06 & 07 November 2015ADELAIDE TOWN HALLEroica
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Brett Dean Testament (version for orchestra)
Mozart Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor, K466
Allegro
Romance
Rondo (Allegro assai)
Benjamin Grosvenor Piano
Beethoven Symphony No 3 in E flat, Op 55 Eroica
Allegro con brio
Marcia funebre (Adagio assai)
Scherzo (Allegro vivace) – Trio – Scherzo
Finale (Allegro molto – Presto)
06 & 07 November, Adelaide Town Hall
Eroica Master Series 9
Interval
This concert runs for approximately 110 minutes including interval. Friday night’s concert will be recorded for Broadcast on ABC Classic FM.
Brett Dean Conductor/ViolaBenjamin Grosvenor Piano
Classical ConversationsComposer/musicologist Vincent Plush explores the spectrum of musical ideas in works by Brett Dean, Mozart and Beethoven.
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Brett Dean conductor/viola
Brett Dean studied in Brisbane before moving to Germany in 1984 where he was a permanent member of the Berliner Philharmoniker for fourteen years. He began composing in 1988, initially concentrating on experimental film and radio projects and as an improvising performer. Dean’s reputation as a composer continued to develop, and it was through works such as his clarinet concerto Ariel´s Music (1995), which won an award from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers, and Carlo (1997) for strings, sampler and tape, inspired by the music of Carlo Gesualdo, that he gained international recognition. In 2000 Dean returned to his native Australia to concentrate on his composition, and he now shares his time between homes in Melbourne and Berlin.
Now one of the most internationally performed composers of his generation, much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political, environmental or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by paintings by his wife Heather Betts. His music is championed by many of the leading conductors and orchestras worldwide, including Sir Simon Rattle, Andris Nelsons, Marin Alsop, David Robertson and Simone Young.
Dean enjoys a busy performing career as violist and conductor, and since 2005 has been performing his own Viola Concerto with many of the world’s leading orchestras. Dean is a committed and natural chamber musician, frequently collaborating with other ensembles and orchestral musicians to perform both his own chamber works and standard repertoire.
Dean’s career as conductor is also blossoming alongside his work as composer and performer, his imaginative programmes usually centred around his own works combined with other composers’. Recent conducting highlights include the Sydney Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony, BBC Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony, Tonkünstler-Orchester, Royal Northern Sinfonia and as Artist in Residence with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
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Benjamin Grosvenor Piano
Benjamin Grosvenor first came to prominence as the winner of the keyboard final of the 2004 BBC Young Musician competition at age eleven. Since then, he has become an internationally regarded pianist performing with orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, RAI National Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and Tokyo Symphony Orchestra.
Recent and future highlights include engagements with The Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Houston Symphony, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Orchestre de chambre de Paris and Basque National Orchestra. He appeared at the 2015 BBC Last Night of the Proms performing Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Marin Alsop. He continues to incorporate chamber music collaborations into his schedule, including the International Chamber Music Series in London with the Endellion String Quartet and further collaborations with the Escher and Elias String Quartets.
Benjamin Grosvenor began playing the piano at age six, and at age nineteen performed
with the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the First Night of the Proms. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Christopher Elton and Daniel-Ben Pienaar, where he graduated with the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence. He has received Gramophone’s Young Artist of the Year and Instrumental Awards, a Classic Brit Critics Award, UK Critics’ Circle Award for Exceptional Young Talent and a Diapason d’Or Jeune Talent Award.
His most recent recording – winner of the BBC Music Magazine Instrumental Award 2015 – is Dances, a recital album that presents a historically and stylistically varied offering of works influenced by dance.
