2012 great performers

M E L B O U R N E R E C I T A L C E N T R E

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c n r s o u t h b a n k b o u L e va r d & s t u r t s t r e e t , s o u t h b a n k , v i c t o r i a

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PACK oPTionS PREMiUM A B noTES

FULL PACK ~ 8 concerts, save 30%

x $588

x $476

x $364

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x $504

x $408 x $312

choose six concerts from the Flex Packs column below and any additional tickets.

FoUR PACK~ FLeXibLe, save 15%

x $357

x $289

x $221

choose four concerts from the Flex Packs column below and any additional tickets.

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PERFoRMAnCES and dates

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AddiTionAL TiCKET oRdER indicate number of seats in each reserve

P $94.50 A $76.50 B $58.50 C $45

BEhzod ABdURAiMov ~ tue 27 march

SUSAn GRAhAM ~ thu 26 april

RiChARd ToGnETTi ~ Wed 27 June

CÉdRiC TiBERGhiEn~ tue 10 July

ChRiSTinE BREwER ~ Wed 1 august

PAUL LEwiS 1 ~ thu 6 september

PAUL LEwiS 2 ~ Wed 12 september

STEvEn oSBoRnE ~ tue 4 december

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i would like to renew my season tickets. choose an eight-pack to ensure you have renewable seating in future years.

i am purchasing a new season ticket Package. You can also purchase online at melbournerecital.com.au/greatperformers

all information contained in this brochure is to the best of our knowledge and belief correct at the time of publication.

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reneWing Your season tickets? Please return this form with payment (no stamp required) to: melbourne recital centre great Performers, reply Paid 85302, southbank vic 3006 or call 03 9699 3333 mon-Fri 9am-5pm

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bookings will be processed in date order of receipt, prioritsed as follows: First, renewing season ticket holders. second, renewing season ticket holders’ additional tickets. third, new season tickets/additional ticket orders. under-30/concession and all regular-priced tickets available to the general public from 1 november.

subject to terms and conditions of sale, for details, visit melbournerecital.com.au. all prices are gst-inclusive and may incur transaction fees where applicable. no further discounts on season tickets or additional tickets for members. all packs must be in the same reserve for all concerts and all tickets must be purchased in the same transaction. Limit of one complimentary ticket voucher per package redeemable for a great Performers 2012 concert, subject to availability. not exchangeable or redeemable for cash. voucher valid until 5 december 2012 or while stocks last. We apologise if your first choice of concert(s) or reserve is not available. Free melbourne recital annual membership: offer valid until 31 october 2011. Limit of one annual membership per household.

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as soon as you step into elisabeth murdoch hall it’s clear that you

are inside an immense musical instrument, a room which amplifies

sound and emotion. it’s a privilege and a delight to perform music

that i have loved for almost as long as i can remember in this

magical space designed to bring audiences and musicians closer.

— Richard Tognetti

For further information on melbourne recital centre’s business Partnership and donor Programs, please contact sandra robertson, director of development, by phone: (03) 9207 2641 or by email: [email protected]

betty amsden oam annamila Pty Ltd William J. Forrest amrichard gubbins

hans and Petra henkellrichard mills amLyn Williams am

I hope I can be a pianist – not just any pianist – a pianist people need, who can give people something incredible, who can make people happy. — Behzod Abduraimov

Musicians like 22-year-old Behzod Abduraimov come along once in a generation. When the pianist from Tashkent took to the stage for the finals of the 2009 London International Piano Competition, the audience knew that they were seeing an astonishing talent. Abduraimov’s barnstorming performance of Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto brought the electrified crowd to their feet and won him the Grand Prize. His performances since then have left critics searching for new and even more glowing superlatives, and orchestras including the London Philharmonic clamouring to engage him.

With a program that displays the versatility and brilliance that has drawn comparisons with Vladimir Horowitz, Behzod takes us from Scarlatti’s Baroque jewels to Liszt’s diabolically difficult Mephisto Waltz. While poles apart in mood and language, all the works on the bill require a commanding sense of colour, texture and musical sensitivity and more than a dash of bravado.

Virtuosity is the ability to precisely translate the music inside a performer’s mind into the music you hear. Behzod Abduraimov is the quintessential virtuoso pianist.

