C O N C E R T P R O G R A M

Thursday 16 June at 8pm Friday 17 June at 8pm Arts Centre Melbourne,

Hamer Hall Presented by Emirates

Paganini Rhapsody

Rachmaninov’s

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WHAT’S ON JUNE – JULY 2015

CIRQUE DE LA SYMPHONIE Friday 15 July Saturday 16 July

A host of international circus performers – including aerial flyers, acrobats, contortionists, dancers, jugglers, balancers, and strongmen – join the MSO in this dazzling display. Inspired by classical masterpieces, the performers bring their acrobatic and illusory skills to new and exciting levels.

GLUZMAN PLAYS BRAHMS Friday 24 June Saturday 25 June Monday 27 June

The mighty challenges of the Brahms’ Violin Concerto are tackled by Ukrainian-born Israeli virtuoso, Vadim Gluzman, making his debut with the MSO. It is preceded by another powerful work, orchestral excerpts from Berlioz’s dramatic symphony, Romeo and Juliet. This program also features the world premiere of Australian composer James Ledger’s Hollow Kings.

SHAKESPEARE CLASSICS Thursday 21 July Friday 22 July

2016 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare. This commemorative concert, conducted by Alexander Shelley, presents Bard-related works by four composers: Mendelssohn, Korngold, Walton and Richard Strauss. Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.27 completes the program.

BEETHOVEN'S FIFTH Friday 29 July

Three classic masterpieces on the one program with MSO Associate Conductor Benjamin Northey — but which is the greatest? Weber’s dark and mystical overture to his opera Der Freischütz? Bruch’s glorious evergreen Violin Concerto? Or Beethoven’s Symphony No.5? Cast your vote, please.

SIR ANDREW DAVIS CONDUCTS MAHLER 6 Thursday 30 June Friday 1 July Saturday 2 July

Sir Andrew Davis and the MSO’s Mahler cycle continues with the powerful Symphony No.6, which incorporates everything from cowbells to fatalistic hammer blows. American pianist Jonathan Biss returns to the MSO to play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21.

ELGAR, BACH, PUCCINI AND DVOŘÁK Thursday 4 August Friday 5 August Saturday 6 August

James Ehnes returns to the MSO as director and soloist in famous pieces for strings by Elgar, J.S. Bach and Dvořák. The program also includes a rare Puccini work, his brief and beautiful Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums) for string orchestra.

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ARTISTS

Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus

Sir Andrew Davis conductor Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano

Anthony Pasquill chorus master REPERTOIRE

Haydn Symphony No.6

Le matin

Rachmaninov Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

— Interval —

Ives Symphony No.4

This concert has a duration of approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

This performance will be recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM on Wednesday 22 June at 8pm.

Visit mso.com.au/broadcast for more information about upcoming concert broadcasts.

Pre-Concert Talk 7pm Thursday 16 June, Stalls Foyer, Hamer Hall 7pm Friday 17 June, Stalls Foyer, Hamer Hall

Warren Lenthall will present a talk on the artists and works featured in the program.

Series Presenter Master Series Thursday Master Series Friday

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Photo by Daniel Aulsebrook

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How do you select a piano suitable for performance? For acoustic reasons, the pianist sitting at the piano is not always the best placed to judge the instrument. You get the full picture of it only when you hear it from the hall. In the basement where you usually select the instrument you can only judge the keyboard’s response. Russian pianist Sviatoslav Richter, who hated the piano selection process, said, ‘a piano is your destiny’. And similarly, classical pianist Arthur Rubinstein said, ‘There is no such thing as bad pianos, only bad pianists!’ I like to think of these quotes sometimes!

Most pianists choose Steinway. Is this your piano of choice? Everybody would admit that a gorgeous Steinway is quite unsurpassable. This said, when performing Haydn and Mozart, I definitely prefer a beautiful Yamaha CFX. Pianos are not like cars. Too many parameters are uncontrollable therefore the brand name is not enough; you must hear and touch the instrument to apprehend its artistic qualities.

How do you work with a tuner to ensure the piano is perfect for performance? This is difficult to express with words. If there is time available, I can get into the details of the piano with the tuner, alongside the obvious requirements. Sound quality demands may vary according to the nature of the concert - that is recital or concerto - but often I have confidence in the tuners.

In your career to date, what has been your favourite place to perform? So many places to choose from, but my favourites have been Chicago Symphony Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, St Petersburg Philharmonie, Musikverein, Wigmore Hall, Sala Sao Paolo, Casa da Musica Porto, and so many more!

As a piano gets older does its sound change? The instruments don’t automatically age either beautifully or badly. The key factor is the technician who takes care of it.

How do you look after your own piano? I deliberately don’t have high quality instruments at home. This is the best way to not be disappointed on stage!

How do you prepare for a concert - mentally and physically? There is no recipe to follow: you sleep well, you eat well, you are prepared and the concert is ok. You sleep badly, you don’t feel well, you are tired of travelling and the concert is fantastic! Go figure!

Do you practice on the day of a performance? Yes, normally 4 - 5 hours. Sometimes I don’t practice the repertoire to be played at the concert. I do like practising in the evening, especially after a matinee concert.