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Adelaide Symphony OrchestraPrincipal Guest Conductor and Artistic Advisor Arvo Volmer
Artist in Association Nicholas McGegan
Principal Conductor Designate Nicholas Carter
VIOLINS
Natsuko Yoshimoto** (Concertmaster)
Supported by ASO Chair of the Board Colin Dunsford AM & Lib Dunsford
Cameron Hill** (Associate Concertmaster)
Supported by The Baska Family
Shirin Lim* (Principal 1st Violin)
Supported in the memory of Dr Nandor Ballai
Michael Milton** (Principal 2nd Violin)
Supported by The Friends of the ASO
Lachlan Bramble~ (Associate Principal 2nd Violin)
Supported in the memory of Deborah Pontifex
Ann AxelbyErna BerberyanMinas Berberyan
Supported by Merry Wickes
Hilary Bruer Supported by Marion Wells
Nadia BuckElizabeth CollinsJane CollinsBelinda GehlertJennifer NewmanJulie NewmanJudith PolainMarie-Louise SlaytorKemeri Spurr
VIOLAS Imants Larsens** (Acting Principal)
Supported by Simon & Sue Hatcher
Martin ButlerLesley CockramLinda GarrettAnna HansenRosi McGowran
CELLOS Simon Cobcroft**
Supported by Andrew & Gayle Robertson
Ewen Bramble~ Supported by Barbara Mellor
Sarah Denbigh
Sherrilyn Handley Supported by Johanna and Terry McGuirk
Gemma Phillips Supported by R & P Cheesman
Cameron Waters
DOUBLE BASSES David Schilling**
Supported by Mrs Maureen Akkermans
Belinda Kendall-Smith~ (Acting Associate)Jacky Chang David Phillips
Supported for ‘a great bass player with lots of spirit - love Betsy’
FLUTES Geoffrey Collins**
Supported by Pauline Menz
Lisa Gill
PICCOLO Julia Grenfell*
Supported by Chris & Julie Michelmore
OBOES
Celia Craig** Supported in the memory of Geoffrey Hackett-Jones
Peter Duggan Supported by Dr Ben Robinsons
CLARINETS
Dean Newcomb** Supported by the Royal Over-Seas League SA Inc
Mitchell Berick Supported by Nigel Stevenson & Glenn Ball
BASSOONS Mark Gaydon**
Supported by Pamela Yule
Leah Stephenson* Supported by Liz Ampt
HORNS Adrian Uren**Sarah Barrett~
Supported by Margaret Lehman
Philip Paine*Emma GreganAlex Miller
TRUMPETS Martin Phillipson** (Acting Principal)
Supported by Richard Hugh Allert AO
Timothy Keenihan
TIMPANI Robert Hutcheson*
Supported by Drs Kristine Gebbie & Lester Wright
PERCUSSIONSteven Peterka**
Supported by The Friends of the ASO
** denotes Section Leader* denotes Principal Player~ denotes Associate Principal
denotes Musical Chair Support
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ASO BOARD
Colin Dunsford AM (Chair)Vincent CiccarelloGeoffrey CollinsCol EardleyByron GregoryDavid LeonChris MichelmoreMichael MorleyAndrew RobertsonNigel Stevenson
ASO MANAGEMENT
EXECUTIVE
Vincent Ciccarello - Managing Director
ARTISTIC
Simon Lord - Director, Artistic PlanningKatey Sutcliffe - Artistic AdministratorEmily Gann - Learning and Community Engagement Coordinator
FINANCE AND HR
Louise Williams - Manager, People and CultureKarin Juhl - Accounts/Box Office CoordinatorSarah McBride - PayrollEmma Wight - Administrative Assistant
OPERATIONSKaren Frost - Orchestra ManagerBruce Stewart - LibrarianDavid Khafagi - Operations AssistantDavid Bailith - Operations Assistant
MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENTPaola Niscioli - General Manager, Marketing and DevelopmentTom Bastians - Customer Service ManagerAnnika Stennert - Marketing CoordinatorKate Sewell - PublicistAlexandra Bassett - Marketing and Development Coordinator
FRIENDS OF THE ASO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Alison Campbell - PresidentLiz Bowen - Immediate Past PresidentAlyson Morrison and John Pike - Vice PresidentsJudy Birze - Treasurer/SecretaryJohn Gell - Assistant Secretary/ Membership
Correct at time of print.
