Beethoven Fives | Concert Program

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Artists

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Jaime Martín conductor

Jonathan Biss piano Program

BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No.5*

BRETT DEAN Piano Concerto – Gneixendorf Music, a Winter’s Journey (AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE OF MSO CO-COMMISSION)

BEETHOVEN Symphony No.5

*4 & 5 November only

Running time: 4–5 November – approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes including interval. 7 November – approximately one hour and ten minutes with no interval.

Our musical Acknowledgment of Country, Long Time Living Here by Deborah Cheetham AO, will be performed at this concert.

Pre-concert events

Pre-concert talk: 4 November at 6:45pm in the Stalls Foyer, Level 2 at Hamer Hall. 5 November at 1:15pm in the Stalls Foyer, Level 2 at Hamer Hall. Learn more about the performance at a pre-concert presentation with Andrew Aronowicz.

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

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.

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.

Deborah Cheetham

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.

Jaime Martín Chief Conductor Mr Marc Besen AC and the late Mrs Eva Besen AO# Xian Zhang Principal Guest Conductor Benjamin Northey Principal Conductor in Residence Carlo Antonioli Cybec Assistant Conductor Fellow Sir Andrew Davis Conductor Laureate Hiroyuki Iwaki † Conductor Laureate (1974–2006)

FIRST VIOLINS

Dale Barltrop Concertmaster David Li AM and Angela Li# Sophie Rowell Concertmaster Tair Khisambeev Assistant Concertmaster Di Jameson and Frank Mercurio# Peter Edwards Assistant Principal Kirsty Bremner Sarah Curro Peter Fellin Deborah Goodall Karla Hanna* Lorraine Hook Anne-Marie Johnson Kirstin Kenny Eleanor Mancini Mark Mogilevski Susannah Ng Michelle Ruffolo Kathryn Taylor

SECOND VIOLINS

Matthew Tomkins Principal The Gross Foundation# Robert Macindoe Associate Principal Monica Curro Assistant Principal Danny Gorog and Lindy Susskind# Mary Allison Isin Cakmakcioglu Tiffany Cheng Glenn Sedgwick# Jacqueline Edwards* Freya Franzen Cong Gu Newton Family in memory of Rae Rothfield# Andrew Hall

Isy Wasserman Philippa West Andrew Dudgeon AM# Patrick Wong Hyon Ju Newman# Roger Young 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# William Clark* Ceridwen Davies* Gabrielle Halloran Trevor Jones Anne Neil#

Jenny Khafagi* Isabel Morse* Fiona Sargeant

CELLOS David Berlin Principal Rachael Tobin Associate Principal Nicholas Bochner Miranda Brockman Geelong Friends of the MSO# Rohan de Korte Andrew Dudgeon AM# Sarah Morse

Alexandra (Aly) Partridge* Rebecca Proietto*

Angela Sargeant Michelle Wood Andrew and Judy Rogers#

DOUBLE BASSES

Caitlin Bass* Rohan Dasika Benjamin Hanlon Frank Mercurio and Di Jameson# Suzanne Lee Stephen Newton Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser# Siyuan Vivian Qu* Emma Sullivan*

FLUTES

Prudence Davis Principal Anonymous# Wendy Clarke Associate Principal Sarah Beggs PICCOLO Andrew Macleod Principal OBOES Sarah Young* Guest Principal Ann Blackburn The Rosemary Norman Foundation#

COR ANGLAIS

Michael Pisani Principal

CLARINETS

David Thomas Principal Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal Craig Hill

BASS CLARINET

Jon Craven Principal

BASSOONS

Jack Schiller Principal Elise Millman Associate Principal Jamie Dodd^ Natasha Thomas Dr Martin Tymms and Patricia Nilsson#

CONTRABASSOON

Brock Imison Principal

HORNS

Nicolas Fleury Principal Margaret Jackson AC# Saul Lewis Principal Third The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall# Abbey Edlin Nereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM# Trinette McClimont Rachel Shaw Gary McPherson#

