Energy · early anniversary gift) and his work as a teacher in Worcestershire (it was probably premiered by his students). Elgar biographer Diana McVeagh admires Sea Pictures (1899)

Last year EnergyAustralia Master Series audiences enjoyed VladimirAshkenazy’s deeply felt performances of Rachmaninov’s music – in a festival that was one of the highlights of the season. Tonight we’reexcited to be again experiencing the musical insight of our incomingPrincipal Conductor as he leads the Sydney Symphony in the music ofEdward Elgar.

This concert frames the picturesque drama of Sea Pictures with thebeautifully lyrical Serenade for strings and the very personal SecondSymphony, to which Elgar added a quote from Shelley: ‘Rarely, rarelycomest thou, The Spirit of Delight’. With great music and great performers,we believe tonight’s concert really will invoke that spirit of delight.

EnergyAustralia is one of Australia’s leading energy companies, withmore than 1.4 million customers in NSW, the ACT, Victoria andQueensland.

With one of the most recognised names in the energy industry, we areproud to be associated with the Sydney Symphony, and we’re very excitedto be linked to the Orchestra’s flagship Master Series.

We trust that you will enjoy tonight’s performance and hope you also have a chance to experience future concerts in the EnergyAustraliaMaster Series.

George MaltabarowManaging Director

SEASON 2008

ENERGYAUSTRALIA MASTER SERIES

ELGAR FESTIVAL

ELGAR 2:THE SPIRIT OF DELIGHT

Friday 7 November | 8pm

Saturday 8 November | 8pm

Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductorLilli Paasikivi mezzo-soprano

EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934)

Serenade in E minor for strings, Op. 20

Allegro piacevoleLarghettoAllegretto

Sea Pictures, Op.37

Sea Slumber-Song In Haven (Capri) Sabbath Morning at Sea Where Corals Lie The Swimmer

INTERVAL

Symphony No.2 in E flat, Op.63

Allegro vivace e nobilmenteLarghettoRondo (Presto)Moderato e maestoso

Saturday night’s performance will be broadcast live across Australia

on ABC Classic FM 92.9.

Pre-concert talk by Peter Czornyj at 7.15pm in the Northern Foyer.Visit sydneysymphony.com/talk-

bios for speaker biographies.

Estimated timings:12 minutes, 23 minutes,

20-minute interval, 53 minutes

The concert will conclude atapproximately 9.50pm.

PRESENTING PARTNER

FESTIVAL PARTNER

Elgar Festival II:

The Spirit of Delight

Elgar’s musical ambitions hinged on orchestral music, inparticular the symphony, ‘the highest achievement of theart’. He eventually reached that goal with his successfulFirst Symphony (1908), preceded in 1899 by the orchestralvariations that made him famous. Recognition was latecoming to Elgar, and he struggled with the feeling ofbeing an outsider in his world. His faith, his class, hismusical background – all conspired to keep him fromtruly belonging.

In this concert, Elgar-the-symphonist can be heardalongside his vocal music and music that emerged fromthe daily realities of life as an emerging composer. Theattractive Serenade for strings from 1892 may seem slight,but it reflects two important aspects of Elgar’s life: hismarriage to Caroline Alice Roberts (the Serenade was anearly anniversary gift) and his work as a teacher inWorcestershire (it was probably premiered by hisstudents).

Elgar biographer Diana McVeagh admires Sea Pictures(1899) for its ‘delicate and colourful’ scoring and goes onto declare that the ‘prettiest, simplest songs are the best’.This is the same directness, simplicity and lyricism thatcan be enjoyed in the Serenade. Sea Pictures has beenneglected here in recent years, and so it’s a delight to be able to include it in this festival, representing, alongwith The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar as a composer for thevoice.

The real ‘spirit of delight’, however, belongs to theSecond Symphony, so full of rich and vivid musical ideas. At the end of the score, Elgar added two lines fromShelley’s Invocation: ‘Rarely, rarely, comest thou, /Spirit ofDelight!’ And to his publisher he said: ‘the spirit of thewhole work is intended to be high and pure joy: there are retrospective passages of sadness but the whole ofthe sorrow is smoothed out and ennobled in the lastmovement, which ends in a calm and, I hope and intend,elevated mood.’

INTRODUCTION

5 | Sydney Symphony

Edward Elgar

Serenade in E minor for strings, Op. 20

Allegro piacevoleLarghettoAllegretto

Elgar’s first instrument was the violin, which he beganlearning at the age of nine and rapidly mastered. The son of a music seller and piano tuner father and a mother who was a fine poet and artist, Elgar’s earlymusical precocity was encouraged, though familyfinances prevented him studying music abroad. Hebecame very active as a performer and conductor in hisnative Worcestershire, playing violin in the orchestra for the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester under Dvorák in 1884, and composing for a number of local ensembles.

Elgar believed passionately in the indivisible nature of a musical idea and its sound, once writing that:

A musical idea may be interesting to read without hearing,or it may hold the attention when played on a key instrument:or by a combination of instruments, but its inventor musthave had some definite medium in his mind…I find itimpossible to imagine a composer creating a musical ideawithout defining inwardly, and simultaneously, the exactmeans of its presentation.

Throughout his career he maintained a particular lovefor the string family, culminating in the autumnal CelloConcerto of his final years, and among his best lovedworks are the Introduction and Allegro for string quartetand string orchestra, Op.47, and the Serenade for strings,Op.20. Both works show Elgar’s supreme mastery of thetextural possibilities of the string ensemble; when theyoung composer Herbert Howells asked Elgar his secret,the latter replied: ‘Study old Handel. I went to him forhelp ages ago.’

Despite his lower-middle-class social status andCatholic religion, Elgar had married Alice Roberts againstthe wishes of her aristocratic family in 1889, and thecouple had moved to London in the hope of securingElgar’s career as a composer. Sadly, this provedunsuccessful, so in 1891 Elgar and his wife returned toWorcestershire where Elgar eked out a living fromteaching, performing and sporadic publications until his

Keynotes

ELGAR

Born Broadheath, 1857 Died Worcester, 1934

Early in their marriage, Elgar

and his wife Alice moved to

London, hoping this would

boost his career and help him

reach his goals as a symphonic

composer. But his feelings

of being an outsider – as a

Roman Catholic with a lower-

middle-class background

and as a musician who hadn’t

pursued formal academic

study – meant that he found

London society inhospitable.

In 1891 they retreated to

Malvern. It was nearly another

decade before he found fame

with the Enigma Variations,

and the first half of tonight’s

program presents two works

from this period.

SERENADE

The Serenade for strings was

written in 1892, a little more

than a year after Elgar’s move

to Malvern, and the composer

offered it to his wife, Alice, as

a gift on their third anniversary.

At the time he was eking

out his income by teaching

music, and it’s likely that the

Serenade was first performed

by the Ladies’ Orchestral

Class in Worcester. This

would account for the relative

simplicity and directness

of the music. Elgar’s own

experience as a violinist

resulted in idiomatic and

effective string writing as well

as an astute understanding of

the string ensemble textures.

The music may have had its

origins in an earlier piece from

1888, which gave the first two

movements evocative titles:

‘Spring Song’ and ‘Elegy’.

6 | Sydney Symphony

7 | Sydney Symphony

reputation took off with the appearance of the ‘Enigma’Variations at the end of the decade.

The Serenade dates from 1892, and seems to havereceived its premiere with the Ladies’ Orchestral Class in Worcester which Elgar trained. It may, however, be areworking of his Three Pieces for String Orchestra, firstperformed in 1888 by the Worcestershire Musical Union.Elgar said of the Three Pieces: ‘I like ’em (the first thing I ever did).’ Unfortunately, the score of the earlier work has not survived, but its movement titles (Spring Song,Elegy and Finale) correspond roughly to those of thepresent work, which Elgar often said was his favourite.

GORDON KERRY ©SYMPHONY AUSTRALIA

The Sydney Symphony first performed the Serenade in 1938,conducted by Malcolm Sargent, and most recently in 1973 underChristopher Nicholls.

Elgar’s notice offering violin tuition in

Worcester during the 1880s, before his

marriage to Alice. On his return to

Malvern in 1891 he continued to teach

music as a way of supplementing his

income from composing.

