MSO 2026 Feb-March | Concert Program

February–March 2026

Strauss & Mozart Season Opening Gala Also sprach Zarathustra Stravinsky & Chindamo Quick Fix at Half Six: The Rite of Spring

Contents Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Acknowledging Country Welcome to the 2026 Season Your MSO

COVER: MSO CONCERTMASTER NATALIE CHEE (PHOTO BY LUCAS ALLEN)

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Over a Century of Championing Women’s Musical Leadership In conversation with Natalie Chee

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Jaime Martín Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor

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Strauss & Mozart 27–28 February

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Season Opening Gala 5, 7 March

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Also sprach Zarathustra 12–14 March

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Stravinsky & Chindamo 19, 21 March

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Quick Fix at Half Six: The Rite of Spring 23 March

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Supporters MSO Family Our Partners

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In consideration of your fellow patrons, the MSO thanks you for silencing and dimming the light on your phone.

MSO 2026 Season

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Acknowledging Country

The MSO has developed a musical Acknowledgement of Country with composer James Henry to pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land through the language of orchestral music.

James Henry’s position is supported by Cybec Foundation

About Acknowledgement ‘I wrote this piece to reflect the complex journey toward the recognition of Aboriginal people as the traditional custodians of the land. It opens with rhythms inspired by the character of traditional songs found across many parts of Australia. From this texture, a melody emerges, representing the long period during which Aboriginal ownership of land was disregarded. The piece traces both progress and setbacks over time.

‘With the passing of the Victorian Statewide Treaty Bill, there is a renewed sense of optimism among many Aboriginal Victorians. Through Acknowledgement, I seek to convey a feeling of determination and resilience, reflecting the ongoing work to improve the quality of life for Aboriginal people, and to deepen respect for and awareness of our distinct culture, history and enduring connection to Country.’

James Henry 2025–2026 Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence

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February–March Program

Welcome to the 2026 Season PHOTO: MARK GAMBINO

thrilled to have a musician of her calibre joining the MSO at this exciting moment in our history.

A defining strength of the MSO is the combination of our own outstanding musicians with artists from Australia and around the world. This month we welcome internationally acclaimed performers, including pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, while also celebrating Australian voices such as Joe Chindamo oam.

On behalf of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to this month’s performances.

The beginning of a new season is always an exciting moment for the Orchestra – a time that reflects both our artistic ambition and our commitment to the community we serve. This year is particularly significant as we celebrate the MSO’s 120th anniversary. For more than a century, the Orchestra has been part of the cultural life of Melbourne, bringing people together through shared musical experiences. That legacy is something we’re deeply proud of and equally committed to carrying forward for future generations.

We’re delighted to begin the year with our Chief Conductor Jaime Martín, whose energy and musical leadership continue to shape the sound and spirit of the Orchestra today. Earlier this year we also welcomed Natalie Chee as our new Concertmaster – a role central to the artistic life of any orchestra – and we’re

MSO 2026 Season

An important part of our vision is ensuring that orchestral music remains accessible and meaningful to as many people as possible. Whether through major performances in the concert hall, concerts in neighbourhood venues, or more flexible formats such as Quick Fix at Half Six, we’re committed to creating opportunities for audiences to engage with music in ways that suit their lives.

We’ve already seen this commitment reflected in what has been an incredible start to 2026, with concerts such as Signature Choir x MSO and MSO x Find Your Voice Collective: SONDER generating an extraordinary response from our community. These projects remind us that music has a unique power to bring people together – creating moments of connection and belonging that extend well beyond the concert hall, and often for something greater than ourselves.

Whether you’re joining us for the first time or returning as a long-standing supporter, thank you for being part of the MSO community. I hope you enjoy our performances.

Edgar Myer MSO Chair

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Melbourne Symphony Orchestra First Violins Natalie Chee Concertmaster Tair Khisambeev Assistant Concertmaster

Peter Edwards

Assistant Principal

Sarah Curro

Dr Harry Imber *

Peter Fellin Deborah Goodall Karla Hanna

Dawna Wright and Peter Riedel*

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is Australia’s preeminent orchestra, dedicated to creating meaningful experiences that transcend borders and connect communities. Through the shared language of music, the MSO delivers performances of the highest standard, enriching lives and inspiring audiences across the globe.

Woven into the cultural fabric of Victoria for 120 years, the MSO reaches five million people annually through performances, TV, radio, and online broadcasts, as well as critically acclaimed recordings from its newly established recording label.

In 2026, Jaime Martín continues to lead the Orchestra as the MSO Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor. Maestro Martín leads an Artistic Family that includes Principal Guest Conductor Benjamin Northey, Cybec Assistant Conductor Daniel Corvaia, MSO Chorus Director Warren Trevelyan-Jones, Composer in Residence Joe Chindamo, Cybec Young Composer in Residence Andrew Aronowicz, Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence James Henry, Artist in Residence – Learning & Engagement Karen Kyriakou, Young Artist in Association Christian Li, and Artistic Ambassadors Tan Dun, Lu Siqing and Xian Zhang.

Learn more about our musicians on the MSO website.

Lorraine Hook

Jolene S Coultas*

Anne-Marie Johnson David Horowicz*

Kirstin Kenny Mark Mogilevski Michelle Ruffolo Anna Skálová Kathryn Taylor

Second Violins Matthew Tomkins

Principal The Gross Foundation*

Jos Jonker

Associate Principal

Monica Curro

Assistant Principal Dr Mary-Jane Gething AO *

Mary Allison Emily Beauchamp Isin Cakmakçioglu Tiffany Cheng Val Dyke*

Freya Franzen Cong Gu Andrew Hall Robert Macindoe Philippa West

Andrew Dudgeon AM *

Patrick Wong Cecilie Hall*

For a list of the musicians performing in each concert, please visit mso.com.au/musicians 6

Roger Young

Shane Buggle and Rosie Callanan*

February–March Program

Violas

Flutes

Horns

Christopher Moore

Prudence Davis

Nicolas Fleury

Lauren Brigden Katharine Brockman Anthony Chataway

Wendy Clarke

Saul Lewis

Principal

Peter T Kempen AM *

William Clark

Morris and Helen Margolis*

Aidan Filshie

Suzie and Edgar Myer *

Gabrielle Halloran Patricia Nilsson

Jenny Khafagi

Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson*

Fiona Sargeant

Cellos David Berlin Principal

Principal Jean Hadges*

Associate Principal

Sarah Beggs

Piccolo Andrew Macleod Principal

Oboes Johannes Grosso Principal

Ann Blackburn

Principal

Rohan de Korte

Associate Principal

Peter T Kempen AM *

Angela Sargeant Caleb Wong Michelle Wood

Andrew and Theresa Dyer *

Double Basses Jonathon Coco Principal

Rohan Dasika

Acting Associate Principal

Benjamin Hanlon

Acting Assistant Principal

Stephen Newton Aurora Henrich Suzanne Lee

Josiah Kop

Kim and Robert Gearon*

Rachel Shaw

Gary McPherson*

Trumpets Shane Hooton

Michael Pisani

Principal

Rebecca Proietto

The Hanlon Foundation*

Cor Anglais

Elina Faskhi

Andrew Dudgeon AM *

Abbey Edlin

Owen Morris

Clarinets

Assistant Principal

Principal Third The late Hon. Michael Watt KC and Cecilie Hall*

Margaret Billson and the late Ted Billson*

Rachael Tobin

Associate Principal

Principal Margaret Jackson AC *

David Thomas Philip Arkinstall

Bass Clarinet Jonathan Craven Principal

Bassoons Jack Schiller

Principal Dr Harry Imber *

Principal

Associate Principal Glenn Sedgwick*

Rosie Turner

Dr John and Diana Frew *

Trombones José Milton Vieira Principal

Richard Shirley Bass Trombone Michael Szabo Principal

Tuba Timothy Buzbee Principal

Elise Millman

Timpani

Natasha Thomas

Principal

Associate Principal Patricia Nilsson*

Contrabassoon Brock Imison Principal

Matthew Thomas

Percussion Shaun Trubiano Principal

John Arcaro

Tim and Lyn Edward*

Robert Cossom

Dr Clem Gruen and Dr Rhyl Wade*

Harp Yinuo Mu * Position supported by MSO 2026 Season

Principal

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Over a century of championing women’s musical leadership When MSO Concertmaster Natalie Chee leads the orchestra in Strauss & Mozart, she’ll hold a position that one remarkable woman claimed more than a century ago.