Do you have a lucky charm or perform any rituals before a performance? I eat an apple and walk around barefoot. Then I like to think that the composer is in the hall. My friend Gábor Tákacs-Nagy once told me: ‘When performing, we need to be the tour guide and the tourist at the same time’. These thoughts, more than any rituals, are inspiring for me.

Selecting the perfect piano

Sir Andrew Davis once said that Jean-Efflam Bavouzet was not only the most fantastic pianist, but also one of the wackiest

guys he knows. Today, Maestro Davis will conduct his very good friend, Bavouzet during Rachmaninov’s popular Rhapsody on

a Theme of Paganini. But first, this world renowned pianist has to choose the perfect performance piano.

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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) was established in 1906 and is Australia’s oldest orchestra. It currently performs live to more than 250,000 people annually, in concerts ranging from subscription performances at its home, Hamer Hall at Arts Centre Melbourne, to its annual free concerts at Melbourne’s largest outdoor venue, the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. The Orchestra also delivers innovative and engaging programs to audiences of all ages through its Education and Outreach initiatives.

Sir Andrew Davis gave his inaugural concerts as the MSO’s Chief Conductor in 2013, having made his debut with the Orchestra in 2009. Highlights of his tenure have included collaborations with artists such as Bryn Terfel, Emanuel Ax, Truls Mørk and Renée Fleming, and the Orchestra’s European Tour in 2014 which included appearances at the Edinburgh Festival, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival and Copenhagen’s Tivoli Concert Hall. Further current and future highlights with Sir Andrew Davis include a complete cycle of the Mahler symphonies. Sir Andrew will maintain the role of Chief Conductor until the end of 2019.

The MSO also works with Associate Conductor Benjamin Northey and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus, as well as with such eminent recent guest conductors as Thomas Adès, John Adams, Tan Dun, Charles Dutoit, Jakub Hrůša, Mark Wigglesworth, Markus Stenz and Simone Young. It has also collaborated with non-classical musicians including Burt Bacharach, Nick Cave, Sting, Tim Minchin, Ben Folds, DJ Jeff Mills and Flight Facilities.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra reaches a wider audience through regular radio broadcasts, recordings and CD releases, including a Strauss cycle on ABC Classics which includes Four Last Songs, Don Juan and Also sprach Zarathustra, as well as Ein Heldenleben and Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo, both led by Sir Andrew Davis. On the Chandos label the MSO has recently released Berlioz’ Harold en Italie with James Ehnes and music by Charles Ives which includes Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2, as well as a range of orchestral works including Three Places in New England, again led by Sir Andrew Davis.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is funded principally by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body, and is generously supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. The MSO is also funded by the City of Melbourne, its Principal Partner, Emirates, corporate sponsors and individual donors, trusts and foundations.

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we perform – The Kulin Nation – and would like to pay our respects to their Elders and Community both past and present.

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SIR ANDREW DAVIS CONDUCTOR

JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET PIANO

Sir Andrew Davis is Music Director and Principal Conductor of the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In a career spanning over 40 years, he has been the musical and artistic leader at several of the world’s most distinguished opera and symphonic institutions, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra (1991-2004), Glyndebourne Festival Opera (1988-2000), and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1975-1988). He recently received the honorary title of Conductor Emeritus from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

One of today’s most recognised and acclaimed conductors, Sir Andrew has conducted virtually all the world’s major orchestras, opera companies, and festivals. This year he celebrates his 40-year association with the Toronto Symphony, and aside from performances with the Melbourne Symphony, he will conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Proms, Philharmonia Orchestra at the Three Choirs Festival, and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Born in 1944 in Hertfordshire, England, Sir Andrew studied at King’s College, Cambridge, where he was an organ scholar before taking up conducting. His wide-ranging repertoire encompasses the Baroque to contemporary, and his vast conducting credits span the symphonic, operatic and choral worlds.

Sir Andrew was made a Commander of the British Empire in 1992, and a Knight Bachelor in 1999.

A former student of Pierre Sancan at the Paris Conservatoire, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet was invited by Sir Georg Solti to give his debut with the Orchestre de Paris in the late 1990s.

Orchestral performances so far this year have included the Hungarian National Philharmonic with Zoltán Kocsis, the Manchester Camerata and Gábor Takács-Nagy, the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra, Philharmonia Zürich with Gianandrea Noseda, the Seattle Symphony with Ludovic Morlot, the Cleveland Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski, and the BBC Philharmonic and Jésus López Cobos. He appeared with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.17 and Messiaen’s Oiseaux exotiques last year.

As a recitalist, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet regularly performs at London’s Southbank Centre, Wigmore Hall, the Cheltenham Festival, La Roque d’Anthéron and Cité de la Musique. He is Artistic Director of Norway’s Lofoten Piano Festival. As well as his performing activities, Bavouzet has made a transcription for two pianos of Debussy’s ballet Jeux, published by Durand and with a foreword by Pierre Boulez. His recording of this (with François-Frédéric Guy), and combined with two-piano versions of The Rite of Spring and Bartók’s Two Pictures, won a Gramophone ‘Editor’s Choice’ in 2015. He has won awards for his recordings of works by Debussy, Ravel, Haydn and Bartók.

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The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus has built an international reputation for the highest standards and for bold artistic planning. Known as the Melbourne Chorale until 2008, it was then integrated with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and in 2015, celebrated its 50th anniversary.

