from the stage.

baritone

He regularly appears with leading Australian ensembles such as Pinchgut Opera, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia and, most recently, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in their Helpmann Awardwinning concerts of Bach’s cantata, Ich habe genug. As a principal artist with Opera Australia, he appeared in The Eighth Wonder and The Love for Three Oranges, and his appearances as Seneca in Pinchgut’s Coronation of Poppea and Momus in Platée received critical acclaim.

David Greco is an active researcher into the historical performance practice of 19th century vocal music and recently received his doctorate from Melbourne University.

This led to the first Australian recordings of historically informed performances of Schubert’s song cycles Winterreise and Die schöne Müllerin (ABC Classic), the latter receiving an ARIA nomination for Best Classical Album (2020).

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Vasily Petrenko Conducts Elgar Thursday 14 July / 7.30pm Friday 15 July / 7.30pm Saturday 16 July / 2pm Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Vasily Petrenko conductor Jack Schiller bassoon VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Wasps: Overture MATTHEW LAING Of Paradise Lost, Bassoon Concerto (WORLD PREMIERE OF AN MSO COMMISSION)

ELGAR Symphony No.2

Pre-concert talk: 14 July at 6:45pm, 15 July at 6:45pm and 16 July at 1:15pm at Hamer Hall. Learn more about the performance at a pre-concert presentation with Stephanie Kabanyana-Kanyandekwe.

A musical Acknowledgement of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham AO, will be performed before the start of this concert.

Running time: Approximately 110 minutes, inc. 20-min interval.

Jack Schiller

The 2021/22 season marks the start of Vasily Petrenko’s tenures as Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and as Artistic Director of the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia (where he held the position of Principal Guest Conductor from 2016–2021). He becomes Conductor Laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, following his hugely acclaimed fifteen-year tenure as their Chief Conductor from 2006–2021, and continues as Chief Conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra (since 2015). He has served as Chief Conductor of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (20132020), Principal Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain (2009– 2013), and Principal Guest Conductor of St Petersburg’s Mikhailovsky Theatre, where he began his career as Resident Conductor (1994–1997).

Born in Adelaide, Jack Schiller began playing the bassoon at the age of 12. From 2008 Jack spent four years under the tutelage of Mark Gaydon (Adelaide Symphony Orchestra), including two years of study at the Elder Conservatorium of Music. In 2012 he took up a scholarship position at the Australian National Academy of Music, studying with Elise Millman (Melbourne Symphony Orchestra). During his time at the academy Jack won the ANAM Concerto Competition, performing the Mozart Bassoon Concerto with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

He also won the in-house chamber music competition and was awarded the Director’s Prize for outstanding achievement by a leaving student.

conductor

Vasily Petrenko has worked with many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras and has a strongly defined profile as a recording artist. Amongst a wide discography, his Shostakovich, Rachmaninov and Elgar symphony cycles with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra have garnered worldwide acclaim. With the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, he has released cycles of Scriabin’s symphonies and Strauss’ tone poems, and selected symphonies of Prokofiev and Myaskovsky.

bassoon

VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTS ELGAR | 14–16 July

Vasily Petrenko

After completing his studies at ANAM, Jack took up a contract with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra as Associate Principal Bassoon and a position in the orchestra’s Fellowship program.

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VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTS ELGAR | 14–16 July

Program Notes RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS

(1872–1958)

The Wasps: Overture Aristophanes’ comedy The Wasps was first performed in 422 BC in the drama competition in Athens’ Lenaia Festival.

It was a satire aimed specifically at Cleon, the then dominant figure in Athenian politics, and more broadly at those who abused the court system for financial gain. As the play opens, Bdelycleon and his two slaves are trying to restrain his father Philocleon who has developed a problem addiction, not to wine or gambling but to litigation. As Philocleon tries to escape through a chimney (disguised as a puff of smoke), Bdelycleon and the slaves are beset by a chorus of elderly jurors who swarm about like, and costumed as, wasps.

The play involves various other madcap episodes: for instance, as a kind of therapy for Philocleon, Bdelycleon stages the trial of a dog accused of stealing cheese, who is testified against by kitchen utensils. There is a long debate, and, after the reconciliation of father and son, the play ends with a dance contest with the sons of a rival playwright.