With International Women’s Day on Sunday 8 March, we’re taking a moment to celebrate the story of Bertha Jorgensen, who joined the MSO as a musician in 1920 and went on to become the first female concertmaster of a professional orchestra – a trailblazing world first.

The MSO proudly celebrates its 120th anniversary this year. Trace a line through its history and you’ll find these two exceptional women standing at pivotal moments. The MSO had been established for 14 years when Bertha, a prodigious 16-year-old violinist, accepted Alberto Zelman’s invitation to join his ensemble as first violin, later rising to the position of Concertmaster and making history. In 2026, Natalie stands on the shoulders of Bertha’s impressive legacy, carrying it forward for a new generation.

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A different world To understand the magnitude of what Bertha achieved, it’s useful to understand her world. Non-Indigenous women in Australia had only recently won the right to vote in federal elections. Most professions remained closed to women and they were not allowed in certain public spaces. The idea of a woman leading an orchestra was almost unthinkable. Yet the MSO, in its infancy, appointed a woman to its most prominent chair.

It was not all smooth sailing. She faced conductors who were openly prejudiced against her gender and slight stature. An article published in 1948 noted that she won them over through ‘professionalism and musical reliability’, refusing to bow to the gender norms of the day. When she broke her wrist ice skating, threatening to end her career, she returned to the violin ‘only through sheer determination.’ She was steadfast, resilient and strong.

February–March Program

BERTHA JORGENSEN (STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA)

Bertha’s legacy ‘Bertha’s story is both fascinating and inspiring,’ says Natalie Chee, who joins the MSO this year as Concertmaster. ‘It’s astonishing that a woman in those times led an orchestra, let alone an orchestra in Australia! I can only imagine the difficulties she must have faced.’

What strikes Natalie most is what Bertha’s appointment says about this progressive city: ‘There are some orchestras in the world who have never had a female leader to this day, and many who have only very recently appointed women in leading roles on any instrument. Bertha’s story says a lot about the MSO and Melbourne in general.’

The MSO’s willingness to appoint Bertha established something special in the DNA of the organisation; a commitment to recognising excellence wherever it appears, and a willingness to lead rather than follow.

Leadership reimagined When asked how the Concertmaster role has evolved for women, Natalie offers a nuanced perspective.

‘I think the role of concertmaster is very complex. Traditionally it was seen as an authoritarian role, much like the traditional role of a conductor. As society has evolved, so has the way leadership is seen in general.’

She points out that the changes aren’t just about gender, they’re about orchestras themselves evolving.

‘Methods of leadership which were absolutely normal in past generations are no longer feasible or acceptable. The way orchestras are led and run today are much different than they were even a few decades ago.’

It’s fascinating to read Bertha’s very own words from 1947: MSO 2026 Season

‘Every conductor has his own individual idea of how he thinks it should be played.

As leader, I must try to understand how he wants the orchestra to play.’

It sounds presciently similar to Natalie’s own reflections on the skills of a concertmaster in 2026: ‘I see myself as part of a group ... trying to understand what the conductor wants and help facilitate that.’

Playing without boundaries On 27 and 28 February, audiences will hear Natalie perform the soaring violin solo in Richard Strauss’s Bourgeois gentilhomme – ‘my favourite concertmaster solo piece,’ she says.

‘The music is so joyous and flamboyant.

You can literally see the character of the tailor in your mind’s eye – dancing and prancing around. It’s a stunning piece of writing by Strauss and a joy to play.’

120 years, and many generations in between, have seen attitudes and perspectives shift. We have Bertha’s talent and determination to thank for setting the wheels of change in motion.

Nicole Lovelock © 2026 9

PHOTO: KRISTIAN GEHRADTE

Jaime Martín conductor MSO CHIEF CONDUCTOR AND ARTISTIC ADVISOR In addition to his role with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Spanish conductor Jaime Martín is Music Director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and last season he was named Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. He was previously Chief Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland (2019–24), Principal Guest Conductor of the Spanish National Orchestra (2022–24) and Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Gävle Symphony Orchestra (2013–22).

Having spent many years as a highly regarded flautist, working with the most inspiring conductors of our time, Jaime turned to conducting full time in 2013 and soon became sought after at the highest level. He now regularly conducts major orchestras in the UK, Europe, US and Australasia. Recent highlights include an acclaimed BBC Proms appearance with BBC NOW and an 11-day Beethoven Festival with the MSO, conducting all nine symphonies. In 2025 he also led the MSO 10

on a tour of the UK and Europe, the orchestra’s first full international tour since 2019, with performances at the Edinburgh International Festival and BBC Proms.

His extensive discography includes recordings with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra de Cadaqués, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and London Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as releases on the MSO’s recently launched label: Debussy & Strauss, featuring soprano Siobhan Stagg; Gustav Holst: The Planets with Deborah Cheetham Fraillon’s Earth; and two albums of Dvořák symphonies.

Jaime Martín is Artistic Advisor and former Artistic Director of the Santander Festival and a Fellow of the Royal College of Music, London, where he was a flute professor.

February–March Program

Friday 27 February at 7:30pm Frankston Arts Centre

Saturday 28 February at 7:30pm Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre

Artists Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Jaime Martín conductor and flute Natalie Chee violin

Program J.S. Bach Orchestral Suite No. 3 [20']

STRAUSS & MOZART | 27–28 February

Strauss & Mozart

W.A. Mozart Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major [25’] interval

R. Strauss Le Bourgeois gentilhomme – Suite [26’]

CONCERT EVENTS Pre-concert talk: Learn more about the music with Gianni Posadas-Sen 6:45pm (27 Feb) in Frankston Arts Centre 6:45pm (28 Feb) in Elisabeth Murdoch Hall Running time: 1 hour and 45 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

Timings listed are approximate.

MSO 2026 Season

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PHOTO: LUCAS ALLEN

Natalie Chee violin MSO CONCERTMASTER Natalie Chee learned piano then violin as a child and at the age of ten began studying with Alex Todicescu, a professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and member of the Sydney String Quartet. As a student, she won numerous competitions and prizes, including the ABC Young Performer of the Year (1992), and she performed as a soloist with all the Australian symphony orchestras.

While still in high school, she was accepted into the Soloist Class of Igor Ozim in Bern, Switzerland, receiving her Soloist Diploma with High Distinction.

During this time, she was invited to join Camerata Bern, which she also directed.

She also co-founded the Tiramisu chamber music ensemble and Mozart Piano Quartet, touring North and South America, Europe and Australia with these groups and making several recordings with prominent Swiss and German labels.

Natalie has held the First Concertmaster roles with Camerata Salzburg (appointed 2000), the Stuttgart Radio (SWR) 12

Symphony Orchestra (2009), and the Gürzenich Orchestra (2019). She was named MSO Concertmaster in 2025 and takes up the role this year.

In addition, she is a regular guest concertmaster and director of orchestras worldwide, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Munich State Opera, Hamburg Radio Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Natalie is also a highly regarded chamber musician, appearing in festivals and concerts throughout Australia and Europe.

From 2009 to 2025 she was first violin of the Hegel String Quartet in Stuttgart, and their album From Vienna to Hollywood was named by the German Record Critics Award as one of the four best chamber music recordings in 2022.

February–March Program

About the music The concert is ‘Strauss and Mozart’ but it begins with Bach, and these composers, representing three distinct periods in music, make a congenial grouping. Bach’s style may have fallen out of fashion by the time Mozart was composing his flute concerto at the height of the Classical era, but Mozart could see past that and the greatness of Bach’s music influenced his own works. He even imitated Bach’s use of ‘old’ dance forms, as in the minuetflavoured finale of his G major flute concerto.

Bach’s suites or ouvertures are the nearest he came to composing orchestral music in the modern sense, and the third suite, in

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)

Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 Ouverture Air Gavottes I and II Bourrée Gigue It’s thought that Bach’s four orchestral suites or ouvertures were composed, or at least substantially revised, during his last post, in Leipzig, where he had access to the many excellent instrumentalists of the Collegium Musicum. The suites use different ensembles (the second features a solo flute) and the surviving parts of the third suite show that it was conceived for a double orchestra: one group comprising three trumpets and timpani, the other two violins, viola and basso continuo. The two oboes play in unison with the violins throughout, and it’s possible they were an afterthought, intended to give the sound of the strings more bite.

