Mountain Premiere Concert Program

A C I N E M AT I C & M U S I C A L O DYS S E Y I N A WO R L D P R E M I E R E L I V E P E R FO R M A N C E 3 P M M O N DAY 1 2 J U N E SYDNEY OPER A HOUSE P R E S E N T E D W I T H V I V I D L I V E & S Y D N E Y FI L M F E S T I VA L

ACO PRINCIPAL PARTNER

MOUNTAIN OFFICIAL PARTNER

Presented by Screen Australia and the Australian Chamber Orchestra a Stranger Than Fiction Films Production, in association with Camp 4 Collective & Sherpas Cinema

Jennifer Peedom Director & Producer Richard Tognetti Musical Director & Composer Renan Ozturk Principal Cinematography Robert Macfarlane Narration Script Willem Dafoe Film Narrator Christian Gazal, Scott Gray ASE Editors David White Sound Designer Jo-anne McGowan Producer Joseph Nizeti Music Editor & Music Supervisor Paul Wiegard, David Gross, Stephen Boyle, Martyn Myer AO Executive Producers Richard Tognetti Artistic Director & Lead Violin Australian Chamber Orchestra Tamara-Anna Cislowska Piano Satu Vänskä Violin & Voice Helena Rathbone Violin Ike See Violin Nigel Jamieson Staging Director Damien Cooper Lighting Design Bob Scott Sound Mixer Louis Thorn Projectionist

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AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

RICHARD TOGNETTI Prelude RICHARD TOGNETTI Majesty RICHARD TOGNETTI Sublime RICHARD TOGNETTI Gods and Monsters PETER SCULTHORPE Djilile (for strings) * FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN Nocturne in D-flat major * EDVARD GRIEG Praeludium from Holberg Suite PETER SCULTHORPE Djilile (for piano & strings) * ANTONIO VIVALDI Allegro from Concerto for Four Violins in B minor ANTONIO VIVALDI Allegro non molto from Winter (The Four Seasons) ANTONIO VIVALDI Larghetto from Concerto for Four Violins in B minor * ANTONIO VIVALDI Allegro from Concerto for Four Violins in B minor ANTONIO VIVALDI Presto from Summer (The Four Seasons) ARVO PÄRT Für Alina RICHARD TOGNETTI / JOSEPH NIZETI Madness Bites RICHARD TOGNETTI Flying RICHARD TOGNETTI On High ARVO PÄRT Fratres * LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Larghetto from Violin Concerto in D major RICHARD TOGNETTI A Final Bridge LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN Adagio un poco moto from Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat major ‘Emperor’ * This work or movement is abridged during this performance.

The ACO is providing audio description of this concert.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

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To those who are enthralled by mountains, their wonder is beyond all dispute. To those who are not, their allure is a kind of madness.

What is this strange force that draws us upwards – this siren-song of the summit?

Only three centuries ago, setting out to climb a mountain would have been considered an act of lunacy.

The idea scarcely existed that wild landscapes might hold any sort of attraction.

Mountains were places of peril, not beauty. An upper world to be shunned, not sought out.

How then have mountains now come to hold us spellbound, drawing us into their dominion . . . often at the cost of our lives?

The mountains we climb, are not made only of rock and ice, but also of dreams, and desire.

The mountains we climb, are mountains of the mind.

Robert Macfarlane

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AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

FROM JENNIFER PEEDOM, DIRECTOR MOUNTAIN

FROM RICHARD TOGNETTI, MUSICAL DIRECTOR MOUNTAIN

It was about three years ago when Richard Tognetti came to me with this amazing concept of interweaving film and music to create something about mountains.

Being in a pitch-dark room can make your thoughts brighter, and being alone atop a mountain can bring you closer to humanity.

The idea of expressing musically and visually, human relationships with mountains was a creative challenge that excited me. As did the opportunity to work with the finest chamber orchestra in the world, and Richard.

Mountain draws you into this world. Through the stunning images curated by Jen Peedom, and for the most part shot by Renan Ozturk, the abstraction of music underscores and captivates, opening a portal through which we concoct an experience that beckons the viewer to the majesty and horror that is the allure and portent of mountains.

I was intrigued by the concept of creating something that married music, images and words, not only for live performance but also as a standalone film. Filmmaking is always about collaboration but I knew that in this case, the collaboration was the most important aspect of the project. And so it has proved.

Richard had a very visceral reaction to Renan Ozturk’s amazing cinematography and started responding musically to those ideas. So it was an organic process from the start. Richard would give me Vivaldi, Beethoven, Chopin, and so on, to listen to and then we’d craft the images around those masterpieces. With Richard’s original compositions, we’d talk about what we were trying to express in the scene and he would write something bespoke. Robert Macfarlane’s words were then an essential part in bringing the whole narrative together.