In 1909 The Wasps was chosen for that year’s Cambridge Greek Play, and Vaughan Williams was invited to compose incidental music. (In the dog’s trial scene the score calls for a bag of crockery, representing the kitchen utensils, to be shaken. Vaughan Williams assured his mother’s relations, the Wedgwoods, that only the family china would do!)

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The score for the Cambridge performance was necessarily for a modest-sized theatre orchestra, and in 1912 Vaughan Williams scored the Overture and four of the other

movements as his The Wasps: Aristophanic Suite for symphony orchestra. The music makes no attempt to sound ancient or Greek, but in a couple of respects it reminds us that Vaughan Williams had recently studied privately with Ravel in Paris. (Ravel, as it happens, praised Vaughan Williams as the only student who didn’t end up mimicking his teacher.)

After an attention-grabbing trill and some musical onomatopoeia depicting the buzzing of the wasps, Vaughan Williams states his first theme which sounds, at first, like something derived from English folk-song, which the composer had dedicated much time to recording and preserving. The theme’s contour, however, is distorted by the use of the whole-tone scale, much loved by Debussy. The theme is stated quietly by winds and then by the full orchestra, leading into a more conventionally English-sounding march. After this material there is a Ravellian dissolve which introduces a fragmentary theme on solo horn, passed to solo violin.

This fragment then blooms as a long, heartfelt melody which, similarly, is given out quietly at first and then again with the full orchestra in all its richness.

In the score this theme represents the ultimate reconciliation of Bdelycleon and his father. A passage of French languor follows, with woodwind solos tracing fragments of the whole-tone scale.

The spell is broken by a return to the opening trill, and a building of momentum and noise until the first themes are restated and then combined in joyful counterpoint with the reconciliation theme. © Gordon Kerry 2016

Of Paradise Lost, Bassoon Concerto (World premiere of an MSO Commission) Jack Schiller bassoon

There’s something about the sound of the bassoon that lends itself to a mythological setting, probably crystallised by famous orchestral examples in Dukas’ Sorcerer’s Apprentice and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, but also that it’s an instrument that seldom takes centre stage; the kind of personality that when it speaks invites you in.

“Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven” is probably the most famous line from John Milton’s epic poem of 1667 Paradise Lost, written during a period of enormous social upheaval, and is the text from which this concerto takes its name. The piece isn’t programmatic, but reflects a relationship of the bassoon as an imperfect protaganist/antagonist in relation to the orchestra.

The concerto casts the role of the bassoon in two ways over two movements; a first movement as subjected to heaven, a second movement at peace in a hell of its own creation. © Matt Laing

EDWARD ELGAR

(1857–1934)

Symphony No.2 in E flat Allegro vivace e nobilmente Larghetto Rondo (Presto) Moderato e maestoso No matter how eloquently the Elgar symphonies may be championed, there will always be those listeners for whom the pieces act too potently as musical memoirs of the British Empire at its

sunset. In the 1940s and 50s, when these works were not much played in Britain, they were programmed regularly by the ABC, in concert and on radio. The idea that they represent a musical branch of official Imperialism is not helpful if we are to listen to them again without prejudice; even less so now, in Australia, as we have passed the centenary of the Federation that united six separate colonies to create a single nation.

In Britain by the 1920s, the opulence that forms so crucial a component of Elgar’s musical language had already become a victim of musical fashion. From the distance created by the First World War and the subsequent toppling of empires and dynasties, Elgar’s music was seen as symbolic of post-Victorian complacency.

The symphonies came in for particularly harsh criticism for their ‘triviality and tawdriness’ (in Cecil Gray’s words) and perceived structural weaknesses.

VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTS ELGAR | 14–16 July

MATTHEW LAING

born 1988

It may be facile to note that every generation hears what it wants to hear in the music of the past. Perhaps it is more useful to realise that Mahler’s symphonies were also in eclipse in the years Elgar’s lay in the darkness; that Elgar’s feelings of isolation within his society – by virtue of his working-class origins, his Catholicism, his disdain for the academic musical establishment – were akin to, if less severe than, Mahler’s sense of alienation.