The Chorus sings with the finest conductors, including Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Mark Wigglesworth, Bernard Labadie, Stephen Layton, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Masaaki Suzuki and Manfred Honeck. Recent highlights include Britten’s War Requiem, Kancheli’s Styx, Brett Dean’s The Last Days of Socrates, Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius, Rachmaninov’s The Bells, and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman.

The Chorus is committed to developing and performing new Australian and international choral repertoire. Commissions include Brett Dean’s Katz und Spatz (commissioned with the Swedish Radio Choir), Ross Edwards’ Mountain Chant (commissioned with Cantillation), Paul Stanhope’s Exile Lamentations (commissioned with Sydney Chamber Choir and London’s Elysian Singers), and Gabriel Jackson’s To the Field of Stars (commissioned with the Netherlands Chamber Choir and Stockholm’s St Jacob’s Chamber Choir). The Chorus has also premiered works by many composers including James MacMillan, Arvo Pärt, Hans Werner Henze, Alfred Schnittke, Gavin Bryars, Valentyn Silvestrov, Arturs Maskats, Thierry Machuel and Pēteris Vasks, and others.

The Chorus has made critically acclaimed recordings for Chandos and for ABC Classics. It has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in Sao Paolo, in Kuala Lumpur with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Barbra Streisand, at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, at the 2011 AFL Grand Final, and the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival

Recently listed by Limelight Magazine as a Rising Star in Australia’s choral scene, Anthony Pasquill is a regular collaborator with leading choirs across a broad repertoire. Recently appointed Associate Chorus Master at the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, he is also Musical Director of Sydney based Chamber Choir Bel a cappella.

Anthony commenced his musical training as a chorister in the choir of Lichfield Cathedral before reading music at Leeds University. He also holds a Masters of Music in conducting from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Between 2012 and 2014 Anthony was Assistant Chorus Master of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and has prepared choruses for noted international conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, David Robertson, David Zinman, Eric Whitacre and Paul McCreesh. He has chorus-mastered or conducted first performances of many works by composers such as Pēteris Vasks, Gabriel Jackson, David Briggs and Bernat Vivancos.

2014-15 saw Anthony conduct works by Ockeghem, MacMillan, Handel, Monteverdi and Tormis as well as the Australian Premiere of Dixit Dominus by Swedish composer Thomas Jennefelt. He has recently led Bel a cappella on their first international tour to Europe, having conducted in venues such as St. Peter’s Basilica (Rome), St Mark’s Basilica (Venice), Melk Abbey (Vienna) and the Schönbrunn Palace (Vienna).

In the current season, he will be conducting works by Grigorjeva, Vivancos, Bryars, MacMillan, Rachmaninov and Schnittke in Sydney, in addition to major choral projects in his first season with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS

ANTHONY PASQUILL CHORUS MASTER

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In Vienna during March 1761, the young Joseph Haydn began engaging instrumentalists to reorganise the musical establishment of his new employer, Prince Paul Anton Esterházy. He was not yet 29 and had fallen on his feet, following Count Morzin’s disbandment of his former orchestra, in finding the greatest Hungarian magnate only too grateful to snap him up. His first task was to find top-quality musicians to entertain the Ezterházy court wherever it might be – on one or other of the provincial estates, such as Eisenstadt or Kittsee, or at the grand Esterházy palace in the Wallnerstrasse, Vienna, where the court usually spent at least six months of the year.

First among Haydn’s new musicians came Franz Sigl, who played flute and oboe, the brothers Kapfer, also oboists, and bassoonists Johann Hinterberger and Georg Schwenda (the latter also playing double bass). Soon to follow were French violinist Franciscus Garnier, violinist Melchior Griessler, cellist Joseph Weigl, and horn players Johann Knoblauch and Thaddeus Steinmüller.

Haydn was, in fact, signing up new musicians for his employer even before he had signed his own contract as Vice-Kapellmeister (and heir presumptive) to the ageing Gregor Werner – that was to follow on 1 May 1761.

At the same time, he was busily composing music to display the talents of the new players he had engaged. To do so on the themes of the times of the day – morning, noon and evening – was apparently the suggestion of Prince Paul Anton (whose library had long included The Four Seasons of Vivaldi). The result was a trilogy of symphonies, Nos. 6-8, designated in French Le matin, Le midi and Le soir.

All but perhaps one of the new musicians, together with a few additional string players (including as leader Luigi Tomasini, who was already on the princely payroll, and probably Haydn himself on violin) would have formed the band, about 16 strong, which premiered the young Vice-Kapellmeister’s first symphonies for his new employer. These historic performances in the summer of 1761 doubtless took place in the stateroom of the Esterházy's Wallnerstrasse palace. There, the cream of Viennese nobility would have been able to admire the family’s evident discrimination in engaging one of the finest musical minds of Europe.

Haydn appropriately begins his musical day by depicting a sunrise – complete in a mere six bars – which is a rare example of a slow introduction at this stage of the composer’s career and, indeed, of a crescendo. Apart from this, however, there are few

overtly programmatic connotations in the trilogy. The solo flute and pair of oboes show unexpected freedom in leading the way through a chirpy Allegro of some impetus.