AR

THU

R R

EYN

OLD

S C

OLL

ECTI

ON

/ L

EBR

ECH

T M

US

IC &

AR

TS

‘Study old Handel.

I went to him for help

ages ago.’

ELGAR’S ADVICE TO YOUNGCOMPOSER HERBERT HOWELLS

ABOUT THE MUSIC

Edward Elgar

Sea Pictures, Op.37

Sea Slumber-Song In Haven (Capri) Sabbath Morning at Sea Where Corals Lie The Swimmer

Lilli Paasikivi mezzo-soprano

Mention the name Edward Elgar, and vocal music is notlikely to be the first thing which springs to mind. Even in Sea Pictures, a full-scale song cycle with orchestra, theinstrumental interludes are often so grandly eloquentthat the vocal line seems almost an afterthought. During the 1890s, Elgar wrote (among other things) threeunsuccessful cantatas, which presumably taught him a few truths about writing for voice and ensemble.

The Norwich Festival commissioned this song cyclefrom Elgar for their 1899 season. The singer was the 26-year-old contralto Clara Butt – later to become a Dame of the British Empire, and synonymous with ‘Land ofHope and Glory’. Already an established performer, hervoice would have been familiar to the composer. She wasespecially noted for the strength of her lower register(‘trombone-like’ was one description), and also for theclarity of her diction. Elgar was kind and practical, andhere and there wrote in higher optional notes for mezzo-sopranos who lacked Dame Clara’s unique depth!

Sea Pictures was a critical and popular success. ClaraButt was ‘dressed like a mermaid’, wrote Elgar to a friend,and ‘sang really well’. A certain amount of less favourablecriticism was directed towards the poetry. Elgar did seemto have sentimentally Victorian tastes when it came tolyrics. Roden Noel was a minor British poet; RichardGarnett the scholarly Director of the British MuseumReading Room; Adam Lindsay Gordon the only Australian– though British-born – to be remembered with a bustin Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey; Elizabeth BarrettBrowning was considered a little passé even in 1899; andC.Alice Elgar was the composer’s wife.

Sea Slumber-Song drops us immediately into anoceanic atmosphere. Elgar’s famously thoughtfulorchestration uses the two-note rocking motif generationsof composers have called upon to set a watery scene. In this case, it is enhanced by rising and falling harp

Keynotes

SEA PICTURES

Sea Pictures is a song cycle

for mezzo-soprano and

orchestra, commissioned

by the Norwich Festival and

premiered in 1899 to critical

and popular acclaim. Clara

Butt was the first soloist

and Elgar wrote the music

with her powerful lower

register in mind. Each of the

five texts is by a different

poet, but all give scope for

depictions of water and

the sea, from the two-note

rocking motif (now

practically a cliché) of the

Sea Slumber-Song to the

darker, stormy mood that

enfolds the struggling

Swimmer.

8 | Sydney Symphony

9 | Sydney Symphony

phrases, while the softly rumbling timpani is a cleveraddition to the seascape.

In Haven (Capri) must surely be one of the sweetestthings in musical history. When Caroline Alice Robertsfirst had music lessons with Mr Edward Elgar, she was 38and had already published two novels. In Haven was aliterary effort on a much smaller scale. Elgar set his wife’spoem to music in 1897 and published it under the titleLute Song, appropriately enough considering its delicatescoring. The tenderness of the setting seems to be amusical reciprocation of the poet’s words.

Sabbath Morning at Sea presents some of the mosttypically ‘Elgarian’ textures and motifs. The warmth of thestrings is exploited whenever possible, but it still seems asthough this composer who loved the orchestra so muchfelt constrained by having to include the text. The brassinstruments have rare moments to blaze out during briefinterludes when there is no risk of, so to speak, drowningthe singer.

Where Corals Lie is the song most often extracted from the cycle for performance by itself. The off-the-beat accompaniment and overall simplicity suggest theuncomplicated pleasure often found in Schubert’s songs.Tiny solos from various instruments add textural interestand a certain air of fellowship with the singer.

The Swimmer has usually been castigated as theweakest song of the cycle. The poetry is difficult to set, asits persistent rhymes can run the risk of sounding likedoggerel. Elgar, however, would have known that in 1870the poet committed suicide at Melbourne’s BrightonBeach, so the description of a swimmer struggling in thestormy water has gained a darker meaning than issuggested at first glance. The varying colours demandedof the low-voiced singer foreshadow the role of the Angelin the Dream of Gerontius, which was written shortlyafterwards.

KATHERINE KEMP SYMPHONY AUSTRALIA ©1999

The orchestra for Sea Pictures comprises pairs of flutes, oboes,clarinets and bassoons, and contrabassoon; four horns, twotrumpets, three horns and tuba; timpani and percussion (gong,suspended cymbal, bass drum), harp, optional organ and strings.

The Sydney Symphony performed three songs from Sea Picturesin 1948 with mezzo-soprano Essie Ackland and Joseph Postconducting. The most recent performance of the complete work was in 1988 with John Hopkins and soloist Lauris Elms.

LEB

REC

HT

MU

SIC

& A

RTS

English contralto Clara Butt sang the

first performance of Sea Pictures

10 | Sydney Symphony

Sea Slumber-Song

Sea-birds are asleep,The world forgets to weep,Sea murmurs her soft slumber-songOn the shadowy sandOf this Elfin land.‘I, the Mother mild,Hush thee, O my child,Forget the voices wild!Isles in elfin lightDream, the rocks and cavesLulled by the whisp’ring waves,Veil their marbles bright,Foam glimmers faintly whiteUpon the shelly sandOf this elfin land;Sea-sound, like violins,To slumber woos and wins.I murmur my soft slumber-song,Leave woes, and wails, and sins,Ocean’s shadowy mightBreathes good night, good night!’

Roden Noel

In Haven (Capri)

Closely let me hold thy hand,Storms are sweeping sea and land;Love alone will stand.

Closely cling, for waves beat fast,Foam flakes cloud the hurrying blast;Love alone will last.

Kiss my lips, and softly say:‘Joy, sea-swept, may fade today,Love alone will stay.’

C.Alice Elgar

Sabbath Morning at Sea

The ship went on with solemn face:To meet the darkness on the deep,The solemn ship went onward.I bowed down weary in the place;For parting tears and present sleepHad weighed mine eyelids downward.

The new sight, the new wondrous sight!The waters around me, turbulent,The skies, impassive o’er me,Calm in a moonless, sunless light,As glorified by even the intentOf holding the day glory!

Love me, sweet friends, this sabbath day.The sea sings round me while ye rollAfar the hymn unaltered,And kneel, where once I knelt to pray,And bless me deeper in your soulBecause your voice has faltered.

And though this sabbath comes to meWithout the stolèd minister,And chanting congregation,God’s Spirit shall give comfort. HE

Who brooded soft on waters drear,Creator on creation,

He shall assist me to look higher,Where keep the saints, with harp and

song,An endless sabbath morning,And, on that sea commixed with fire,Oft drop their eyelids raised too longTo the full Godhead’s burning.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning


Where Corals Lie

The deeps have music soft and lowWhen winds awake the airy spry,It lures me, lures me on to goAnd see the land where corals lie.

By mount and mead, by lawn and rill,When night is deep, and moon is high,That music seeks and finds me still,And tells me where the corals lie.

Yes, press my eyelids close, ’tis well;But far the rapid fancies flyTo rolling worlds of wave and shell,And all the land where corals lie.

Thy lips are like a sunset glow,Thy smile is like a morning sky,Yet leave me, leave me, let me goAnd see the land where corals lie.

Richard Garnett

The Swimmer

With short, sharp, violent lights made vivid,

To southward far as the sight can roam,Only the swirl of the surges livid,The seas that climb and the surfs that

comb.Only the crag and the cliff to nor’ward,The rocks receding, and reefs flung

forward,Waifs wrecked seaward and wasted

shoreward,On shallows sheeted with flaming foam.

A grim, grey coast and a seaboard ghastly,

And shores trod seldom by feet of men – Where the batter’d hull and the broken

mast lie,They have lain embedded these long

years ten.Love! When we wandered here together,

Hand in hand through the sparkling weather,

From the heights and hollows of fern and heather,

God surely loved us a little then.