TRUMPETS

Owen Morris Principal Shane Hooton Associate Principal Glenn Sedgwick# William Evans Rosie Turner John and Diana Frew#

TROMBONES

José Milton Vieira* Acting Principal Trombone Richard Shirley Mike Szabo Principal Bass Trombone TUBA

Timothy Buzbee Principal TIMPANI Matthew Thomas Acting Principal Timpani

PERCUSSION

John Arcaro Tim and Lyn Edward# Robert Cossom Drs Rhyl Wade and Clem Gruen# HARP Yinuo Mu Principal

Jaime Martín conductor

Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2022, Jaime Martín is also Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra (Ireland) and Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. He is the Principal Guest Conductor of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (Spanish National Orchestra) for the 22/23 season and was Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra from 2013 to 2022.

Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, Jaime turned to conducting full-time in 2013, and has become very quickly sought after at the highest level. Recent and future engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Colorado Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Antwerp Symphony, Orquesta Sinfónica y Coro de RTVE (ORTVE) and Galicia Symphony orchestras, as well as a nine-city European tour with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Martín is the Artistic Advisor and previous Artistic Director of the Santander Festival. He was also a founding member of the Orquestra de Cadaqués, where he was Chief Conductor from 2012 to 2019.

The Chief Conductor is supported by Mr Marc Besen AC and the late Mrs Eva Besen AO.

Brett Dean composer

Brett Dean’s music is championed by many leading conductors and orchestras, including Sir Simon Rattle, Vladimir Jurowski, Simone Young, Daniel Harding, Andris Nelsons, Marin Alsop and Sakari Oramo. Much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political, environmental or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by artwork by his wife Heather Betts.

Dean began composing in 1988, and gained international recognition through works such as his clarinet concerto Ariel’s Music (1995), which won a UNESCO Composers award, and Carlo (1997), inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo. Dean also appears with many of the world’s leading orchestras as a conductor and as violist, performing his own Viola Concerto and in chamber music with other soloists and ensembles.

Recent highlights include the premiere of Dean’s Piano Concerto for Jonathan Biss and the US premiere of Hamlet at The Met in May 2022. Dean is currently Composer in Residence with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and featured composer with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Dean’s 22/23 season also features premieres with Bayerische Staatsorchester, City of Birmingham Symphony and NDR Elbphilharmonie.

Jonathan Biss piano

Jonathan Biss is a world-renowned pianist who channels his deep musical curiosity into performances and projects in the concert hall and beyond. In addition to performing with today’s leading orchestras, he continues to expand his reputation as a teacher, musical thinker, and one of the great Beethoven interpreters of our time. He is Co-Artistic Director alongside Mitsuko Uchida at the Marlboro Music Festival, where he has spent fifteen summers.

During the 2022–23 season, Biss gives solo recitals in cities including Cologne, New York, and Philadelphia, performing works by Berg, Schumann, and Schubert; he performs Beethoven trios with Midori and cellist Antoine Lederlin in Cologne, Engardin, Hamburg, London, and Tokyo; and appears as soloist with the Atlanta Symphony, Budapest Symphony, and the Rochester Philharmonic, as well as with the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 (Emperor).

Throughout his career, Biss has advocated for new music. This year he continues his ongoing Beethoven/5 commissioning project, in association with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, that pairs each Beethoven concerto with a new concerto composed in response. This season, he performs Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 paired with a piano concerto inspired by that work: Brett Dean’s Gneixendorfer Musik– Eine Winterreise in its U.S. premiere with the SPCO, as well as both concertos with the Melbourne Symphony. Biss has performed the Dean and fifth Beethoven concertos together in concerts with the Dresden Philharmonic, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770–1827)

Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat, Emperor

I. Allegro

II. Adagio un poco mosso –

III. Rondo: Allegro Johnathan Biss piano

Beethoven’s five piano concertos were written over a period of 15 years, from around 1794 to 1809. This was precisely the time that Vienna-built pianos were transformed on a number of fronts: they became larger and heavier and sustained ever greater tension; levers were replaced by pedals; double stringing gave way to triple stringing, and the strings themselves became sturdier. By the time we arrive at the Piano Concerto No.5, we encounter an instrument considerably more robust and broader in compass – it has a six-octave range – than the piano Beethoven started out with. Against this background, we might better understand the virtuosic, wideranging flourishes at the opening of the Fifth. Think of the opening cadenza as Beethoven test-driving a Ferrari, putting this magnificent, new machine (and a piano, with its thousands of moving parts is, after all, a machine) through its paces. During the course of the Allegro we traverse the entire compass of the now enlarged keyboard (the piano was extended into the upper range in particular) and are left in no doubt as to the instrument’s brilliance and versatility with full, powerful chords in both hands, double octaves, broken octaves, scales moving in contrary directions and delicate trills right at the top of the range. Not only is the instrument grand, so too is the movement’s principal thematic material, which finds its perfect home in the key of E flat, Beethoven’s ‘heroic’

key since the epic Symphony No.3, Eroica, of 1805.

But it is amazing how Beethoven can so easily cast his muscular swagger to one side and produce something as sensitive and dreamy as the slow movement, Adagio un poco mosso. Soft, muted strings set the scene and the piano (marked pianissimo, espressivo) presents a descending ornamental line of simple and tender beauty, falling droplets of tranquil abandon. Here, the listener is invited to turn inwards and contemplate the ineffable. The key, B major, is an unexpected one and requires some harmonic side-stepping to return us, without a break, to the heroic key of E flat for the Rondo finale. An ebullient mood immediately takes hold with a powerfully articulated, joyous theme pushed along by a strong, two-in-a-bar dance metre. The piano reaches stratospheric heights in places (maybe not the top of a modern piano but right at the limit of Beethoven’s instrument) and indulges in playful repartee with the orchestra, eventually handing the reins over to the orchestra after a final dash up the keyboard.

Alone among Beethoven’s piano concertos, the Fifth was premiered with a pianist other than the composer. Beethoven’s performing career was effectively over by this stage, given his extensive hearing loss. Also, alone among Beethoven’s piano concertos, the Fifth was not premiered in Vienna but, rather, in Leipzig, with the Gewandhaus Orchestra and pianist Friedrich Schneider, in 1811. Finally, a word on the nickname, ‘Emperor’. It was not Beethoven’s doing but was cooked up by his London publisher. Essentially, it was a marketing strategy: attach the word ‘Emperor’ and it will be assumed to be king among concertos.

Robert Gibson © 2019

BRETT DEAN (born 1961)

Piano Concerto Gneixendorf Music – A Winter’s Journey

I. Ankunft. (Arrival)

Gneixendorf? Das klingt wie eine brechende Achse! (Gneixendorf? That sounds like a breaking axle!)

Molto Allegro – Presto.

II. Die Abreise. (Departure)

Schwer gefasste Entschlusse (Muss es sein?) (Difficult decisions. Must it be?)

Slow and still.

III. Epilog. (Epilogue)

Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est. (Applause, my friends, the comedy is over.)

Subito Molto Allegro. Johnathan Biss piano

The composer writes: Back in 2013 I had the great pleasure of spending a summer in Lower Austria as composer-in-residence of the Grafenegg Festival. On a free afternoon, my wife and I went driving to visit the nearby town of Krems on the Danube River and on the way found ourselves intriguingly waylaid by road signs pointing towards a “Beethovenhaus” in the small village of Gneixendorf. We then discovered what has to be one of the most mysteriously fascinating episodes in the life of Ludwig van Beethoven.

