Contents - Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Contents - Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Contents - Queensland Symphony Orchestra
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
<strong>Contents</strong><br />
QSO with Markus Schirmer<br />
Maestro 2<br />
Espana!<br />
Music on Sundays 1<br />
QSO plays Elgar<br />
Morning Masterworks 1<br />
QSO with Sergio Tiempo<br />
Maestro 3<br />
3<br />
11<br />
17<br />
23<br />
Biographies 29<br />
CONCERT HALL ETIQUETTE<br />
To ensure an enjoyable concert experience for all, please remember<br />
to turn off your mobile phone and other electronic devices. Please<br />
muffle coughs or excuse yourself from the auditorium. Thank you.<br />
PREPARE IN ADVANCE<br />
A free electronic copy of the program is available for download at<br />
qso.com.au at the beginning of each performance month.<br />
There is also extensive information on planning your journey and<br />
what to expect at QSO events under Plan your Visit at qso.com.au.<br />
HELP US HELP THE ENVIRONMENT<br />
If you do not need your printed program after the concert, we<br />
encourage you to return it to the program recycle box for use<br />
at the next performance.<br />
HAVE YOUR SAY<br />
We value your feedback about this concert and your experience.<br />
Have your say on our facebook page or email<br />
info@qso.com.au.<br />
QSO ONLINE<br />
Become a QSO fan or follower on facebook and twitter to gain access<br />
to behind the scenes information and exclusive giveaways.<br />
F: qso.com.au/facebook T: qso.com.au/twitter<br />
TUNE-IN TO QSO<br />
Sign up to our fortnightly Tune-in e-newsletter and keep up-to-date<br />
with everything QSO.<br />
QSO ON THE RADIO<br />
Selected performances are recorded by ABC Classic FM for future<br />
broadcast. For further details visit abc.net.au/classic<br />
or refer to Limelight magazine.<br />
2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 1
MAESTRO 2<br />
QSO WITH<br />
MARKUS SCHIRMER<br />
8pm, Saturday 3 March | QPAC Concert Hall<br />
CONDUCTOR<br />
PIANO<br />
Johannes Fritzsch<br />
Markus Schirmer<br />
R. STRAUSS Festliches Praeludium<br />
MOZART <strong>Symphony</strong> No.41, Jupiter<br />
-interval-<br />
MOZART<br />
JANÁCEK<br />
Piano Concerto No.24<br />
Sinfonietta<br />
2 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM<br />
2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 3
Program Notes<br />
RICHARD STRAUSS<br />
(1864-1949)<br />
Festliches Praeludium (Festival Prelude) Op.61<br />
The Vienna Konzerthaus, which opened in<br />
October 1913, was conceived as a multipurpose<br />
entertainment centre (its original<br />
design, made as early as 1890, included an<br />
ice-skating rink) with the three concert halls.<br />
It was envisaged as a home both for concerts<br />
of a more popular nature than those given<br />
at the established Musikverein, and as a<br />
platform for the presentation of new work.<br />
The crowning event of the building’s opening<br />
festivities was, inevitably, a performance of<br />
Beethoven’s Ninth <strong>Symphony</strong>, and Richard<br />
Strauss was commissioned to write the<br />
curtain-raiser.<br />
The Festival Prelude is a piece of occasional<br />
music by a master-craftsman. Reflecting<br />
the large dimensions of the new concert<br />
hall, and in keeping with the joyous occasion,<br />
it is an uncomplicated work that banishes<br />
instruments of delicate sonority and, as<br />
Norman Del Mar has put it, creates ‘massive<br />
effects with simple contrasts of colour’. The<br />
score calls for an orchestra of some 150<br />
players, including organ, six, or ideally 12,<br />
antiphonal trumpets, and a large band of<br />
strings and woodwinds. The work opens with<br />
a magisterial blast of seemingly unrelated<br />
major chords from the organ, which is<br />
answered by fanfares from the full orchestra.<br />
The main themes of the work, which remains<br />
almost totally in the bright key of C major,<br />
follow. Del Mar, who dismisses the piece as<br />
‘an inflated trifle’, regards them as derivative<br />
of Brahms and Weber, but Michael Kennedy,<br />
closer to the mark, hears them as a deliberate<br />
evocation and homage to the great tradition<br />
of Austrian music.<br />
Gordon Kerry © 2012<br />
WOLFGANG AMADEUS<br />
MOZART (1756-1791)<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> No.41 in C, K.551 Jupiter<br />
Allegro vivace<br />
Andante cantabile<br />
Menuetto e Trio (Allegretto)<br />
Molto allegro<br />
Musicians often complain that titles or<br />
nicknames given to pieces are misleading,<br />
and that lack of a title has prevented many a<br />
fine work from becoming well-known. Only<br />
rarely was the title given by the composer.<br />
On the autograph of this, his last symphony,<br />
Mozart wrote only ‘Sinfonia’; the title ‘Jupiter’<br />
probably originated in London, where it may<br />
have been coined by Haydn’s London sponsor,<br />
the violinist and entrepreneur Salomon.<br />
The title ‘Jupiter’ has a neoclassical ring.<br />
Images of stately architecture and godly<br />
nobility are conjured up by the grand opening<br />
of the symphony. Muted violins contribute<br />
to a completely different mood for the slow<br />
movement; intensely expressive figures for<br />
the strings are punctuated by strong chords,<br />
and a disturbing undercurrent of emotion is<br />
maintained by syncopations and repeated<br />
figures. The Minuet is this symphony’s most<br />
subtle movement, with its chromaticism<br />
and its brief but powerful reminders of the<br />
majesty of the whole symphony. The Trio<br />
seems more continuous with the Minuet<br />
than usual, though its beginning arrests the<br />
ear, causing us to wonder what will follow.<br />
In 19th-century Germany the ‘Jupiter’ was<br />
known as ‘the symphony with the fugal<br />
finale’. What is unusual here is the consistent<br />
seriousness and weight of the finale (though<br />
not without contrast), shifting the centre of<br />
gravity towards the end of the symphony, an<br />
example to Mozart’s successors in the next<br />
century. The coda of the movement, where<br />
five motives are combined, sweeps the<br />
listener away through its exciting power.<br />
Adapted from a note by © David Garrett<br />
WOLFGANG AMADEUS<br />
MOZART (1756-1791)<br />
Piano Concerto No.24 in C minor, K.491<br />
Allegro<br />
Larghetto<br />
Allegretto<br />
Markus Schirmer, piano<br />
This great concerto reverses an observation<br />
commonly made about masterpieces: its<br />
beginning is implicit in its ending. It was<br />
during a rehearsal of the last movement of<br />
K.491 that Beethoven exclaimed: ‘Cramer!<br />
Cramer! You and I will never be able to<br />
do anything like that!’ The passage which<br />
prompted Beethoven’s admiration was<br />
probably the second phrase of the final<br />
variation, in 6/8 time. Cuthbert Girdlestone<br />
compares this to a short, skipping verse, an<br />
unusual way of expressing sorrow.<br />
Like Mozart’s only other concerto in a minor<br />
key, K.466 in D minor, this concerto has<br />
both passion and pathos, but the C minor<br />
Concerto is less overtly dramatic. Although<br />
it uses the largest orchestra of any Mozart<br />
concerto, it does so with great refinement.<br />
The orchestral sound is rich and sombre:<br />
the trumpets and drums often play softly,<br />
achieving a strange, veiled quality. It is one<br />
of Mozart’s most truly concerto-like in the<br />
interplay between soloist and orchestra.<br />
From the first solo entry the piano voices<br />
its contribution in utterly distinct accents;<br />
searching, querying, then answered by the<br />
inexorable voice of the orchestra.<br />
The wind instruments carry the orchestra’s<br />
expression of emotion, and try several times<br />
to turn the music towards the major key.<br />
4 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 5
They come truly into their own in the slow<br />
movement, in the relative major of E flat.<br />
The theme of the finale is half-march, halfhymn.<br />
Eight variations follow, scored with<br />
richness and subtlety without, however,<br />
dispelling the feeling that we are back in<br />
the emotional world of the first movement.<br />
After the ferocity of the martial third<br />
variation, successive attempts to establish<br />
a different mood keep giving reminders of<br />
the inescapable minor-key gloom. And so<br />
we come to an ending typical of a finale, but<br />
still, somehow, speaking of an internalised,<br />
musically-mastered despair: the very<br />
character of the beginning of the concerto.<br />
David Garrett © 2001<br />
LEOŠ JANÁCEK<br />
(1756-1791)<br />
Sinfonietta<br />
Allegretto<br />
Andante<br />
Moderato<br />
Allegretto<br />
Andante con moto<br />
An enchanting open-air military band concert<br />
in the ancient south Bohemian town of Písek,<br />
in which the historically uniformed bandsmen<br />
stood to play solos, provided Janácek’s<br />
inspiration when it was suggested that he<br />
write something to celebrate a festival of<br />
the patriotic Sokol gymnastic organisation in<br />
1926. A single movement of fanfares soon<br />
grew to become five movements and his<br />
greatest orchestral work. In honour of the<br />
Czechoslovak armed forces he called it his<br />
‘Military’ Sinfonietta, and the massive forces<br />
it demanded included nine fanfare and three<br />
orchestral trumpets.<br />
Václav Talich premiered the Sinfonietta<br />
with the Czech Philharmonic in a special<br />
concert for the Sokol rally which ended with<br />
Smetana’s My Country. Displeased at seeing<br />
his work promoted as ‘Rally’ Sinfonietta<br />
rather than the ‘Military’ Sinfonietta, the<br />
fierce patriot hailing from rural Moravia<br />
devised some movement titles which would<br />
shift the focus from the Sokol organisation<br />
to his adopted home town of Brno: 1.<br />
Fanfares, 2. The Castle, 3. The Queen’s<br />
Monastery, 4. The Street, 5. The Town Hall.<br />
For it was in Brno, the erstwhile bastion of<br />
hated Germanness, that Janácek saw the<br />
most dramatic transformation following<br />
Czechoslovakia’s independence in 1918.<br />
Virtually overnight it had begun to be Czech:<br />
‘I saw myself there. I belonged.’<br />
The solemn jubilation of the opening<br />
fanfares provides an intrada to the four main<br />
movements. This is absolute music with no<br />
formal program, yet expressing the composer’s<br />
love of country and, transcending that,<br />
belief in humankind. The Sinfonietta radiates<br />
power through its large brass section in the<br />
opening and closing fanfares; but a variety of<br />