The reputation of Elgar’s first symphony had quite some journey to make to the dark side. It is – and was – recognised as the first great English symphony, and its popularity surged quickly after its premiere in 1908. Within 15 months, the work had been played 100 times, in places as far-flung as St Petersburg and Sydney. Elgar hoped the Second Symphony would be equally successful.

On his completion of it, Elgar’s devoted wife Alice noted in her diary: ‘It seems one of his greatest works, vast in design and supremely beautiful…It is really

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VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTS ELGAR | 14–16 July

sublime…it resembles our human life, delight, regrets, farewell, the saddest mood & then the strong man’s triumph.’

Elgar himself wrote to a friend: ‘I have worked at fever heat and the thing is tremendous in energy.’

That this symphony failed to make the impact of its predecessor is due to the more emotionally complex world it inhabits and the circumstances of its first performances. Elgar conducted the premiere during the glittering London ‘season’ of 1911, to an audience mindful of the symphony’s dedication to the late Edward VII, and filled with excitement at the prospect of the forthcoming coronation of the new king, George V, less than a month away. No doubt many in the audience that May night at the Queen’s Hall were expecting a grand symphony of loyal tribute, perhaps even a paean to Imperial splendour. What they heard was epic in scope and wild in its emotional extremes, doubting its own exuberance, exploding its own vivid tales of conquest, battling to regain ground lost in a tumult of its own devising.

That in itself probably flummoxed the symphony’s first listeners considerably.

But what sort of performance did they hear on the evening of the work’s debut?

It has been said that Elgar, among the greatest of all writers for orchestra, writes to the limit of a good musician’s technical capacity and never beyond it. But some commentators have questioned the extent to which this limit was successfully reached by the British orchestras of the era in which this symphony was new. The work did not really begin to have any success with audiences until after World War I, but by then it sounded to the younger British critics like music from another planet.

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The passionate expressiveness of Elgar’s music inevitably suggests a play of personal meanings at work. But Elgar often used musical red herrings to

shield his inner purpose. (The movement headings to the Enigma Variations are a good example.) His dedication of this symphony to the late King, for example, should not be taken as an explanation of his musical purpose. To his friend Alice Stuart-Wortley Elgar referred to this work, the Violin Concerto and the Ode The Music Makers (all completed between 1910 and 1912) as works in which ‘I have written out my soul…. and you know it…in these works I have shewn myself.’ To another friend, he described his feelings about this symphony by amending a quotation from Shelley’s Julian and Maddalo to read: I do but hide Under these notes, like embers, every spark Of that which has consumed me.

Finally, we have the enigmatic extract from Shelley’s Invocation, which Elgar wrote at the end of the score: Rarely, rarely, comest thou, Spirit of Delight!

The beginning of the first movement at once proclaims the ‘tremendous energy’ Elgar described. The viola player Bernard Shore likened the first bars to a dive off a high springboard.

The wide-ranging restlessness of this music is born of the swift sequence of short, bounding themes presented with a virtuoso orchestrator’s panache, and a plethora of detailed expression and tempo markings.

The very first theme contains a two-bar melodic cell that acts as a presence throughout the work’s four movements; sometimes called the ‘Spirit of Delight’, it gives way to three equally short themes. All four are then modified and juxtaposed, leading gradually to the tenderly lyrical ideas that form the movement’s second melodic group.

Passion soon overcomes the music, particularly when Elgar enfolds these

It is possible to talk about this movement in conventional sonata form terminology, but for Elgar the recapitulation, resplendent though it is, is not as crucial as the beautiful and sinister episode that haunts the centre of the movement. ‘I have written the most extraordinary passage,’ he wrote to Alice Stuart-Wortley, ‘…a sort of malign influence wandering thro’ the summer night in the garden.’ Eight bell-like notes on the harp, muted strings and horns introduce a theme, high in the cellos, to which the surrounding accompaniment lends an almost supernatural glow.

In a completely different guise, this theme returns in the third movement to devastating effect.

When the climax does come, Elgar dangles the ‘Spirit of Delight’ theme over the precipice of a Mahlerian Luftpause.