Tuesday 27 March { 7.30pM }

elisabeth Murdoch hall

SCARLATTI

Sonata in B minor (Kp. 27)

Sonata in G minor (Kp. 450)

Sonata in D major (Kp. 96)

BEETHOVEN

Sonata in D major, Op.10, No.3

BRAHMS

Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Op.35, Book I

SAINT-SAËNS/HOROWITZ

Danse Macabre

LISZT

The Blessing of God in the Solitude from Poetic and Religious Harmonies, S.17

Mephisto Waltz No.1

Individual tickets available from 1 November 2011: $50 / $65 / $85 / $105*. Purchase Season Tickets to save up to 30% on the regular price.*Transaction fees may apply

Music is that fundamental to me. It’s air, it’s water - it’s an element for me. As far as I’m concerned, this is not really a job. — Susan Graham

Susan Graham is probably the only singer to have a day named in her honour: in her hometown of Midland, Texas, every fifth of September is Susan Graham Day. It’s a measure of the impact that America’s favourite mezzo has had, and the affection that she inspires from audiences, composers and fellow musicians. Her luscious, creamy voice, intelligent musicality, down-to-earth character and passionate advocacy of old and new music have won her fans around the world.

Graham’s international career began auspiciously with a Covent Garden debut in 1994. Since then, she’s performed at most of the world’s major opera houses in roles as diverse as Purcell’s tragic Dido to the heroines (and heroes) of Mozart and Rossini. She’s also a champion of new operas, creating the role of Sister Prejean in Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking and Jordan Baker in John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. As a recitalist, her programs of French and American art song have captivated audiences at Carnegie Hall and won her a Grammy Award.

Susan Graham makes her Melbourne Recital Centre debut with a program of songs from the Baroque to Broadway with her long-time musical collaborator Malcolm Martineau. Expect a concert that gets to the very heart of the music: passionate, smart and sublime.

w i t h M a l c o l m M a r t i n e a u , p i a n o

Thursday 26 april { 7.30pM }


Songs By

PURCELL

SCHUBERT

TCHAIKOVSKY

POULENC

PORTER

SONDHEIM

AND MORE

Full program details published at melbournerecital.com.au


Is there music which speaks to us more intimately, more urgently than these sonatas by Janácek, Beethoven and Brahms? They are invitations into an inner world, conversations and confessions between the composer, the musicians and you. Playing this music allows me to enter the souls of these composers, so distant from us in time and place, and yet so close. — Richard Tognetti

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w i t h B e n j a m i n M a r t i n , p i a n o

Wednesday 27 June { 7.30pM }


JANÁCEK

Violin Sonata

BEETHOVEN

Violin Sonata No.5 in F major, Op.24, ‘Spring’

SCULTHORPE

Irkanda I

BRAHMS

Violin Sonata No.3 in D minor, Op.108


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Richard Tognetti is an agent provocateur who plays like an angel. Finding musical inspiration in the most unlikely places from surfing to the idea of nothing, Tognetti is Australia’s most original, ambitious and thought-provoking musician. While he’s breaking boundaries, Tognetti’s performances of Baroque, Classical and Romantic repertoire with his acclaimed Australian Chamber Orchestra have an international reputation.

A solo recital by Richard Tognetti is a rare event. With imaginative leaps from Beethoven to Sculthorpe, Tognetti has devised a program that explores a vast emotional terrain, playing to his strengths as a powerful interpreter of Romantic and modern music. Janácek’s ardent and mysterious Violin Sonata was written on the brink of World War I, the composer saying that he could hear “the sound of the steel clashing” over his “troubled head”.

Beethoven’s ‘Spring’ Sonata is the bright opposite, a blithe celebration of nature, generated somehow spontaneously out of the interplay between violin and piano. Similarly rooted in nature is Sculthorpe’s Irkanda I. From an Aboriginal word meaning a remote and lonely place, this work hauntingly evokes a truly Australian landscape. Brahms’ Third Violin Sonata allows us to eavesdrop on an intimate conversation between musicians, in this case two of Australia’s finest.

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It is hard to ignore the world of senses that Debussy creates. Every note he writes brings a smell, a taste, a picture, a sensation. But at the same time, it is fascinating work to find my own personal images, not especially concrete, far from a precise painting or poem. — Cédric Tiberghien

JoIn us for frEE TAlks PrEsEnTED By MusIcIAns AnD MusIc JournAlIsTs AT 6.45PM BEforE EAch rEcITAl. These engaging experts are your guides to the music and the lives of the composers. Accessible yet in-depth, these talks are for people with all levels of musical knowledge.

The 30-minute talks are usually held in Elisabeth Murdoch hall.

free program notes are also provided at each concert.