The winds fall silent in the slow movement, in which (in traditional concerto grosso style) violin and cello form a concertante pair against the other strings. Scale passages for the violin suggest a parody of a singing lesson. However, the core of this eloquent movement is a stately Baroque dance, after which the violin scales return – no longer a parody, as Haydn scholar H.C. Robbins Landon points out, but now a heartfelt tribute to the beauty of the Italian Baroque, which Haydn realised was dear to his new employer’s heart.

Winds come back into their own on an elegant minuet, but the central trio section has an extraordinary solo for violone (or its modern equivalent, the double bass), and another almost as important for bassoon, which would have put Messrs Schwenda and Hinterberger, respectively, through their paces.

The leader, Tomasini (for whom Haydn wrote a number of concertos and who was to become a composer in his own right), again takes centre stage in the finale with the solo cellist Weigl. After a splendid solo for Tomasini, the two horns are so delighted that they, too, whoop virtuosic enthusiasm.

© Anthony Cane

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra first performed this symphony on 9 March 1972 under conductor John Hopkins, and most recently on 15 June 1991 under Hiroyuki Iwaki.

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809)

Symphony No.6 in D, Hob.I:6, Le matinAdagio – Allegro

Adagio – Andante – Adagio

Menuet

Finale (Allegro)

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On leaving Russia for good in 1917, Rachmaninov busied himself with acquiring a concert pianist’s repertoire, so that he could earn a steady income – he gave 40 concerts in four months during his first US concert season. But he gradually reduced his concert commitments until, in 1925, he had nine months free of performances, during which he composed his first post-Russian pieces: Three Russian Songs for Chorus and Orchestra, which were well received, and the Piano Concerto No.4, which was greeted with widespread indifference. Rachmaninov, always sensitive about his own music, did not produce another work for four years.

When the Variations on a Theme of Corelli for solo piano appeared in 1931, they indicated that a large-scale variation structure might serve Rachmaninov’s musical needs better than the more traditional concerto structure in which success had so recently eluded him. The Corelli Variations, based on the Baroque popular tune La Folia, might be thought of as the moodier, introspective dress rehearsal for the work that was to follow: the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, based on Paganini’s celebrated 24th Caprice.

In the Rhapsody, Rachmaninov seems to grasp the big picture and distil a sense of unity, from variation to variation, that he does not achieve in the more extended forms of the Fourth Concerto. Yet the Rhapsody’s theme and 24 variations actually behave like a four-movement work. Variations 1 to 11 form a quick first movement with cadenza; Variations 12 to 15 supply the equivalent of a scherzo/minuet; Variations 16 to 18, the slow movement; and the final six variations, the dashing finale.

We actually hear the first variation – a skeletal march that evokes Paganini’s bony frame – before the theme itself. The ensuing variations are increasingly animated and decorative until Variation 7 gives us a first stately glimpse, on the piano, of the Dies irae plainchant, with the strings muttering the Paganini theme against it. This old funeral chant features prominently in Rachmaninov’s output. Sometimes, as in his final work, the Symphonic Dances, he uses it without irony, but its appearances in the Rhapsody are essentially sardonic.

Variation 8 is a kind of demented can-can which rushes headlong into the even more helter-skelter Variation 9, in which the strings begin by playing with the wood of their bows. Grimly glittering arpeggios are tossed between piano and orchestra in Variation 10, in which the Dies irae is heard in brazen octaves on the piano, with syncopated brass commentary.

SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873–1943)

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op.43

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano

With the cadenza-like Variation 11 forming a point of transition, we move to the exquisite, gently regal minuet of Variation 12. The drive, directness and power of Variation 14 are created with much bolder writing for wind and brass than Rachmaninov employed in his earlier orchestral scores. The piano is given a very subsidiary role here, then comes instantly to the fore in the dazzling, cadenza-like Variation 15.

After a pause, Variation 16 has an intimacy and exoticism that evokes the Arabian Dance from Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, with short but telling solo phrases for oboe, horn, violin, clarinet and cor anglais. Variation 17 is more palpably mysterious, even sinister, and the only one where the theme seems to have vanished altogether. But we land on very deep shag-pile indeed with the celebrated 18th Variation, in which Rachmaninov uses his sleight of hand to turn Paganini’s theme upside down and create a luxuriant, much admired (and much imitated) melody of his own. Rachmaninov is reported to have said of it: ‘This one is for my agent.’

As if being woken suddenly from a dream, the orchestra calls the soloist and the audience to attention for six final variations that evoke Paganini’s legendary left-hand pizzicato playing (Variation 19) and the demonic aspects of the Paganini legend, with more references to the Dies irae and an increasing emphasis on pianistic and orchestral virtuosity in the last two variations. Just as a final violent outburst of the Dies irae seems to be leading us to a furious crash-bang coda, we are left instead with a nudge and a wink, as Rachmaninov’s final masterpiece for piano and orchestra bids us a sly farewell.

Abridged from a program note by Phillip Sametz © 2000

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s first performance of this work took place on 17 October 1947, with conductor Bernard Heinze and soloist Eunice Gardiner. Alexei Yemtsov was soloist and Andrew Grams conductor in the Orchestra’s most recent performance on 15 May 2009.

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Nineteenth-century New England was the world of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the Alcotts, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Henry David Thoreau, where the puritanism of the Congregational churches had given way to more liberal Unitarianism and the philosophy of Transcendentalism, and writers yearned to recapture what Emerson called ‘an original relation to the universe’. In Nature, Emerson wrote, ‘the foregoing generations beheld God and nature face to face; we, through their eyes… Why should not we have a poetry and philosophy of insight and not of tradition, and a religion by revelation to us, and not the history of theirs?’