The elaborate recapitulation that follows allows for a brief moment of calm, almost like someone on a long trek resting briefly by the side of the path, but we are then thrown tumultuously on to the movement’s conclusion, a dizzying upward rush for the whole orchestra.

The grief of the second movement – a funeral march in the manner of another great symphony in E flat, Beethoven’s Eroica – is immense and, until the last bars, inconsolable. A yearning introduction gives way to a solemn and beautiful theme scored to give the effect of public mourning – the melody, on flutes, clarinets, trumpet, trombone and first violin, is played over the muffled tread of bassoons, horns, tuba, timpani, harp and strings. In the movement’s

central episode, this theme’s return is embellished by an improvised-sounding oboe lament, as if the cries of one person might be heard over the murmurs of a vast crowd. At this point Elgar used to tell the Principal Oboe in rehearsals: ‘Play your lament entirely free…Don’t worry about me or the rest of the orchestra. It must sound as if it belonged outside somewhere.’ The final climax, scored passionately high on the violins, is almost feverishly sad, the benedictionlike appearance of the ‘Spirit of Delight’ theme offering some consolation before the movement shudders to a close.

The scherzo is feverish music requiring tremendous virtuosity. The movement opens with apparent jollity, but the darkening harmonies and darting crossrhythms together produce a feeling of impending danger. After a more lyrical section, introducing a wistful new woodwind theme, a pulsating version of the ‘unearthly’ theme from the first movement is given out by the violins with insistent timpani commentary.

Suddenly the music takes on an aspect of thundering terror. At this point the percussion, according to Elgar’s instructions at rehearsals, should ‘completely overwhelm everything’. The composer wrote to a friend, explaining his thoughts on this section by way of a quotation from Tennyson’s Maud, which included the lines:

VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTS ELGAR | 14–16 July

new ideas with themes from the first group. The strong element of fantasy in the writing is already apparent; one of the lyrical themes, played by the cellos, features a gentle accompaniment on violas and then woodwind. This seemingly incidental motif later figures heroically, even gaudily, in the movement’s climax.

Dead, long dead…

And my heart is a handful of dust, And the wheels go over my head, And my bones are shaken with pain, For into a shallow grave they are thrust…

And the hoofs of the horses beat, beat, Beat into my scalp and brain…

The passage disappears with the swiftness of waking from a nightmare; the movement then hastens to a brilliant coda.

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VASILY PETRENKO CONDUCTS ELGAR | 14–16 July

The finale begins as if it is going to be the most conventional movement of the four, resolving the tremendous conflicts depicted in the earlier movements.

There is a Brahmsian inflection to the stately first theme played by cellos, horns, clarinets and bassoons, and to the grander second one given to the violins. These themes are given majestic, rhetorical treatment; we then hear a new, gentle theme for the strings, which carries Elgar’s characteristic direction, nobilmente [nobly]. The poco animato section that follows contains some of the most concentratedly virtuosic writing of the symphony. We are plunged into the thick of battle, a piercing trumpet cry leading the charge.

The introduction of a more peaceful theme high on the violins at the conclusion of this episode does not settle the music for long. The mood is restless, and although the martial atmosphere gradually recedes to make way for a return of the main theme, the recapitulation makes us realise that the likelihood of a Brahms-like darknessto-light symphonic outcome is remote.

Just as Elgar seems to prepare us for a victorious peroration, the music quietens, we hear the finale’s main theme again on the cellos, the ‘Spirit of Delight’ appears once more and all is radiantly still. At the close there is hope, consolation perhaps, but not triumph.

The last lines of Shelley’s Invocation, surely known by Elgar, form a fitting postscript to the Symphony’s complex emotional journey: Spirit, I love thee – Thou art love and life! Oh, come, Make once more my heart thy home.

Phillip Sametz © 2001 revised 29/3 and 20/11 2001, 3/10/03

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Shining Strings

The Art of the Quartet Saturday 23 July / 7.30pm Melbourne Recital Centre Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Dale Barltrop director & violin Stephen Newton tenor PURCELL The Fairy Queen (selections) BRITTEN Les Illuminations RAVEL (arr. Aitken) String Quartet in F, arranged for string orchestra

A musical Acknowledgement of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham AO, will be performed before the start of this concert.

Running time: Approximately 100 minutes, inc. 20-min interval.