Mountain is like a dance between the images and music, with Robert’s poetic words, performed so beautifully by Willem Dafoe, gently weaving through, tying it all together.

Whether it be the goons’ rodeo of going downhill at speed (in wing suits or skis or whatever your poison) or ascending rock-faces in slow-mo, that only a generation ago seemed unassailable, the original music attempts to inhabit this physical and geographical drama. The Beethoven, on the other hand, transcends it all.

Renan, the cinematographer for Mountain, isn’t just a man with a camera; he lives in actuality on the rock face, as a fellow climber with the likes of Alex Honnold – who only last week summited El Capitan, free soloing. Incidentally Renan’s wife’s name is (seriously) Taylor Freesolo Ozturk.

I trust you are sitting down when you’re reading this: free soloing is the art of climbing with no ropes or aids of any kind.

Mountain attempts to bring you into these spaces that sane people would not otherwise dwell.

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

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AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA With inspiring programming, unrivalled virtuosity, energy and individuality, the ACO’s performances span popular masterworks, adventurous cross-artform projects and pieces specially commissioned for the ensemble.

In addition to giving more than 100 performances in Australia each year, the Orchestra performs all over the world: from red-dust regional centres of Australia to New York night clubs, from Australian capital cities to the world’s most prestigious concert halls.

The ACO’s dedication and musicianship has created warm relationships with celebrated musicians and artists around the world. The ACO has recorded for the world’s top labels, their CDs winning many awards, and documentaries featuring the ACO have been shown on television worldwide and won awards at film festivals on four continents.

MUSICIANS ON STAGE Violin Richard Tognetti Helena Rathbone Satu Vänskä Glenn Christensen Mark Ingwersen Ilya Isakovich Maja Savnik Ike See Thibaud Pavlovic-Hobba Caroline Hopson * Viola Stefanie Farrands * Nicole Divall Nathan Greentree *

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Cello Timo-Veikko Valve Melissa Barnard Julian Thompson Double Bass Maxime Bibeau Flute Sally Walker * Clarinet Dean Newcomb * Bassoon Nicole Tait *

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Horn Ben Jacks * Euan Harvey * Percussion Evan Mannell * Keyboard Tamara-Anna Cislowska * Electronics/Guitar Joseph Nizeti * * guest artist

ACO MOUNTAIN PARTNERS The Australian Chamber Orchestra would like to thank the following organisations for their generous support of Mountain: PRINCIPAL PARTNER

GOVERNMENT PARTNERS

OFFICIAL PARTNER

The ACO is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body

The ACO is assisted by the Australian Government through the Create NSW

Mountain was developed and financed with the assistance of Screen Australia.

STRANGER THAN FICTION FILMS PARTNERS

DEFINITION FILMS

ACO MOUNTAIN PRODUCERS’ SYNDICATE The Australian Chamber Orchestra would like to thank the following people for their generous support of Mountain: Executive Producer Martyn Myer AO Major Producers Janet Holmes à Court AC Warwick & Ann Johnson Producers Richard Caldwell Warren & Linda Coli Anna Dudek & Brad Banducci Wendy Edwards David Friedlander Tony & Camilla Gill John & Lisa Kench

Charlie & Olivia Lanchester Rob & Nancy Pallin Andrew & Andrea Roberts Peter & Victoria Shorthouse Alden Toevs & Judi Wolf Supporters Andrew Abercrombie Joanna Baevski Ann Gamble Myer Gilbert George Charles & Cornelia Goode Foundation

Phil & Rosie Harkness Peter & Janette Kendall Andy Myer & Kerry Gardner Sid & Fiona Myer Allan Myers AC The Penn Foundation Peppertree Foundation The Rossi Foundation Shaker & Diana Mark Stanbridge Kim Williams AM Peter & Susan Yates

Charles & Elizabeth Goodyear

AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

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Sydney Opera House – Bennelong Point

Artistic Director Richard Tognetti AO Managing Director Richard Evans

Chair, Sydney Opera House Trust Nicholas Moore Chief Executive Officer Louise Herron AM

PO Box R21 Royal Exchange NSW 1225 Opera Quays, 2 East Circular Quay, Sydney NSW 2000

GPO Box 4274 Sydney NSW 2001

T 1800 444 444 (Box Office Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm) E aco@aco.com.au W aco.com.au

T 02 9250 7777 (Box Office) E infodesk@sydneyoperahouse.com W sydneyoperahouse.com

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