If you have any questions about the music or the performers, tweet them to @melbrecital or email [email protected]. And ‘like’ us on facebook for extra info and unique offers.

Cédric Tiberghien’s poetic sensibility and perfect technique are the ideal match for the wonders of Claude Debussy’s Preludes. These miraculous pieces reinvent the piano: instead of a machine of hammers and strings, it is an infinitely colourful instrument of mysterious liquid depths and transparency. Debussy’s imagination is sometimes whimsical, sometimes savage and always surprising: the 24 Preludes depict everything from fairies to fireworks, each a tiny detonation of quiet radicalism.

Tiberghien has been immersed in the sound of French music, of course, but his interests range further afield to the jazz of Keith Jarrett and Björk, both impressionists in their own way.

What makes this musician different? As The Age says “Tiberghien leaps from the ruck of talented young pianists by making the music his own, taking you on to a plane where the interpreter’s craft is fully disposed to communicating the music’s fundamentals.”

Tiberghien’s combination of thoughtfulness and virtuosity has earned him a busy career on the international touring circuit, making him a regular visitor to prestigious orchestras and halls. He now returns to Melbourne Recital: the ideal place to discover the dazzling worlds of Debussy through Tiberghien’s mastery.

Tuesday 10 July { 7.30pM }


DEBUSSY

Preludes Books I and II


What is important in making music? communication. honest communication. People can see through the performances that aren’t real, that aren’t honest. I try to tell stories with whatever music I am singing in a way that everyone can understand, clearly and honestly. — Christine Brewer

w i t h A n t h o n y L e g g e , p i a n o

Wednesday 1 augusT { 7.30pM }


Songs By

WAGNER

R STRAUSS

JOHN CARTER

BRITTEN

Full program details published at melbournerecital.com.au


Storytelling is at the heart of all singing. A song is a one-person play and a recital is an evening where a dozen characters unfold a dozen dramas. Christine Brewer is the consummate singing actress. With a double career as operatic star and recitalist, Brewer can command an audience of thousands or just the lucky few with a voice that has been described “a sound like molten gold”. On stage, she has inhabited the roles of Isolde and Brünnhilde in Wagner’s epics, which require a voice of hall-filling power but it is in recital that all of the nuances and colour of her opulent voice come to the fore.

Christine Brewer has selected a program ranging from the ripe late romanticism of Wagner and Strauss, who both composed ecstatically for voice – especially one like Brewer’s. Likewise Benjamin Britten, whose Gloriana and Peter Grimes have been some of the triumphs of Brewer’s operatic career.

This is a recital that promises transcendent beauty, superb technique, drama and warmth in equal measure.

Great music always has the capacity to surprise. Performers have to believe in the message and power of the music they play, and then allow the music to speak for itself. That’s how we discover (and re-discover) these masterpieces and the huge range of emotion, colour and character they contain. — Paul Lewis

Paul Lewis does things differently. Instead of performing recitals that showcase his very real technical prowess with flamboyant works, he devotes himself to the music of a single composer for several years. He circled the globe playing and recording only Beethoven sonatas and concertos. Since 2011, Lewis has been the willing captive of the piano music of Franz Schubert, beginning with the six late piano sonatas and the works that surround them.

There’s very little difference between Paul Lewis’s musical persona and his off-stage one: he is direct, honest and intense. The transparency and candour of his playing simply pushes open a door into the music, allowing an intimate communion with the composer. Like his mentor Alfred Brendel, Lewis is more than a musician, his music-making is almost a philosophy in sound.

While Schubert’s piano music is overshadowed by his orchestral and chamber music, it contains some of his most personal and profound utterances. “Schubert writes something that comes from another planet,” Lewis says.

“It is something beyond… As though after all our troubles, this is what comes next.”

Lewis’ journey continues in 2012 with the next two programs in his great Schubert cycle.

Thursday 6 sepTeMber { 7.30pM }


SCHUBERT

Four Impromptus, D.935

Moments Musicaux, D.780

Fantasy in C Major, Op.15,‘Wandererfantasie’, D.760

Wednesday 12 sepTeMber { 7.30pM }


SCHUBERT

German Dances, D.783

Piano Sonata No.14 in A minor, D.784

Allegretto in C minor, D.915

Piano Sonata No.16 in A minor, D.845

Individual tickets available from 1 November 2011: $50 / $65 / $85 / $105*. Purchase Season Tickets to save up to 30% on the regular price.