Flowers supplied by
Concertmaster Natsuko Yoshimoto
Supported by ASO Chair of the Board Colin Dunsford AM & Lib Dunsford
Associate Principal CelloEwen Bramble
Supported byBarbara Mellor
Principal ViolaJuris Ezergailis
Supported in the memory of Mrs JJ Holden
Principal 2nd Violin Michael Milton
Supported by The Friends of the ASO
Associate Principal 2nd Violin Lachlan Bramble
Supported in the memory of Deborah Pontifex
Associate ConcertmasterCameron Hill
Supported by The Baska Family
Principal 1st ViolinShirin Lim
Supported in the memory of Dr Nandor Ballai
For more information please contact Paola Niscioli, Director, Marketing & Development on (08) 8233 6263 or [email protected]
Violin Hilary Bruer
Supported by Marion Wells
Violin Emma Perkins
Supported byPeter & Pamela McKee
ViolinMinas Berberyan
Supported by
Merry Wickes
ViolinAlexis Milton
Supported byPatricia Cohen
Associate Principal Viola Imants Larsens
Supported bySimon & Sue Hatcher
Principal CelloSimon Cobcroft
Supported byAndrew & Gayle Robertson
Cello Chris Handley
Supported byJohanna and Terry McGuirk
CelloDavid Sharp
Supported byDr Aileen F Connon AM
CelloSherrilyn Handley
Supported byJohanna and Terry McGuirk
Principal BassDavid Shilling
Supported by Mrs Maureen Akkermans
BassHarley Gray
Supported byBob Croser
Musical chair players and donors
CelloGemma PhillipsSupported by R & P Cheesman
BassDavid Phillips
Supported for‘a great bass player with lots of spirit - love Betsy’
Oboe Renae Stavely
Supported by Roderick Shire & Judy Hargrave
Principal Bass ClarinetMitchell Berick
Supported by Nigel Stevenson & Glenn Ball
Principal BassoonMark Gaydon
Supported byPamela Yule
Principal TubaPeter Whish-Wilson
Supported by Ollie Clark AM & Joan Clark
Principal TimpaniRobert Hutcheson
Drs Kristine Gebbie and Lester Wight
Principal ClarinetDean Newcomb
Supported byRoyal Over-Seas League SA Inc
Principal Flute Geoffrey Collins
Supported by Pauline Menz
Principal Cor Anglais Peter Duggan
Supported by Dr Ben Robinson
BassoonLeah Stephenson
Supported byLiz Ampt
Principal PiccoloJulia Grenfell
Supported by Chris & Julie Michelmore
Principal Contra BassoonJackie Hansen
Supported by Norman Etherington AM & Peggy Brock
ClarinetDarren Skelton
Supported in the memory of Keith Langley
Associate Principal TrumpetMartin Phillipson
Supported byRichard Hugh Allert AO
Principal PercussionSteven Peterka
Supported by The Friends of the ASO
Principal HarpSuzanne Handel
Supported byShane Le Plastrier
Principal TromboneCameron Malouf
Supported by Virginia Weckert & Charles Melton of Charles Melton Wines
Associate Principal HornSarah Barrett
Supported byMargaret Lehmann
Principal OboeCelia Craig
Supported in memory of Geoffrey Hackett-Jones
Concertmaster Natsuko Yoshimoto
Supported by ASO Chair of the Board Colin Dunsford AM & Lib Dunsford
Associate Principal CelloEwen Bramble
Supported byBarbara Mellor
Principal ViolaJuris Ezergailis
Supported in the memory of Mrs JJ Holden
Principal 2nd Violin Michael Milton
Supported by The Friends of the ASO
Associate Principal 2nd Violin Lachlan Bramble
Supported in the memory of Deborah Pontifex
Associate ConcertmasterCameron Hill
Supported by The Baska Family
Principal 1st ViolinShirin Lim
Supported in the memory of Dr Nandor Ballai
For more information please contact Paola Niscioli, Director, Marketing & Development on (08) 8233 6263 or [email protected]
Violin Hilary Bruer
Supported by Marion Wells
Violin Emma Perkins
Supported byPeter & Pamela McKee
ViolinMinas Berberyan
Supported by
Merry Wickes
ViolinAlexis Milton
Supported byPatricia Cohen
Associate Principal Viola Imants Larsens
Supported bySimon & Sue Hatcher
Principal CelloSimon Cobcroft
Supported byAndrew & Gayle Robertson
Cello Chris Handley
Supported byJohanna and Terry McGuirk
CelloDavid Sharp
Supported byDr Aileen F Connon AM
CelloSherrilyn Handley
Supported byJohanna and Terry McGuirk