MSO 2026 Season

particular, played an important role in the 19th-century Bach revival. Mendelssohn, for example, performed this brilliant work in his concerts in Leipzig in the 1830s, and a 19th-century transcription of the ‘Air on the G string’ ensured it became one of Bach’s greatest hits.

Richard Strauss’s Bourgeois gentilhomme music is full of 20th-century colour and wit but it looks to the past: it’s organised as a suite based on the formal Baroque dance types and it finds stylistic inspiration in the music of Jean-Baptiste Lully, who dominated French opera at the time of Louis XIV.

The label ‘ouverture’ is a form of shorthand, then common in Germany, referring to a French-style ouverture followed by a suite of stylised dance movements. Bach is true to his model (as standardised by Jean-Baptiste Lully in his operas) writing a slow, majestic introduction followed by a fast section with intricate imitation between the instruments and a return of the slow introduction to conclude. The brilliant key of D major – so agreeable for trumpets and drums – brings a festive spirit to the music.

The Ouverture is followed by a measured Air that has become excessively famous in a lush Romantic arrangement for violin and piano by August Wilhelmj: the so-called Air on the G String. In Bach’s original conception, for strings alone, it is a far more beautiful piece, with much interest in the interplay of the parts.

The remaining dance movements have their origins in the ballroom, but Bach’s expression and ideas go far beyond the requirements and limitations of dance 13

music as he exploits their emotional and musical contrasts.

The pair of festive-sounding Gavottes adopt the characteristic feature of beginning each phrase in the middle of the bar and the double orchestra formation is presented in high relief.

The Bourrée is more vigorous, almost earthy, with a lively, skipping character.

The closing Gigue with its distinctive skipping rhythms taken from the Celtic jig, makes for a vibrant and lively finale.

David Garrett © 2019

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)

Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major, K.313 Allegro maestoso Adagio non troppo Rondo (Tempo di menuetto) Jaime Martín, flute In October 1777, on his way to Paris, Mozart broke his journey at Mannheim, staying some months. There he made the acquaintance of a wealthy Dutch patron of music who played the flute. This musical amateur (whose name was De Jean or Deschamps) commissioned several flute works from Mozart, including some quartets and two concertos. Mozart fulfilled only part of his contract: he composed one concerto for the impatient De Jean (K.313 in G major); for the second (K.314 in D major) he adapted for flute a concerto he had written for the Salzburg oboist Giuseppe Ferlendis.

It is common to read that Mozart disliked the flute but there’s no evidence of that dislike in the music he wrote for the instrument. The suggestion arises from a letter he wrote home from Mannheim several months after the commission had been offered. Justifying the delay in its completion – and possibly not wanting to 14

reveal the distractions of his love affair with Aloysia Weber – Mozart told his father that he didn’t always feel like working: ‘And then, as you know, I get fed up when I have to write for the same instrument all the time, and for one I can’t stand at that!’

The commission that had delighted Mozart in December was frustrating him in February. But, as flautist Frans Vester suggests, the sudden hostility was probably directed more to the player (Mozart had no high opinion of De Jean’s playing) than to the instrument.

The Mozart authority Alfred Einstein suggested that De Jean must have objected to the slow movement of this flute concerto as being too difficult, because Mozart had to compose a substitute. From the technical point of view, the first and the third movements of the concerto are more difficult than the second, yet they were not changed.

Einstein was referring to a different kind of difficulty: The slow movement is so personal, one might say so fantastic, so completely individual in character, that the man who commissioned the work evidently did not know what to do with it. Mozart then presumably had to replace it with a simpler, more pastoral or idyllic Andante in C major.

Mozart had taken little notice of De Jean’s request that the concertos should be ‘short and easy’. In spite of the relative delicacy of the solo instrument, the first movement is built on quite a massive scale, the point being to contrast the firmness of the opening subject with the more lyrical and tender melodies which follow.

The slow movement has been generally reckoned the richest and most beautiful in Mozart’s flute concertos. The strings play muted throughout.

February–March Program

The Rondo ‘in the tempo of a minuet’, described by Einstein as ‘a veritable fountain of good spirits and fresh invention’, is graceful and elegant. On the last few pages the flute is allowed to indulge in a greater virtuosity than anywhere earlier in the concerto, but the movement, like some others of Mozart’s in this tempo, ends quietly.

David Garrett © 2002

Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Le bourgeois Gentilhomme – Suite, Op. 60 Jourdain, the Bourgeois Menuett (The Dancing Master) The Fencing Master Arrival and Dance of the Tailors Lully’s Minuet Courante Arrival of Cléonte (after Lully) Dorantes and Dorimène (Count and Marquise) The Banquet (Musical Entertainment and Dance of the Kitchen Boys) Natalie Chee, violin solo The life of Strauss’s ‘would-be gentleman’ began in 1670 with Molière’s all-singing, all-dancing comédie-ballet Le Bourgeois gentilhomme, a satire on the aspirations of the wealthy middle class in the time of Louis XIV. To Strauss’s contemporaries, Molière’s play (with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully) was a museum-piece. But in 1911, Hugo von Hofmannsthal – Strauss’s librettist – proposed a ‘little Molière piece’ based on the play. By the following year, the ‘little’ idea had grown into an ambitious integration of theatre and opera.

The four-hour production began with an adaptation of Molière’s play, renamed Der Bürger als Edelmann (The Middleclass Nobleman), followed by a miniature opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, which threatened to dominate the evening just as Lully’s grand MSO 2026 Season

Ballet des Nations had done in the same spot nearly 250 years before. The logistical demands – combined with theatre- and opera-goers’ indifference to each other’s art forms – ensured there wouldn’t be a repeat performance.

The dramatic experiment was split up: Ariadne auf Naxos took its place in the opera repertoire; a revised Bürger als Edelmann flopped in 1918 and was revived just once in Strauss’s lifetime (for his 85th birthday). Only through this orchestral suite has his deft musical portrait of pride and folly survived.

Strauss knew Lully’s music and there are glimpses of the French composer in Strauss’s score. The small orchestra – 36 musicians as in the theatre – suggests the transparency of the baroque sound-world, but this is 17th-century France filtered through a 20th-century imagination.

M. JOURDAIN. There is nothing to compare, in my opinion, with genteel society. There’s no true honour and dignity except among the nobility. I would give my right hand to have been born a count or a marquis.

Jourdain, the Bourgeois establishes the mood with strings, doubled by the piano in the manner of a baroque basso continuo.

A coarse brass theme interrupts the repartee; a sweetly lilting arietta is presented by the oboe. In just a few minutes Strauss introduces the blustering would-be gentleman, the wealthy merchant Monsieur Jordain, and his bemused hired tutors. Music, dancing and fencing masters provide a crash course in gentlemanly accomplishments; the philosopher reveals, to his pupil’s amazement, that M. Jourdain has been speaking in prose for 40 years!

Jourdain’s favourite dance is the elegant minuet, although his execution of it is anything but, despite the efforts of The Dancing Master. In music rescued 15

from Strauss’s abandoned ballet Kythere, the heavy accents on weak beats suggest Jourdain’s clumsiness.

MUSIC MASTER. What is war but discord among nations? If all men studied music wouldn’t it be a means of bringing them to harmony and universal peace?

DANCING MASTER. And what do we say when a man has committed some mistake in his private life or in public affairs? Don’t we say that he made a false step? And doesn’t that come from not knowing how to dance?

The piano emerges from the background for The Fencing Master, which is almost a miniature piano concerto – ‘con bravura!’

Thrusting scales and arpeggios are parried by brass fanfares in a ‘logical demonstration’ of the swordsman’s art.

M. Jourdain is next attended by the tailor and his ‘hopping’ apprentices. The rhythm required for dressing ‘persons of consequence’ is supplied by a sprightly gavotte (also rescued from Kythere), after which the tailor dances a stately polonaise. This spectacular violin solo has been described as Strauss’s ‘Superman’ dressed in wig and stockings; Jourdain makes a gauche imitation to the sound of disturbing brass chords.

Lully’s Minuet was added for the 1918 revision. In Lully’s Bourgeois gentilhomme, the melody was unaccompanied, with the Dancing Master frantically singing instructions: ‘la la la la la, keep time if you please.’ Strauss gives it to the oboe, dressed in modern harmonic colours.