*Transaction fees may apply

It’s important to be doing something that has a strong visceral impact for you, and for rachmaninov I thought how incredibly deeply felt it is, and how vulnerable the music is. With rachmaninov it is as if he’s without a skin, in the way he composes; there’s clearly structure there, but his first instinct is simply to pour out what is in his heart. — Steven Osborne

Steven Osborne seems to have a direct line to the composers he performs – giving note perfect and idiomatic readings of music from personalities as different as Mozart and Messaien. His recording of Rachmaninov’s 24 Preludes was an Editor favourite in all the major music magazines for its “acute perception, discretion and poetic sensibility, limpid, powerful and luminous in equal measure”. With transcendent technique and intelligence, Osborne is a pianist who can play anything, beautifully.

His global recital and concerto tours have taken him to Carnegie Hall, Wigmore, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall and the Concertgebouw. In 2012 he tours Australia with the Australian Chamber Orchestra but his Melbourne Recital Centre concert is his only solo recital.

With typical care, Osborne has composed a program of music from early-20th Century Russia, including Rachmaninov’s dark and dazzling Second Sonata and a delicious rarity by his colleague Nikolai Medtner. This is music from a society on the brink of upheaval and after: by turns joyous, violent, tragic and melancholy.

Tuesday 4 deceMber { 7.30pM }


MEDTNER

Sonata in B-flat, Op.53, No.1,‘Sonata Romantica’

RACHMANINOV

Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op.42

Sonata No.2 in B-flat minor, Op.36


IN 2012, YOU CAN SAVE ON TICKETS AND HAVE THE FLExIBILITY OF A

CHOOSE-YOUR-OWN SEASON TICKET PACKAGE. PURCHASE ALL EIGHT

CONCERTS TO ENJOY THE GREATEST SAVING AND ADDITIONAL BENEFITS, OR

PURCHASE A SIx-CONCERT OR FOUR-CONCERT PACKAGE TO PERSONALISE

YOUR ExPERIENCE.

*Best available, subject to availability. † Only valid for Four- and Six-Packs.

Purchase a package by 31 October and be entered into the draw to win a BeoSound 8 speaker dock for the iPad, iPhone and iPod valued at $1490 courtesy of our partner Bang & Olufsen.

BeoSound 8 delivers breathtaking sound performance and offers elegant design and a simple user interface. It is a stylish and convenient solution for enjoying digital music either from your iPod, iPhone, iPad, PC or Mac. Simply by connecting a device to BeoSound 8, digital music can be unfolded to its true potential.

Visit Bang & Olufsen at 841 Burke Rd, Camberwell Victoria, 3124 to experience BeoSound 8 or learn more at bang-olufsen.com.

a greaT prize

greaT beneFiTs

The more you purchase the more you save – up to 30% on the regular ticket price

Save 10% off additional tickets for Great Performers concerts

One complimentary ticket per year for you to introduce a friend to Great Performers *

Access to the Great Performers lounge and a complimentary drink at each concert

Sit in the same seats for all your concerts – the best seats in the house

Full-pack purchasers can renew their seats year after year

Plans changed? Exchange your tickets for another Great Performers recital with no exchange fee †

Subscribe by 31 October 2011 and receive a free MRC Annual Membership

Priority access to other Great Performers and select Melbourne Recital Centre events

beosound 8 draw Terms and conditions: Purchase a Melbourne Recital Centre season package by 31 October 2011 to be entered into the draw to win a BeoSound 8 sound system valued at $1490. The draw will be conducted on November at the Melbourne Recital Centre Marketing Department offices, 31 Sturt Street, Southbank, VIC 3006. Winner will be notified on November 6 by phone/email and the outcome posted on melbournerecital.com.auiPod (pictured) not included in prize.







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1. SELECT PACKAGE



x $588

x $476

x $364



x $504

x $408 x $312



x $357

x $289

x $221


SUBToTAL 1 $





P $94.50 A $76.50 B $58.50 C $45









SUBToTAL 2 $













s u P P o r t e r s






street address


Phone mobiLe

emaiL


PAyMEnT dETAiLS


$


$






Cardholder’s name


SUBMiT yoUR oRdER



















1. SELECT PACKAGE



x $588

x $476

x $364



x $504

x $408 x $312



x $357

x $289

x $221


SUBToTAL 1 $





P $94.50 A $76.50 B $58.50 C $45









SUBToTAL 2 $







2012 great performers

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