Principal BassDavid Shilling
Supported by Mrs Maureen Akkermans
BassHarley Gray
Supported byBob Croser
Musical chair players and donors
CelloGemma PhillipsSupported by R & P Cheesman
BassDavid Phillips
Supported for‘a great bass player with lots of spirit - love Betsy’
Oboe Renae Stavely
Supported by Roderick Shire & Judy Hargrave
Principal Bass ClarinetMitchell Berick
Supported by Nigel Stevenson & Glenn Ball
Principal BassoonMark Gaydon
Supported byPamela Yule
Principal TubaPeter Whish-Wilson
Supported by Ollie Clark AM & Joan Clark
Principal TimpaniRobert Hutcheson
Drs Kristine Gebbie and Lester Wight
Principal ClarinetDean Newcomb
Supported byRoyal Over-Seas League SA Inc
Principal Flute Geoffrey Collins
Supported by Pauline Menz
Principal Cor Anglais Peter Duggan
Supported by Dr Ben Robinson
BassoonLeah Stephenson
Supported byLiz Ampt
Principal PiccoloJulia Grenfell
Supported by Chris & Julie Michelmore
Principal Contra BassoonJackie Hansen
Supported by Norman Etherington AM & Peggy Brock
ClarinetDarren Skelton
Supported in the memory of Keith Langley
Associate Principal TrumpetMartin Phillipson
Supported byRichard Hugh Allert AO
Principal PercussionSteven Peterka
Supported by The Friends of the ASO
Principal HarpSuzanne Handel
Supported byShane Le Plastrier
Principal TromboneCameron Malouf
Supported by Virginia Weckert & Charles Melton of Charles Melton Wines
Associate Principal HornSarah Barrett
Supported byMargaret Lehmann
Principal OboeCelia Craig
Supported in memory of Geoffrey Hackett-Jones
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Testament (version for orchestra)
One of the most frequently performed composers of his generation, Brett Dean studied in Brisbane before joining the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra as a violist for 14 years. He returned to Australia in 2000 to concentrate on composing, subsequently winning the prestigious Grawemeyer Award in 2009 for his violin concerto The Lost Art of Letter Writing.
A response to a call for a piece that in some way related to Beethoven’s life and music, Testament was originally composed as a work for 12 violas for Dean’s former colleagues in the Berlin Philharmonic’s viola section, a group with whom he had ‘played so much of Beethoven’s music’. He created the version for orchestra in 2008.
The composer writes:
As I started work on this score, I re-read Beethoven’s famous Heiligenstadt Testament, his last will and testament, written comparatively early in life on learning of the irreversibility of his worsening hearing ailments. One particularly haunting sonic idea that struck me at that point was the quietly feverish sound of Ludwig’s imagined quill writing manically on leaves of parchment paper.
Beethoven’s 1802 Testament certainly displays the same aspects of his impetuous temperament, so readily recognisable from other examples of his (often barely legible) manuscripts and other letters. Added to this is a heightened sense of pathos, despair and self-pity which makes this such a particularly moving document: ‘Ah,’ he writes at one point, ‘how could I possibly admit an infirmity in the one sense which should have been more perfect in me than in others, a sense which I once possessed in highest perfection…’
Testament begins with sounds of hasty, breathless, but almost silent desperation as the orchestral strings play their instruments with bows not treated with rosin and the wind players blow only air through their instruments. Without the usual traction that rosin provides, a rosinless bow glides with an eerie surface noise over the strings, only occasionally and sporadically able to bring out a full tone in the usual manner. Through this way, the main material for the piece is presented almost as if behind a gauze, or as if itself hampered by a hearing ailment. One sees much action, but it is an indeterminate aural experience.