different orchestral ensembles, often of almost<br />
chamber-music proportions, elsewhere affirm<br />
the work’s underlying serenity.<br />
Abridged from Anthony Cane © 2008<br />
Backstage Pass<br />
MARKUS SCHIRMER - PIANO<br />
What drew you to follow piano as a career?<br />
Although it´s really hard work and costs a<br />
lot of effort, blood, sweat and tears I never<br />
would have taken another way in my life.<br />
Since my early childhood it always has been<br />
my aim to play the piano professionally, to<br />
create a variety of magical sounds and to be<br />
able to perform some of the most wonderful<br />
music on earth.<br />
You will be performing Mozart’s Piano<br />
Concerto No.24 with QSO. What are<br />
your favourite qualities in this piece?<br />
To play one of the only two Mozart concerti<br />
written in a “minor” key is always something<br />
very special for me. You can find a very<br />
different atmosphere here - characterful<br />
music including great dialogs between the<br />
solo piano and the woodwinds - subtle<br />
phrases with tenderness cross sudden<br />
orchestral outbreaks - that´s absolutely<br />
unique and awesome.<br />
As a Professor of Piano at the Music<br />
University in Graz, what do you find<br />
most rewarding about teaching piano?<br />
For me it´s a worthy challenge to share<br />
my experiences in performing on stage or<br />
studying many masterworks myself with a<br />
young enthusiastic crowd of future pianists.<br />
I definitely bring a lot of interesting things<br />
back home from this work.<br />
Can you describe your improvisation<br />
project SCURDIA?<br />
SCURDIA is a breathtaking new kind of<br />
crossover project of the highest calibre<br />
combining various styles, roots, musical and<br />
human backgrounds. Top class musicians<br />
from every part of the world from the fields<br />
of classical music, jazz, ethno, folk want to<br />
replace the blinders of old perspectives with<br />
what could be called “mind blowing music<br />
without any border”. By coming together,<br />
listening to each other and tuning into their<br />
collective multicultural music consciousness,<br />
they channel into existence new and<br />
exhilarating musical expressions, giving a<br />
fresh view of music and the immense wealth<br />
that it possesses.<br />
What was the first piano that you owned<br />
and do you still play it?<br />
My first piano at our family apartment was<br />
an old Austrian one, after that I´ve worked on<br />
a Kawai followed by a Bösendorfer grand. But<br />
in the nineties I fell in love with one of the<br />
finest grand pianos on the market, a FAZIOLI<br />
concert grand that is produced in upper Italy,<br />
his marvellous and rich sound but also the<br />
possibility to bring out every little nuance in<br />
the music really is pure magic for me!<br />
6 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 7
We acknowledge the following donors who have contributed<br />
to the Building for the future campaign:<br />
Building for the future<br />
The success of the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> (QSO) is<br />
directly linked to the generosity and<br />
commitment of our patrons. With<br />
each passing year the difference that<br />
can be made by private individuals<br />
becomes more significant, as the<br />
company strives to present classical<br />
music of the highest artistic standard.<br />
As you are aware, QSO is about to enter a<br />
new chapter in its history with the imminent<br />
move to our new home in the heart of the<br />
South Bank precinct, after four decades at<br />
the Ferry Road Studios in West End.<br />
The move brings with it many exciting<br />
opportunities, and a number of significant<br />
challenges. The expected increase in<br />
profile will bring new audiences with<br />
different demands and expectations, and<br />
an unprecedented increase in the number<br />
of performances, education programs, and<br />
touring commitments brought about by the<br />
new building will test the resolve of all our<br />
musicians and staff, particularly over the<br />
next twelve months.<br />
Our commitment to the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
community is unparalleled in this the<br />
inaugural year in our new home.<br />
The Federal and State Government have<br />
most generously contributed to the<br />
future of QSO by contributing towards<br />
our new premises, for which we thank<br />
them. However, this is a once in a lifetime<br />
opportunity to provide QSO with a<br />
performance space that is extraordinary<br />
– something truly state-of-the-art –<br />
something that all <strong>Queensland</strong>ers can be<br />
proud of – something that all <strong>Queensland</strong>ers<br />
can make possible.<br />
Our capital campaign target is $4 million<br />
of which we have achieved $2.5 million.<br />
A further $1.5 million for state-of-the-art<br />
seating, lighting, acoustics, and orchestra<br />
and choir-risers is urgently needed, and will<br />
transform the performance space into one<br />
at the vanguard of cutting edge design and<br />
performance in Australia.<br />
Many of you have already donated. Thank<br />
you for your early commitment to our future.<br />
To our donors, subscribers and friends who<br />
have not yet donated, we need your help<br />
to raise the remaining funds to make it<br />
happen. Please show your appreciation for<br />
our musicians’ life-time investment in the<br />
creation of such a vibrant cultural landscape<br />
in <strong>Queensland</strong>, by giving them the support<br />
they so richly deserve, at such a defining<br />
moment in QSO’s history.<br />
Harold Mitchell AC<br />
The Pidgeon Family<br />
John B Reid AO and Lyn Rainbow Reid<br />
The Bank of <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Greg and Jan Wanchap<br />
Arthur Waring<br />
Anonymous (1)<br />
Jellinbah Resources<br />
Mrs Andrea Kriewaldt<br />
John Story<br />
Rodney Wylie<br />
Prof. Edgar Gold AM CM and Prof. Judith Gold CM<br />
Lea and John Greenaway<br />
Dr W.R. Heaslop and Dr L. M. Healsop<br />
Gwenda Heginbothom<br />
Brendon and Shelli Hulcombe<br />
Bob and Joan James<br />
In memory of Mrs Rosalie R Martin AM<br />
Nola McCullagh<br />
Tony Keane and Patricia Holt<br />
Dr Damien Thomson and Dr Glenise Berry<br />
Helen Zappala<br />
Janette Mary Anderson<br />
David and Judith Beal<br />
Mrs Valma Bird<br />
Susan Blake<br />
Mrs Ruth Bowles<br />
Dr Gordon Bowman<br />
Bev Burgess and Des Buck<br />
Lynn Buxton<br />
Peter and Tricia Callaghan<br />
Alison G. Cameron<br />
Cherrill and David Charlton<br />
In memory of Geoff Spiller, late QSO trumpeter<br />
In memory of John Czerwonka-Ledez<br />
Dr Natalia Danilova<br />
Laurie James Deane<br />
Margaret Downes<br />
Don and Jan Edwards<br />
Nyrie Elcock<br />
Paul and Margaret-Ann Flood<br />
Robert and Elizabeth Foreman<br />
David and Anne Fraser<br />
Malcolm Frost<br />
C.M. and I.G. Furnival<br />
In memory of Eric M. Shimada<br />
Alan Galwey<br />
Richard and Beryl Gardner<br />
You can donate on line at www.qso.com.au/our-future-home or<br />
phone 07 3833 5017 to obtain a copy of the donation form<br />
Dr Joan E. Godfrey OBE<br />
Ian and Ruth Gough<br />
Fred and Maria Hansen<br />
Madeleine Harasty<br />
In memory of Muriel Fletcher<br />
Havenwood PTY LTD<br />
In memory of Frank Heeney<br />
Jenny Hodgson<br />
Dr Alison M. Holloway<br />
Sandy Horneman-Wren SC and Louise Horneman-Wren<br />
Brendon and Shelli Hulcombe<br />
Yvonne Hurst<br />
Janine Kesting<br />
Noela Klingsch<br />
Allan Kuhnemann<br />
Debbie Lancaster<br />
Jean Leary<br />
Jocelyn Leech<br />
Mrs H.G. Lehman<br />
Gaelle Lindrea<br />
Fiona Maxwell<br />
Annalisa and Tony Meikle<br />
Alison Mullery<br />
Howard and Katherine Munro<br />
Doreen Murphy<br />
Tony Keane and Patricia Holt<br />
Dr Patricia O’Connor<br />
Trevor and Margaret Parkes<br />
Ian Paterson<br />
John Pepper<br />
Peter and Babs<br />
Charles and Brenda Pywell<br />
Jason & Lois Redman<br />
Dennis Rhind<br />
Rod and Joan Ross<br />
Mr Bernard and Mrs Margaret Spilsbury<br />
Eithne Stafford<br />
Elizabeth and Don Stapleton<br />
Patience Stevens<br />
Sharon Stevens<br />
Dan and Barbara Styles<br />
Libby Teslenko<br />
Geraldine Vanco<br />
Colleeen Vanderstaay<br />
Ray and Penny Weekes<br />
Margaret White<br />
In memory of Cyril Williams<br />
Judith Williams<br />
Edna Winkel<br />
Patricia Winnett<br />
Bill Yarrow<br />
Anonymous (50)<br />
QSO_Philanthropy_program_pages_Feb2012_V2.indd 1-2<br />
16/02/12 12:38 PM
MUSIC ON SUNDAYS 1<br />
ESPANA!<br />
11:30am, Sunday 11 March | QPAC Concert Hall<br />
CONDUCTOR<br />
PRESENTER<br />
SOPRANO<br />
BARITONE<br />
Johannes Fritzsch<br />
Guy Noble<br />
Kiandra Howarth<br />
José Carbó<br />
10 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM<br />
2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 11
Program Notes<br />
ESPANA!<br />
EMMANUEL CHABRIER (1841-1894)<br />
Espana<br />
GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792-1868)<br />
The Barber of Seville, Act I: Largo al factotum<br />
GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875)<br />
Carmen<br />
Act II: Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre<br />
(Toreador Song)<br />
Act I: Intermezzo<br />
Act III: Les dragons de Alcala<br />
Act III: Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante<br />
Act IV: Intermezzo<br />
in 1882. Writing from Spain, Chabrier<br />
predicted: ‘My rhythms, my tunes will arouse<br />
the audience to a feverish pitch of excitement;<br />
everyone will embrace his neighbour madly...!’<br />
The audience at the first performance didn’t<br />
exactly hug each other madly, but they and<br />
the critics adored Espana’s vitality, wit and<br />
brilliant orchestration. This work established<br />
Chabrier as a professional composer, rather<br />
than – as he had been seen to that point –<br />
a gifted amateur. Some writers have claimed<br />
Espana as a harbinger of later Spanish-inspired<br />
French works, such as Ravel’s Rapsodie<br />
espagnole and Debussy’s Ibéria, but Bizet’s<br />
Carmen pre-dated it, as we shall see.<br />
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)<br />
Ibéria: Le matin d’un jour de fête<br />
HEITOR VILLA-LOBOS (1887-1959)<br />
Bachianas brasileiras No.5:<br />
Aria (Cantilena)<br />
Dansa (Martelo)<br />
MAURICE RAVEL (1875-1937)<br />
Boléro<br />
It is perhaps as a place that Spain has had its<br />
greatest influence on our concert hall. Hispanic<br />
dance-forms and instruments immediately<br />
spell Spanish colour. But it’s not just Spain that<br />
has been the influence. Much repertoire has<br />
been influenced by Latin America and today’s<br />