The skies were fairer and shores were firmer –

The blue sea over the bright sand roll’d,Babble and prattle, and ripple and

murmur,Sheen of silver and glamour of gold.

So, girt with tempest and wing’d with thunder

And clad with lightning and shod with sleet,

And strong winds treading the swift waves under

The flying rollers with frothy feet.One gleam like a bloodshot swordblade

swims onThe skyline, staining the green gulf

crimson,A death-stroke fiercely dealt by a dim sunThat strikes through his stormy winding

sheet.

O brave white horses! you gather and gallop,

The storm sprite loosens the gusty reins;Now the stoutest ship were the frailest

shallopIn your hollow backs, on your high-arched

manes.I would ride as never man has riddenIn your sleepy, swirling surges hidden;To gulfs foreshadow’d through strifes

forbidden,Where no light wearies and no love

wanes.

Adam Lindsay Gordon


MUSICIAN SNAPSHOT

Fenella Gill – going her own way

Fenella Gill, cellist with the SydneySymphony, is joined by her six-year-olddaughter Audrey on the day of this‘snapshot’ interview. Audrey is home fromschool, her left hand firmly swathed inbandages following a close encounter with a glass door. No permanent damagefortunately, but it does raise an interestingquestion: what if it were Fenella’s ownhand sporting a similar fresh dressing? ‘I think it would be extremely challenging,and probably a bit miserable andfrustrating if I couldn’t play.’

Fenella grew up in a musical household.‘My mother would often wake us up on theweekend by playing a record of a Mozartviolin concerto, or the Elgar cello concerto,perhaps to drop the hint that we [Fenellaand her three sisters] should get up andpractise?’ Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) inher late teens threatened to put a stop toFenella’s aspirations of becoming aprofessional musician. ‘I was practisingincredible hours every day, and it wasn’thealthy, obviously. I overcame it with a lotof physical exercise; a lot of bike-ridingand swimming backstroke; doing theopposite movements to sitting playing thecello all day.’

Thankfully, Fenella recovered to fullhealth. ‘It’s very hard psychologically to not be able to do something that you reallywant to do. But I think it’s made me a lotstronger. I really believe you will alwaysend up finding your own way to play. Somuch of what we do is positive thinking.Maturity comes when you learn to trustyourself, to let go of how you think youshould play and to experiment; to be able to play with conviction and believe that’swhat you’re doing. I’m also very aware now in the orchestra of how my bodyis feeling.’

Jacqueline du Pré, the cellistsynonymous with the Elgar cello concerto,was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis atthe age of 26, prematurely ending herperforming career. ‘Du Pré’s recording ofthe Elgar was the first one I ever owned andI had lessons on the same concerto withher teacher, William Pleeth. And though du Pré was English, and the piece isEnglish, it’s not the stereotype that youmight think. She was incredibly expressive.’

Du Pré’s association with other artistslike Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlmanand Daniel Barenboim put her in a class of ‘untouchables’ in Fenella’s mind. ‘Theseare names I grew up with. They wereperformers who achieved legendary status.I think it’s really exciting to haveAshkenazy, who was also a part of thatgroup, as our Principal Conductor. It’s likea direct link to the good old days.’

GENEVIEVE LANG ©2008

KEI

TH S

AU

ND

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Edward Elgar

Symphony No.2 in E flat, Op.63

Allegro vivace e nobilmenteLarghettoRondo (Presto)Moderato e maestoso

No matter how eloquently the Elgar symphonies maybe championed, there will always be those listeners forwhom the pieces act too potently as musical memoirs of the British Empire at its sunset. In the 1940s and 50s,when these works were not much played in Britain, theywere programmed regularly by the ABC, in concert andon radio. The idea that they represent a musical branch ofofficial Imperialism is not helpful if we are to listen tothem again without prejudice; even less so now, in Australia.

In Britain by the 1920s, the opulence that forms socrucial a component of Elgar’s musical language hadalready become a victim of musical fashion. From thedistance created by World War I and the subsequenttoppling of empires and dynasties, Elgar’s music was seen as symbolic of post-Victorian complacency. Thesymphonies came in for particularly harsh criticism fortheir ‘triviality and tawdriness’ (Cecil Gray’s words) andperceived structural weaknesses.

It may be facile to note that every generation hearswhat it wants to hear in the music of the past. Perhaps it is more useful to realise that Mahler’s symphonies werealso in eclipse in the years Elgar’s lay in the darkness; thatElgar’s feelings of isolation within his society – by virtueof his lower-middle-class origins, his Catholicism, hisdisdain for the academic musical establishment – wereakin to, if less severe than, Mahler’s sense of alienation.

The reputation of Elgar’s first symphony had quitesome journey to make to the dark side. It is – and was –recognised as the first great English symphony, and itspopularity surged after its premiere in 1908. Within 15months, the work had been played in places as far-flungas St Petersburg and Sydney. Elgar hoped the SecondSymphony would be equally successful. On his completionof it, Elgar’s devoted wife Alice noted in her diary: ‘Itseems one of his greatest works, vast in design andsupremely beautiful…It is really sublime…it resemblesour human life, delight, regrets, farewell, the saddestmood & then the strong man’s triumph.’ Elgar himself

Keynotes

SYMPHONY NO.2

Elgar’s Second Symphony

was premiered in 1911,

three years after the

extremely well-received

First Symphony. It was

dedicated to the memory

of the late Edward VII and

was premiered on the eve of

the coronation of George V,

which may have led the

first audience to expect

straightforward Imperial

splendour. Possibly

confusing listeners with its

epic scope and emotional

extremes, the Second

Symphony failed to achieve

the success of its

predecessor.

The Symphony was written

in what Elgar described as

a ‘fever heat’ and is imbued

with tremendous energy.

It contains a tiny unifying

motif, sometimes called the

‘Spirit of Delight’, that

emerges in different guises

through all four movements,

even in the funeral march

of the second movement,

where it makes a ‘consoling’

appearance. There are darker

moments in the symphony,

too, which led Elgar to agree

with one description of the

work as the ‘passionate

pilgrimage’ of a soul.

Finally, this is a symphony

where words can illuminate

the sounds. In writing about

the music Elgar frequently

quoted poetry (included in

the main program note), and

in the score itself he quotes

two lines from Shelley.

wrote to a friend: ‘I have worked at fever heat and thething is tremendous in energy.’

That this symphony failed to make the impact of itspredecessor is due to the more emotionally complexworld it inhabits and the circumstances of its firstperformances. Elgar conducted the premiere during theglittering London ‘season’ of 1911, to an audience mindfulof the symphony’s dedication to the late Edward VII, andfilled with excitement at the prospect of the forthcomingcoronation of the new king, George V, less than a monthaway. No doubt many in the audience were expecting agrand symphony of loyal tribute, perhaps even a paean toImperial splendour. What they heard was epic in scope andwild in its emotional extremes, doubting its own exuberance,exploding its own vivid tales of conquest, battling toregain ground lost in a tumult of its own devising.

That in itself probably flummoxed the symphony’s firstlisteners considerably. But what sort of performance didthey hear that evening?

It has been said that Elgar, among the greatest of allwriters for orchestra, writes to the limit of a goodmusician’s technical capacity and never beyond it. Butsome commentators have questioned the extent to whichthis limit was successfully reached by the British orchestrasof the era in which this symphony was new. The work didnot really begin to have any success with audiences untilafter World War I, but by then it sounded to the youngerBritish critics like music from another planet.

The passionate expressiveness of Elgar’s musicinevitably suggests a play of personal meanings at work.But Elgar often used musical red herrings to shield hisinner purpose. (The movement headings to the EnigmaVariations are a good example.) His dedication of thissymphony to the late King, for example, should not betaken as an explanation of his musical purpose. To hisfriend Alice Stuart-Wortley he referred to this work,the Violin Concerto and the Ode The Music Makers (allcompleted between 1910 and 1912) as works in which ‘I have written out my soul….and you know it…in theseworks I have shewn myself.’ To another friend, hedescribed his feelings about this symphony by amendinga quotation from Shelley’s Julian and Maddalo to read:

I do but hideUnder these notes, like embers, every spark Of that which has consumed me.