Please note: due to a change in repertoire for this program, Shostakovich’s Chamber Symphony and Vasks’ Cantabile for Strings will no longer be performed.

SHINING STRINGS | 23 July

Dale Barltrop

Stephen Newton

Concertmaster position supported by David and Angela Li

Stephen began his musical journey at the age of 8 when he joined St Mark’s Church Choir in Darlingpoint, Sydney.

This led to an appointment in Opera Australia’s Children’s Chorus, where he featured in small roles such as Peaseblossom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. After receiving a music scholarship at school, Stephen was encouraged to take up the double bass.

director & violin

Brisbane-born violinist, Dale Barltrop, is Concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and First Violinist of the Australian String Quartet. He previously served as Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Canada and Principal Second Violin of the St Paul Chamber Orchestra in the United States, having performed with all of these orchestras as soloist and director.

Barltrop has also appeared as Concertmaster of the Australian World Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle, guest director of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, ACO2 and the Camerata of St John’s chamber orchestra in Brisbane.

He made his solo debut with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra at the age of 15, later moving to the United States in 1998 to attend the University of Maryland and continuing his studies at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

Barltrop performs on a violin crafted by JB Guadagnini, Turin, 1784. It is on loan from the Ukaria Cultural Centre and was purchased through the generosity of Allan J Myers AO, Maria J Myers AO and the Klein Family.

tenor

As a young tenor and double bassist, he completed his tertiary studies at the University of New South Wales, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Australian National Academy of Music. These years were heavily influenced by his mentor Richard Gill, who encouraged a broad musical development that included composition, singing and playing the double bass.

In 2006, Stephen joined the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, a position he still holds today while he completes a trial for a tenured position with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

Recently, under the tutelage of renowned vocal coach Dermot Tutty, Stephen has rekindled his passion for singing. He is also currently studying with two of his favourite singers, David Greco and Kyle Stegall.

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SHINING STRINGS | 23 July

A note from Dale Barltrop This is a program of works that are very close to my heart. I have been performing Ravel’s celebrated string quartet since I was in university and I can safely say that I have played it more than any other quartet in the repertoire. The piece never ceases to fascinate me for its compositional ingenuity and gorgeous tapestry of tonal colours. Ravel’s lifelong fascination with clockwork and machinery is unmistakable in the rhythmic interplay of the faster movements. In its original version, the four instruments of the quartet are harnessed in such brilliant ways that the effect is often gloriously orchestral. In this adaptation for larger forces by Gail Aitken, Principal Second Violin of the QSO, we string players can revel in the endless possibilities to view this masterpiece through a fresh lens.

Having spent the better part of my lifetime forming and cultivating relationships with the music of countless composers, few have made more of an impact on me than Benjamin Britten.

For Britten, the same might be said of Henry Purcell. Britten greatly admired the English baroque master, taking inspiration from many of Purcell’s works in his own compositions. The Fairy Queen is a semi-opera based on an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Britten indeed composed his own opera to this very story centuries later. The suite that opens this program is comprised of some of my personal favourite selections, particularly the final Chaconne, a most elegant dance based on a repeated bass line – a trademark form in Britten’s music.

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It has been a dream of mine for many years to perform Les Illuminations, a song-cycle for soprano or tenor with string orchestra, set to the most evocative French poetry by Arthur Rimbaud. The fantastical sound world that Britten creates through combining voice, poetry and strings is for me both spectacularly theatrical and deeply personal. There is a shimmer of magic and a touch of madness in this work. To embody the spirit of this music, my dear friend Stevie will hold the key to this savage parade! His sheer devotion to the score over the past several years has been a source of delight and inspiration to me. © Dale Barltrop

Supporters

Supporters MSO PATRON The Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria

CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE Dr Marc Besen AC and the late Dr Eva Besen AO The Gandel Foundation The Gross Foundation Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio Harold Mitchell Foundation Hyon Ju Newman Lady Potter AC CMRI The Cybec Foundation The Pratt Foundation Elizabeth Proust AO and Brian Lawrence The Ullmer Family Foundation