The Courante was also added in 1918 for a scene in which guests of dubious character descend on M. Jourdain (they are strangers to him and to Molière).

Their elaborate dance whirls with waltzlike grace.

The Arrival of Cléonte evokes the soundworld of Molière and Lully. Intending to win the hand of Jourdain’s daughter, 16

Cléonte enters disguised as a Turkish nobleman bearing promises of instant elevation to the aristocracy. This grand scene begins with a subdued procession based on one of Lully’s sarabandes. The central section is elegantly raucous, with added piccolo and triangle; the solemn opening theme then returns, coloured by exotic percussion.

Dorantes and Dorimène are the genuine, but not entirely noble, aristocrats in Molière’s play. In music featuring the clarinet and solo violin, emphatic dotted rhythms (alternating long and quick notes) revive the baroque convention for representing a majestic mood. [Compare it to the slow sections of the Ouverture in Bach’s Suite No.3.]

For the feast that M. Jourdain unwittingly hosts to the benefit of Dorantes and Dorimène, Hofmannsthal completely revised Molière’s menu to accommodate up-to-date musical jokes. The Banquet begins when six cooks enter carrying an elaborate meal to a coronation march by Meyerbeer. The Rhine salmon is served to the wave motif from Wagner’s Rheingold; the saddle of mutton to the bleating sheep from Strauss’s own Don Quixote. A dish of songbirds is accompanied by birdsong from Der Rosenkavalier and a sly allusion to Verdi’s ‘La donna è mobile’ (Rigoletto).

Finally, the omelette surprises everyone when a kitchen boy jumps from the enormous platter for what Hofmannsthal intended to be a wild erotic dance (à la Salome?). Strauss, however, dishes up a buoyant Viennese waltz – intoxicating, but completely wholesome.

Yvonne Frindle © 2019 Quotations after Molière The MSO first performed this suite on 8 June 1957, conducted by Kurt Woess.

It’s likely then Leader Bertha Jorgensen played the ‘Tailors’ solo.

February–March Program

Thursday 5 March at 7:30pm Saturday 7 March at 7:30pm Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne

Artists Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Jaime Martín conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet piano

Program John Williams Star Wars: Suite [11'] Gershwin Concerto in F [31’]

SEASON OPENING GALA | 5, 7 March

Season Opening Gala

interval

Rachmaninoff Symphonic Dances [35’] Jaime Martín’s biography can be found on page 10.

CONCERT EVENTS Pre-concert talk: Richard Wigley (MSO CEO) in conversation with Nicholas Bochner (Head of Learning & Engagement) 6:45pm in the Stalls Foyer (Level 2) at Hamer Hall Running time: 1 hours and 50 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

Timings listed are approximate.

MSO 2026 Season

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PHOTO: ELISABETH CAREN

Jean-Yves Thibaudet piano Through elegant musicality and an insightful approach to contemporary and established repertoire, Jean-Yves Thibaudet has earned a reputation as one of the world’s finest pianists. He is especially known for his diverse interests beyond the classical world, including numerous collaborations in film, fashion, and visual art. He is the first-ever Artist-inResidence at the Colburn School, which awards several scholarships in his name.

This season, he appears in concerts and recitals worldwide, in works ranging from Gershwin’s Concerto in F and SaintSaëns’s Piano Concerto No.5 to Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety, Scriabin’s Prometheus and Messiaen’s TurangalîlaSymphonie. He also continues his multiseason focus on Debussy’s Préludes, performing both books in their entirety.

He is a champion of Khachaturian’s Piano Concerto, recently performing it with the St Louis Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic. He also joined violinist Lisa Batiashvili and cellist Gautier Capuçon on a European piano trio tour.

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A prolific recording artist, he has appeared on more than 70 albums and six film scores, and his extensive catalog has received two Grammy nominations, two ECHO Awards, and Gramophone awards, as well as a German Record Critics’ Award, Diapason d’Or, CHOC du Monde de la Musique, and the Edison Prize. Recent recordings include Khachaturian, a celebration of the Armenian composer including his Piano Concerto, and Gershwin Rhapsody with pianist-singer Michael Feinstein, including four newly discovered Gershwin pieces. He is the soloist on Dario Marianelli’s recently reissued score for the 2005 film Pride and Prejudice (certified Gold by the RIAA in 2025), and his playing can also be heard on Marianelli’s score for Atonement, Alexandre Desplat’s scores for The French Dispatch and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, and Aaron Zigman’s score for Wakefield.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet’s concert wardrobe is designed by Dame Vivienne Westwood.

February–March Program

About the music John Williams (born 1932)

Star Wars: Suite Main Title Princess Leia’s Theme The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s Theme) John Williams is credited with restoring symphonic sound to the movies in the 1970s – putting the orchestra back into the cinema – and for nearly 50 years, orchestras have been returning the compliment by bringing his film music into the concert hall. Williams spearheaded the symphonic revival with The Poseidon Adventure in 1972. Five years later, in Star Wars (A New Hope), not only were audiences given a lush orchestral score, that score was accompanying science fiction! Williams recognised that, despite the space ships and the lightsabers, Star Wars was at heart a work of romantic storytelling. It is, after all, ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away’.

Seeking an emotionally familiar musical language, Williams drew on 19th-century operatic idioms, in particular Richard Wagner’s use of leading motifs for individual characters and concepts.

The visually stunning opening with its signature ‘text crawl’ called for a Main Title that would, as Williams says, ‘smack you right in the eye’. The brass instruments, playing in their most brilliant registers, give the fanfare an idealistic, uplifting but military flare. This contrasts with a lyrical and romantic, but also adventurous, second theme. Flourishes and upward-reaching motifs allude to Luke’s character – idealistic and heroic.

The theme for Princess Leia conveys a protagonist who is beautiful, vulnerable and courageous, and a solo horn brings MSO 2026 Season

nobility as well as lyricism. But this theme is also heard when Obi-Wan dies at the hands of Darth Vader – with Leia a mere onlooker – suggesting, writes Rod Webb, that it also represents the ideal of the lost Republic.

Tonight’s suite ends with Darth Vader’s theme, The Imperial March. Here, Williams sought a strong melodic identification or ‘imprint’, that would always be associated with the character, even if only a fragment is heard. In the case of Darth Vader, explains Williams, the brass convey his military bearing, his authority and his ominous look, while the use of the minor mode ensures the effect is threatening.

Yvonne Frindle © 2026

George Gershwin (1898–1937)

Concerto in F for piano and orchestra Allegro Andante con moto Allegro agitato Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano Gershwin first crossed the tracks from jazz and popular music to ‘serious’ music with Rhapsody in Blue. It caused a sensation and a controversy, but when the dust had settled, the pungent, memorable tunes and rhythms were still there – the Rhapsody is likely to remain Gershwin’s most popular piece of instrumental music.

Gershwin had composed it for Paul Whiteman’s big band, which played what Whiteman, at least, called jazz. Rhapsody in Blue comes off best, many believe (including Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who has recorded it this way), in its original scoring for band rather than in the inflated orchestral version. In fact, the neophyte composer made neither arrangement 19

himself – he and Whiteman called in the services of the band’s arranger, Ferde Grofé.

That was in 1924. Meanwhile, the jazz craze was sweeping America, and the venerable but still enterprising conductor of the New York Symphony Society, Walter Damrosch, had an idea which would, at one stroke, further his aim of encouraging American composers and bring some jazz flavour into the concert hall. In the spring of 1925, his Society commissioned Gershwin to compose a piano concerto and to appear as soloist in seven concerts with the New York Symphony beginning in December of that year.

It’s said that the brashly self-confident Gershwin, after accepting the commission, had to find out what a ‘concerto’ was. Be that as it may, Gershwin was determined to orchestrate the work himself, and bought a textbook of orchestration. His original title for the work was ‘New York Concerto’, and he began to write it in the Gershwin family home at 103rd Street; or, when that became too crowded with distracting friends and relatives, in the seclusion of a room at the nearby Whitehall Hotel. The Australian-born pianist Ernest Hutcheson, then a staff member and later president of the Juilliard School, made available to Gershwin a studio at out-of-town Chautauqua, where he conducted masterclasses in the summer months, and some of the concerto was composed there.