Elgar in court dress, with the Order of

Merit. (Photo by Histed, 1911)


Finally, we have the enigmatic extract from Shelley’sInvocation, which Elgar wrote at the end of the score:

Rarely, rarely, comest thou,Spirit of Delight!

Listening Guide

The beginning of the first movement at once proclaimsthe ‘tremendous energy’ Elgar described. The viola playerBernard Shore likened the first bars to a dive off a highspringboard. The wide-ranging restlessness of this music is born of the swift sequence of short, boundingthemes presented with a virtuoso orchestrator’s panache,and a plethora of detailed expression and tempomarkings.

The very first theme contains a two-bar melodic cell that acts as a presence throughout the work’s fourmovements; sometimes called the ‘Spirit of Delight’,it gives way to three equally short themes. All four arethen modified and juxtaposed, leading gradually to thetenderly lyrical ideas that form the movement’s secondmelodic group. Passion soon overcomes the music,particularly when Elgar enfolds these new ideas withthemes from the first group. The strong element offantasy in the writing is already apparent; one of thelyrical themes, played by the cellos, features a gentleaccompaniment on violas and then woodwind. Thisseemingly incidental motif later figures heroically, evengaudily, in the movement’s climax.

It is possible to talk about this movement inconventional sonata form terminology, but for Elgar therecapitulation, resplendent though it is, is not as crucialas the beautiful and sinister episode that haunts the centreof the movement. ‘I have written the most extraordinarypassage,’ he wrote to Alice Stuart-Wortley, ‘…a sort ofmalign influence wandering thro’ the summer night inthe garden.’ Eight bell-like notes on the harp, mutedstrings and horns introduce a theme, high in the cellos,to which the surrounding accompaniment lends analmost supernatural glow. In a completely differentguise, this theme returns in the third movement todevastating effect.

When the climax does come, Elgar dangles the ‘Spiritof Delight’ theme over the precipice of a MahlerianLuftpause. The elaborate recapitulation that follows allows

‘I have written the mostextraordinary passage…

a sort of malign influence

thro’ the summer night

in the garden.’

ELGAR


for a brief moment of calm but we are then throwntumultuously on to the movement’s conclusion, a dizzyingupward rush for the whole orchestra.

The grief of the second movement – a funeral march in the manner of another great symphony in E flat major,Beethoven’s Eroica – is immense and, until the last bars,inconsolable. A yearning introduction gives way to asolemn and beautiful theme scored to give the effectof public mourning – the melody, on flutes, clarinets,trumpet, trombone and first violin, is played over themuffled tread of bassoons, horns, tuba, timpani, harp andstrings. In the movement’s central episode, this theme’sreturn is embellished by an improvised-sounding oboelament, as if the cries of one person could be heard in avast crowd. Elgar used to tell the principal oboe inrehearsals: ‘Play your lament entirely free…Don’t worryabout me or the rest of the orchestra. It must sound as ifit belonged outside somewhere.’ The final climax, scoredpassionately high on the violins, is almost feverishly sad,the benediction-like appearance of the ‘Spirit of Delight’theme offering some consolation before the movementshudders to a close.

The scherzo (Rondo. Presto) is feverish music requiringtremendous virtuosity. The movement opens withapparent jollity, but the darkening harmonies and darting cross-rhythms together produce a feeling ofimpending danger. After a more lyrical section,introducing a wistful new woodwind theme, a pulsatingversion of the ‘unearthly’ theme from the first movementis given out by the violins with insistent timpanicommentary. Suddenly the music takes on an aspect ofthundering terror. At this point the percussion, accordingto Elgar at rehearsals, should ‘completely overwhelmeverything’. The composer explained this section by wayof a quotation from Tennyson’s Maud:

Dead, long dead…And my heart is a handful of dust,And the wheels go over my head,And my bones are shaken with pain,For into a shallow grave they are thrust…And the hoofs of the horses beat, beat,Beat into my scalp and brain…

The passage disappears with the swiftness of wakingfrom a nightmare; the movement then hastens to abrilliant coda.


The finale begins as if it is going to be the mostconventional movement of the four, resolving thetremendous conflicts depicted in the earlier movements.There is a Brahmsian inflection to the stately first themeplayed by cellos, horns, clarinets and bassoons, and to the grander one given to the violins. These themes aregiven majestic treatment; we then hear a new, gentletheme for the strings, which carries Elgar’s characteristicdirection, nobilmente (nobly). The poco animato section that follows contains some of the most virtuosic writingof the symphony. We are plunged into the thick of battle,a piercing trumpet cry leading the charge.

The introduction of a more peaceful theme high on the violins at the conclusion of this episode does not settlethe music for long. The mood is restless, and althoughthe martial atmosphere gradually recedes to make way fora return of the main theme, the recapitulation makes usrealise that the likelihood of a Brahms-like darkness-to-light symphonic outcome is remote. Just as Elgar seemsto prepare us for a victorious peroration, the musicquietens, we hear the finale’s main theme again on thecellos, the ‘Spirit of Delight’ appears once more and all is radiantly still. At the close there is hope, consolationperhaps, but not triumph.

The last lines of Shelley’s Invocation, surely known byElgar, form a fitting postscript to the Symphony’scomplex emotional journey:

Spirit, I love thee – Thou art love and life! Oh, come,Make once more my heart thy home.

PHILLIP SAMETZ ©2001/2003

The Second Symphony is scored for three flutes (one doublingpiccolo), two oboes, cor anglais, two clarinets, bass clarinet, E flat clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon; four horns, threetrumpets, three trombones and tuba; timpani and percussion (snare drum, tambourine, cymbals, bass drum); two harps andstrings.

The Sydney Symphony first performed Elgar’s Second Symphony in 1938 with conductor Malcolm Sargent, and most recently in 2001under Edo de Waart.

…a new, gentle theme

for the strings, which

carries Elgar’s

characteristic direction,

nobilmente (nobly).

MORE MUSIC

SEA PICTURES

In the concert hall, Elgar’s Sea Pictures have long helda special place in the hearts of British concertgoersbut are sadly rarely encountered in other countries.Dame Janet Baker’s recording, with Sir JohnBarbirolli conducting the London Symphony, is asupreme example of deep-felt and intuitive Elgarperformance. Sombre and mellow, radiant andvibrantly exultant at the climax of Sabbath Morning at Sea, it’s hard to beat still today, 43 years since it was recorded, and deservedly among EMI’s GreatRecordings of the Century series.EMI 62887

SERENADE

The lightness and wistfulness of Elgar’s Serenade for strings are caught to perfection in Barbirolli’sSinfonia of London recording, another great classic(see details under Second Symphony). However, thereare many more recordings to get to know here,especially a quite lovely recent recording with SirAndrew Davis conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra,

GLOSSARY

CODA – literally ‘tail’, a small section at theend of a movement or work that rounds offthe music.

CROSS RHYTHM – occurs when rhythms are ‘shifted’ so their strong beats fall atunexpected points in the basic pulse of themusic. For example, a basic pulse of 3 beats+ 3 beats might be overlayed with a rhythmmade up of 2+2+2. The effect is usuallycomplex but compelling.

LUFTPAUSE – (German, literally ‘air-pause’),a momentary silence or breath before anespecially important accent.

RONDO – a musical form in which a mainidea (refrain) alternates with a series ofmusical episodes. Similar to the verse andchorus structure of many songs.

In much of the classical repertoire, movementtitles are taken from the Italian words thatindicate the tempo and mood. A selection ofterms from this program is included here.