The restless, scherzo-like character of these scribblings eventually gives way to slower music, led by a high, floating cantilena in the flute, the shape of which is informed by a setting of some words from Beethoven’s
Brett Dean (born 1961)
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Brett Dean (born 1961)
text, a kind of song with words, but without voices. Quotations from the slow movement of the first of his ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets (Op.59) begin to increasingly inhabit the space but are broken off without being able to find cohesion. A sense of loss and alienation remains hanging in the air when, with fully rosined bows in the entire strings, the implied anguish behind the music suddenly and ultimately comes to the fore in the full orchestra. The ensuing fast music is a fuller development of the opening bars of hushed disquiet – at times outwardly aggressive, at other times again inward and unresolved in its intent, or even unexpectedly light and pliable, including fragmentary references to Beethoven’s flamboyant Op 59 No 1 finale.
This air of ambivalence remains until the end of Testament, suspended somewhere between languor and resolve. The time Beethoven spent in the quiet village of Heiligenstadt outside Vienna, culminating as it did in the realisation that his complete deafness was imminent and irreparable, ironically also marked the beginning of one of the most creative phases in his compositional life, leading quickly to the Eroica Symphony, the ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets and other thoroughly revolutionary scores. His time in Heiligenstadt then was a leave-taking, an acceptance and a fresh start.
© Brett Dean 2008
Testament for 12 violas was commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra for their chamber music series and premiered in June 2003. The first performance of the orchestral version was given by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra on 7 March 2008 under the direction of Sebastian Lang-Lessing. This is the first performance of the work by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Duration 14 minutes.
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Piano Concerto No 20 in D minor, K466
Allegro
Romance
Rondo (Allegro assai)
Benjamin Grosvenor piano
The first of the two piano concertos for which Mozart chose the minor mode is one of his most often heard works, and one of his most admired. Even in the 19th century, when much of his music was in eclipse, this concerto was played and regarded as representing the ‘daemonic’ Mozart. Beethoven played it and wrote cadenzas for it which we will hear tonight. In 1839 Schumann singled out this concerto: ‘Our younger master will certainly not forget how the older ones would suddenly emerge with something magnificent – Mozart’s Concerto in D minor, Beethoven’s in G.’
Such fame is a problem: Charles Rosen remarks of this concerto, in his book The Classical Style, that we have to ask ourselves whether we are hearing the work of art or its reputation. There may be people who are hearing the concerto for the first time tonight, with fresh ears. The stormy drama of the work can hardly fail to make an
impression of great, but controlled emotion and power.
This concerto is not incontestably better than the nine others Mozart wrote in 1784 and 1785, but it is distinguished from them by the intensity of its subjective approach. It has often been hailed as being like Beethoven, a form of praise which tends to obscure its special qualities and their sources. As familiarity has grown with the music of Mozart, Haydn and their predecessors, we have come to see that the late 18th century had its own deep vein of Storm and Stress, of passionate expression. There is, for example, a remarkable D minor keyboard concerto by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach which has some of the same feeling as this one by Mozart. One respect in which its music could be admitted to be Beethovenian is that the strife and passion persist until the change of mood in the last bars of the Rondo.
The first 15 bars of this concerto express the character of the whole of the first movement: throbbing, syncopated strings underlined by gruff bass triplets, rhythmic instability pushed as far as the Classical style would allow. Instead of turning to develop lighter material in the major key, this exposition retraces its steps to the mood of the opening, through orchestral tuttis of a violence unprecedented in Mozart’s work.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
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The piano’s first entry, in free recitative, is very moving – like the voice of one against the many, and this principle of opposition is much exploited throughout. With piano added to orchestra, the sustained and graded acceleration begins which gives this concerto much of its excitement. Beethoven’s cadenza, though grandiose and headstrong, is a revealing commentary – one great creator and interpreter responding to another. Alfred Einstein has written suggestively of the pianissimo conclusion to the movement that it is ‘as if the furies had simply become tired out and had lain down to rest, still grumbling, and ready at any time to take up the fight again…’.