Having accepted an invitation from his brother Johann and wife Theresia to spend some time away from Vienna at their spacious Landhaus, Ludwig van Beethoven and his troubled nephew, Karl, arrived in Gneixendorf in late September of 1826. After only a few days, a heated argument between Ludwig and his brother led Beethoven to leave his brother’s house and take up rooms at a nearby house owned by the wealthy businessman, Ignaz Wissgrill.

Beethoven ended up staying in the house at Schlossstrasse 19 for more than two months, going for regular walks and composing his final string quartet, op.135, as well as completing revisions and metronome markings for his 9th Symphony. He returned to Vienna on December 1st on an open horse-drawn carriage in freezing conditions. He never fully recovered from the severe pneumonia contracted on that journey and the ailing composer succumbed to cirrhosis of the liver the following March.

My piece takes this extraordinary and unexpected brush with cultural history as one of its starting points. Its commission is part of American pianist Jonathan Biss’s large-scale project, Beethoven/5, in which he has commissioned five different composers to write companion pieces to the five Beethoven piano concerti.

My new piano concerto is the last of Jonathan Biss’s set of commissions and is thereby written in response to the remarkable 5th or Emperor Concerto, op.73. While this was Beethoven’s last ever work for solo instrument and orchestra, dating from 1809 and revised two years later, it’s not really a late work. However in finding inspiration not only from this great piece but also from the story of his ill-fated time in Gneixendorf, my new concerto is an attempt to enter into the state of mind of the composer as he confronts profound familial conflicts as well as failing health towards the very end of his life.

The concerto is in three movements, however they are all played “attacca” without interruption, with a total duration of about 22 minutes.

The separate movement titles are: I. Ankunft. (Arrival) Gneixendorf? Das klingt wie eine brechende Achse! (Gneixendorf? That sounds like a breaking axle!)

Molto Allegro – Presto.

II. Die Abreise. (Departure)

Schwer gefasste Entschlüsse (Muss es sein?)

(Difficult decisions. Must it be?)

Slow and still.

III. Epilog. (Epilogue)

Plaudite, amici, comoedia finita est. (Applause, my friends, the comedy is over.)

Subito Molto Allegro.

These “subtitles” are well documented quotes and anecdotes taken from this final phase of Beethoven’s life. The first is his apparent response on first hearing the name Gneixendorf, the village where he was visiting his brother. The second is adapted from Beethoven’s motto-title for the last movement of his final op.135 string quartet, “Der schwer gefasste Entschluss. – Muss es sein? – Es muss sein.” Finally, the Latin title is a saying typically uttered at the conclusion of Italian Commedia dell’arte performances and attributed to Beethoven as being amongst the final decipherable utterances made from his deathbed in 1827. In performance, the piano soloist begins the piece from within the orchestra, seated at an upright piano with super sordino (or practice pedal). This very muffled, indistinct sound may be seen as a metaphor for Beethoven’s worsening deafness. Already at the time of writing the Emperor Concerto it prevented him from performing the solo part himself. By the time he visited his brother Carl in Gneixendorf in 1826 he was profoundly deaf.

This “hidden” or muted beginning may however also be seen in the context of the great composer Ludwig being hurled into a traumatic domestic situation that, for all his fame and esteem, he could not control or master.

After a scurrying opening section in which the disadvantaged soloist battles

to cut through various instrumental textures, an orchestral tutti allows the soloist the opportunity to move to the more usual, centrally-positioned grand piano. From this point, the soloist’s statements become more definite and central to the musical argument. There are a couple of further short visits to the upright piano later in the piece, each time providing a stark contrast to the sonic power and presence of the modern concert grand.

© Brett Dean, October 2019

LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN

Symphony No.5 in C minor

I. Allegro con brio

II. Andante con moto

III. Scherzo and Trio (Allegro)

IV. Finale (Allegretto)

Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony is arguably the work which is most emblematic of Western classical music, and its opening motto comprises probably the most famous four notes in the world. The Fifth was first performed at the Theater an der Wien on Thursday 22 December 1808. One wonders what sort of effect it can have made. No composer had ever reduced thematic material to such essentials as the terse opening motif of this work, and the effect of the structure built from this motif on an audience accustomed to Haydn and Mozart must have been overwhelming, and probably exhilarating.