Allegretto – lively, not so fast as AllegroAllegro piacevole – fast, agreeablyAllegro vivace e nobilmente – fast, lively

and noblyLarghetto – not quite as slow and broad

as LargoModerato e maestoso – moderately and

majesticallyPresto – as fast as possible

This glossary is intended only as a quick and easyguide, not as a set of comprehensive and absolutedefinitions. Most of these terms have many subtleshades of meaning which cannot be included forreasons of space.

including also a very fine recording of the ViolinConcerto, performed by James Ehnes.ONYX 4021

SECOND SYMPHONY

The performances on disc that most powerfully penetrateto the heart of Elgar’s Second Symphony all have theirorigins in Elgar’s own recording from 1927 with theLondon Symphony Orchestra, preserved in excellentsound by EMI. Long an admirer of Elgar’s richlyauthoritative directness of delivery (I owned the excellentLP copies and snapped up the CD transfers immediatelyon their release), I have a deep affection, too, for VernonHandley’s recording with the London PhilharmonicOrchestra (paired with Bernadette Greevy singing alovely Sea Pictures), Sir Adrian Boult’s recording alsowith the LPO, and Sir John Barbirolli’s wonderful HalléOrchestra recording, but also for Giuseppe Sinopoli’sdeeply penetrating – if at times slightly wrong-headed –but wonderfully played and sonically splendid PhilharmoniaOrchestra recording for Deutsche Grammophon. I knewSinopoli at the time he was making these recordings

Selected Discography

Peter Czornyj, Director of Artistic Planning and tonight’s pre-concert speaker, writes…



NOVEMBER

ELGAR FESTIVAL BROADCASTS

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor

8 November, 8pmLilli Paasikivi mezzo-sopranoSea Pictures, Serenade, Symphony No.2

12 November, 8pmJames Ehnes violinViolin Concerto, Enigma Variations, Pomp and Circumstance Marches

20 November, 8pmLilli Paasikivi, Mark Tucker, David Wilson-Johnson vocal soloistsSydney Philharmonia Choirs

The Dream of Gerontius

22 November, 12.05pmSTRAUSS, SAINT-SAËNS & SIBELIUS

Thomas Dausgaard conductorSimon Trpceski piano

Broadcast Diary

sydneysymphony.com

Visit the Sydney Symphony online for concertinformation, podcasts, and to read the program book inadvance of the concert.

2MBS-FM 102.5SYDNEY SYMPHONY 2008

Tue 11 November, 6pmWhat’s on in concerts, with interviews and music. Special guests: Principal Viola Roger Benedict withparticipants from the 2008 Fellowship.

Selected Sydney Symphony concerts are recorded forwebcast by BigPond and are available On Demand.Visit: sydneysymphony.bigpondmusic.com

Current webcast:

GELMETTI’S FAREWELL

Available On Demand

Webcast Diary

and was convinced that his love for the music wastotally genuine, and whatever he had to say in thismusic was worth hearing, too. And here was a non-Britloving the music and conducting it so well! CLASSICA D’ORO 1054 (Elgar conducting the LSO)EMI CLASSICS FOR PLEASURE 75306 (Handley)EMI 47205 (Boult)DG 469136 (Sinopoli)

I warmly recommend the 5-CD box of Elgar’s OrchestralWorks, including Dame Janet Baker singing the SeaPictures, the Serenade for strings, and the SecondSymphony, all passionately conducted by Sir JohnBarbirolli.EMI 67918

VLADIMIR ASHKENAZY

RECENT RELEASE

Rachmaninov: Complete Symphonies and

Orchestral Works

Ashkenazy conducts the Sydney Symphony in liverecordings from the 2007 Rachmaninov Festival.EXTON EXCL-00018

LILLI PAASIKIVI

Lilli Paasikivi sings the complete songs of AlmaMahler, accompanied by the Tampere PhilharmonicOrchestra and Jorma Panula, who has orchestrated the accompaniments.ONDINE 1024

Her performance of Sibelius’ Kullervo with the LahtiSymphony Orchestra, Helsinki University Chorus andOsmo Vänskä is available in the BIS label’s excellentseries of Sibelius recordings.BIS 1215

More recently she has recorded Mahler’s ThirdSymphony with the Philharmonia Orchestra conductedby Benjamin Zander.TELARC 80599 (60599 SACD)


ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Vladimir Ashkenazy conductor

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AIn the years since Vladimir Ashkenazy first came toprominence on the world stage in the 1955 ChopinCompetition in Warsaw, he has built an extraordinarycareer not only as one of the most renowned and reveredpianists of our times, but as an inspiring artist whosecreative life encompasses a vast range of activities.

Conducting has formed the largest part of his music-making for the past 20 years. He was Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 1998 to 2003, and he was Music Director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra inTokyo from 2004 to 2007. He will take up the position ofPrincipal Conductor and Artistic Advisor of the SydneySymphony in 2009.

Alongside these roles, Vladimir Ashkenazy is alsoConductor Laureate of the Philharmonia Orchestra,with whom he has developed landmark projects such asProkofiev and Shostakovich Under Stalin (a project which hetoured and later developed into a TV documentary) andRachmaninoff Revisited at the Lincoln Center, New York.

He also holds the positions of Music Director of theEuropean Union Youth Orchestra and Conductor Laureateof the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He maintains stronglinks with a number of other major orchestras, includingthe Cleveland Orchestra (where he was formerlyPrincipal Guest Conductor), San Francisco Symphony,and Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin (ChiefConductor and Music Director 1988–96), and last yearreturned to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic.

He continues to devote himself to the piano, buildinghis comprehensive recording catalogue with releases such as the 1999 Grammy award-winning ShostakovichPreludes and Fugues, Rautavaara’s Piano Concerto No.3(which he commissioned), and Rachmaninov transcriptions.His latest releases are recordings of Bach’s WohltemperierteKlavier and Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations.

A regular visitor to Sydney over many years, he hasconducted subscription concerts and composer festivalsfor the Sydney Symphony, with his five-programRachmaninov Festival forming a highlight of the 75th Anniversary Season in 2007. Vladimir Ashkenazy’sfuture artistic role with the Orchestra will includecollaborations on composer festivals, major recordingprojects and international touring activities.


Lilli Paasikivi mezzo-soprano

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FFFinnish mezzo-soprano Lilli Paasikivi is in demand forconcerts at the highest level. Notable performances haveincluded Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Los AngelesPhilharmonic conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; the worldpremiere of Shchedrin’s The Enchanted Wanderer with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of LorinMaazel; and The Dream of Gerontius with the AccademiaNazionale di Santa Cecilia under Vladimir Ashkenazy. She has also performed Kindertotenlieder with the BavarianRadio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, andMahler’s Symphony No.2 with the London SymphonyOrchestra conducted by Paavo Järvi. She made her BBCProms debut last year with the Lahti Symphony Orchestraconducted by Osmo Vänskä, in an all-Sibelius programthat included solo songs with orchestra and The Tempest.

As principal soloist at Finnish National Opera, her roles have included Carmen, Angelina (La Cenerentola),Marguerite (La damnation de Faust), Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims); Varvara (Katya Kabanova) and Octavian(Der Rosenkavalier). Elsewhere she has sung The Pilgrim in Saariaho’s L’amour de loin at Théâtre du Châtelet; therole of Jitsuko Honda in the world premiere of ToshioHosokawa’s Hanjo at the Aix Festival; The Composer(Ariadne auf Naxos) at Opéra de Lyon, Fricka (Das Rheingoldand Die Walküre) in Aix, Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) atLa Monnaie, and Fricka (Das Rheingold) with the BerlinPhilharmonic under Sir Simon Rattle.

Lilli Paasikivi’s recordings include Sibelius’ KullervoSymphony and his Maiden in the Tower; Mahler’sSymphony No.3; the complete songs of Alma Mahler;Sandström’s High Mass with the GewandhausorchesterLeipzig and Herbert Blomstedt; and Stravinsky’s Mavrawith the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and PeterEötvös.

Highlights of the 2007/08 season have includedBeethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the PhilharmoniaOrchestra (Christoph von Dohnányi), Die Walküre at theSalzburg Easter Festival (Rattle) and Mahler’s Das Lied vonder Erde with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra(Salonen).

www.lillipaasikivi.com


THE SYDNEY SYMPHONY

Founded in 1932, the Sydney Symphonyhas evolved into one of the world’s finestorchestras as Sydney has become one ofthe world’s great cities. Last year theOrchestra celebrated its 75th anniversaryand the milestone achievements during itsdistinguished history.

Resident at the iconic Sydney OperaHouse, where it gives more than 100performances each year, the SydneySymphony also performs concerts in avariety of venues around Sydney andregional New South Wales. Internationaltours to Europe, Asia and the USA haveearned the Orchestra world-widerecognition for artistic excellence.