concert even includes music from Brazil,<br />
Portugal’s former colony.<br />
Some of the ‘most Spanish’ music has been<br />
written by non-Spanish composers. French<br />
composers take the prize. Espana is the title<br />
of one of Emmanuel Chabrier’s best-known<br />
compositions, the musical result of a holiday<br />
Carmen was set in Seville. But so too was<br />
Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Why? Rossini<br />
wasn’t Spanish. Nor was Pierre-Augustin<br />
Caron de Beaumarchais, who wrote the play<br />
on which Rossini’s opera was based. But<br />
Beaumarchais had spent some time in Spain.<br />
He may have set his Le Barbier, in Seville<br />
to soften its social critique of France in the<br />
latter years of the 18th century, but the main<br />
reason may be that he had come away from<br />
his various trips with the idea of writing a play<br />
with Spanish songs. The inherent musicality<br />
of Le Barbier may explain its appeal to Rossini,<br />
who allowed the tenor Manuel Garcia, as<br />
Count Almaviva, to interpolate actual Spanish<br />
songs in the first performance. ‘Largo al<br />
factotum’ is of course sung by the working<br />
man, Figaro, a baritone, who offers his many<br />
services to the Count in the Count’s quest<br />
for the hand of the soprano, Rosina. Figaro’s<br />
resourcefulness was one of the satirical<br />
aspects of the original play but audiences<br />
today love his Rossinian energy and zest.<br />
Seville is the setting also of Bizet’s 1875<br />
opera Carmen, the story of Don José, the<br />
upright sergeant of the local barracks, whose<br />
head is turned by Carmen, the feisty gypsy<br />
who works in the local cigarette factory.<br />
When Carmen flirts with the toreador<br />
Escamillo, Don José murders her and secures<br />
his own condemnation. In today’s selection<br />
you will hear interludes between the opera’s<br />
various acts but also Escamillo’s vaunting<br />
Toreador Song and Micaëla’s attempt to steel<br />
her courage when visiting a smugglers’ camp<br />
to convince Don José to return to the path of<br />
rightfulness (and her). Carmen provides an<br />
example of the theme of sexual transgression<br />
made more palatable to 19th-century<br />
European audiences by being set in Spain, but<br />
Bizet made immortal use of Spanish dance<br />
forms in Carmen’s alluring numbers. In today’s<br />
selection authentic Spanish music resides in<br />
the Act IV intermezzo which uses a theme<br />
from a collection of Spanish songs by Manuel<br />
Garcia – who sang Almaviva in Rossini’s<br />
Barber of Seville.<br />
Claude Debussy spent only one afternoon in<br />
Spain. But Spain was the source of inspiration<br />
for Ibéria, one of his greatest orchestral<br />
works.<br />
What might have attracted Debussy<br />
to Spain? Debussy wanted to create<br />
‘impressionistic’ music that could be<br />
appreciated moment by moment, rather than<br />
as the culmination of logically-structured<br />
argument. Spanish music might, therefore,<br />
have been useful to Debussy as a source<br />
of pungent colour that could immediately<br />
grab the listener’s attention. Le matin d’un<br />
jour de fête is the most unusual of Ibéria’s<br />
three movements. It comprises a series<br />
of apparently unrelated events in harsh<br />
juxtaposition, the sort of jumbled succession<br />
of sounds and images one might experience<br />
on the hot morning of a Spanish festival<br />
day. Characteristic Spanish sounds include<br />
castanets, tambourines and strings imitating<br />
the strumming of guitars.<br />
12 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 13
Villa-Lobos was heavily influenced by the<br />
musical richness of his native Brazil, Portugal’s<br />
former colony.<br />
The nine pieces of his Bachianas brasileiras<br />
are meant to be a synthesis of the musical<br />
styles of north-eastern Brazil and the music<br />
of Bach, whose music Villa-Lobos regarded as<br />
having the strength of folk music. As in all the<br />
other Bachianas brasileiras, the movements<br />
of No.5 have two titles: one traditionally<br />
European, the other a characterful, national<br />
one. Aria (Cantilena) was written in 1938. The<br />
cello orchestra is divided into four pairs, some<br />
playing pizzicato, as in a serenade, the others<br />
doubling the singing line. Over this foundation<br />
floats the wordless vocalise. In the middle<br />
section the singer breaks into the words<br />
of a Portuguese song, then the vocalise<br />
returns. In the second movement, composed<br />
in 1945, the composer follows the structure<br />
of a traditional song featuring fast delivery<br />
of words.<br />
Boléro was composed for the Russian dancer,<br />
Ida Rubinstein, and first performed at the Paris<br />
Opera in 1928 with sets and costumes by<br />
Alexandre Benois. On a table in a Spanish inn,<br />
a woman begins to dance. She dances quietly<br />
at first to a simple rhythm. But then, gradually<br />
and beguilingly, she excites spectators into<br />
a frenzy which culminates in a scene of<br />
turmoil and confusion. The music reflects the<br />
simplicity of the plot. It is all really one long<br />
crescendo, the constant rhythm of the drum<br />
varied with different orchestrations.<br />
Boléro is an exciting end to any concert,<br />
but how can you go wrong? Any program<br />
dedicated to Spanish or shall we say Luso-<br />
Hispanic music (in honour of Portugal) is<br />
destined to be exciting from start to end.<br />
Long may our orchestras present concerts<br />
entitled Espana!<br />
Gordon Kalton Williams © 2012<br />
Villa-Lobos was actually Brazilian. Of all the<br />
French composers in today’s concert, only<br />
Ravel could claim a blood relationship with<br />
Spain. His mother, Marie Delouarte, was a<br />
Basque. Perhaps none of his works is more<br />
alluringly Spanish than Boléro, his 15-minute<br />
working of a traditional dance rhythm.<br />
14 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM
MORNING MASTERWORKS 1<br />
QSO PLAYS<br />
ELGAR<br />
11am, Thursday 15 March | QPAC Concert Hall<br />
CONDUCTOR<br />
HARP<br />
HAYDN<br />
BOIELDIEU<br />
ELGAR<br />
Nicholas Braithwaite<br />
Marshall McGuire<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> No.88<br />
Harp Concerto<br />
Enigma Variations<br />
Morning Masterworks is<br />
proudly co-produced by<br />
16 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM<br />
2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 17
Program Notes<br />
harp, dedicated to a Citizen Grécourt; and<br />
numerous other works.<br />
JOSEPH HAYDN<br />
(1732-1809)<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> No.88 in G<br />
Adagio – Allegro<br />
Largo<br />
Menuetto e Trio (Allegretto)<br />
Finale (Allegro con spirito)<br />
Following the success of Haydn’s set of six Paris<br />
symphonies (Nos 82-87) in 1787, that city,<br />
still in its pre-Revolutionary heyday, was to take<br />
his next five symphonies as well. Johann Tost,<br />
a former violinist in Haydn’s orchestra, visited<br />
Paris in 1788 carrying with him Nos 88 and<br />
89 (composed the previous year), which he<br />
sold to the publisher Sieber. In 1788, too, the<br />
young French aristocrat Count d’Ogny, who had<br />
commissioned the first six Paris symphonies for<br />
the Concert de la Loge Olympique, requested a<br />
further three (Nos 90-92) for that organisation.<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> No.88 is still occasionally nicknamed<br />
according to a misleading English connection<br />
– Letter V, which was no more than a 19th-<br />
century catalogue reference used by the<br />
Philharmonic Society of London.<br />
Following a solemn slow introduction, the<br />
first-movement Allegro makes a disarmingly<br />
modest entrance, soon unbuttoning into a<br />
merry scamper.<br />
The slow movement is a set of variations on<br />
a beatific melody, first heard in the delicate<br />
sonority of solo oboe supported by solo cello.<br />
Not only is the intrusion of the trumpets and<br />
kettledrums at bar 41 loud and forceful, but<br />
Parisians had never before experienced such<br />
instruments in the traditional serenity of a<br />
symphonic slow movement.<br />
Trumpets and timpani assist vigorously in the<br />
stamping rhythms of an earthy peasant dance<br />
in the Menuetto, while a bagpipe-like drone<br />
underpins the central Trio section.<br />
Like the first movement, the Finale opens in a<br />
mood of innocent pleasantry and proceeds in<br />
the brilliant, yet musically complex, combination<br />
of sonata and rondo form to which Haydn was<br />
increasingly attached, until it culminates in a<br />
spectacular canon between the upper and lower<br />
strings. The display of contrapuntal virtuosity<br />
exhausted, it remains only to restate the<br />
material in its original innocence, then rein<br />
in on an imposing cadence before ending<br />
in a jubilant sprint.<br />
Abridged from Anthony Cane © 1981/2003<br />
FRANÇOIS-ADRIEN BOIELDIEU<br />
(1775-1834)<br />
Harp Concerto in C<br />
Allegro<br />
Andante lento<br />
Rondo: Allegro agitato<br />
Marshall McGuire, Harp<br />
Boieldieu is best remembered these days for<br />
La Dame blanche, written in 1825, one of<br />
the first operas to deal with the fantastic. His<br />
Harp Concerto was written during the period<br />
1800-01, around the time he had been made<br />
a professor of piano at the Paris Conservatoire.<br />
An 1879 Dictionary of Music and Musicians<br />
estimates Boieldieu as ‘the greatest master of<br />
the French school of comic opera’, but cites his<br />
other pieces ‘less for their intrinsic value than<br />
for the sake of completeness’.<br />
It is significant however that Boieldieu wrote a<br />
number of works for harp, then a very popular<br />
instrument in Paris. There were ten romances<br />
dedicated to a Mme Cléry; a collection of<br />
romances with accompaniment by piano or<br />
The harp of Boieldieu’s day had limitations; the<br />
ability to modulate to remote regions had to<br />
wait until the improvements of the instrumentmaker<br />
Erard in 1810. But Boieldieu stretched<br />
that harp to its limit. Harp authority Roslyn<br />
Rensch says that Boieldieu was the first to use<br />
harp harmonics, no doubt for eerie effect, in La<br />
Dame blanche. This concerto makes ample use<br />
of the harp of 1801.<br />
The Allegro follows the first-movement<br />
concerto form familiar from numerous<br />
Classical/early Romantic works, but with<br />
orchestral material such as the opening fanfare<br />
rendered more characteristic of the harp when<br />
it comes time for the soloist to reiterate it. The<br />
Andante betrays Boieldieu’s operatic instincts in<br />