The slow movement begins in complete contrast, in an unexpected key (B flat major), fresh and poised. It proceeds as a spacious rondo, but as the second episode begins, is startlingly transformed. A raging presto in G minor begins in breathless triplets, which should be played, according to a letter of Mozart’s father Leopold, ‘as swiftly as the possibility of bringing out the tune clearly allows’. The return to the rondo theme is made in a transition of great breadth, like a horseman reining in his steed. This violent contrast within the movement would make no sense, as Rosen points out, if the slow movement was isolated from the others. The furies of the first movement have taken up the fight again.
The last movement is one of Mozart’s few minor-key rondos, but its turn to the major key towards the end, playing with more cheerful material, has provoked some disappointment from those who would judge this concerto by non-Mozartian aesthetic standards. The rocket-like theme with which the piano begins and the sustained violence of the first orchestral tutti are of a piece with
the first movement, and the conciliatory character of the ending, besides being memorably jaunty and good-humoured, is perhaps best considered as a restoring of 18th-century balance, a desire to leave the audience with a friendly impression.
© David Garrett
The first performance of this concerto by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra took place on 1 September 1945, with conductor Bernard Heinze and soloist Noel Mewton-Wood. The ASO’s most recent performance of the work was in December 2014 with Nicholas Carter and Caroline Almonte.
Duration 30 minutes.
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Symphony No 3 in E flat, Op 55 Eroica
Allegro con brio
Marcia funebre (Adagio assai)
Scherzo (Allegro vivace) – Trio – Scherzo
Finale (Allegro molto – Presto)
As is the case with the First and Second, Beethoven’s composing score for the Third Symphony has disappeared. However, circumstantial evidence suggests he finished it during the Vienna winter of 1803-04, at around the same time he was working on his massive Waldstein Piano Sonata, Op 53, whose opening Allegro shares with the Third’s the added direction ‘con brio’ (with vigour). In size and scale, the Third epitomised the major advances Beethoven had made since even his recent Second Symphony, audibly obvious in the enhanced listening span he sets his audience, in his deployment of such attention-commanding themes, and in his pursuit of a more distinctive and sonorous orchestral mix. And in the summer of 1804, one of his patrons, Prince Joseph Lobkowitz, allowed him the almost unheard-of luxury of being able to trial the score while he was still revising it, in a series of private rehearsals, with an orchestra of some 27 or 28 players, in Lobkowitz’s Vienna palace. Later the Prince
also paid Beethoven a hefty gratuity for the honour of having the name Lobkowitz appear as dedicatee on the title-page of the printed edition. In this respect at least, Joseph Lobkowitz was ultimately the Third’s hero.
In early 1804, however, Beethoven was still intending to dedicate it to Napoleon Bonaparte, the great political reformer and egalitarian. But when, late that year, Napoleon renounced democracy and proclaimed himself emperor of France, Beethoven reportedly flew into a rage, and correctly predicted his former idol would ‘trample on human rights, and become a tyrant’. Even in disappointment, Beethoven still wanted to call it the ‘Bonaparte Symphony’, though by the time he corrected a new fair copy to send to his publisher in 1806 he had settled on Sinfonia Eroica (Heroic), with the regretful subtitle: ‘to the memory of a great man’. In November 1805, Napoleon’s army had marched into Vienna largely uncontested, but unwelcome enough to make locals stay away from the premiere season of the first version of Beethoven’s opera Fidelio, leaving mainly French officers to make up his small audience. During Napoleon’s second occupation of the city in 1809, the noise of bombardment so affected the hearing-impaired Beethoven that he retreated to a basement to protect his ears. Before the
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)
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Battle of Waterloo brought the warlord’s reign of terror to an end in 1815, Beethoven celebrated the Napoleonic armies’ defeat in Spain in 1813 with his short ‘battle symphony’, Wellington’s Victory, and organised the patriotic concert at which it and his Seventh Symphony were premiered to raise funds for Austrian soldiers wounded expelling the French from Germany. But time again altered his perceptions; Beethoven later told Carl Czerny, ‘I used to detest Napoleon, now I think quite differently.’ And on hearing of Napoleon’s death in 1821, Beethoven remarked he had already composed the music for the ‘sad event’ in this symphony’s Funeral March.