Critical to the success of the SydneySymphony has been the leadership givenby its former Chief Conductors including:Sir Eugene Goossens, Nicolai Malko,Dean Dixon, Willem van Otterloo, LouisFrémaux, Sir Charles Mackerras, StuartChallender and Edo de Waart. Alsocontributing to the outstanding success of the Orchestra have been collaborationswith legendary figures such as GeorgeSzell, Sir Thomas Beecham, OttoKlemperer and Igor Stravinsky.

Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti, whoseappointment followed a ten-yearrelationship with the Orchestra as GuestConductor, is now in his fifth and finalyear as Chief Conductor and ArtisticDirector of the Sydney Symphony, aposition he holds in tandem with thatof Music Director at Rome Opera. As partof his farewell season, he recently led theOrchestra on a tour of Italy, with concertsin eight cities.

The Sydney Symphony’s award-winningEducation Program is central to theOrchestra’s commitment to the future of live symphonic music, developingaudiences and engaging the participationof young people. The Sydney Symphonyalso maintains an active commissioningprogram promoting the work of Australiancomposers, and recent premieres haveincluded major works by Ross Edwards and Brett Dean, as well as Liza Lim, whowas composer-in-residence from 2004 to 2006.

In 2009 Maestro Vladimir Ashkenazywill begin his three-year tenure asPrincipal Conductor and Artistic Advisor.

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PATRON Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales


MUSICIANS

01First Violins

02 03 04 05 06 07

08 09 10 11 12 13 14

01Second Violins

02 03 04 05 06 07

08 09 10 11 12 13

First Violins

01 Sun YiAssociate Concertmaster

02 Kirsten WilliamsAssociate Concertmaster

03 Kirsty HiltonAssistant Concertmaster

04 Fiona ZieglerAssistant Concertmaster

05 Julie Batty06 Sophie Cole07 Amber Gunther08 Rosalind Horton09 Jennifer Hoy10 Jennifer Johnson11 Georges Lentz12 Nicola Lewis13 Alexandra Mitchell

Moon Design Chair of Violin14 Léone Ziegler

Marriane Broadfoot

Second Violins

01 Marina MarsdenPrincipal

02 Emma WestA/Associate Principal

03 Shuti HuangA/Assistant Principal

04 Susan DobbiePrincipal Emeritus

05 Pieter Bersée06 Maria Durek07 Emma Hayes08 Stan W Kornel09 Benjamin Li10 Nicole Masters11 Philippa Paige12 Biyana Rozenblit13 Maja Verunica

Guest Musicians

Carl Pini Principal First Violin

Emily Qin First Violin#

Martin Silverton First Violin

Manu Berkeljon Second Violin†

Alexandra D’Elia Second Violin#

Thomas Dethlefs Second Violin

Alexander Norton Second Violin#

Jennifer Curl Viola#

Rosemary Curtin Viola#

Nicole Forsyth Viola

Minah Choe Cello

Ruediger Clauss Principal Cello

Rowena Crouch Cello#

Patrick Suthers Cello†

Gordon Hill Double Bass#

Ben Ward Double Bass

Ann Peck Oboe

Robert Llewellyn Bassoon#

Alexander Love Horn

John Douglas Percussion

Brian Nixon Percussion#

Owen Torr Harp

David Drury Organ

# = Contract Musician† = Sydney Symphony

Fellow

Gianluigi GelmettiChief Conductor andArtistic Director

Michael DauthChair of Concertmastersupported by the SydneySymphony Board and Council

Dene OldingChair of Concertmastersupported by the SydneySymphony Board and Council


08Cellos

09 10 11 01 02 03

01Violas

02 03 04 05 06 07

04 05 06 07 08 09

01Double Basses

02 03 04 05 06 07

Harp01 Flutes

02 03Piccolo

MUSICIANS

Violas

01 Roger BenedictAndrew Turner and Vivian Chang Chair of Principal Viola

02 Anne Louise ComerfordAssociate Principal

03 Yvette GoodchildAssistant Principal

04 Robyn Brookfield05 Sandro Costantino06 Jane Hazelwood07 Graham Hennings08 Mary McVarish09 Justine Marsden10 Leonid Volovelsky11 Felicity Wyithe

Cellos

01 Catherine Hewgill Tony and Fran Meagher Chair of Principal Cello

02 Nathan Waks Principal

03 Leah LynnAssistant Principal

04 Kristy Conrau05 Fenella Gill06 Timothy Nankervis07 Elizabeth Neville08 Adrian Wallis09 David Wickham

Double Basses

01 Kees BoersmaBrian and Rosemary White Chair of Principal Double Bass

02 Alex HeneryPrincipal

03 Neil BrawleyPrincipal Emeritus

04 David Campbell05 Steven Larson06 Richard Lynn07 David Murray

Gordon Hill(contract, courtesy Auckland Philharmonia)

Harp

Louise JohnsonMulpha Australia Chair of Principal Harp

Flutes

01 Janet Webb Principal

02 Emma ShollMr Harcourt Gough Chair of Associate Principal Flute

03 Carolyn Harris

Piccolo

Rosamund PlummerPrincipal


Cor Anglais Clarinets Bass Clarinet

Oboes

01 Diana Doherty Andrew Kaldor and Renata Kaldor AO Chair of Principal Oboe

02 Shefali PryorAssociate Principal

Cor Anglais

Alexandre OgueyPrincipal

Clarinets

01 Lawrence Dobell Principal

02 Francesco CelataAssociate Principal

03 Christopher Tingay

Bass Clarinet

Craig WernickePrincipal

Bassoons

01 Matthew WilkiePrincipal

02 Roger BrookeAssociate Principal

03 Fiona McNamara

Contrabassoon

Noriko ShimadaPrincipal

Horns

01 Robert JohnsonPrincipal

02 Ben JacksPrincipal

03 Geoff O’ReillyPrincipal 3rd

04 Lee Bracegirdle05 Euan Harvey06 Marnie Sebire

Trumpets

01 Daniel Mendelow Principal

02 Paul Goodchild The Hansen Family Chair of Associate Principal Trumpet

03 John Foster04 Anthony Heinrichs

Trombone

01 Ronald PrussingNSW Department of State and Regional Development Chair of Principal Trombone

02 Scott KinmontAssociate Principal

03 Nick ByrneRogenSi International Chair of Trombone

Bass Trombone

Christopher Harris Trust Foundation Chair of Principal Bass Trombone

Tuba

Steve RosséPrincipal

Timpani

Richard MillerPrincipal

Percussion

01 Rebecca LagosPrincipal

02 Colin Piper

Piano

Josephine AllanPrincipal (contract)

01Bassoons Contrabassoon Horns

02 03 01 02 03

01Oboes

02 01 02 03

04 05 06 01Trumpets

02 03 04

01Trombones

02 03Bass Trombone Tuba Timpani

01Percussion

02Piano

MUSICIANS


PRINCIPAL PARTNER

GOLD PARTNERS

The Company is assisted by the NSW Government through Arts NSW

SALUTE

PLATINUM PARTNER

MAJOR PARTNERS

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

SILVER PARTNERS

REGIONAL TOUR PARTNERS

ITALIAN TOUR 2008 PARTNERS


The Sydney Symphony applauds the leadership role our Partners play and their commitment to excellence,innovation and creativity.

BRONZE PARTNERS MARKETING PARTNERS PATRONS

Australia Post

Austrian National Tourist Office

Beyond Technology Consulting

Bimbadgen Estate Wines

J. Boag & Son

Vittoria Coffee

Avant Card

Blue Arc Group

Lindsay Yates and Partners

2MBS 102.5 –Sydney’s Fine Music Station

The Sydney Symphony gratefullyacknowledges the many musiclovers who contribute to theOrchestra by becoming SymphonyPatrons. Every donation plays animportant part in the success of theSydney Symphony’s wide rangingprograms.


A leadership program which links Australia’s top performers in the executive andmusical worlds. For information about the Directors’ Chairs program, please callCaroline Sharpen on (02) 8215 4619.