On the other hand, one is staggered by the surfeit of riches that made up the program on the first night – a program lasting an exhausting four hours (6.30–10.30pm)! Beethoven himself was the soloist in the first performance of his Piano Concerto No.4, and, besides the Fifth Symphony, the evening saw the premieres of the Symphony No.6 (the Pastoral ), the Choral Fantasia, and

some vocal works including the concert aria Ah, perfido!. Yet in spite of the (to modern audiences) daunting length of the concert, and the extraordinary emotional and even physical demands that such an unrelenting program of new masterpieces must have placed on its listeners, there can be little doubt that the Fifth would have made an impact.

In any case, following its premiere on that bitterly cold night in 1808, the Fifth soon established itself as a work to be reckoned with. E.T.A. Hoffmann, writing his famous review of July 1810, considered that this work revealed a new world, before which the listener could only stand in awe, and even terror. Adolph Bernhard Marx (c.1795–1866) formulated the view of the work that prevails to this day – that it moves from night to daylight, from struggle to victory – yet he saw this depiction of struggle leading to a transcendence of worldly reality.

The work opens with those famous four notes, a motto that, more than 130 years later, came to symbolise victory in Second World War radio broadcasts. Beethoven immediately demonstrates the plasticity of this motto in a series of phrases, based closely on the opening rhythm, which pause on a long-held g” in the first violins. The original motto is then stated a tone higher by complete winds and strings, and the material is again developed, before coming to another halt. With a melodic extension of the opening motif, the horns announce the second subject, a melody played on first violins. The listener may think that Beethoven has let go of his motto, but it is there, as subtle emphasis, in the cellos and double basses. The second subject shifts into a more ominous chromatic mode, before bursting into a tumbling figure in the violins which leads to the close of the first section.

Beethoven called for a repeat at this point, yet many modern conductors

drop it in favour of maintaining the momentum.

The development begins with a loud utterance of the motto on clarinets and horns, answered by strings. Beethoven’s initial idea is so simple that a mere restatement and answer is enough to keep up a sense of growth. The idea is again built up. New developments include reversal of the direction of the motto idea: an ascending melody now. Repeated series of notes, the motto reduced to a single pitch and flogged for all its iterative value, lead to a section in which the horn motto from before the second subject is developed. Much is then made of another simple variation of the motto as an extra minim is added to it, and these two minims are then passed from winds to strings. We are lulled into a feeling of false security, before an outburst of the motto leads us back to a reprise of the opening section. A.B. Marx heard this section, these lulls and outbursts, as the most strife-ridden in the movement; Berlioz heard the exchanges from winds to strings as the painful breathing of a dying man.

The normal course of the recapitulation (in Classical times, a consolidation of the argument so far) is interrupted in this instance by an oboe cadenza, a sign of Beethoven’s poetic depth and humanity according to Marx, and then at the point where we would expect the movement to end (if the work were following Classical precepts), Beethoven keeps going, further developing and elaborating material until a postponed but then ultimately abrupt ending.

Most criticism of this work has dwelt on the first movement, because it is that movement which is truly extraordinary in terms of its concision and power. If Classical music is, by definition, argument, then no other music sets out the dynamics of debate as starkly as this. Stravinsky considered the later

movements anti-climactic compared with the structural tour-de-force of this opening. Early 19 th century critics also devoted most of their discussion to this section. Berlioz compared it to his beloved Shakespeare: ‘This is...the terrible fury of Othello receiving from Iago’s mouth the poisoned calumnies which persuade him of Desdemona’s crime.’ E.T.A. Hoffmann heard in it the inexpressible, inexhaustible longing for the spirit world, which was one of the animating motives of the German Romantic period. One of the results, however, was that Hoffmann tended to highlight the passages that a modern listener hears as transitional; not the powerful statements of the motto, but the several crescendos leading up to those statements.