Ives’ father, George, famously (and eccentrically) encouraged Charles’ musical potential. Charles was allowed to experiment with cluster harmony – that is, to play piano with his fists – and George would ‘stretch the ears’ of his son by playing a song in one key and having Charles sing it in another. He also exposed Charles to a huge range of music, including band music, traditional church music, gospel hymns and Stephen Foster songs; and, as Jan Swafford notes, he gave Charles a wonderful piece of advice when they heard a stonemason singing out of tune: ‘Look into his face and hear the music of the ages. Don’t pay too much attention to the sounds – for if you do, you may miss the music. You won’t get a wild, heroic ride to heaven on pretty little sounds.’

Ives would eventually start on a Universe Symphony, but the Fourth Symphony is perhaps his most explicit musical depiction of a ‘wild, heroic ride to heaven’, and the greatest expression of his idiosyncratic style. Since about 1902 he had embraced vernacular music ranging from popular song to hymn tunes; he indulged in musical onomatopoeia; and he developed, from the experiments learned as a child, a way of layering disparate elements of different character, in different keys (sometimes involving microtones, notably those of the quarte-tone piano), and moving at different speeds.

Ives would only ever hear the first two movements played publicly (in 1927), but the piece was composed between 1910 and 1916, revisiting music composed as early as 1898. Hymnody threads its way through the piece, with quotations of and allusions to a great number of now largely forgotten tunes. In the short Prelude, an unsettling music in the orchestra’s depths is answered by a separate ensemble (that Ives called the Star of Bethlehem) playing a version of Nearer, my God, to Thee, and when the chorus enters it is with a deceptively ‘straight’ rendition (at first) of Watchman, Tell Us of the Night.

The wild ride to heaven is the subject of the ‘Comedy’ second movement, which relates, musically, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s tale, The Celestial Railroad. It is essentially a modern American Pilgrim’s Progress: a man falls asleep and dreams, thanks to the promptings of Mr Smooth-it-away, that he will be carried from the noisy City of Destruction on a miraculous train to the Celestial City, while two pilgrims make the journey on foot. There is a detailed guide to the events and sights of the story including the evils of the world, a tea-party at Vanity Fair (with a hymn and salon music) and finally a glimpse of the beyond. The dreaming man has been conned by a demon, and the Jordan is really the Styx, which will carry him to hell. A splash of its icy water wakes him to the joyful chaos of a Fourth of July celebration in Concord, Massachusetts.

The Fugue, the form freely treated and the material derived from a movement of Ives’ early String Quartet No.1, is based on the hymn From Greenland’s Icy Mountains with various other tunes alluded to in varying degrees of fleetingness.

The finale returns to the glorious, seemingly untrammelled chaos of the second movement, using material from the String Quartet No.2 and an early organ work. The ‘subterranean percussion ensemble’, according to Michael Tilson Thomas, represents inexorable time. Ives layers his different musical elements into a complex but hugely compelling wave of sound that at its apogee brings in a modally inflected, wordless rendition of Nearer, my God, to Thee against a brightly glittering background. The theme dissolves, leaving, as an epilogue, a short passage for solo violins and quarter-tone piano.

© Gordon Kerry 2016

The first complete performance of Ives’ Symphony No.4 took place in New York under Leopold Stokowski on 26 April 1965. This is the first performance of the work by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.

Watchman Lowell Mason (1792-1872)

Watchman, tell us of the night, What its signs of promise are. Trav’ler, o’er yon mountain’s height, See that glory-beaming star! Watchman, aught of joy or hope? Trav’ler, yes; it brings the day, Promised day of Israel. Dost thou see its beauteous ray?

CHARLES IVES (1874–1954)

Symphony No.4Prelude: Maestoso

Comedy: Allegretto

Fugue: Andante moderato con moto

Finale: Very slowly; Largo maestoso

Jean-Efflam Bavouzet piano Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus

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SUPPORTERS

Artist Chair BenefactorsHarold Mitchell AC Chief Conductor Chair

Patricia Riordan Associate Conductor Chair

Joy Selby Smith Orchestral Leadership Chair

The Gross Foundation Principal Second Violin Chair

MS Newman Family Principal Cello Chair

Principal Flute Chair – Anonymous

Program BenefactorsMeet The Orchestra Made possible by The Ullmer Family Foundation

East meets West Supported by the Li Family Trust

The Pizzicato Effect (Anonymous)

MSO Education Supported by Mrs Margaret Ross AM and Dr Ian Ross

MSO UPBEAT Supported by Betty Amsden AO DSJ

MSO CONNECT Supported by Jason Yeap OAM

Benefactor Patrons $50,000+Betty Amsden AO DSJPhilip Bacon AM Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO John and Jenny Brukner Rachel and the Hon. Alan Goldberg AO QC The Gross FoundationDavid and Angela LiHarold Mitchell ACMS Newman FamilyJoy Selby SmithUllmer Family Foundation Anonymous (1)