According to his self-appointed secretary Anton Schindler, Beethoven intended the Symphony No.3 ‘to portray the workings of Napoleon’s extraordinary mind’. In the opening Allegro, the titanic main theme has been interpreted as representing ‘Napoleon’s determined, questing character’. In the Funeral March, though the shadow of Death temporarily encompasses him, in the midst of mourning, a new major-key theme signifies a rising star of hope, before the music returns to the graveside, muffled drumrolls, and a farewell volley faintly echoed. In stark contrast, the motoric scherzo overflows with an abundance of energy. The finale consists of a simple country dance tune with variations that build strategically in intensity and complexity toward a blazing orchestral rout that – forget Napoleon – no one but Beethoven could have imagined!
Graeme Skinner © 2014
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra first performed Beethoven’s Symphony No 3 at a Beethoven Festival on 8 and 9 March 1945 under conductor Bernard Heinze, and most recently in March 2012 with Joseph Swensen.
Duration 47 minutes.
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Mr & Mrs Trevor & Elizabeth Rowan
Ms Linda SampsonLarry & Maria ScottProfessor Ivan Shearer AMRobert Short & Sherry Kothari
Mr W & Mrs H StacyS and S ThomsonThe Honourable Justice Ann Vanstone
Mr Nick WardenMrs Pamela WhittleMrs Gretta WillisMs Janet WorthHon David Wotton AM & Mrs Jill Wotton
Plus 16 anonymous donors
Tutti Patron ($250 - $499)
Mr Brenton BarrittMrs Jillian BeareDr Gaby BerceJonathan BillingtonDr Adam BlackMr & Mrs Andrew & Margaret Black
Mr Mark BlumbergDianne & Felix Bochner
Mrs Janet H CallenMrs J Y ClothierMr Stephen CourtenayMr & Mrs Michael & Jennifer Critchley
Mrs Betty CrossHonourable Dr Rosemary Crowley AO
George & Ilana CulshawMr John DaenkeMrs M D Daniel OAMDr Joan DurdinMr & Mrs Stephen & Emma Evans
Dr Laurence J FergusonMr J H FordMr Otto FuchsDr David & Mrs Kay GillThe Hon R & Mrs L Goldsworthy
Mr Neil HallidayMrs Mary HandleyMrs Jill HayProf Robert Heddle & Mrs Margaret Heddle
Mrs Judith HeidenreichMr & Mrs Peter & Helen Herriman
Mrs Kate HislopMr John HoldenMr D G W HowardMr Angus KennedyMrs Bellena KennedyHon Anne Levy AOMrs Beth LewisLodge Thespian, No. 195 Inc
Mr J H LoveMr Colin MacdonaldMr Dennis MaddockRobert MarroneDr Ruth MarshallMrs Josephine MonkMs Fiona MorganMrs Alyson MorrisonMrs Amparo Moya-KnoxMargaret MudgeMr Alex NicolDr Kenneth O’BrienDr John OvertonMr and Mrs PatersonMrs Coralie PattersonMr D G PittMr Frank PrezTony and Jenny ReadMrs Janet Ann RoverMrs Jill RussellMr A D SaintMr Frank and Mrs Judy Sanders
Mrs Meredyth Sarah AMMr David ScownMs Gweneth ShaughnessyMrs Pauline E. ShuteR & L SiegeleMr & Mrs Antony & Mary Lou Simpson
Mr Brenton Smith
Mr & Mrs Jim & Anne Spiker
Eric StaakAnthony Steel AM and Sandra Mason
Mr & Mrs Graham & Maureen Storer
John & Annette TerpelleAnita Robinson & Michael Tingay
Ms Christine TrenordenMr Jacky TsangMark & Jenny TummelMr David TurnerKeith and Neta Vickery
Plus 18 anonymous donors In Memory of Des Blundell, Former Principal Trombone and Rob Collins, Former ASO Violist donated by the ASO Players Association
The ASO also thanks the 508 patrons who gave other amounts in the past twelve months.