a movement that sounds much like a recitative<br />
or scene followed by an aria. This rondeau<br />
follows without a break.<br />
In his Memoirs Berlioz dismissed Boieldieu’s<br />
music as ‘soothing...simple and colourless’. But<br />
the modern listener might still enjoy music that<br />
is ‘clear, limpid and easily-grasped’ and prefer<br />
an alternative 19th-century soubriquet for<br />
18 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 19
EDWARD ELGAR<br />
(1857-1934)<br />
Variations on an Original Theme, Op.36 Enigma<br />
I (C.A.E.) – Caroline Alice Elgar, the<br />
composer’s wife<br />
II (H.D.S.-P) – Hew David Steuart-Powell,<br />
pianist in Elgar’s trioIII (R.B.T.) – Richard<br />
Baxter Townshend, author<br />
IV (W.M.B.) – William Meath Baker,<br />
nicknamed ‘the Squire’<br />
V (R.P.A.) – Richard Penrose Arnold, son of<br />
Matthew Arnold<br />
VI (Ysobel) – Isabel Fitton, viola player<br />
VII (Troyte) – Arthur Troyte Griffith,<br />
architect<br />
VIII (W.N.) – Winifred Norbury<br />
IX (Nimrod) – August Johannes Jaeger,<br />
reader for the publisher Novello & Co<br />
X (Dorabella) Intermezzo – Dora Penny, later<br />
Mrs Richard Powell<br />
XI (G.R.S.) – Dr G.R. Sinclair, organist of<br />
Hereford Cathedral<br />
XII (B.G.N.) – Basil G. Nevinson, cellist in<br />
Elgar’s trio<br />
XIII (***) Romanza – Lady Mary Lygon,<br />
later Trefusis<br />
XIV (E.D.U.) Finale – Elgar himself (‘Edu’<br />
being his nickname)<br />
In middle-age, Elgar was back in his native<br />
Malvern region, taking in students, making<br />
instrumental arrangements, playing in an<br />
occasional performance and continually<br />
threatening to give away music altogether.<br />
But one evening in October 1898, he began<br />
to doodle away at the piano. Chancing upon<br />
a brief theme that pleased him, he started<br />
imagining his friends confronting the same<br />
theme, commenting to his wife, ‘This is how<br />
so-and-so would have done it.’ Or, he would<br />
ask his wife to guess, ‘Who is that like?’<br />
By February 1899 that harmless bit of fun<br />
had grown into one of England’s greatest<br />
orchestral masterpieces, Elgar’s Variations on<br />
an Original Theme, Op.36, which would turn<br />
Elgar’s career around.<br />
Where the word ‘Theme’ should have appeared<br />
in the score, the composer wrote ‘Enigma’.<br />
Elgar stated that the theme itself was a<br />
variation on a well-known tune which he<br />
refused to identify. It’s a conundrum which<br />
has occupied concertgoers and scholars ever<br />
since. Michael Kennedy has proposed that the<br />
unheard theme could be Elgar himself, with<br />
the famous two-quaver two-crotchet motive<br />
capturing the natural speech rhythm of the<br />
name Edward Elgar. Elgar went to his grave<br />
without revealing the truth.<br />
The second enigma was the identity of the<br />
characters depicted within each variation, who<br />
were identified at first only by their initials in<br />
the score. Fortunately this enigma has proved<br />
easier to solve and for many years the appeal<br />
of Enigma’s superb orchestration has been<br />
balanced by the appeal of the ‘snapshots’<br />
which gave rise to it.<br />
Variation 1 depicts Elgar’s wife. Variation 2<br />
refers to the warm-up exercises of a pianist<br />
colleague. Variation 3 depicts the ham actor<br />
R.B. Townshend. A Cotswold squire is the<br />
subject of Variation 4; Variation 5 captures<br />
the mixture of seriousness and wit displayed<br />
by poet Matthew Arnold’s son Richard.<br />
Violist Isabel Fitton (Variation 6) had trouble<br />
performing music where the strings had to be<br />
crossed; Arthur Troyte Griffith (Variation 7) was<br />
a pianist whose vigorous style sounded more<br />
like drumming! Winifred Norbury (Variation<br />
8) is represented in a musical depiction of her<br />
18th-century country house. ‘Nimrod’ (No.<br />
9) was Elgar’s publisher and great friend A.J.<br />
Jaeger, ‘you solemn, wholesome, hearty old<br />
dear’. Variation 10 depicts young Dora Penny,<br />
whose soubriquet ‘Dorabella’ comes from<br />
Mozart’s Così fan tutte. Variation 11 refers to<br />
the organist at Hereford Cathedral, or rather his<br />
bulldog Dan. Variation 12 is a tribute to cellist<br />
Basil Nevinson. Variation 13 depicts Lady Mary<br />
Lygon’s departure by ship to Australia. And then<br />
finally we hear the composer depicting himself,<br />
cocking a snook at all those who said he’d never<br />
make it as a composer.<br />
Adapted from a note by Martin Buzacott © 2000<br />
20 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 21
MAESTRO 3<br />
QSO WITH<br />
SERGIO TIEMPO<br />
8pm, Friday 30 March | QPAC Concert Hall<br />
CONDUCTOR<br />
PIANO<br />
CHOIR<br />
Enrique Arturo Diemecke<br />
Sergio Tiempo<br />
The Australian Voices,<br />
directed by Gordon Hamilton<br />
DEBUSSY<br />
DEBUSSY<br />
Nocturnes<br />
La Mer<br />
-interval-<br />
RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.3<br />
22 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 23
Program Notes<br />
CLAUDE DEBUSSY<br />
(1862-1918)<br />
Nocturnes<br />
Nuages<br />
Fêtes<br />
Sirènes<br />
In 1894 Debussy wrote to the Belgian violinist<br />
Ysaÿe:<br />
“I am working at three nocturnes for violin and<br />
orchestra that are intended for you; the first is<br />
scored for strings, the second for three flutes,<br />
four horns, three trumpets and two harps; the<br />
third combines both these groups. This is, in<br />
fact, an experiment in the various arrangements<br />
that can be made with a single colour – what a<br />
study in grey would be in painting.”<br />
The reference to painting is notable. In few other<br />
works is the epithet ‘Impressionist’, borrowed<br />
from painting, more appropriate. Debussy did<br />
not intend the title Nocturnes to be understood<br />
in the sense of a Chopin Nocturne; it has more<br />
to do with Whistler paintings of the same name.<br />
The piece, inspired by the poems of Henri de<br />
Régnier, marks a break with 19th-century music<br />
in its subtler sense of form, non-directional<br />
harmony, less assertive melody, and the<br />
elevation of the importance of orchestral colour.<br />
Sound is something to luxuriate in, rather than a<br />
tool in the pursuit of statement or climax.<br />
Nuages renders the immutable aspect of the<br />
sky and the slow, solemn motion of the clouds,<br />
fading away in grey tones lightly tinged with<br />
white.’ The composer’s words find musical<br />
expression in the slowly changing background<br />
of rootless, floating chords which underlie the<br />
recurring tone of the cor anglais.<br />
No ‘study in grey’, Fêtes gives us a kaleidoscopic<br />
display of momentarily bright colours. At the<br />
end there is a gradual atomising of material and<br />
dulling of colour.<br />
Sirènes evolves almost as a continuum; it swells<br />
and ebbs, rather than marks out a path; the<br />
melody grows and decays by the addition or<br />
alteration of small details. Debussy wrote that<br />
this last movement, which foreshadowed La<br />
Mer, ‘depicts the sea and its countless rhythms<br />
and presently, amongst the waves silvered by<br />
moonlight...the mysterious song of the sirens as<br />
they laugh and pass on.’<br />
Gordon Kalton Williams<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> Australia © 1998/2008<br />
CLAUDE DEBUSSY<br />
(1862-1918)<br />
La Mer – Three Symphonic Sketches<br />
De l’Aube à midi sur la mer (From dawn to<br />
midday on the sea)<br />
Jeux de vagues (Play of waves)<br />
Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the<br />
wind and sea)<br />
Begun in landlocked Bichain, Burgundy, and first<br />
performed in Paris on 15 October 1905, La<br />
Mer gave expression to Debussy’s love of the<br />
sea. He shared with the Impressionist painters a<br />
fascination with water.<br />
Debussy also never entirely rejected the<br />
analogies drawn between his music and the<br />
visual arts. Edward Lockspeiser believes Monet’s<br />
attempts to depict the changing effects of light<br />
on objects in a series of pictures influenced<br />
Debussy. In music, a fluid art, all these effects<br />
could be represented, ‘unfolding’ in time.<br />
Lockspeiser headed his writing on La Mer<br />
‘Turner, Monet and Hokusai’. Debussy, founding<br />
a new style, may have drawn encouragement<br />
from Turner’s crazy perspectives and double<br />
focuses, but La Mer also embodies a clearer<br />
delineation of form, attributable to the 19thcentury<br />
Japanese artists Hiroshige and Hokusai.<br />
It was Hokusai’s woodcut The Hollow of the<br />
Wave off Kanagawa (pictured) which Debussy<br />
chose as the cover for the printed score.<br />
Cézanne’s statement ‘I work the motif’, could<br />
be true also of Debussy’s construction of From<br />
dawn to midday on the sea, its recurring melodic<br />
shapes the equivalent in sound of pictorial<br />
symbols; Debussy’s re-orchestration and recombination<br />
of them similar to the visual effect<br />
of changing light. Play of Waves is a scherzo,<br />
light and playful. Dialogue of the wind and sea<br />
has the clearest form of the three movements<br />
and the clearest examples of conventional<br />
melodic development.<br />
Debussy subtitled this work ‘Three Symphonic<br />
Sketches’. The title acknowledges an affinity<br />
with visual art, while identifying the work<br />
with the most ambitious form of orchestral<br />
music. Though La Mer’s themes are developed<br />
organically, first listeners may not have<br />
recognised this work as a symphony. Debussy’s<br />
visual analogies may have been necessary. But<br />
musicians who grasped what he had done may<br />
have been distracted. Of From dawn to midday<br />
on the sea Erik Satie said he particularly liked the<br />
bit at a quarter to eleven!<br />
Gordon Kalton Williams<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> Services Australia © 2007<br />
24 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 25
SERGEI RACHMANINOV<br />
(1873-1943)<br />
Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Op.30<br />
Allegro ma non tanto<br />
Intermezzo (Adagio) –<br />
Finale (Alla breve)<br />
Sergio Tiempo, piano<br />
Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No.3 was<br />
composed at his summer estate at Ivanovka<br />
in 1909. He wanted a new concerto for his<br />
forthcoming American tour. This was a busy<br />
period in Rachmaninov’s life, and he was<br />
unable to spend much time practising prior<br />
to departure. It is extraordinary therefore,<br />
considering the difficulties in the solo part<br />
(almost mythologised in the movie Shine), that<br />
he practised much of the piano part on a dumb<br />