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Principal Patrons $5,000+Linda BrittenDavid and Emma CapponiTim and Lyn EdwardJohn and Diana Frew Susan Fry and Don Fry AODanny Gorog and Lindy Susskind Lou Hamon OAMNereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AMHans and Petra HenkellHartmut and Ruth HofmannHMA FoundationJenny and Peter HordernJenkins Family FoundationSuzanne Kirkham

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Associate Patrons $2,500+Dandolo PartnersWill and Dorothy Bailey BequestBarbara Bell in memory of Elsa BellMrs S BignellBill BownessStephen and Caroline BrainLeith and Mike Brooke Bill and Sandra BurdettOliver CartonJohn and Lyn CoppockMiss Ann Darby in memory of Leslie J. Darby Mary and Frederick Davidson AMNatasha DaviesPeter and Leila DoyleLisa Dwyer and Dr Ian DicksonJane Edmanson OAMDr Helen M FergusonMr Bill FlemingMr Peter Gallagher and Dr Karen MorleyColin Golvan QC and Dr Deborah GolvanCharles and Cornelia GoodeSusan and Gary HearstColin Heggen in memory of Marjorie HeggenGillian and Michael HundRosemary and James Jacoby John and Joan Jones Kloeden Foundation Sylvia LavelleH E McKenzieAllan and Evelyn McLarenDon and Anne MeadowsAndrew and Sarah Newbold

Ann Peacock with Andrew and Woody KrogerSue and Barry Peake Mrs W Peart Pzena Investment Charitable FundRuth and Ralph Renard S M Richards AM and M R RichardsTom and Elizabeth RomanowskiMax and Jill SchultzJeffrey Sher Diana and Brian Snape AMGeoff and Judy Steinicke Mr Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn TillmanWilliam and Jenny UllmerBert and Ila VanrenenKate and Blaise VinotBarbara and Donald WeirBrian and Helena WorsfoldAnonymous (12)

Player Patrons $1,000+Anita and Graham Anderson, Christine and Mark Armour, Arnold Bloch Leibler, Marlyn and Peter Bancroft OAM, Adrienne Basser, Prof Weston Bate and Janice Bate, Dr Julianne Bayliss, Timothy and Margaret Best, David and Helen Blackwell, Michael F Boyt, Philip and Vivien Brass Charitable Foundation, M Ward Breheny, Lino and Di Bresciani OAM, Mr John Brockman OAM and Mrs Pat Brockman, Suzie Brown, Jill and Christopher Buckley, Lynne Burgess, Dr Lynda Campbell, Andrew and Pamela Crockett, Jennifer Cunich, Pat and Bruce Davis, Merrowyn Deacon, Sandra Dent, Dominic and Natalie Dirupo, Marie Dowling, John and Anne Duncan, Kay Ehrenberg, Gabrielle Eisen, Vivien and Jack Fajgenbaum, Grant Fisher and Helen Bird, Barry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam Fradkin, Applebay Pty Ltd, David Frenkiel and Esther Frenkiel OAM, Carrillo and Ziyin Gantner, David Gibbs and Susie O’Neill, Merwyn and Greta Goldblatt, Dina and Ron Goldschlager, George Golvan QC and Naomi Golvan,

13

SUPPORTERS

Dr Marged Goode, Philip and Raie Goodwach, Louise Gourlay OAM, Ginette and André Gremillet, Max Gulbin, Dr Sandra Hacker AO and Mr Ian Kennedy AM, Jean Hadges, Paula Hansky OAM, Tilda and Brian Haughney, Julian and Gisela Heinze, Penelope Hughes, Dr Alastair Jackson, Basil and Rita Jenkins, Stuart Jennings, George and Grace Kass, Irene Kearsey, Brett Kelly and Cindy Watkin, Ilma Kelson Music Foundation, Dr Anne Kennedy, George and Patricia Kline, Bryan Lawrence, William and Magdalena Leadston, Norman Lewis in memory of Dr Phyllis Lewis, Dr Anne Lierse, Ann and George Littlewood, Violet and Jeff Loewenstein, The Hon IanMacphee AO and Mrs Julie Macphee, Elizabeth H Loftus, Vivienne Hadj and Rosemary Madden, In memory of Leigh Masel, John and Margaret Mason, In honour of Norma and Lloyd Rees, Ruth Maxwell, Trevor and Moyra McAllister, David Menzies, Ian Morrey, Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James, Graham and Christine Peirson, Margaret Plant, Kerryn Pratchett, Peter Priest, Eli Raskin, Bobbie Renard, Peter and Carolyn Rendit, Dr Rosemary Ayton and Dr Sam Ricketson, Joan P Robinson, Zelda Rosenbaum OAM, Antler Ltd, Doug and Elisabeth Scott, Dr Sam Smorgon AO and Mrs Minnie Smorgon, John So, Dr Norman and Dr Sue Sonenberg, Dr Michael Soon, Pauline Speedy, State Music Camp, Dr Peter Strickland, Mrs Suzy and Dr Mark Suss, Pamela Swansson, Tennis Cares - Tennis Australia, Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher, Margaret Tritsch, Judy Turner and Neil Adam, P & E Turner, Mary Vallentine AO, The Hon. Rosemary Varty, Leon and Sandra Velik, Elizabeth Wagner, Sue Walker AM, Elaine Walters OAM and