The second movement – a set of double variations – has received less comment, though A.B. Marx heard the blaring C major passage which first occurs around bar 30 as indicative of eventual triumph. It is in the third movement that we return to the world of innovation. In some of his earlier symphonies Beethoven had already replaced the traditional minuet and trio with a scherzo and trio, but this Scherzo (Italian for ‘joke’) plays with the listener’s expectations in a sinister or ominous, rather than playful, manner. This movement sounds like the prelude to something bigger; something is brewing beneath the surface.

The movement begins with a ghostly arpeggiated melody, arching nearly two octaves, in cellos and double basses. The relationship to the opening movement’s motto is perhaps not as clear here as in the loud tattoo beaten out by winds and strings some 20 bars later. The Trio is famous for the prominence accorded the cellos and double basses. The false scrubbing starts of the second part of this trio, seen as musical jokes these days, had threatening overtones to some of the early critics. We don’t

get a straightforward repeat of the opening material when the Scherzo proper returns. Instead the theme is virtually deconstructed before our eyes. (Is it going to peter out?) Finally the movement is reduced to a quiet timpani beat over which the violins wind increasingly discordant phrases until a roaring tremolo launches us into the Finale.

With this last movement Beethoven altered the relative importance of symphonic movements. Whereas previously, musical weight had tended to reside in the first movement, here the last movement is the culmination of a psychological program, establishing a precedent for works such as Tchaikovsky’s Fifth and Mahler’s First which expressed the idea that struggle leads to eventual victory. The motto idea is here reduced to an accompanying role, and Beethoven introduces several important new themes. This may explain Stravinsky’s disappointment: Beethoven loosened his tight thematic focus. However the work comes to a breathtaking climax. Beethoven has taken his listeners on such a wideranging musical journey that he must indulge in near-‘overkill’ to ground the work in its home key of C. Interestingly, though Marx and Berlioz perceived the struggle-to-triumph programmatic basis of this work, Hoffmann, perhaps describing the work from the vantagepoint of the astonished newcomer, saw this movement as picking up the threads of the first, getting no closer to the goal, but in those final chords depositing the listener on the edge of the awesome unknown.

Gordon Kalton Williams Symphony Australia © 1997

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Janet H Bell Julia and Jim Breen Alan and Dr Jennifer Breschkin

Patricia Brockman Drs John D L Brookes and Lucy V Hanlon Stuart Brown Lynne Burgess Oliver Carton

Janet Chauvel and the late Dr Richard Chauvel Breen Creighton and Elsbeth Hadenfeldt

Leo de Lange Elaine Walters OAM

Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin Carrillo Gantner AC and Ziyin Gantner Kim and Robert Gearon

Steinicke Family

Janette Gill

R Goldberg and Family Goldschlager Family Charitable Foundation

Catherine Gray Merv Keehn and Sue Harlow Susan and Gary Hearst Hartmut and Ruth Hofmann

John Jones

Graham and Jo Kraehe The Cuming Bequest Margaret and John Mason OAM H E McKenzie

Dr Isabel McLean

Ian Merrylees

Patricia Nilsson◊ Alan and Dorothy Pattison Ruth and Ralph Renard Tom and Elizabeth Romanowski Liliane Rusek and Alexander Ushakoff Jeffrey Sher QC and Diana Sher OAM

Barry Spanger

Peter J Stirling Jenny Tatchell

Dr Clayton and Christina Thomas Janet Whiting AM Nic and Ann Willcock Anonymous (5)◊

PLAYER PATRONS $1,000+

Dr Sally Adams

Anita and Graham Anderson Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society (ADFAS)