keyboard aboard ship.<br />
The work was first performed in New York City<br />
under Walter Damrosch, followed, not much<br />
later, by a second New York performance under<br />
Gustav Mahler, of which Rachmaninov recalled:<br />
‘He touched my composer’s heart straight away<br />
by devoting himself to my concerto until the<br />
accompaniment, which is rather complicated,<br />
had been practised to the point of perfection…’<br />
This concerto has been described by critic John<br />
Culshaw as ‘a masterpiece of conciseness’.<br />
There are thematic ties between the first and<br />
third movements, which may explain why<br />
the second movement is labelled intermezzo.<br />
Much of the melodic material is derived from<br />
the opening rhythm (long-short, long-short),<br />
played by clarinet and bassoon accompanied<br />
by strings, though the concerto lacks none of<br />
Rachmaninov’s lyricism.<br />
The piano enters with a simple melody similar<br />
to a chant sung at the Monastery of the Cross<br />
at Kiev. The second subject, a characteristically<br />
romantic Rachmaninov melody, is first<br />
introduced very clearly as a variation of the<br />
trochaic rhythm of the opening. The piano<br />
has become increasingly dominant and the<br />
culmination of the movement is actually to<br />
be found in the cadenza. Then, after another<br />
straightforward statement of the simple<br />
opening piano theme, a sudden ending, almost<br />
breathless, promises more.<br />
The second movement begins with some of the<br />
saddest music ever to come from a composer<br />
whose characteristic mood, even at the best of<br />
times, was melancholic.<br />
The Finale breaks in with great urgency. The<br />
piano’s opening tattoo is derived from the<br />
theme of the very opening of the concerto, and<br />
Culshaw sees in the linking of the second and<br />
third movements further evidence of the tight<br />
binding of the concerto.<br />
Much is made of the difficulties of this concerto.<br />
‘Oh, the Rach Three!’ gasps Sir John Gielgud in<br />
Shine; but the greatness of the concerto lies not<br />
merely in its technical hurdles. It lies in the way<br />
the material organically grows – and in the way<br />
the immense technical challenges never swamp<br />
the lyrical purposes of the work.<br />
Abridged from Gordon Kalton Williams<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> Australia © 1998/2001<br />
Backstage Pass<br />
SERGIO TIEMPO - PIANO<br />
What drew you to follow piano as a career?<br />
I bathed in music since before I was born. My<br />
maternal Grandparents, my Mum, my older sister<br />
and all of my Mum’s child students were pianists<br />
and made music all day long, so music and more<br />
specifically piano playing was a natural and organic<br />
part of my everyday life. In essence my professional<br />
career in music started without me noticing it<br />
because I had already been playing in public since I<br />
was three years old. It is only when I finished high<br />
school and that I had been playing professionally<br />
since I was 14 that I took a more conscious decision<br />
to continue down that road.<br />
You made your concert debut at the age of just<br />
three, what is one of your favourite childhood<br />
performing memories?<br />
Well, I can’t say that I remember the experience, but<br />
from watching a home-made video of the time and<br />
from the stories I was told about it, I find it quite<br />
amusing that the day of my first public performance<br />
my uncle gave me my first wristwatch as a gift and I<br />
insisted on wearing it throughout the presentation -<br />
otherwise I wouldn’t play! In the video I saw myself<br />
looking at my watch after every single piece… funny.<br />
In 2011 you made a sensational Brisbane debut,<br />
what are you looking forward to the most about<br />
returning to perform with the QSO?<br />
I keep a very vivid and fond memory of my last time<br />
in Brisbane. I loved the people, the musicians and<br />
the warmth with which I was received. I particularly<br />
look forward to seeing them all again. I also very<br />
much look forward to playing two of my favourite<br />
concertos with the QSO!<br />
You have performed with many of the world’s<br />
leading orchestras and ensembles. With so<br />
many different performance venues, does the<br />
type of piano alter your performance style?<br />
Every piano has its own personality and<br />
idiosyncrasies. It can be quite challenging to tame<br />
the instrument one is to make one’s own voice out<br />
of. Of course I try not to let that interfere with<br />
the conception I have of whatever piece I may be<br />
playing on it, but inevitably it has an influence, and<br />
given the possibilities or limitations of the piano at<br />
hand, I might have to change certain proportions<br />
around so as to serve my purpose and still make the<br />
most out of the actual possibilities offered to me.<br />
Sometimes it does limit the realization of what I am<br />
imagining, or it might be just good enough to render<br />
a merely pertinent picture of it, but occasionally<br />
one encounters a piano which is so inspiring and<br />
rich in possibilities that it far surpasses my own<br />
imagination.<br />
What are some of your future highlights for 2012?<br />
2012 is full of highlights –one of which is returning<br />
to Brisbane, by the way. Just to mention a few of<br />
them, I will be playing with Gustavo Dudamel and<br />
the Los Angeles Philharmonic a Ginastera Concerto.<br />
This is super exciting because not only do I get to<br />
play again with my very dear friend but also because<br />
it will be the first time that I play that piece! Also,<br />
I will be touring a lot of South America, both with<br />
my sister (Karin Lechner) and as soloist. I have a<br />
very challenging and exciting program to record as<br />
well (though I’d rather not divulge it yet). Among<br />
other fun things in Europe, I will be playing at the<br />
Tonhalle of Zurich as well as going to Istanbul for<br />
the first time. All in all, a very eclectic year both<br />
geographically as well as repertoire wise.<br />
26 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 27
Biographies<br />
Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival,<br />
Klavierfestival Ruhr, Kissinger Sommer,<br />
Schubertiade, styriarte and Bregenz Festival.<br />
JOHANNES FRITZSCH, CHIEF CONDUCTOR<br />
Johannes Fritzsch was born in Meissen,<br />
Germany, in 1960. He received his first musical<br />
tuition in piano and organ from his father, a<br />
Cantor and Organist. He also studied violin and<br />
trumpet. His higher education was received at<br />
the Carl Maria von Weber Music Academy in<br />
Dresden, majoring in conducting and piano.<br />
In 1982, after completing his studies, Maestro<br />
Fritzsch was appointed 2 nd Kapellmeister<br />
(Conductor) at the Volkstheater in Rostock.<br />
There he gained acclaim in performances such<br />
as the East German premier of The English Cat<br />
by Hans Werner Henze in 1986. In 1987 Mo.<br />
Fritzsch accepted the position of Kapellmeister<br />
with the Staatsoper Dresden, Semperoper,<br />
where he conducted more than 350 opera and<br />
ballet performances within five years.<br />
After the German reunification Mo. Fritzsch<br />
was able to accept engagements outside of<br />
Eastern Europe. In 1992/3 he worked as 1st<br />
Kapellmeister at the Staatsoper Hannover.<br />
During that time Mo. Fritzsch was appointed<br />
Chief Conductor and Artistic Director at the<br />
Städtische Bühnen and the Philharmonisches<br />
Orchester in Freiburg. There he remained<br />
until 1999 enjoying widespread acclaim. The<br />
Verband Deutscher Musikverleger (association<br />
of German music publishers) honored his<br />
1998/99 season with the distinction of having<br />
the “Best Concert Program”.<br />
Mo. Fritzsch has performed with many<br />
orchestras, both within Germany and<br />
internationally. These include: Hamburger<br />
Sinfoniker, Düsseldorfer Sinfoniker, Philharmonie<br />
Essen, Nationaltheater-Orchester Mannheim,<br />
Staatskapelle Schwerin, Berliner Sinfonie<br />
Orchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, Norddeutsche<br />
Philharmonie Rostock, Staatsorchester Halle,<br />
the Swedish Radio <strong>Orchestra</strong>, the Norwegian<br />
Radio <strong>Orchestra</strong>, the Danish Radio <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>, the Orchestre Philharmonique<br />
Strassbourg, the <strong>Orchestra</strong> National de<br />
Montpellier, the <strong>Orchestra</strong> National du Capitole<br />
de Toulouse, the Sydney <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>,<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong> Victoria, the Tasmanian, <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
and West Australian <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>s.<br />
Opera Companies with which he has worked<br />
include: Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden,<br />
Opernhaus Köln, Deutsche Oper Berlin,<br />
Komische Oper Berlin, Opera Bastille Paris,<br />
Grazer Oper, the Royal Opera Stockholm,<br />
Malmö Operan and Opera Australia in Sydney<br />
and Melbourne (including Wozzeck, Don<br />
Giovanni, Carmen, Tosca, Rigoletto, Salome, Der<br />
Rosenkavalier).<br />
Mo. Fritzsch recently held the position of<br />
Chief Conductor of Staatsoper Nürnberg. He<br />
is currently Chief Conductor of the Grazer<br />
Oper and Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester in<br />
Austria and Chief Conductor of the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
MARKUS SCHIRMER, PIANO<br />
Energy, expression and emotion characterise<br />
the music-making of leading Austrian pianist<br />
Markus Schirmer. No matter where he<br />
tours he receives audience acclaim for his<br />
charismatic musicianship and his ability<br />
to tell vivid stories with the instrument. One<br />
of his reviews goes straight to the point:<br />
“A pied piper on the piano… music that<br />
comes straight from the heart, the brain and<br />
the fingertips.”<br />
He works regularly with such renowned<br />
orchestras as Vienna Philharmonic,<br />
Royal Philharmonic <strong>Orchestra</strong> London,<br />
Tokyo <strong>Symphony</strong>, Mariinsky <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
St.Petersburg, Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong> of Europe<br />
under conductors as Valery Gergiev, Sir<br />
Neville Marriner, Lord Yehudi Menuhin, Jukka<br />
Pekka Saraste, Michael Gielen, Vladimir<br />
Fedoseyev, Sir Charles Mackerras, John<br />
Axelrod, Fabio Luisi and Philippe Jordan<br />
amongst others.<br />