Gershwin’s original plan for the concerto was expressed in his typically laconic style. The three movements were to be: 1. Rhythm 2. Melody 3. More Rhythm Because of the title ‘concerto’, much attention has focussed on how Gershwin met conventional demands of form. Critics were quick to point out supposed 20

‘structural deficiencies’, although some have countered with the claim that Gershwin adopted sonata form in the first movement and rondo form in the third. It is doubtful whether this approach to the concerto is much to the point. Gershwin biographer Charles Schwartz surely has it right: ‘Doing what came naturally to him, Gershwin created his own personal version of a concerto, though hardly one that would conform to textbook models.’

After all, what popular 20th-century concerto do those models fit? Certainly not Rachmaninoff’s.

The Concerto in F is in fact a string of highly effective melodies, involving a certain amount of repetition (including reminiscences of the first movement in the third), not much development, and some quasi-symphonic linking passages between the big tunes. The anxious care Gershwin gave to this work was surely due to his sense that the music would have to stand the test of durability and repetition, not the ephemeral success of a Broadway show. By that test he succeeded: the Concerto in F is the most often played American concerto and one of the most frequently heard concertos of the 20th century.

Among the Carnegie Hall premiere’s mixed audience of jazz buffs, classical elite and Damrosch’s worshipful following of Society ladies, there were those who were shocked, those who were puzzled, and those who were disappointed – because the concerto was not as musically raffish as Rhapsody in Blue. Critic Samuel Chotzinoff caught the reaction which has endured: ‘Of all those writing the music of today…Gershwin alone expresses us.’ The original title, ‘New York Concerto’, is an apt indication of its character: ‘a mixture of New York musical vernacular and the concert hall’ (Schwartz). Gershwin’s own program note makes no claims about the form of the piece, but gives a good description of its contents:

February–March Program

The first movement (Allegro) employs the Charleston rhythm. It is quick and pulsating, representing the young enthusiastic spirit of American life. It begins with a rhythmic motif given out by the kettledrums, supported by other percussion instruments, and with a Charleston motif…The principal theme is announced by the bassoon. Later, a second theme is introduced by the piano.

The second movement (Andante con moto) has a poetic nocturnal atmosphere which has come to be referred to as the American blues, but in a purer form than that in which they are usually treated.

The final movement (Allegro agitato) reverts to the style of the first. It is an orgy of rhythms, starting violently and keeping to the same pace throughout.

David Garrett © 1987/2003

Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873–1943)

Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 Non Allegro Andante con moto (Tempo di valse) Lento assai – Allegro vivace Conductor, pianist and composer, Rachmaninoff often complained that he could never maintain all three activities simultaneously. His adult career as a concert pianist left him little time for composition, and for years he wrote next to nothing. Then, much to his surprise, the urge to compose began to reassert itself.

A procession of ‘Indian summer’ pieces emerged between 1926 and 1940, many of which are now regarded as among his finest compositions.

‘I don’t know how it happened. It must have been my last spark,’ is how Rachmaninoff described the origins of the Symphonic Dances. Yet the idea of a score for a programmatic ballet had been at the back of his mind since 1915, and MSO 2026 Season

when Michel Fokine choreographed the Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini for a ballet in 1939, the opportunity to compose an original ballet appealed again to Rachmaninoff’s imagination. He wrote the Dances the following year, giving the three movements the titles Midday, Twilight and Midnight. At this point the work was called ‘Fantastic Dances’.

Rachmaninoff played it over on the piano for Fokine, who was enthusiastic about the music but non-committal about its balletic possibilities. In any case, Fokine’s death a short time later cooled Rachmaninoff’s interest in the ballet idea altogether. He deleted his descriptive movement names and substituted ‘Symphonic’ for ‘Fantastic’ in the title. In its new guise he dedicated the triptych to his favourite orchestra, the Philadelphia, and its chief conductor Eugene Ormandy.

It is a work full of enigmas, which Rachmaninoff does nothing to clarify. In the first movement, there is a transformation from minor to major of a prominent theme from his first symphony, which at that time Rachmaninoff thought was irretrievably lost. (The score was lost, but the symphony was re-constructed from the orchestral parts after his death.)

The premiere of that work in 1897 had been such a fiasco that Rachmaninoff could not compose at all for another three years. But the reference to the symphony in this new piece has a meaning that remains entirely private.

There is also the curious paradox that the word ‘dance’ – with its suggestion of lifeenhancing, joyous activity – is here put at the service of a work that – for all its vigour and sinew – is essentially concerned with endings. Chromaticism darkens the colour of every musical step.

The sense of foreboding and finality is particularly strong in the second movement, with its evocations of a spectral ballroom, and in the bell-tolling and chant-intoning that pervade what was 21

to be not only the last dance of the set, but the last new movement he would ever compose.

The first movement, with its unusual tempo marking Non Allegro (‘Not fast’ – what could he have meant?) begins hesitantly, before a bold, staccato statement of a theme that sounds very much like the plainchant for the dead, ‘Dies irae’, in disguise. It will reappear in different guises throughout the work. This leads to the main part of the movement.

From this point on, most of the major musical ideas are introduced by the woodwinds, including the leaping main theme, given to flutes, oboes and clarinets. The major lyrical theme is then given to that infrequent orchestral visitor, the alto saxophone, making its solo appearance with delicately scored accompaniment for winds only. (The saxophone has no other music to play in the work.) Rachmaninoff also employs orchestral piano, and when the lyrical theme is given its second statement by the strings, in an impassioned unison, the piano traces a filigree accompaniment, creating an overall effect of shining brightness. In the coda of this movement, harp and piano together create a glistening, shimmering counterpoint to the plush, chorale-like statement of the motif plucked from the first symphony.

The waltz movement begins with muted trumpet fanfares that have a sinister fairytale quality to them. Woodwind arabesques swirl around them, until a solo violin passage gives way to the main waltz theme, introduced by the oboe and cor

anglais before being taken up by the strings. The ghostly woodwind arabesques continue to decorate this theme until the winds themselves announce the livelier second melody.

Although the atmosphere becomes warmer and more passionate at times, it does not lighten, and sometimes becomes quite macabre. It is as if we are experiencing a memory of a ballroom rather than a ball itself.

The finale is the work’s most complex movement. The extensive use of the ‘Dies irae’ (a regular source of material for Rachmaninoff) and the inscription ‘Alliluya’, written in the score above the last motif in the work to be derived from Orthodox chant, suggest the most final of endings mingled with a sense of thanksgiving.

[The ‘Alliluya’ is a direct reference to Rachmaninoff’s choral work, All-Night Vigil.] The tolling of the midnight bell that prefaces the movement’s vigorous main section reinforces the view that the work might, after all, be a parable on the three ages of man.

Much of the main Allegro vivace material here is derived from the chant, as is the motif that eventually drives away the ‘Dies irae’ and dominates the work’s forthright conclusion. But this is also the movement in which Rachmaninoff takes time out from the dance, in an extensive central section in which morbidity, regret, passion and tears commingle in a complex and beautifully scored musical design.

Abridged from a note by Phillip Sametz © 1999/2007

Dance of Death Rachmaninoff’s choice of the ‘Dies irae’ chant in the third movement suggests a ‘dance of death’. The 12 chimes of midnight in the introduction enhance the macabre effect. But Rachmaninoff moves well beyond a danse macabre, transforming the sinister tune into music serenely reminiscent of his beloved Russian Orthodox chant. This is the spiritual and musical heritage he celebrated in his great choral masterpiece, the All-Night Vigil, and Rachmaninoff directly quotes music from the Vigil at the point in the score marked ‘Alliluya’. Choosing his own final dance partner, Rachmaninoff abandons Death, for Life.

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February–March Program

Thursday 12 March at 7:30pm Saturday 14 March at 2:00pm Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne

Friday 13 March at 7:30pm Costa Hall, Geelong

Artists Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Jaime Martín conductor María Dueñas violin

Program Melody Eötvös The Deciding Machine* [12'] Beethoven Violin Concerto [42’] interval

ALSO SPRACH ZARATHUSTRA | 12–14 March

Also sprach Zarathustra

R. Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra [33’] * Australian premiere Jaime Martín’s biography can be found on page 10.