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06 07 08 09 10

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DIRECTORS’ CHAIRS

01Mulpha Australia Chair of Principal Harp, Louise Johnson

02Mr Harcourt Gough Chair ofAssociate Principal Flute, Emma Sholl

03Sandra and Paul SalteriChair of Artistic DirectorEducation, Richard Gill OAM

04Jonathan Sweeney, Managing Director Trust withTrust Foundation Chair ofPrincipal Bass Trombone, Christopher Harris

05NSW Department of State and Regional Development Chair of Principal Trombone,Ronald Prussing

06Brian and Rosemary White Chair of Principal DoubleBass, Kees Boersma

07Board and Council of theSydney Symphony supportsChairs of Concertmaster Michael Dauth and Dene Olding

08Gerald Tapper, Managing Director RogenSi withRogenSi Chair of Trombone, Nick Byrne

09Stuart O’Brien, ManagingDirector Moon Design with Moon Design Chair of Violin,Alexandra Mitchell

10Andrew Kaldor and RenataKaldor AO Chair of PrincipalOboe, Diana Doherty

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11Andrew Turner and VivianChang Chair of PrincipalViola and Artistic Director,Fellowship Program, Roger Benedict

12The Hansen Family Chair ofAssociate Principal Trumpet,Paul Goodchild

13 Tony and Fran Meagher Chair of Principal Cello,Catherine Hewgill

Mr John C Conde AO – ChairmanMr Peter Weiss AM – Founding President,

Maestro’s Circle

Mr Geoff & Mrs Vicki AinsworthMs Ashley Dawson-DamerIn memory of Hetty & Egon Gordon

Mr Andrew Kaldor & Mrs Renata Kaldor AO

Mrs Penelope SeidlerWestfield Group

MAESTRO’S CIRCLE


Mrs Catherine Gaskin Cornberg§Jen Cornish °Mr Stan Costigan AO &

Mrs Mary Costigan °*Mr Michael Crouch AO *M Danos °Lisa & Miro Davis *Joan De Hamel °Mr Peter & Mrs Mary Doyle °*Mr Colin DraperMrs Francine J Epstein °Mr and Mrs David Feetham Mr Steve GillettIn memory of Angelica Green §Dr & Mrs C Goldschmidt §Beth Harpley *Mr Ken Hawkings °*Intertravel Lindfield °Mrs Greta James *Mr Stephen Jenkins *Dr Michael Joel AM &

Mrs Anna Joel °Doctor Faith M Jones §Mr Noel Keen *Mrs Jannette King *Iven & Sylvia Klineberg *Dr Barry LandaDr & Mrs Leo Leader °Margaret Lederman §Ms A Le Marchant *Mr Joseph Lipski °*Mrs A Lohan *Mr James McCarthy *Mr Matthew McInnes §Ms Julie Manfredi-HughesMs J Millard *‡Helen Morgan *Mr Walter B Norris °Miss C O’Connor *Mrs Rachel O’Conor °Mr R A Oppen §Mrs S D O’TooleMrs Roslyn Packer AO °Mr Tom PascarellaDr Kevin Pedemont *Mr & Mrs Michael Potts Mr John Reid AO Catherine Remond °Mr John &

Mrs Lynn Carol Reid §Mr M D Salamon §In memory of H St P Scarlett §Mr John Scott °William Sewell *‡Dr John Sivewright &

Ms Kerrie Kemp ‡Margaret Suthers °Mrs Elizabeth F Tocque °*Mr & Mrs Richard Toltz °Mr Andrew & Mrs Isolde TornyaRonald Walledge °Louise Walsh & David Jordan °Mrs Lucille Warth ‡Mrs Christine WenkartA Willmers & R Pal °‡Dr Richard Wing §Mr Robert Woods *Jill WranMiss Jenny Wu Mrs R Yabsley °§Anonymous (31)

PLAYING YOUR PART

MaestriBrian Abel & the late

Ben Gannon AO °Geoff & Vicki Ainsworth *Mrs Antoinette Albert §Mr Robert O Albert AO *‡Mr Terrey & Mrs Anne Arcus §†Alan & Christine Bishop °§Sandra & Neil Burns *Mr Ian & Mrs Jennifer Burton °Libby Christie & Peter James °§The Clitheroe Foundation *Mr John C Conde AO °§†Mr John Curtis §Eric Dodd†Penny Edwards °*Mr J O Fairfax AO *Fred P Archer Charitable Trust §Dr Bruno & Mrs Rhonda Giuffre*In memory of Hetty Gordon §Mr Harcourt Gough §Mr James Gragam AM &

Mrs Helen Graham †Mr David Greatorex AO &

Mrs Deirdre Greatorex §The Hansen Family §Mr Stephen Johns §†Mr Andrew Kaldor &

Mrs Renata Kaldor AO §H Kallinikos Pty Ltd §Mrs Joan MacKenzie §Mrs T Merewether OAM & the

late Mr E J Merewether Mr James & Mrs Elsie Moore °Mr B G O’Conor °§The Paramor Family *The Ian Potter Foundation °Miss Rosemary Pryor *Bruce & Joy Reid Foundation*Dr John Roarty in memory of

Mrs June RoartyRodney Rosenblum AM &

Sylvia Rosenblum *Mr Paul & Mrs Sandra Salteri °†David Smithers AM & Family °§Mrs Joyce Sproat &

Mrs Janet Cooke §Andrew Turner & Vivian ChangMr Brian & Mrs Rosemary White§Anonymous (2) *

VirtuosiMr Roger Allen &

Mrs Maggie GrayMr Charles Barran §Ms Jan Bowen °§Mr Robert & Mrs L Alison Carr §Mrs Emily Chang §Mr Bob & Mrs Julie Clampett °§Mr Greg Daniel Ian Dickson & Reg Holloway°

Mr Ross Grant †Mr & Mrs Paul Hoult Irwin Imhof in memory of

Herta Imhof °‡Mr & Mrs Gilles T Kryger °§Ms Ann Lewis AM Helen Lynch AM & Helen Bauer°Mr & Mrs David Milman §The Perini Family FoundationMrs Helen Selle §Ms Ann Sherry AO °Ms Gabrielle Trainor °In memory of Dr William &

Mrs Helen Webb ‡Michael & Mary Whelan Trust §Anonymous (1)

SoliMr David Barnes °Mr Anthony Berg AMMr Alexander &

Mrs Vera Boyarsky §Mr Peter Coates Ms Elise Fairbairn-SmithMr Robert Gay §Hilmer Family Trust §Ms Ann Hoban °Mr Paul Hotz §Mr Philip Isaacs OAM °§Mr Bob Longwell Mrs Judith McKernan °§Miss Margaret N MacLaren °*‡§Mr David Maloney §Mrs Alexandra Martin & the

late Mr Lloyd Martin AM §Mrs Mora Maxwell °§Mr and Mrs John van OgtropMs Robin Potter °§Ms Julie Taylor ‡Mr Geoff Wood &

Ms Melissa Waites †Ray Wilson OAM & the late

James Agapitos OAM*Anonymous (6)

TuttiRichard Ackland °Mr C R Adamson §Mr Henri W Aram OAM §Mrs Joan Barnes °Doug & Alison Battersby °Mr Stephen J Bell *‡Mr Phil Bennett Nicole Berger *Mr Mark BethwaiteGabrielle Blackstock °‡Mr David S Brett *§Mr Maximo Buch *Mrs Lenore P Buckle §A I Butchart °*Debby Cramer & Bill Caukill §Joan Connery OAM °§Mr & Mrs R Constable °‡Mr John Cunningham SCM &

Mrs Margaret Cunningham °§Mrs Ashley Dawson-Damer °Mr & Mrs J B Fairfax AM §Mr Russell Farr Mr Ian Fenwicke &

Prof Neville Wills §Anthony Gregg & Deanne

Whittleston ‡Mrs Akiko Gregory °Miss Janette Hamilton °‡Mr Charles Hanna †Rev H & Mrs M Herbert °*Mr A & Mrs L Heyko-Porebski°

Dr & Mrs Michael Hunter §Ms Judy JoyeMr & Mrs E Katz §Mrs Margaret Keogh °*Miss Anna-Lisa Klettenberg §Mr Andrew Korda &