As a soloist and also with recitals he is a<br />
well-known and regular guest in most of the<br />
best concert halls and festivals of the world,<br />
amongst others Musikverein Vienna, Wigmore<br />
Hall London, Suntory Hall Tokyo, Gewandhaus<br />
Leipzig, Konzerthaus Berlin as well as<br />
Besides his love for the classical repertoire he<br />
likes to explore the unusual, discovering new<br />
territories to inspire his development of special<br />
events such as Scurdia, his improvisatory<br />
project which brings together extraordinary<br />
musicians from all over the world. Markus<br />
Schirmer also has great pleasure in working<br />
with actors, combining literature and music<br />
such as his own adaptation of Kurt Weill’s<br />
“The Seven Deadly Sins” with American singer<br />
and actress Helen Schneider.<br />
For his exceptional artistic diversity Markus<br />
Schirmer was awarded the “Music Manual<br />
Award” at the Euromusic International Music<br />
Convention and is a recipient of one of<br />
Austria’s most prestigious awards, the Karl<br />
Böhm Interpretation Prize. He received the<br />
German Record Critics’ Award for his debut<br />
CD of Schubert Sonatas. But also all further<br />
recordings including works by Mozart,<br />
Haydn, Beethoven, Ravel and Mussorgsky<br />
have won international prizes.<br />
In addition to his work as a Professor of Piano<br />
at the Music University in his hometown<br />
Graz Markus Schirmer regularly gives<br />
international masterclasses for piano and<br />
is a sought after adjudicator at several<br />
prestigious piano competitions.<br />
28 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 29
2010, she placed second in the Dame Joan<br />
Sutherland Awards in Noosa, and won first<br />
place in the Southeast <strong>Queensland</strong> Aria and<br />
Concerto Competition.<br />
GUY NOBLE, PRESENTER<br />
KIANDRA HOWARTH, SOPRANO<br />
Kiandra made her professional debut with<br />
Opera <strong>Queensland</strong> creating the role of Josie<br />
in the youth opera Dirty Apple - which saw<br />
its world premiere in July 2009. Kiandra was<br />
part of the 2011 Young Artist Program with<br />
Opera <strong>Queensland</strong> and understudied the role<br />
of Despina in Così fan tutte.<br />
JOSÉ CARBÓ, BARITONE<br />
Guy Noble is one of Australia’s most versatile<br />
conductors and musical entertainers,<br />
conducting and presenting concerts with<br />
all the major Australian orchestras and<br />
performers such as The Beach Boys, Yvonne<br />
Kenny, David Hobson, Ben Folds, Dianne<br />
Reeves, Randy Newman and Clive James. He<br />
has cooked live on stage with Maggie Beer<br />
and Simon Bryant (The Cook, The Chef and<br />
the <strong>Orchestra</strong>, Adelaide <strong>Symphony</strong>) appeared<br />
as Darth Vader (The Music of John Williams,<br />
Sydney <strong>Symphony</strong>) and might be the only<br />
person to have ever sung the Ghostbusters<br />
theme live on stage on stage accompanied<br />
by The Whitlams (<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>).<br />
Other recent performances include Opera<br />
in the Markets (Melbourne), a Christmas<br />
concert with the Hong Kong Philharmonic<br />
and supervising the orchestral music for the<br />
2011 NRL Grand Final.<br />
He is a regular guest presenter on ABC<br />
Classic FM, writes a column for Limelight<br />
Magazine and lives in Sydney surrounded by<br />
a wife and two daughters.<br />
Kiandra Howarth graduated with a<br />
Bachelor of Music from the <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Conservatorium in 2010, whilst also<br />
a member of the Opera <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Developing Artist Program. In October<br />
2010, Kiandra won a number of prizes<br />
and scholarships in the Australian Singing<br />
Competition, including; the Guildhall School<br />
of Music and Drama Award, the Mozart<br />
Opera Institute Award, the <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
Australia Young Vocalist Award and the Dr<br />
Handa Prize. Kiandra was also awarded a<br />
study prize in the Acclaim Italian Fellowship<br />
Awards in Melbourne, November 2010 to<br />
undertake one-month intensive study and<br />
coaching in Jesi, Italy in 2011. Whilst there,<br />
she worked with renowned Italian soprano<br />
Valeria Esposito and various conductors and<br />
coaches.<br />
Over the past 12 months, Kiandra has<br />
performed in many gala concerts and events<br />
with the Sydney <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
in the Sydney Opera House and also the<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
In September 2010, Kiandra performed<br />
the title role in Massenet’s Cendrillon for<br />
the <strong>Queensland</strong> Conservatorium. Earlier in<br />
In 2012, Kiandra joins the Opera Australia<br />
Young Artist Program, and will perform the<br />
roles of Papagena in Die Zauberflöte and<br />
Zerlina in Don Giovanni. She will also perform<br />
as a soprano soloist in several concerts with<br />
the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
Australian baritone José Carbó was born in<br />
Argentina of Spanish and Italian descent, and<br />
moved with his family to Australia at an early<br />
age. He has studied under the tutelage of<br />
Thais Taras, Arax Mansourian and Margaret<br />
Baker Genovesi in Rome. He was the<br />
winner of the prestigious Australian Singing<br />
Competition Opera Award in 2005.<br />
José made his début with Opera Australia,<br />
in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos (in 2002), and<br />
was soon engaged for their production of Il<br />
barbiere di Siviglia in the title role.<br />
His European début was in Madrid, at the<br />
Opera Real, where he sang once again the<br />
title role in Il barbiere di Siviglia; he was reengaged<br />
by this theatre to sing Belcore in<br />
L’elisir d’Amore in 2006; these performances<br />
led to an engagement as Dandini in La<br />
Cenerentola for the Festival in La Coruña in<br />
Spain’s northern region of Galicia.<br />
Most recently, he has sung Count Almaviva<br />
in Le nozze di Figaro, Rossini’s Barbiere,<br />
Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marcello<br />
in La bohème, Silvio in Pagliacci, Lescaut in<br />
Manon and Don Alfonso in Così fan Tutte for<br />
30 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 31
Opera Australia; for Opera <strong>Queensland</strong> – the<br />
title role in Don Giovanni, Il barbiere and<br />
Belcore; for State Opera of South Australia –<br />
Il barbiere; he also made his La Scala debut in<br />
2009 in Il Viaggio a Reims.<br />
José Carbó has extensive experience on the<br />
concert platform: his performed repertoire<br />
includes Beethoven’s <strong>Symphony</strong> No. 9,<br />
Mass in C and Choral <strong>Symphony</strong>, Carl Orff’s<br />
Carmina Burana, Rachmaninoff’s The Bells,<br />
Fauré’s Requiem, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches<br />
Requiem and Ralph Vaughan-Williams’ Mass<br />
in C minor with the major orchestras of<br />
Australia and New Zealand. In October 2006,<br />
José undertook a tour as the baritone soloist<br />
with the Sydney <strong>Symphony</strong> to Japan where<br />
he sang three Don Quixote songs by Ravel in<br />
Tokyo and Osaka.<br />
In 2011, he made his American debut singing<br />
Figaro in Il barbiere di Siviglia for Seattle<br />
Opera; appearances for Opera Australia<br />
included Figaro, Marcello and Don Giovanni.<br />
He also sang the baritone solos in Carmina<br />
Burana for the Melbourne <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
In 2012, José sings Il barbiere and Fritz in<br />
Die tote Stadt for Opera Australia, Escamillo<br />
in Carmen for Opera <strong>Queensland</strong>, Tomsky<br />
in Pique Dame for the Sydney <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
and appears as soloist with the Melbourne,<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> and Adelaide <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>s.<br />
NICHOLAS BRAITHWAITE, CONDUCTOR<br />
Born in London, Nicholas Braithwaite<br />
completed his formal musical studies at the<br />
Royal Academy of Music, at the Festival<br />
masterclasses in Bayreuth, and with Hans<br />
Swarowsky in Vienna.<br />
Mr Braithwaite’s career has been unusually<br />
wide-ranging, both musically and<br />
geographically. He has held positions as<br />
Music Director or Principal Conductor from<br />
Norway to New Zealand and many places in<br />
between. His years as Principal Conductor<br />
of the Adelaide and Tasmanian <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>s were acclaimed by critics, public<br />
and players, and were notable for raising both<br />
standards and attendances. The Tasmanian<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> grew to be recognised<br />
as one of Australia’s finest ensembles, and<br />
when ABC Classics released his recording<br />
with the Adelaide <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> of<br />
Shostakovich <strong>Symphony</strong> No. 8, the Canberra<br />
Times said “Since his appointment as Chief<br />
Conductor, Braithwaite has brought the ASO<br />
to a high performance standard at which<br />
they can match any of the eastern states<br />
orchestras”.<br />
Concurrently with his Australian activities he<br />
was Principal Conductor of the Manchester<br />
Camerata, having been the orchestra’s<br />
Principal Guest Conductor for many years.<br />
Other orchestral appointments have<br />
included Permanent Guest Conductor of the<br />
Norwegian Radio <strong>Orchestra</strong>, and Associate<br />
Conductor of the Bournemouth <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>. Mr Braithwaite has been a<br />
frequent guest conductor of all the major<br />
orchestras in the UK and has toured Japan<br />
and Korea with the London Philharmonic<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong> as Associate Conductor to Sir<br />
Georg Solti.<br />
He has appeared with, among others, the<br />
Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre<br />
National de France, the Oslo Philharmonic,<br />
Bergen Philharmonic, Odense <strong>Symphony</strong>,<br />
Aarhus <strong>Symphony</strong>, Aalborg <strong>Symphony</strong>, New<br />
Zealand <strong>Symphony</strong>, Auckland Philharmonia,<br />
Melbourne <strong>Symphony</strong>, Sydney <strong>Symphony</strong>,<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong>, West Australian<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong>, Danish National Radio <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
and the Collegium Musicum Copenhagen.<br />
The last few years have seen the release by<br />