CONCERT EVENTS Pre-concert talk: Learn more about the music with Megan Reeve 6:45pm (12 Mar) and 1:45pm (14 Mar) in the Stalls Foyer (Level 2) at Hamer Hall 6:45pm (13 Mar) at Costa Hall Running time: 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval.

Timings listed are approximate.

Freemasons Foundation Victoria

MSO 2026 Season

MSO’s Geelong performance is supported by AWM Electrical, Freemasons Foundation Victoria, the Estate of the late Blanch Brooke Hutchings, and Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment

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PHOTO: SONJA MÜLLER

María Dueñas violin Spanish violinist María Dueñas has established herself as one of today’s most outstanding artists, celebrated for her extraordinary tonal palette and captivating expressiveness.

Her meteoric rise led to an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, and her 2023 debut album, Beethoven and Beyond, showcased her remarkable interpretation of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto featuring her own cadenzas.

This recording, with the Vienna Symphony under Manfred Honeck, earned her the prestigious Opus Klassik award as Young Artist of the Year in 2024, adding to an extraordinary array of prizes at competitions worldwide. In February 2025 she released her second album, an ambitious project centred around Paganini’s 24 Caprices and other works inspired by the composer. This recording earned her both Young Artist of the Year and Instrumentalist of the Year at the 2025 Gramophone Classical Music Awards.

conductors such as Yannick NézetSéguin, Herbert Blomstedt, Christian Thielemann and Gustavo Dudamel. Her creative pursuits extend beyond performance, with compositions of her own and innovative projects such as the film Measures for a Funeral, featuring the rediscovery of Halvorsen’s violin concerto.

Highlights of this season have included a tour with Antonio Pappano and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and a performance with Semyon Bychkov at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm. She also made her Vienna Philharmonic debut under Karina Canellakis and her New York Philharmonic debut under Manfred Honeck. Another career milestone was the celebration in February of Zubin Mehta’s 90th birthday together with the WestEastern Divan Orchestra.

As a stipendiary of the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, María Dueñas performs on a Nicolò Gagliano violin from 17?4.

María Dueñas has performed with leading orchestras around the world under 24

February–March Program

PHOTO: GRANT HEGER

About the music Melody Eötvös (born 1984)

The Deciding Machine This concert ends with philosophy of a kind (Thus Spake Zarathustra), but it begins with science in a musical exploration of the life of Ada Lovelace (1815–1852), mathematical pioneer and now feminist icon. The only legitimate child of the Lord Byron, Lovelace pursued what she called ‘poetical science’. At 18 she was introduced to Charles Babbage, who was beginning work on his Analytical Engine, a computing device that would operate via punched cards, not unlike those used in mechanical jacquard looms and street organs. It was Lovelace who published the first algorithm intended for Babbage’s Engine – effectively making her one of the first computer programmers.

(The programming language Ada is named for her.)

With The Deciding Machine, composed for the 2021 Grand Teton Music Festival, Australian-born composer Melody Eötvös pays homage to the Engine and above all to ‘the bride of science’, as she describes Lovelace. The 2021 Festival, led by conductor Donald Runnicles, celebrated (belatedly) the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the US. It was no accidental choice for a festival in Wyoming – in 1869, the ‘Equality State’ was the first state in the Union to grant women the right to vote, more than 50 years before suffrage, and had been the first to elect a female governor (in 1825).

This prompted thoughts of pioneering women and Lovelace specifically.

In an interview before the premiere, Eötvös described the kernel of music that provided the impetus for this 12-minute work. It begins, she explained, with ‘high, repeated notes, like a code or an alien MSO 2026 Season

language. It starts, stops, modulates, overlaps, and eventually begins to resolve into a recognisable time signature, though one still strained and in conflict with the metre’. This original idea was then treated to constant variation – repeating but with subtle, complex changes, like a machine worrying at a problem, and thus constantly propelling the music forward in a manner both organic and mechanical.

Yvonne Frindle © 2026 MELODY EÖTVÖS was born in the Southern Highlands of NSW and began studying music with her parents. At eight she took up cello and at the same time began experimenting with composition.

A graduate of the Queensland Conservatorium and the Royal Academy of Music in London, she holds a doctorate from Indiana University Jacobs and is a Senior Lecturer at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

She has composed more than 20 orchestral works, and in addition to the Grand Teton Music Festival and the MSO, she has been commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Australian Chamber Orchestra, ANAM, Synergy Percussion, Arcadia Winds, the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music Symphony Orchestra (for a tour to Singapore and Malaysia) and the Flinders String Quartet.

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Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 Allegro ma non troppo Larghetto – Rondo (Allegro) María Dueñas, violin Cadenzas by the soloist Beethoven’s Violin Concerto stands alone.

Completed in 1806, it was the only significant concerto for the violin between those Mozart had written in the 1770s and Felix Mendelssohn’s of 1844. Beethoven had never completed a violin concerto when Franz Clement, the popular concertmaster of the orchestra at the Theater an der Wien, approached him with a commission. The result, completed in the nick of time, was premiered in a benefit concert for the violinist on 23 December 1806. Johann Nepomuk Möser expressed mixed views in his report for a Viennese theatrical journal: The excellent violinist Klement also played, besides other beautiful pieces, a violin Concerto by Beethofen, which on account of its originality and many beautiful passages, was received with much approbation. Klement’s genuine art and gracefulness, his power and perfect command of the violin – which is his slave – were greeted with deafening applause. As regards Beethofen’s Concerto, the verdict of the experts is unanimous; while they acknowledge that it contains some fine things, they agree that the continuity often seems to be completely disrupted, and that the endless repetition of a few commonplace passages could easily prove wearisome.

According to Möser, Beethoven could have ‘put his undoubtedly great talents to better use’.

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Evidently Viennese public – the superficial brilliance of concertos by Viotti and Spohr in their ears – were puzzled by Beethoven’s contribution, even as the performance pleased them. Here was a violin concerto of unprecedented substance. Even though the movements were split up, with the second and third movements played after interval, the sheer duration of the first movement (longer than most contemporary concertos in their entirety) would have given the game away.

Furthermore, the character of the concerto was lyrical and serious rather than brilliant and showy, as if tailor-made for Clement’s playing style – a little old-fashioned and not particularly robust but imbued with ‘elegance and lustre’.

The solo part is by no means easy, but Beethoven downplays the ‘confrontation’ between virtuoso and orchestra that’s expected in a concerto. Instead he highlights the dramatic contrasts between the thematic ideas and builds an expansive structure. The effect is of a symphony with the solo violin taking a principal part.

This ‘symphonic’ concerto is announced by five taps from the timpani, a motif which, like a heartbeat, dominates the whole of the first movement (soberly marked Allegro ma non troppo: fast but not too much). As was customary, the orchestra presents the main themes in a long and lyrical exposition, beginning with a radiant theme in the woodwinds, before the solo violin enters with a poised flourish of octaves and its serene interpretation of the same material. The soloist must wait almost until the end of the movement, however, before Beethoven hands over the beautiful second theme, played to rich effect on the lowest string of the violin.

The Larghetto second movement has some of the lyrical character of Beethoven’s early romances for violin and orchestra, together with a quality that Donald Tovey described as ‘sublime February–March Program

inaction’. Listening to the floating filigree lines of the solo part, it’s easy to imagine the ‘indescribable tenderness’ of Clement’s playing, and equally easy to forget that the soloist never really has the tune.

Clement himself had written a violin concerto, also in D major, which had been premiered in 1805, sharing the program with Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. No doubt this work provided a technical model for Beethoven, and tradition has it that Clement supplied the leaping refrain for the hunting rondo that concludes Beethoven’s concerto. (The story goes that violinist Yehudi Menuhin’s wife, Diana, added words to this jaunty tune: ‘At last it’s over, at last it’s over!’) This rondo theme is introduced by the solo violin, again using just the low G string, perhaps echoing Clement’s fondness for party tricks: after the first movement of the concerto, Clement played a piece of his own, on one string, holding the violin upside down!

No such gimmick would have been possible between the second and third movements. Beethoven instructs the soloist to use the final trill of the second movement as the launchpad for an improvised cadenza leading directly into the third. This carries the music between the ingeniously orchestrated variations of the Larghetto and the energy of the boisterous finale.