Geoffrey and Vivienne Baker

Joyce Bown

Nigel Broughton and Sheena Broughton Elizabeth Brown Suzie Brown OAM and the late Harvey Brown Ronald and Kate Burnstein Dr Lynda Campbell Kaye Cleary John and Mandy Collins Andrew Crockett AM and Pamela Crockett Panch Das and Laurel Young-Das Natasha Davies, for the Trikojus Education Fund Rick and Sue Deering John and Anne Duncan

Jane Edmanson OAM Diane Fisher

Grant Fisher and Helen Bird Applebay Pty Ltd

David and Esther Frenkiel OAM Anthony Garvey and Estelle O’Callaghan David I Gibbs AM and Susie O’Neill

Sonia Gilderdale

Dr Marged Goode Chris Grikscheit and Christine Mullen

Margie and Marshall Grosby Dr Sandra Hacker AO and Mr Ian Kennedy AM Dawn Hales

David Hardy

Tilda and the late Brian Haughney Cathy Henry

Dr Keith Higgins

Anthony and Karen Ho Jenny and Peter Hordern

Katherine Horwood

Penelope Hughes Paul and Amy Jasper Shyama Jayaswal Basil and Rita Jenkins

Sandy Jenkins

Sue Johnston

John Kaufman

Angela Kayser

Irene Kearsey & Michael Ridley

Drs Bruce and Natalie Kellett

Dr Anne Kennedy

Tim Knaggs

Jane Kunstler

Ann Lahore

Kerry Landman Janet and Ross Lapworth Diana Lay Phil Lewis

Andrew Lockwood Elizabeth H Loftus Chris and Anna Long Gabe Lopata Eleanor & Phillip Mancini

Aaron McConnell Wayne McDonald and Kay Schroer

Margaret Mcgrath

Shirley A McKenzie John and Rosemary McLeod

Don and Anne Meadows

Dr Eric Meadows

Sylvia Miller

Ian Morrey and Geoffrey Minter

Dr Anthony and Dr Anna Morton Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James Roger Parker

Ian Penboss

Eli Raskin

Jan and Keith Richards James Ring

Dr Peter Rogers and Cathy Rogers OAM

Dr Ronald and Elizabeth Rosanove Marie Rowland Elisabeth and Doug Scott Martin and Susan Shirley

P Shore John E Smith Barry Spanger

Dr Joel Symons and Liora Symons Russell Taylor and Tara Obeyesekere Geoffrey Thomlinson Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher

Andrew and Penny Torok Christina Turner Ann and Larry Turner

The Hon Rosemary Varty Leon and Sandra Velik The Reverend Noel Whale Edward and Paddy White Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian Wills Cooke Robert and Diana Wilson Richard Withers Shirley and Jeffrey Zajac Anonymous (11)

OVERTURE PATRONS $500+*

Margaret Abbey PSM Jane Allan and Mark Redmond Mario M Anders

Jenny Anderson Benevity Mr Peter Batterham Heather and David Baxter Peter Berry and Amanda Quirk Dr William Birch AM Allen and Kathryn Bloom Graham and Mary Ann Bone Stephen Braida Linda Brennan

Dr Robert Brook Roger and Coll Buckle

Ian and Wilma Chapman

Cititec Systems Pty Ltd Charmaine Collins

Dr Sheryl Coughlin and Paul Coughlin Gregory Crew

Michael Davies Nada Dickinson

Bruce Dudon

Cynthia Edgell Melissa and Aran Fitzgerald

Brian Florence Elizabeth Foster Mary Gaidzkar Simon Gaites

Mary-Jane Gething

Sandra Gillett and Jeremy Wilkins

David and Geraldine Glenny Hugo and Diane Goetze Louise Gourlay OAM

Robert and Jan Green Geoff Hayes

Jim Hickey William Holder Clive and Joyce Hollands R A Hook

Gillian Horwood Peter Huntsman Geoff and Denise Illing Rob Jackson Wendy Johnson Fiona Keenan John Keys