What your donations support Give proudly
full-time musicians
casual employees
hours of concerts
students & teachers engaged with the ASO
hours of rehearsals in the Grainger Studio
composers currently under commission
pages of sheet music turned
75125 232
10,107400
3
13 ,800
The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra reaches over 100,000 people in our community every year and it’s thanks to individuals like you who help make it possible. With ticket sales only accounting for 28% of the Orchestra’s operational costs, private giving makes a significant impact in delivering world class concerts to the community. Please help the ASO to share the power of live music by donating generously.
Support Us
Donate nowSupporting your ASO is easy (donations over $2 are fully tax deductible and exempt of credit card charges). Give online at aso.com.au/donateOr, if you’d like further information or to discuss other ways to support the ASO, contact Paola Niscioli, General Manager, Marketing and Development on 8233 6263 or email [email protected]
A Bequest for the futureImagine a world in which concerts are only on YouTube and music only heard on recordings. Where would we be without the great orchestral performances that transcend time and place and move us beyond our imagination?
Help us to preserve the world of music and share your lasting passion for the ASO by making a gift in your Will. Your generosity will create enduring benefits for the ASO and ensure that the pleasure of music will be passed on to future generations.
In tune with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
KPMG has a 16-year history of sponsoring
the ASO and is proud to be a World Artist Partner.
It’s tangible expression of our commitment
to help shape a successful future for
South Australia.
We look forward to celebrating music and hitting the right
notes together.
kpmg.com.au
© 2014 KPMG, an Australian partnership. All rights reserved. The KPMG name, logo and “cutting through complexity” are registered trademarks or trademarks of KPMG International. August 2015. VIC13209MKT.
Principal Partner
Major Partners
World Artist Partners
Corporate Partners
Media Partners
Corporate Club
Industry collaborators
Friends
Government Support
The ASO receives Commonwealth Government funding through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body. The Orchestra is funded by the Government of South Australia through Arts SA.
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra 91 Hindley St, Adelaide SA 5000 | Telephone (08) 8233 6233 Fax (08) 8233 6222 | Email [email protected] | aso.com.au
Principal Partner
Major Partners
World Artist Partners
Corporate Partners
Media Partners
Corporate Club
Industry collaborators
Friends
Government Support
57 FilmsBoylen – Website Design & DevelopmentCoopers Brewery Ltd FotonautHaigh’s ChocolatesHickinbotham Group
M2 GroupNormetalsPeregrine TravelPoster ImpactSan Remo Macaroni Co. Pty LtdSize Music
Thank you
DISCLAIMER: Every effort has been made to ensure that performance dates, times, prices and other information contained herein are correct at time of publication. Due to reasons beyond the ASO’s control, details may change without notice. We will make every effort to communicate these with you should this eventuate.
Join us
Santos and the ASO – great South Australian performersFor sixteen seasons Santos and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra have partnered together to deliver outstanding performances to audiences across South Australia. This proud tradition continues in 2015.
With our head office here in Adelaide, Santos has been part of South Australia for over 60 years.
We search Australia to find gas and oil to help provide energy to our nation. But we also put our energy into supporting the communities in which we live and work.
Each year Santos supports a wide range of community events and organisations across South Australia.
By 2017, this support will add up to $60m over a ten-year period.
At Santos, we believe that contributing to a vibrant culture is good for everyone. We don’t just look for energy - we help create it.
Proudly working in partnership
kwp!
SA
N10
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