The concerto received a second performance in 1808 but was then more or less neglected until 1844, when the 13-year-old Joseph Joachim performed it in London with Felix Mendelssohn conducting. Since then it has assumed its rightful place, not just as a staple of the repertoire but as a musical touchstone that stands alone, even in the company of the great violin concertos.

Yvonne Frindle © 2019/2025

MSO 2026 Season

Richard Strauss (1864–1949)

Also sprach Zarathustra – Symphonic poem, Op. 30 Introduction – Of the Back-worlds-men – Of the Great Longing – Of Joys and Passions – The Funeral Song – Of Science – The Convalescent – The Dance Song – Night Wanderer’s Song In 1891–92 the usually robust Strauss suffered a period of serious illness, including bouts of pneumonia, bronchitis and pleurisy. In the summer of 1892 he took leave of his duties at the Weimar Opera and travelled extensively through Italy, Greece and Egypt, soaking up the sun, but more importantly enjoying the awesome physical remains of the ancient pagan civilisations in those countries.

It was at this time that he began to think about a musical response to some of the ideas of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly those expressed in his poem Also sprach Zarathustra, though the work’s composition had to wait until 1896.

Zoroaster (as he was known to the ancient Greeks) was a Persian prophet living in the sixth century BCE who taught that the universe, and humankind in particular, is subject to the eternal struggle of two gods, represented by light and darkness; his religion survives among the Parsees of modern India. Nietzsche’s relationship to Zoroastrian ideas is fairly loose, and as Norman Del Mar puts it, he used these ‘as a prop on which to clothe his own ideas on the purpose and destiny of mankind’. The most famous – indeed, notorious – of these is the idea of the Übermensch or Superman. ‘Man,’ in Nietzsche’s words, ‘is a thing to be surmounted…what is the ape to man? A jest or a thing of shame.

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So shall man be to the Superman.’ While Nietzsche (and, it must be admitted, the younger Strauss) was disdainful of Christianity’s compassion for weakness, it is drawing a long bow to make Nietzsche responsible for the atrocities of Nazism.

Indeed, Nietzsche scholar Joachim Köhler argues that Also sprach Zarathustra, with its celebration of the individual will, partly grew out of the poet’s freeing himself from the dominating personality of the composer Richard Wagner. And Wagner’s widow Cosima, writing to her son-in-law Houston Stewart Chamberlain (whose racist ideas definitely did influence Hitler), condemned Nietzsche’s book for its ‘Jewishness’.

C and B. A new chromatic motif leads into the Of Joys and Passions section with a theme that Strauss described as ‘A flat (brass: dark blue)’. Actually the section tends to be in C minor, linking it to the idea of nature, whereas the following Funeral Song is in B minor, and therefore linked to the idea of man.

Listening Guide

The Dance Song of the Superman is, like the ‘Dance of the Seven Veils’ in Salome, a Viennese waltz – a Straussian joke, perhaps. Here poet and composer part company: Strauss’s Zoroaster displays none of the triumphalism that Nietzsche’s does, and the work closes with a mysterious and tranquil Night Wanderer’s Song in which the keys of nature and man still quietly contend.

Strauss’s work is, as he said, ‘freely after Fr. Nietzsche’: he takes some of the chapter headings as the defining images for each section of his tone poem. It begins with the famous invocation to the sun (Introduction: Sunrise), with low rumbling accompanying the trumpets’ simple C–G–C theme (which in much of Strauss represents primeval nature). The increasing blaze of full chords establishes C major as one pole of the work (and as Del Mar notes, the sound of the organ at the end of the section adds a liturgical note). Of the Back-worlds-men depicts humanity in its primitive, or rather naïve state (in B minor, significantly – B being the other tonal pole of the piece). Strauss includes those who profess Christianity in this category, quoting a fragment of the plainchant for the Credo to underline his point.

Of Science is based on a deeply-voiced fugue that Strauss described as ‘spinechilling’ and Del Mar regards as having a ‘strangely mysterious quality’ despite its dour timbre. In The Convalescent, Nietzsche describes Zoroaster’s spiritual and physical collapse, after which he emerges as the Superman.

Gordon Kerry © 2004

Of the Great Longing, which follows a gorgeous climax for the strings, is a depiction of humanity’s search for something beyond mere superstition, but Strauss’s music dramatises the conflict between nature (the trumpet theme) and humanity’s tendency to create dogma with more hints of plainchant and the unresolved conflict between the keys of 28

February–March Program

Thursday 19 March at 7:30pm Saturday 21 March at 7:30pm Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne

Artists Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Benjamin Northey conductor Jessica Aszodi mezzo-soprano MSO Chorus

Program Ravel Pavane pour infante défunte [12'] Joe Chindamo* Are There Any Questions?** [42’]

STRAVINSKY & CHINDAMO | 19, 21 March

Stravinsky & Chindamo

interval

Stravinsky The Rite of Spring [33’]

* MSO Composer in Residence ** World premiere of an MSO commission, with generous support from Michael Aquilina

CONCERT EVENTS Pre-concert talk: Joe Chindamo in conversation with Megan Burslem 6:45pm in the Stalls Foyer (Level 2) at Hamer Hall Running time: 2 hours, including a 20-minute interval.

Timings listed are approximate.

MSO 2026 Season

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PHOTO: LAURA MANARITI

Benjamin Northey conductor MSO PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR In addition to his role with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and Conductor in Residence of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, as well as Professor of Conducting at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Director of the Australian Conducting Academy. He was previously MSO Associate Conductor (2010–19), Resident Guest Conductor of the Australia Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra (2002–06) and Principal Guest Conductor of the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (2007–10).

He appears regularly as a guest conductor with all the major Australian symphony orchestras, as well as for Opera Australia, New Zealand Opera, Victorian Opera and State Opera South Australia, and he has conducted concerts with the London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Malaysian philharmonic orchestras, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. In 2026, he 30

conducts the Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, West Australian, Tasmanian, Christchurch and Pittsburgh symphony orchestras.

Benjamin is a champion of Australian orchestral music and has premiered dozens of major new works by Australian composers, as well as sitting on board of the Australian Music Centre.

An Aria, Air Music and Art Music awards winner, in 2018 he was voted Limelight magazine’s Australian Artist of the Year.

His many recordings can be found on the ABC Classic label.

Benjamin Northey studied conducting at Finland’s Sibelius Academy with Leif Segerstam and Atso Almila before completing his studies at the Stockholm Royal College of Music with Jorma Panula.

He is also a graduate of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where he studied conducting with John Hopkins.

February–March Program

Jessica Aszodi mezzo-soprano Jessica Aszodi is a mezzo-soprano, writer, educator and performer. Her unusually wide and flexible range enables her to perform repertoire across genres and voice types, and her work crosses between opera, experimental music, improvisation, composition and music theatre. From Mozart and Mahler to Berio, Boulez and popular music styles, she has built up a truly idiosyncratic set of techniques. She has cycled while singing on the stage of the Royal Festival Hall, performed body percussion so fierce it leaves a mark, and mastered a not small number of extremely extended vocal techniques. She has twice been nominated for Green Room awards as Best Female Operatic Performer in both the leading and supporting categories.

Victorian Opera, Sydney Chamber Opera, the chamber series of the San Diego and Chicago symphony orchestras, and the Tirolean, Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide symphony orchestras.

Jessica has performed as a soloist with ensembles and opera houses and worldwide, including the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Musikfabrik, International Contemporary Ensemble (NY), Wiener Volksoper, Nederlands Reisoper, Hamburg State Opera, Pinchgut Opera,

Jessica Aszodi holds a doctorate from the Queensland Conservatorium, and her artistic research and teaching focuses on the materiality and politics of embodiment practices in the creation of new vocal performance.

MSO 2026 Season

Her festival appearances include the Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide festivals and Vivid Sydney, as well as Darmstadt, Aldeburgh, Tectonics, Tanglewood, Klangspuren, Beethoven Festwoche, Resonant Bodies, Aspen and the Bendigo International Festival of Exploratory Music (BIFEM).

A passionate exponent of new work, she has performed important premieres by collaborators such as Liza Lim, Augusta Read Thomas, Dai Fujkura, Anthony Pateras, Cathy Milliken and Laura Bowler.

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MSO Chorus Celebrating more than 60 years of creating inspiring musical moments, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus gives voice to the Orchestra’s choral repertoire. The MSO Chorus has performed with the finest conductors including Jaime Martín, Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Mark Wigglesworth, Bernard Labadie, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Xian Zhang, Nodoko Okisawa and Simon Halsey.