Belinda and Malcolm King

Conrad O’Donohue and Rosemary Kiss

Professor David Knowles and Dr Anne McLachlan

Paschalina Leach

Dr Jenny Lewis

Dr Susan Linton

The Podcast Reader Joy Manners

Janice Mayfield

Dr Alan Meads and Sandra Boon Marie Misiurak

Joan Mullumby

Adrian and Louise Nelson

Dr Judith S Nimmo Rosemary O’Collins David Oppenheim

Howard and Dorothy Parkinson Sarah Patterson

Pauline and David Lawton Adriana and Sienna Pesavento Kerryn Pratchett

Professor Charles Qin OAM and Kate Ritchie

Alfonso Reina and Marjanne Rook

Professor John Rickard Viorica Samson

Carolyn Sanders Julia Schlapp

Dr Frank and Valerie Silberberg

Brian Snape AM and the late Diana Snape Colin and Mary Squires Allan and Margaret Tempest Reverend Angela Thomas Max Walters Rosemary Warnock Amanda Watson

Deborah Whithear and Dr Kevin Whithear OAM

Fiona Woodard

Dr Kelly and Dr Heathcote Wright Dr Susan Yell

Daniel Yosua Anonymous (18)

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

Jennifer Henry 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

Pauline and David Lawton Cameron Mowat

Ruth Muir

David Orr

Matthew O’Sullivan

Rosia Pasteur Penny Rawlins

Joan P Robinson Anne Roussac-Hoyne and Neil Roussac Michael Ryan and Wendy Mead Andrew Serpell

Jennifer Shepherd Suzette Sherazee

Dr Gabriela and Dr George Stephenson Pamela Swansson

Lillian Tarry

Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman

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

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

COMMISSIONING CIRCLE

Mary Armour

The late Hon Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall Tim and Lyn Edward Kim Williams AM

Weis Family

FIRST NATIONS CIRCLE

John and Lorraine Bates Colin Golvan AM KC and Dr Deborah Golvan Sascha O. Becker

Elizabeth Proust AO and Brian Lawrence

The Kate and Stephen Shelmerdine Family Foundation

Michael Ullmer AO and Jenny Ullmer Jason Yeap OAM – Mering Management Corporation

HONORARY APPOINTMENTS

Life Members

Mr Marc Besen AC

John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC Sir Elton John CBE Harold Mitchell AC

Lady Potter AC CMRI Jeanne Pratt AC

Michael Ullmer AO and Jenny Ullmer Anonymous

Artistic Ambassadors Tan Dun Lu Siqing

MSO Ambassador Geoffrey Rush AC

The MSO honours the memory of Life Members

Mrs Eva Besen AO

John Brockman OAM

The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC Roger Riordan AM

Ila Vanrenen

MSO BOARD

Chairman

David Li AM Co-Deputy Chairs

Di Jameson Helen Silver AO Managing Director Sophie Galaise Board Directors Shane Buggle

Andrew Dudgeon AM Danny Gorog Lorraine Hook

Margaret Jackson AC

David Krasnostein AM Gary McPherson

Hyon-Ju Newman

Glenn Sedgwick Company Secretary Oliver Carton

The MSO relies on your ongoing philanthropic support to sustain our artists, and support access, education, community engagement and more. We invite our supporters to get close to the MSO through a range of special events.

The MSO welcomes your support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible, and supporters are recognised as follows:

$500+ (Overture)

$1,000+ (Player)

$2,500+ (Associate)

$5,000+ (Principal)

$10,000+ (Maestro)

$20,000+ (Impresario)

$50,000+ (Virtuoso)

$100,000+ (Platinum)

Jaime Martín, Chief Conductor Melbourne

Trusts and Foundations

Erica Foundation Pty Ltd, The Sir Andrew and Lady Fairley Foundation, John T Reid Charitable Trusts, Scobie & Claire Mackinnon Trust, Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment, Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund, The Ullmer Family Foundation

Freemasons Foundation Victoria