Gregory Walters, Edward and Paddy White, Janet Whiting and Phil Lukies, Nic and Ann Willcock, Marian and Terry Wills Cooke, Pamela F Wilson, Joanne Wolff, Peter and Susan Yates, Mark Young, Panch Das and Laurel Young-Das, YMF Australia, Anonymous (17)

The Mahler SyndicateDavid and Kaye Birks, John and Jenny Brukner, Mary and Frederick Davidson AM, Tim and Lyn Edward, John and Diana Frew, Francis and Robyn Hofmann, The Hon Dr Barry Jones AC, Dr Paul Nisselle AM,Maria Solà in memory of Malcolm Douglas, The Hon Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall, Anonymous (1)

MSO RosesFounding RoseJenny Brukner

RosesMary Barlow, Linda Britten, Wendy Carter, Annette Maluish, Lois McKay, Pat Stragalinos, Jenny Ullmer,

Rosebuds Maggie Best, Penny Barlow, Leith Brooke, Lynne Damman, Francie Doolan, Lyn Edward, Penny Hutchinson, Elizabeth A Lewis AM, Sophie Rowell, Dr Cherilyn Tillman

Foundations and TrustsCreative Partnerships AustraliaCrown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family FoundationThe Cybec FoundationThe Harold Mitchell FoundationIvor Ronald Evans Foundation, managed by Equity Trustees LimitedThe Marian and EH Flack TrustThe Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment, managed by PerpetualThe Pratt FoundationThe Robert Salzer FoundationThe Schapper Family FoundationThe Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust

Conductor’s CircleCurrent Conductor’s Circle MembersJenny Anderson, David Angelovich, G C Bawden and L de Kievit, Lesley BawdenJoyce Bown, Mrs Jenny Brukner and the late Mr John Brukner, Ken Bullen, Luci and Ron Chambers, Sandra Dent, Lyn Edward, Alan Egan JP, Gunta Eglite, Louis Hamon OAM, Carol Hay, Tony HoweAudrey M Jenkins, John and Joan Jones, George and Grace Kass, Mrs Sylvia Lavelle, Pauline and David Lawton, Lorraine Meldrum, Cameron Mowat, Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James, Rosia Pasteur, Elizabeth Proust AO, Penny Rawlins, Joan P Robinson, Neil Roussac, Anne Roussac-Hoyne, Jennifer Shepherd, Drs Gabriela and George Stephenson, Pamela Swansson, Lillian Tarry, Dr Cherilyn Tillman, Mr and Mrs R P Trebilcock, Michael Ullmer, Ila Vanrenen, Mr Tam Vu, Marian and Terry Wills Cooke, Mark Young, Anonymous (23)

The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support received from the Estates of:Angela Beagley, Gwen Hunt, Pauline Marie Johnston, C P Kemp, Peter Forbes MacLaren, Prof Andrew McCredie, Miss Sheila Scotter AM MBE, Molly Stephens, Jean Tweedie, Herta and Fred B Vogel, Dorothy Wood

Honorary AppointmentsMrs Elizabeth Chernov Education and Community Engagement Patron

Sir Elton John CBE Life Member

The Honourable Alan Goldberg AO QC Life Member

Geoffrey Rush AC Ambassador

John Brockman AO Life Member

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

The MSO welcomes your support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible, and supporters are recognised as follows: $1,000 (Player), $2,500 (Associate), $5,000 (Principal), $10,000 (Maestro), $20,000 (Impresario), $50,000 (Benefactor).

The MSO Conductor’s Circle is our bequest program for members who have notified of a planned gift in their Will.

Enquiries: Ph: +61 (3) 9626 1248

Email: philanthropy@mso.com.au

14

First ViolinsDale Barltrop Concertmaster

Eoin Andersen Concertmaster

Sophie Rowell The Ullmer Family Foundation Associate Concertmaster Chair

Monica Naselow# Guest Principal

Peter Edwards Assistant Principal

Kirsty Bremner Sarah Curro Peter Fellin Deborah Goodall Lorraine Hook Kirstin Kenny Ji Won Kim Eleanor Mancini Mark Mogilevski Michelle Ruffolo Kathryn Taylor Robert John* Oksana Thompson*

Second ViolinsMatthew Tomkins The Gross Foundation Principal Second Violin Chair

Robert Macindoe Associate Principal

Monica Curro Assistant Principal

Mary AllisonIsin CakmakciogluFreya FranzenCong GuAndrew HallFrancesca HiewRachel Homburg Christine JohnsonIsy WassermanPhilippa WestPatrick WongRoger YoungAaron Barnden*

ViolasChristopher Moore Principal

Fiona Sargeant Associate Principal

Lauren BrigdenKatharine BrockmanChristopher CartlidgeGabrielle HalloranTrevor Jones Cindy WatkinCaleb WrightCeridwen Davies* Isabel Morse* Katie Yap*

CellosDavid Berlin MS Newman Family Principal Cello Chair

Rachael Tobin Associate Principal

Nicholas Bochner Assistant Principal

Miranda BrockmanRohan de KorteKeith JohnsonSarah MorseAngela SargeantMichelle Wood Svetlana Bogosavljevic*

Double BassesSteve Reeves Principal

Andrew Moon Associate Principal

Sylvia Hosking Assistant Principal

Damien EckersleyBenjamin HanlonSuzanne LeeStephen Newton Young-Hee Chan*Rohan Dasika*