Lyrita Recorded Edition of many recordings<br />
conducted by Mr Braithwaite with orchestras<br />
such as the London Philharmonic, Royal<br />
Philharmonic, London <strong>Symphony</strong> and<br />
Philharmonia <strong>Orchestra</strong>s of music by Holst,<br />
Cooke, Bridge, Wordsworth, Berkeley,<br />
Moeran, Rawsthorne, Stanford, Sterndale<br />
Bennett and Coleridge Taylor, as well as a CD<br />
of orchestral arrangements by Henry Wood,<br />
including his version of Mussorgsky Pictures<br />
at an Exhibition.<br />
Mr Braithwaite saw his first opera at the age<br />
of two months - a dress rehearsal conducted<br />
by his father, Warwick Braithwaite. This<br />
was the start of a life long involvement<br />
with opera during which he has conducted<br />
more than 70 different operas with many<br />
companies around the world.<br />
He has held positions as Music Director<br />
and Chief Conductor of Gothenberg’s Stora<br />
Teater, Music Director of Glyndebourne<br />
Touring Opera and Associate Principal<br />
Conductor of English National Opera, where<br />
his performances of Wagner’s Ring cycle<br />
received widespread critical and public<br />
acclaim. In 1987 he took the Gothenburg<br />
Stora Teater production of Katerina Ismailova<br />
to the newly restored Semper Oper in<br />
Dresden. He has also appeared with the<br />
Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Welsh National<br />
Opera, Scottish Opera, Hamburg State<br />
Opera, Norwegian Opera, State Opera of<br />
South Australia, New Zealand Opera with<br />
whom in recent years he has conducted<br />
productions of Peter Grimes, Boris Godunov<br />
and Turandot, and Opera Australia with<br />
whom he recently conducted Capriccio.<br />
32 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 33
Opportunities exist now to support<br />
individual Opportunities exist musicians<br />
now to support<br />
of individual the <strong>Queensland</strong> musicians<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
of the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
Becoming a Chair Donor means that you support the individual musician’s role<br />
within the orchestral experience by offsetting a range of costs associated with<br />
Becoming a Chair Donor means that you support the individual musician’s role<br />
their full time employment, and you experience a greater sense of fulfillment and<br />
within the orchestral experience by offsetting a range of costs associated with<br />
inspiration their full by time being employment, personally and connected you experience to the a musician.<br />
greater sense of fulfillment and<br />
inspiration by being personally connected to the musician.<br />
We believe that the personal touch is the best way to develop and nurture enduring<br />
relationships We believe with that supporters the personal and touch donors. is the best After way meeting to develop your and musician, nurture enduring you will<br />
receive relationships bi-annual with updates supporters from and them donors. and will After be meeting invited your to Open musician, Rehearsals. you will<br />
receive bi-annual updates from them and will be invited to Open Rehearsals.<br />
Positions now available are Player Chairs at $1,500 and Principal Chairs at $3,000.<br />
An opportunity<br />
Positions now<br />
also<br />
available<br />
exists<br />
are<br />
to<br />
Player<br />
support<br />
Chairs<br />
the<br />
at<br />
position<br />
$1,500 and<br />
of Chief<br />
Principal<br />
Conductor.<br />
Chairs at $3,000.<br />
An opportunity also exists to support the position of Chief Conductor.<br />
For further information, please contact<br />
Gaelle Lindrea, Director of Philanthropy, on 3833 5050<br />
For further information, please contact<br />
Gaelle Lindrea, Director of Philanthropy, on 3833 5050<br />
MARSHALL MCGUIRE, HARP<br />
Born in Melbourne, Marshall McGuire studied<br />
at the Victorian College of the Arts, the<br />
Paris Conservatoire and the Royal College<br />
of Music, London. His London debut recital<br />
was presented at the Purcell Room for the<br />
Park Lane Group. He has commissioned<br />
more than 30 new works for harp, and in<br />
recognition of this received the 1997 Sounds<br />
Australian Award for the Most Distinguished<br />
Contribution to the Presentation of<br />
Australian Music.<br />
He has performed as soloist with the<br />
Australian Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong>, English String<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>, Les Talens Lyriques, Australian<br />
Brandenburg <strong>Orchestra</strong>, Melbourne<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> and the Australia Ensemble<br />
and has appeared at international festivals<br />
including Aldeburgh, Melbourne, Milan,<br />
Geneva, Brighton, Vienna, Huddersfield,<br />
Huntington and Adelaide.<br />
From 1988-1992, Marshall was Principal<br />
Harpist with the Australian Opera and Ballet<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>. He has been a member of the<br />
ELISION ensemble since 1988 and lectured<br />
in harp at the Sydney Conservatorium 1990-<br />
2005. In 2003, he was appointed Artistic<br />
Director of The Seymour Group, and was<br />
awarded an inaugural Creative Fellowship<br />
from the State Library of Victoria to research<br />
the works of Peggy Glanville-Hicks. He<br />
received a Churchill Fellowship in 2004.<br />
He made his conducting debut in<br />
performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute<br />
with Pacific Opera in 1999. From 1999-<br />
2001, he was curator of the Twilight<br />
Chamber Music Series for Sydney Festival<br />
and, in 2003, he was artist-in-residence at<br />
the Bundanon Trust.<br />
He has released seven CDs and received<br />
three ARIA Award nominations.<br />
Performances in 2009 included ELISION<br />
ensemble in Moscow, Paris and Huddersfield;<br />
recitals at the Perth Concert Hall and<br />
Sydney Opera House and at the Bangalow<br />
and Kangaroo Valley Festivals. Marshall<br />
is founding President of the New Music<br />
Network, a member of the Australian Youth<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong> Artistic Advisory Committee, and<br />
was Music Director of the AYO’s National<br />
Music Camp in 2008.<br />
In December 2006, he took up the position<br />
of Executive Manager, Artistic Planning with<br />
the West Australian <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
Marshall was a participant in the 2020<br />
Summit held in April 2008 at Parliament<br />
House, Canberra and has been Curator<br />
of the Utzon Music Series at the Sydney<br />
Opera House since 2007. In 2010, Marshall<br />
McGuire gave recitals at the Adelaide<br />
Festival, Sydney Opera House and in Perth,<br />
and appeared as soloist in the Four Winds<br />
Festival, with the Australian String Quartet<br />
and performed with ELISION in London and<br />
Bremen. He also conducted Purcell’s Dido and<br />
Aeneas for the Macau International Music<br />
Festival.<br />
Marshall will appear with the <strong>Queensland</strong> and<br />
West Australian <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>s and<br />
the Australian String Quartet in 2012.<br />
34 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 35<br />
QSO_Chair_Donor_Program_ad_A5_mono_V3.indd 1<br />
19/01/12 4:21 PM<br />
QSO_Chair_Donor_Program_ad_A5_mono_V3.indd 1<br />
19/01/12 4:21 PM
ENRIQUE ARTURO DIEMECKE, CONDUCTOR<br />
Grammy Award-winning conductor Enrique<br />
Artuo Diemecke is Music Director of the<br />
Buenos Aires Philharmonic and is in his<br />
inaugural season as Music Director of the<br />
Bogota Philharmonic. In the United States<br />
he is Music Director of the Long Beach<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> in California and Flint <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong> in Michigan.<br />
With 20 years at the helm of the Orquesta<br />
Sinfónica Nacional de México, Maestro<br />
Diemecke is a frequent guest of orchestras<br />
throughout the world, most notably the<br />
National <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> in Washington,<br />
San Francisco <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, French<br />
National <strong>Orchestra</strong>, BBC <strong>Symphony</strong>, Royal<br />
Philharmonic <strong>Orchestra</strong>, L’Orchestre de Paris,<br />
Residentie Orkest in The Hague, Los Angeles<br />
Philharmonic, Simon Bolivar <strong>Orchestra</strong> in<br />
Caracas, l’Orchestre National de Lorraine,<br />
the National <strong>Orchestra</strong> of Montpellier, the<br />
Valladolid <strong>Symphony</strong>, the ORCAM Madrid,<br />
L’Orchestre de Isle de France, and the<br />
symphony orchestras of Baltimore, Houston,<br />
Minnesota, and Auckland.<br />
An experienced conductor of opera, Maestro<br />
Diemecke was Music Director of Mexico<br />
City Opera from 1984-1990. He returned<br />
to opera in 2008 with Werther at the Teatro<br />
Colón in Buenos Aires, which followed<br />
performances of Le Jongleur de Notre Dame<br />
with tenor Roberto Alagna in Montpellier.<br />
The Deutsche Grammophon release of that<br />
production was awarded the Grand Prix de<br />
l’Academie du Disque Lyrique for 2010. He<br />
is a regular guest of the Teatro Zarzuela<br />
in Madrid, was awarded the Jean Fontaine<br />
Orpheus d’Or Gold Medal for “best vocal<br />
music recording” for Donizetti’s The Exiles<br />
of Siberia, and was previously honored with<br />
the Bruno Walter Orpheus d’Or Prize for<br />
“Best Opera Conductor” for his recording of<br />
Mascagni’s Parisina.<br />
Maestro Diemecke is an accomplished<br />
composer. His Die-Sir-E was commissioned<br />
by the Radio France Festival for the World<br />
Cup Final concert in 1998. His works<br />
Chacona a Chávez, Guitar Concerto,<br />
and Camino y vision have received many<br />
performances both in Europe and in the<br />
United States.<br />
SERGIO TIEMPO, PIANO<br />
Described by Gramophone magazine as “a<br />
colourist in love with the infinite variety a piano<br />
can produce”, Sergio Tiempo has developed a<br />
reputation as one of the most individual and<br />
thought-provoking pianists of his generation.<br />
Tiempo established his international credentials<br />
at an early age, making his professional debut<br />
at the age of fourteen at the Concertgebouw<br />
in Amsterdam. A tour of the USA and a string of<br />
engagements across Europe quickly followed.<br />
Since then he has appeared with many of the<br />
world’s leading orchestras and conductors and is<br />
a frequent guest at major festivals worldwide.<br />
Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Tiempo began his<br />
piano studies with his mother, Lyl Tiempo, at<br />