Ms Susan Pearson Mr Justin Lam §Dr Garth Leslie °*Erna & Gerry Levy AM §Mrs Belinda Lim & Mr Arti Ortis §Mr Gary Linnane °§Mr & Mrs S C Lloyd °Mr Andrew & Mrs Amanda Love Mrs Carolyn A Lowry OAM °Mr & Mrs R Maple-Brown §Mr Robert & Mrs Renee Markovic °§Wendy McCarthy AO °Mr Ian & Mrs Pam McGaw *Mrs Barbara McNulty OBE §Kate & Peter Mason °†Justice Jane Mathews §Ms Margaret Moore &

Dr Paul Hutchins *Mr Robert Orrell °Mrs Jill Pain ‡Timothy & Eva Pascoe §Ms Patricia Payn °§Mrs Almitt PiattiMr Adrian & Mrs Dairneen Pilton Mr L T & Mrs L M Priddle *Mrs B Raghavan °Mr Ernest & Mrs Judith Rapee §Dr K D Reeve AM °Mrs Patricia H Reid §Pamela Rogers °‡Mr Brian Russell &

Mrs Irina SinglemanMs Juliana Schaeffer §Robyn Smiles §The Hon. Warwick SmithDerek & Patricia Smith §Catherine Stephen §Mr Fred & Mrs Dorothy Street ‡§Mr Michael &

Mrs Georgina SuttorMr Georges &

Mrs MarlieseTeitler §Dr Heng & Mrs Cilla Tey §Mr Ken Tribe AC &

Mrs Joan Tribe §Mr John E Tuckey °Mrs Merle Turkington °Mrs Kathleen Tutton §Ms Mary Vallentine AO §Henry & Ruth WeinbergAudrey & Michael Wilson °Anonymous (14)

Supporters over $500Ms Madeleine AdamsPTW Architects §Mr John Azarias Mr Chris & Mrs Mary Barrett °Ms Wendy BlackBlack CommunicationsMr G D Bolton °Dr & Mrs Hannes Boshoff §M BulmerHugh & Hilary Cairns *Ms C Cathels °Marty Cameron §Hon. Justice J C &

Mrs Campbell °*Mr Brian CaseyMr B & Mrs M Coles °Dr Malcolm Colley °

Patron Annual

Donations Levels

Maestri $10,000 and above Virtuosi $5000 to $9999 Soli $2500 to $4999 Tutti $1000 to $2499 Supporters $500 to $999

To discuss givingopportunities, please call(02) 8215 4619.

° Allegro Program supporter* Emerging Artist Fund supporter‡ Stuart Challender Fund supporter§ Orchestra Fund supporter † Italian Tour supporter

The Sydney Symphony gratefully acknowledges the music lovers who donate to the Orchestra each year. Every gift plays an important part in ensuring ourcontinued artistic excellence and helping to sustain important education andregional touring programs. Because we are now offering free programs andspace is limited we are unable to list donors who give between $100 and $499 –please visit sydneysymphony.com for a list of all our patrons.


Sydney Symphony Board

BEHIND THE SCENES

CHAIRMAN

John Conde AO

Libby Christie John CurtisStephen JohnsAndrew KaldorGoetz RichterDavid Smithers AM

Gabrielle Trainor

Sydney Symphony Council

Geoff AinsworthAndrew Andersons AO

Michael Baume AO*Christine BishopDeeta ColvinGreg Daniel AM

John Della Bosca MLC

Alan FangErin FlahertyDr Stephen FreibergRichard Gill OAM

Donald Hazelwood AO OBE*Dr Michael Joel AM

Simon Johnson Judy JoyeYvonne Kenny AM

Gary LinnaneAmanda LoveThe Hon. Ian Macdonald MLC*Joan MacKenzieSir Charles Mackerras CH AC CBE

David MaloneyDavid MaloufJulie Manfredi-HughesDeborah MarrThe Hon. Justice Jane Mathews AO*Danny MayWendy McCarthy AO

John MorschelGreg ParamorDr Timothy Pascoe AM

Stephen Pearse

Jerome RowleyPaul SalteriSandra SalteriJacqueline SamuelsJulianna SchaefferLeo Schofield AM

Ivan UngarJohn van Ogtrop*Justus Veeneklaas*Peter Weiss AM

Anthony Whelan MBE

Rosemary WhiteKim Williams AM

* Regional Touring Committee member

Sydney Symphony Regional Touring Committee

The Hon. Ian Macdonald MLC

Minister for Primary Industries, Energy, MineralResources and State Development

Dr Richard Sheldrake Director-General, Department of Primary Industries

Mark Duffy Director-General, Department of Water and Energy

Colin Bloomfield Illawarra Coal BHPBilliton

Stephen David Caroona Project, BHPBilliton

Romy Meerkin Regional Express Airlines

Peter Freyberg Xstrata

Tony McPaul Cadia Valley Operations

Terry Charlton Snowy Hydro

Sivea Pascale St.George Bank

Paul Mitchell Telstra

John Azarias Deloitte Foundation

Greg Jones

Peter King Royal Agricultural Society

Gerard Lawson Sunrice

Grant Cochrane The Land

Sydney Symphony Staff

MANAGING DIRECTOR

Libby ChristieEXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

Eva-Marie Alis

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS

DIRECTOR OF ARTISTIC PLANNING

Peter Czornyj

Artistic Administration

ARTISTIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGER

Raff WilsonARTIST LIAISON MANAGER

Ilmar LeetbergPERSONAL ASSISTANT TO THE CHIEF CONDUCTOR

Lisa Davies-GalliADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT

Catherine Wyburn

Education Programs

EDUCATION MANAGER

Margaret MooreARTIST DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Bernie Heard

Library

LIBRARIAN

Anna CernikLIBRARY ASSISTANT

Victoria GrantLIBRARY ASSISTANT

Mary-Ann Mead

EXTERNAL RELATIONS

DIRECTOR OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Rory Jeffes

Development

HEAD OF CORPORATE RELATIONS

Leann MeiersCORPORATE RELATIONS EXECUTIVE

Julia OwensCORPORATE RELATIONS EXECUTIVE

Seleena SemosHEAD OF PHILANTHROPY

Caroline SharpenDEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Kylie Anania

Publications

PUBLICATIONS EDITOR AND MUSIC PRESENTATION MANAGER

Yvonne Frindle

Public Relations

PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGER

Yvonne ZammitPUBLICIST

Stuart Fyfe

SALES AND MARKETING

DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING

Mark J ElliottMANAGER OF SUBSCRIPTIONS

Rebecca MacfarlingMANAGER OF CLASSICAL SALES

Simon Crossley-MeatesMANAGER OF COMMERCIAL SALES

Penny EvansONLINE MANAGER

Kate TaylorMEDIA SERVICES COORDINATOR

Antonia FarrugiaGRAPHIC DESIGNER

Christie HutchinsonDATA ANALYST

Varsha Karnik

Box Office

ACTING MANAGER OF TICKETING &CUSTOMER SERVICE

Paul HansonBOX OFFICE COORDINATOR

Peter GahanCUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVES

Michael DowlingErich GockelNatasha Purkiss

ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT

DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRAMANAGEMENT

Aernout KerbertACTING DEPUTY ORCHESTRAMANAGER

Greg LowACTING ORCHESTRAL COORDINATOR

Stephanie MirowOPERATIONS MANAGER

Kerry-Anne CookTECHNICAL MANAGER

Derek CouttsPRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Tim DaymanPRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Ian Spence

BUSINESS SERVICES

DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

John HornFINANCE MANAGER

Ruth TolentinoACCOUNTS ASSISTANT

Li LiOFFICE ADMINISTRATOR

Rebecca WhittingtonPAYROLL OFFICER

Usef Hoosney

HUMAN RESOURCES

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGER

Ian Arnold

COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES

COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISES MANAGER

David PrattRECORDING ENTERPRISES EXECUTIVE

Philip Powers


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SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE TRUST

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Ms Sue Nattrass AO

Mr Leo Schofield AM

Ms Barbara WardMr Evan Williams AM

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Documents

Energy · early anniversary gift) and his work as a teacher in Worcestershire (it was probably premiered by his students). Elgar biographer Diana McVeagh admires Sea Pictures (1899)