FlutesPrudence Davis Principal Flute Chair - Anonymous

Wendy Clarke Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

PiccoloAndrew Macleod Principal

OboesJeffrey Crellin Principal

Thomas Hutchinson Associate Principal

Ann Blackburn

Cor AnglaisMichael Pisani Principal

ClarinetsDavid Thomas Principal

Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal

Craig Hill

Bass ClarinetJon Craven Principal

BassoonsJack Schiller Principal

Elise Millman Associate Principal

Natasha Thomas

ContrabassoonBrock Imison Principal

Horns Grzegorz Curyla*† Guest Principal

Geoff Lierse Associate Principal

Saul Lewis Principal Third

Jenna BreenAbbey EdlinTrinette McClimont Robert Shirley*

TrumpetsGeoffrey Payne Principal

Shane Hooton Associate Principal

William EvansJulie Payne

TrombonesBrett Kelly Principal

Iain Faragher*

Bass TromboneMike Szabo Principal

Elijah Cornish*

TubaTimothy Buzbee Principal

TimpaniChristine Turpin Principal

PercussionRobert Clarke Principal

John ArcaroRobert CossomRobert Allan*Francios Combemorel*Stephen Hardie*Evan Pritchard*James Townsend*

HarpYinuo Mu Principal

Piano & CelesteLouisa Breen*Leigh Harrold*

Organ & HarpsichordCalvin Bowman*

SaxophoneTom Martin*

* Guest musician# Courtesy of Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra† Courtesy of Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra

ORCHESTRA

BOARD

ChairmanMichael Ullmer

Board MembersAndrew DyerDanny GorogMargaret Jackson ACBrett KellyDavid Krasnostein

David LiAnn PeacockHelen Silver AOKee Wong

Company SecretaryOliver Carton

15

SopranoPhilippa AllenNaomi HyndmanJulie ArblasterCarolyn ArchibaldAviva BarazaniEva ButcherJessica ChanThea ChristieVeryan CroggonSamantha DaviesLaura FaheyRita FitzgeraldCatherine FolleySusan FoneCarolyn FrancisRashika GomezKarina GoughJillian GrahamKarling HamilJuliana HassettFarah Diyanah Mohd HishamPenny HuggettJasmine HulmeTania JacobsGwen KennellyRebecca KmitEster LitvakJudith McFarlaneRuth McIntoshLynne MuirHelen NikolasCaitlin NobleSusie NovellaKarina OttoJodie Paxton

Isobel PyrkeSusannah PolyaElizabeth PotterNatalie ReidJo RobinElizabeth RusliJodi SamartgisJemima Shu Xian SimFreja SoininenLynda SmerdonElizabeth TindallChloe TohEloise VerbeekBeth YlvisakerTara Zamin

AltoAleksandra AckerRuth AndersonCatherine BickellCecilia BjörkegrenKate BramleyJane BrodieElize BrozgulAlexandra CameronSerena CarmelTrixy Grace ChenAlexandra ChubatyAndrea CliffordJill GieseNatasha GodfreyDebbie GriffithsAlexandra HadjiRos HarbisonSue HawleyJennifer Henry

Kristine HenselJade LeighChristina McCowanRosemary McKelvieHelen MacLeanSiobhan OrmandySharmila PeriakarpanAlison RalphMair RobertsKerry RoulstonAnnie RunnellsRosemary SaundersWilma SmithHelen StaindlLibby TimckeJenny VallinsEmma Warburton

TenorJames AllenTony BarnettSteve BurnettJohn CleghornDenny ChandraAlexander DavieJames DipnallJoshua Erdelyi-GötzSimon GoldmanLyndon HorsburghWayne KinradePeter Duy-Lam Nguyen-HoangDominic McKennaSimon MiltonMichael MobachJean-Francois RavatDaniel Riley

Malcolm SinclairEd Chan Ern ThengTim Wright

Bass Maurice AmorRichard BolithoDavid BrownPaul Alexander ChantlerBarry ClarkeTed DaviesGerard EvansMichael GoughTom GriffithsAndrew HamAndrew HibbardJohn HowardDaniel HouseKee Yoon (Kevin) KimJemly KalangieBenjamin LeskeGary LeveyAndreas LoeweAlastair McKeanAndrew MurrellVern O'HaraEdward OunapuuDouglas ProctorStephen PykLiam StaughanRobert StoveMatthew ToulminMaurice WanFoon WongAllan YapMaciek Zielinski

CHORUS

SUPPORTERS

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

ASSOCIATE PARTNERS

MAESTRO PARTNERS

Linda Britten Naomi Milgrom Foundation

Hardy Amies

Fitzroys Alpha Feature Investment

Red Emperor

OFFICIAL CAR PARTNER

MEDIA PARTNERS

SUPPORTING PARTNERS

B e a u t i f u l F l o w e r s

emirates.com/au

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Relax to music and smooth sips of Hennessy Paradis, or a good story and a glass of Dom Perignon. Savour every indulgence in our First Class Private Suites.

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Master the art of me-time

*Complimentary Chauffeur-drive service available for First Class and Business Class, excluding Trans-Tasman services and codeshare flights operated by Qantas to Southeast Asia. Mileage restrictions apply. For full terms and conditions visit emirates.com/au. For more information visit emirates.com/au, call 1300 303 777, or contact your local travel agent.

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