the age of two and made his concert debut<br />
when he had just turned three. Whilst at the<br />
Fondazione per il Pianoforte in Como, Italy,<br />
he worked with Dimitri Bashkirov, Fou Tsong,<br />
Murray Perahia and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.<br />
He has received frequent musical guidance and<br />
advice from Martha Argerich, Nelson Freire and<br />
Nikita Magaloff and performs regularly with<br />
fellow-countryman and friend Gustavo Dudamel<br />
including concerts with the Simón Bolívar<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
Sergio Tiempo has made a number of highly<br />
distinctive and acclaimed recordings. On EMI<br />
Classics’ ‘Martha Argerich Presents’ label, he<br />
recorded Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition,<br />
Ravel Gaspard de la Nuit and three Chopin<br />
Nocturnes, and for Deutsche Gramophon he<br />
has recorded several discs with Mischa Maisky,<br />
including a disc of Rachmaninov which was<br />
awarded five stars by Classic FM and the BBC<br />
Music Magazine, which also named it their<br />
benchmark Recording. In June 2010, Tiempo<br />
gave the world premiere of a new work for<br />
two pianos and orchestra ‘Tango Rhapsody’<br />
by Argentinean composer Federico Jusid with<br />
Karin Lechner and the RSI Lugano under Jacek<br />
Kaspszyk at the Martha Argerich Festival in<br />
Lugano, where he is a visitor each year. Most<br />
recently, Sergio Tiempo released a disc of French<br />
music for two pianos with Karin Lechner for<br />
Avanti Classic entitled La Belle Epoque.<br />
Recent concerto highlights for Tiempo<br />
have included return visits to the Orchestre<br />
Philharmonique de Radio France in Paris and on<br />
tour to his native South America, the Singapore<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> and the Music Days in Lisbon Festival,<br />
as well as debuts with the BBC <strong>Symphony</strong>,<br />
City of Birmingham <strong>Symphony</strong>, Northern<br />
Sinfonia, <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
and the Auckland Philharmonia. Recent recital<br />
engagements have included a sell-out recital<br />
debut at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London<br />
in the International Piano Series, debuts at the<br />
Vienna Konzerthaus, London’s Wigmore Hall, the<br />
Berlin Philharmonie and Edinburgh International<br />
Festival as well as return visits to the Oslo<br />
Chamber Music Festival and the Warsaw Chopin<br />
Festival.<br />
Highlights of the 2011/12 season and beyond<br />
include two return engagements with the<br />
Los Angeles Philharmonic with both Gustavo<br />
Dudamel and Nicholas McGegan and return<br />
engagements with the <strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>, a European tour with the Buenos<br />
Aires Philharmonic <strong>Orchestra</strong> and debuts<br />
with the Zurich Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong>, Brussels<br />
Philharmonic <strong>Orchestra</strong> and Orquestra Nacional<br />
do Porto as well as recital tours of Seoul, Italy<br />
and South America<br />
36 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 37
Thank You.<br />
<strong>Queensland</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> is proud to acknowledge the generosity<br />
and support of our donors for our philanthropic programs.<br />
Maestro Series Chair Donors<br />
Chair Donors support an individual<br />
musician’s role within the orchestra<br />
and gain fulfillment through<br />
personal interactions with their<br />
chosen musician.<br />
Principal Guest Conductor Chair<br />
($40,000+)<br />
Eivind Aadland<br />
Trevor & Judith St Baker & ERM Power<br />
Guest Chairs ($20,000+)<br />
Arthur Waring<br />
Concertmaster Chair ($5,000)<br />
Warwick Adeney<br />
Prof. Ian & Mrs Caroline Frazer<br />
Dr Cathryn Mittelheuser AM<br />
John & Georgina Story<br />
Principal Chairs ($3,000)<br />
Tim Corkeron, Timpani<br />
Dr Philip Aitken & Dr Susan Urquhart<br />
Peggy Allen Hayes<br />
Yoko Okayasu, Viola<br />
Dr Ralph & Mrs Susan Cobcroft<br />
Gail Aitken, Second Violin<br />
Leonie Henry<br />
Sarah Wilson, Trumpet<br />
Mrs Andrea Kriewaldt<br />
Jason Redman, Trombone<br />
Frances & Stephen Maitland OAM RFD<br />
Alexis Kenny, Flute<br />
Nola McCullagh<br />
David Montgomery, Percussion<br />
Dr Graham & Mrs Kate Row<br />
Player Chairs ($1,500)<br />
Matthew Kinmont, Cello<br />
Dr Julie Beeby<br />
Kate Travers, Clarinet<br />
Dr Julie Beeby<br />
Matthew Jones, Cello<br />
Dr David & Mrs Janet Ham<br />
Janine Grantham, Flute<br />
Desmond B Misso Esq<br />
Helen Poggioli , Viola<br />
Mrs Rene Nicolaides OAM & the late<br />
Dr Nicholas Nicolaides AM<br />
Delia Kinmont, Violin<br />
Jordan & Pat Pearl<br />
Stephen Phillips, Violin<br />
Dr Graham & Mrs Kate Row<br />
Andre Duthoit, Cello<br />
Anne Shipton<br />
Brenda Sullivan, Violin<br />
Anonymous<br />
Brian Catchlove, Clarinet<br />
Anonymous<br />
Instrument Gifts<br />
QSO thanks the National Instrument<br />
Bank and the Anthony Camden<br />
Fund for their generous loan of fine<br />
instruments to the recitalists of our<br />
Young Instrumentalist competition.<br />
Encore Annual Giving<br />
Encore Annual Giving Donors<br />
support the orchestra’s community<br />
outreach and education initiatives,<br />
the purchase of essential orchestra<br />
equipment and the engagement<br />
of the finest Australian and<br />
international conductors and artists.<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> ($2,000-$4,999)<br />
Dr Julie Beeby<br />
Mrs Marie Isackson<br />
Dr Les Masel & Ms Pam Masel<br />
Nola McCullagh<br />
Rodney Wylie<br />
Anonymous (1)<br />
Concerto ($1,000 – $1,999)<br />
Mrs I. L. Dean<br />
Mrs Elva Emmerson<br />
Gwenda Heginbothom<br />
Ian Paterson<br />
Justice Anthe Philippides<br />
Patrick Pickett CSM<br />
Pat & Jude Riches<br />
Gwen Warhurst<br />
Anonymous (4)<br />
Suite ($500 – $999)<br />
Dallas & Judith Allman<br />
David & Judith Beal<br />
Dr John & Mrs Jan Blackford<br />
Dr Betty Byrne Henderson AM<br />
Ian & Penny Charlton<br />
In memory of Mrs Betty Crouchley<br />
Dr Judith Gold<br />
Dr W.R. Heaslop & Dr L. M Heaslop<br />
Dr Alison Holloway<br />
Mrs Patricia Killoran<br />
John Martin<br />
Mrs Daphne McKinnon<br />
Dr Howard & Mrs Katherine Munro<br />
Dr Henry Nowik AO OBE &<br />
Mrs Kathleen Nowik<br />
Dr Richard & Mrs Awen Orme<br />
Mrs Leah Perry<br />
Anne Shipton<br />
Michael & Helen Sinclair<br />
Mr Bernard & Mrs Margaret<br />
Spilsbury<br />
Mr Ron Stevens OAM & the late<br />
Mrs Toni Stevens<br />
Dr Damien Thomson & Dr Glenise<br />
Berry<br />
Prof. Hans & Mrs Frederika<br />
Westerman<br />
Anonymous (4)<br />
All donors are acknowledged on our website www.qso.com.au.<br />
To learn more about our Philanthropic Programs please contact Gaelle Lindrea<br />
on (07) 3833 5050, or you can donate online at www.qso.com.au/donatenow.<br />
PATRON<br />
Her Excellency the Governor of <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Ms Penelope Wensley, AO<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Greg Wanchap Chairman<br />
Philip Bracanin<br />
Marsha Cadman<br />
Tony Denholder<br />
Jenny Hodgson<br />
Tony Keane<br />
John Keep<br />
Karen Murphy<br />
Jason Redman<br />
MANAGMENT<br />
Patrick Pickett Chief Executive Officer<br />
Ros Atkinson Executive Assistant to the CEO<br />
Marjorie Griffiths Senior Administration<br />
Coordinator<br />
Alison Barclay Administration Officer<br />
Richard Wenn Director - Artistic Planning<br />
Kate Oliver Assistant Artistic Administrator<br />
Nicola Manson Assistant Artistic Administrator<br />
Samantha Cockerill ~ Education Liaison Officer<br />
Jaime Burke * Education Assistant<br />
Matthew Farrell Director - <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
Management<br />
Nina Logan <strong>Orchestra</strong> Manager<br />
Peter Laughton Production Manager<br />
Judy Wood <strong>Orchestra</strong> Librarian /OH & S<br />
Coordinator<br />
Ashleigh Ellson Operations Coordinator<br />
Fiona Lale * Assistant Librarian / Artist<br />
Liaison<br />
Nadia Myers * Assistant Librarian<br />
Gaelle Lindrea Director - Philanthropy<br />
Birgit Willadsen Philanthropy Officer<br />
David Martin Director – Development<br />
and Sales<br />
Rachael Wallis Director – Marketing and<br />
Communications<br />
Tegan Ward Marketing Officer<br />
Kendal Alderman Marketing and Media Relations<br />
Officer<br />
Miranda Cass * Media Relations Assistant<br />
John Waight Chief Financial Officer<br />
Sandy Johnston Accountant<br />
Donna Barlow * Accounts Payable Officer<br />
*<br />
Part time<br />
~<br />
Funded with the Assistance of the <strong>Queensland</strong> Department of<br />
Education and Training<br />
QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE<br />
PO Box 3567, South Bank, <strong>Queensland</strong> 4101<br />
Tel: (07) 3840 7444<br />
CHAIR<br />
Henry Smerdon AM<br />
DEPUTY CHAIR<br />
Rachel Hunter<br />
TRUSTEES<br />
Simon Gallaher<br />
Helene George<br />
Bill Grant<br />
Sophie Mitchell<br />
Paul Piticco<br />
Mick Power AM<br />
Susan Street<br />
Rhonda White<br />
EXECUTIVE STAFF<br />
John Kotzas Chief Executive<br />
Liesa Bacon Director-Marketing<br />
Ross Cunningham Director - Presenter Services<br />
Jacquelyn Malouf Director – Development<br />
Kieron Roost Director - Corporate Services<br />
Tony Smith Director - Patron Services<br />
ACKNOWLEDGMENT<br />
The <strong>Queensland</strong> Performing Arts Trust is a Statutory<br />
Authority of the State of <strong>Queensland</strong> and is partially<br />
funded by the <strong>Queensland</strong> Government<br />
The Honourable Rachel Nolan MP<br />
Minister for Finance, Natural Resources and The Arts<br />
John Bradley<br />
Director-General, Department of the Premier<br />
and Cabinet<br />
Leigh Tabrett PSM<br />
Deputy Director-General, Arts <strong>Queensland</strong><br />
Patrons are advised that the Performing Arts Centre<br />
has EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURES, a FIRE<br />
ALARM system and EXIT passageways. In case of an<br />
alert, patrons should remain calm, look for the closest<br />
EXIT sign in GREEN, listen to and comply with directions<br />
given by the inhouse trained attendants and move in an<br />
orderly fashion to the open spaces outside the Centre.<br />
2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM 39<br />
QSO_Philanthropy_program_pages_Feb2012_V2.indd 3<br />
16/02/12 12:38 PM
Our Partners<br />
GOVERNMENT PARTNERS<br />
CORPORATE PARTNERS<br />
MEDIA PARTNERS<br />
CO-PRODUCTIONS<br />
QSO thanks our partners for their support. Call qtix on 136 246 or go to qso.com.au to book.<br />
40 2012 | QSO MARCH PROGRAM