ARTIST CHAIR BENEFACTORS

MSO Academy Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio MSO For Schools Crown Resorts Foundation, Packer Family Foundation, The Department of Education and Training, Victoria, through the Strategic Partnerships Program and the Victorian Challenge and Enrichment Series (VCES) Melbourne Music Summit Erica Foundation Pty Ltd, The Department of Education and Training, Victoria, through the Strategic Partnerships Program MSO Regional Touring Creative Victoria, Freemasons Foundation Victoria, John T Reid Charitable Trusts, Robert Salzer Foundation, The Sir Andrew & Lady Fairley Foundation The Pizzicato Effect Supported by Hume City Council’s Community Grants program, The Marian and E.H. Flack Trust, Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust, Australian Decorative And Fine Arts Society, Anonymous

Chief Conductor Jaime Martín Dr Marc Besen AC and the late Dr Eva Besen AO

Sidney Myer Free Concerts Supported by the Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund and the University of Melbourne

Cybec Assistant Conductor Chair Carlo Antonioli The Cybec Foundation

PLATINUM PATRONS $100,000+

Concertmaster Chair Sophie Rowell The Ullmer Family Foundation Concertmaster Chair Dale Barltrop David Li AM and Angela Li Assistant Concertmaster Tair Khisambeev Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio Young Composer in Residence Alex Turley The Cybec Foundation

PROGRAM BENEFACTORS Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program The Cybec Foundation Digital Transformation The Ian Potter Foundation, The Margaret Lawrence Bequest – Managed by Perpetual First Nations Emerging Artist Program The Ullmer Family Foundation East meets West The Li Family Trust MSO Live Online Crown Resorts Foundation, Packer Family Foundation 28

MSO Education Anonymous

◊ Denotes Adopt a Musician supporter

Dr Marc Besen AC and the late Dr Eva Besen AO The Gandel Foundation The Gross Foundation◊ Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio ◊ David Li AM and Angela Li◊ The Pratt Foundation The Ullmer Family Foundation Anonymous (1)◊

VIRTUOSO PATRONS $50,000+ Margaret Jackson AC ◊ Lady Primrose Potter AC CMRI Hyon-Ju Newman◊ Anonymous (1)

Dr Rhyl Wade and Dr Clem Gruen◊ Hilary Hall in memory of Wilma Collie

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Louis J Hamon OAM Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM◊

Supporters

IMPRESARIO PATRONS $20,000+

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MAESTRO PATRONS $10,000+

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Marie Morton FRSA

Krystyna Campbell-Pretty AM

Anne Neil◊

Andrew Dudgeon AM

Bruce Parncutt AO

◊

Colin Golvan AM QC and Dr Deborah Golvan

Sam Ricketson and Rosemary Ayton

Danny Gorog and Lindy Susskind◊

The Rosemary Norman Foundation◊

Jan and Robert Green Doug Hooley Peter Lovell Opalgate Foundation Ian and Jeannie Paterson Glenn Sedgwick Gai and David Taylor

Andrew and Judy Rogers◊ Helen Silver AO and Harrison Young Anita Simon Dr Michael Soon The Hon Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall◊ Lyn Williams Anonymous (4)◊

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ASSOCIATE PATRONS $2,500+

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Anonymous (1)

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PRINCIPAL PATRONS $5,000+ Barbara Bell in memory of Elsa Bell Bodhi Education Fund (East meets West) John Coppock OAM and Lyn Coppock Ann Darby in memory of Leslie J. Darby Mary Davidson and the late Frederick Davidson AM The Dimmick Charitable Trust Jaan Enden Bill Fleming Susan Fry and Don Fry AO Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser◊ Geelong Friends of the MSO◊ Jennifer Gorog

Joyce Bown Julia and Jim Breen Alan and Dr Jennifer Breschkin Patricia Brockman Dr John Brookes Stuart Brown Lynne Burgess Oliver Carton Janet Chauvel and the late Dr Richard Chauvel Breen Creighton and Elsbeth Hadenfeldt Sandra Dent Douglas J Savige Elaine Walters OAM Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin

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Supporters

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H E McKenzie Dr Isabel McLean Douglas and Rosemary Meagher Wayne and Penny Morgan Patricia Nilsson Ken Ong OAM Alan and Dorothy Pattison Dr Paul Nisselle AM Peter Priest Ruth and Ralph Renard Tom and Elizabeth Romanowski Liliane Rusek and Alexander Ushakoff Jeffrey Sher QC and Diana Sher OAM Steinicke Family Peter J Stirling Jenny Tatchell Clayton and Christina Thomas Jessica Thomson-Robbins Nic and Ann Willcock Lorraine Woolley

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PLAYER PATRONS $1,000+

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Merrowyn Deacon

◊ Denotes Adopt a Musician supporter

Dr Keith Higgins Katherine Horwood Paul and Amy Jasper Shyama Jayaswal Basil and Rita Jenkins John Kaufman Irene Kearsey & Michael Ridley Drs Bruce and Natalie Kellett Dr Anne Kennedy

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Anonymous (18)

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OVERTURE PATRONS $500+* Margaret Abbey PSM Jane Allan and Mark Redmond Mario M Anders Jenny Anderson Liz and Charles Baré Miriam Bass Heather and David Baxter Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk Dr William Birch AM Allen and Kathryn Bloom Melissa Bochner Graham and Mary Ann Bone Stephen Braida Linda Brennan Robert Brook Edwin Brumby Anita and Norman Bye Pamela M Carder Ian and Wilma Chapman Dr Catherine Cherry Cititec Systems Charmaine Collins Geoffrey Constable Marjorie Cornelius Dr Sheryl Coughlin and Paul Coughlin

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Supporters

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Professor John Rickard

Huw Jones

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Carolyn Sanders

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* The MSO has introduced a new tier to its annual Patron Program in recognition of the donors who supported the Orchestra during 2020, many for the first time. Moving forward, donors who make an annual gift of $500–$999 to the MSO will now be publicly recognised as an Overture Patron. For more information, please contact Donor Liaison, Keith Clancy on (03) 8646 1109 or clancyk@mso.com.au 32

Pauline and David Lawton

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Anonymous (18)

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CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLE Jenny Anderson David Angelovich G C Bawden and L de Kievit Lesley Bawden Joyce Bown Mrs Jenny Bruckner and the late Mr John Bruckner Ken Bullen Peter A Caldwell Luci and Ron Chambers Beryl Dean Sandra Dent Alan Egan JP Gunta Eglite Marguerite Garnon-Williams Drs L C Gruen and R W Wade Louis J Hamon AOM Carol Hay Graham Hogarth Rod Home Tony Howe Lindsay and Michael Jacombs Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James John Jones Grace Kass and the late George Kass Sylvia Lavelle

Supporters

Dr Frank and Valerie Silberberg

Mr and Mrs R P Trebilcock Peter and Elisabeth Turner Michael Ulmer AO The Hon. Rosemary Varty Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian Wills Cooke Mark Young Anonymous (19) The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Estates: Norma Ruth Atwell Angela Beagley Christine Mary Bridgart The Cuming Bequest Margaret Davies Neilma Gantner The Hon Dr Alan Goldberg AO QC Enid Florence Hookey Gwen Hunt Family and Friends of James Jacoby Audrey Jenkins Joan Jones Pauline Marie Johnston C P Kemp Peter Forbes MacLaren Joan Winsome Maslen Lorraine Maxine Meldrum Prof Andrew McCredie Jean Moore

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Supporters

Maxwell Schultz Miss Sheila Scotter AM MBE Marion A I H M Spence Molly Stephens Halinka Tarczynska-Fiddian Jennifer May Teague Albert Henry Ullin Jean Tweedie Herta and Fred B Vogel Dorothy Wood

MSO BOARD Chairman David Li AM Co-Deputy Chairs Di Jameson Helen Silver AO Managing Director Sophie Galaise Board Directors Shane Buggle

COMMISSIONING CIRCLE

Andrew Dudgeon AM

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HONORARY APPOINTMENTS Life Members Dr Marc Besen AC John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC Sir Elton John CBE Harold Mitchell AC Lady Potter AC CMRI Jeanne Pratt AC Artistic Ambassadors Tan Dun Lu Siqing MSO Ambassador Geoffrey Rush AC The MSO honours the memory of Life Members Dr Eva Besen AO John Brockman OAM The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC Roger Riordan AM Ila Vanrenen

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