PHOTO: LAURA MANARITI

Committed to developing and performing new Australian and international choral repertoire, the MSO Chorus has commissioned works such as Brett Dean’s Katz und Spatz, Ross Edwards’ Mountain Chant, and Paul Stanhope’s Exile Lamentations, and its recordings have received critical acclaim. The Chorus has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in São Paolo, with the Australian Ballet and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, at the AFL Grand Final and at Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies.

Warren Trevelyan-Jones CHORUS DIRECTOR Warren Trevelyan-Jones is regarded as one of the leading choral conductors and choir trainers in Australia. Chorus Director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra since 2017, last year he was also appointed Chorus Master of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. From 2008 to 2024 he was Head of Music at St James’, King Street in Sydney, and under his leadership, the Choir of St James’ gained an international reputation through its regular choral services, orchestral masses, concert series, recordings, and interstate and international touring, as well as the commissioning of new works.

Before relocating to Australia in 2008, he enjoyed an extensive career as a vocal soloist and ensemble singer in Europe, 32

including nine years in the Choir of Westminster Abbey, and regular work with the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), the Kings Consort, Dunedin Consort, the Sixteen, the Tallis Scholars and the Taverner Choir, Consort and Players. He has appeared on more 60 recordings and numerous TV and radio broadcasts, and in many of the worlds’ leading music festivals and concert halls.

Warren is a co-founder of the Consort of Melbourne and, in 2001 with Dr Michael Noone, he founded the Gramophone Award-winning group Ensemble Plus Ultra.

He is also an experienced singing teacher and qualified music therapist.

February–March Program

PHOTO: LAURA MANARITI

Choristers performing in this concert Sopranos

Emma Anvari Carolyn Archibald Sheila Baker Helena Balazs Aviva Barazani Tina Battaglia Giselle Baulch Eva Butcher Aliz Cole Veryan Croggon Emily Cunningham Ella Dann-Limon Keren Evans Laura Fahey Rita Fitzgerald Catherine Folley Susan Fone Carolyn Francis Karina Gough Penny Huggett Gina Humphries Phoebe Irawan Tania Jacobs Gwen Kennelly Judy Longbottom Caitlin Noble Katherine O’Shea Elise Parsonage Amanda Powell Tanja Redl Beth Richardson MSO 2026 Season

Jo Robin Elizabeth Rusli Kathryn Scully Fiona Seers Jemima Sim Tracey Thorpe Katy Turbitt Jenny Vallins Tracey Videon Ariane Vrisakis Agnes Widjaja

Altos

Satu Aho Ruth Anderson Catherine Bickell Cecilia Bjorkegren Kate Bramley Jacqueline Cheng Alexandra Chubaty Juliarna Clark Andrea CliffordJones Marie Connett Marie Eleanor-Rapp Claudia Funder Jill Giese Jillian Graham Sophia Gyger Madeleine Halls Ros Harbison Jennifer Henry

Kristine Hensel Helen Hill Julie Lotherington Christina McCowan Rosemary McKelvie Helen Maclean Charlottte Midson Nicole Patterson Kate Rice Helen Rommelaar Kerry Roulston Libby Timcke

Tenors

James Allen Lucas Azevedo dos Santos Kent Borchard Steve Burnett Peter Campbell Jose Diaz Lyndon Horsburgh Lilijana Matičevska Michael Mobach Marko Montsalud Jean-Francois Ravat Linton Roe Robert Simpson Cameron Tait Stewart Webb Elliott Westbury

Stephen Wood

Basses

Maurice Amor Tharanga Basnayake Stephen Bordignon Ross Cullinane Roger Dargaville Ted Davies Elliott Gyger Luke Hales Andrew Ham Tim Kopka Roderick Lee Philip McCosker Stephen Pyk Josh Teng Matthew Toulmin Caleb Triscari Raoul Zambelli Maciek Zielinski

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About the music Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)

What’s in a name?

Pavane pour une infante défunte

Ravel chose his title for this music on the basis of how the words sounded rather than what they meant. So how to translate it? Indeed, should we translate it?

How much notice should we take of composers who become annoyed at the popularity of what they consider their lesser works? Ravel believed he suffered more than most in this regard. There are still many people whose experience of Ravel’s music stops with this Pavane and his Bolero. We may agree with the composer that this is a pity, but need not be too influenced by his later remarks about the Pavane pour une infante défunte (‘rather poor form’ and ‘an inconclusive and conventional work’). It was, after all, the piece that first won Ravel wide recognition. Commissioned and dedicated to the Princesse de Polignac (Winnaretta Singer of the sewing machine fortune), it was composed in 1899 as a piano solo. In that form it looks easy to play but isn’t, and most musicians feel that Ravel improved the piece greatly by orchestrating it in 1910.

Many more or less fanciful interpretations have been given of this piece, seemingly based more on the title than on the music.

The idea persists that it is about a dead child, even though the Spanish title infanta refers to a princess of royal blood, of whatever age, who will not inherit the throne. One critic thought the piece could be an illustration of Portrait of a Young Girl by 17th-century Spanish painter Velásquez. Others have imagined a stately dance in front of the bier of a princess (an old Spanish court custom).

But according to Ravel, in devising the (French) title he was thinking only ‘of the pleasure I got from the assonance of the words’. Perhaps he protested too much:

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Perhaps it’s enough that the title – like the music – conveys Ravel’s enthusiasm for antique dance forms. The pavane was a stately processional dance from baroque Spain and its intended ‘infante défunte’ emphasises that Spanish link as well as suggesting a mournful nostalgia.

But note Ravel’s old-fashioned choice of French: ‘infante défunte’ (English cognate: defunct) rather than, say, ‘infante morte’.

‘It is not a funeral lament for an infanta who has just died,’ he insisted, ‘but rather the evocation of a pavane that such a princess might have danced, long ago, at the Spanish court.’ To that end, perhaps the most satisfying translation is ‘Pavane for a long-dead princess’. the title does create the right frame of mind for listeners to this gentle, calm piece, which has something mournful about it.

The ancient dance form, the pavane, was much cultivated in 16th- and 17th-century Spain. Its adoption by Ravel therefore evokes a sense of time long past, and reflects his interest in stylised dance rhythms. In spite of his disclaimers, he felt strongly enough about the piece to insist (when he heard how some musicians treated it) that it should be played calmly and in strict time.

David Garrett © 1988

February–March Program

PHOTO: OLIVIA CHINDAMO

Joe Chindamo (born 1961)

Are There Any Questions? – A Requiem for the Vanishing Self 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Voices in the Ash Of Wrath Made Holy O Gentle Eye Cantical of the Bound Choir of Glass Divine Dystopia

Jessica Aszodi, mezzo-soprano MSO Chorus History reminds us that the birth of many works of art owes less to divine inspiration than to the circumstances that make their creation possible. Mozart’s Requiem, for instance, began as a private commission cloaked in mystery rather than a spontaneous act of inspiration. Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte was born of a patron’s request, its title conceived long before the music itself. Patronage, chance meetings and practical necessity have long played as decisive a role in the arts as vision itself.

In that spirit, Are There Any Questions? owes its genesis to Melbourne arts patron Michael Aquilina, who approached me about commissioning a symphony some five years ago. His initiative planted the seed from which the project grew. When I brought the idea to the MSO, they embraced it wholeheartedly, came on board as co-commissioners, and together we expanded the work into a large-scale composition for full orchestra, chorus, mezzo-soprano and organ.

Although Are There Any Questions? draws on the structure and spirit of the traditional Requiem Mass, it is not written for the dead. It is, rather, a lament for something quietly disappearing within the living – the erosion of individuality and interior life in an age of surveillance, distraction and conformity. The ‘self’ that vanishes here is the one capable of private thought, moral MSO 2026 Season

reflection and genuine connection: the human soul under pressure from the machinery of the modern world.

The work sits in conversation with two great dystopian visions: George Orwell’s 1984 and Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale, both of which explore how belief, identity and conscience can be reshaped by systems of power. It traces a journey through dystopian tension, exploring the space between memory and imagined extremes, where freedom and coercion meet as mirror and shadow: to embrace one is to enact the other.

The title itself is borrowed from the final line of The Handmaid’s Tale, whose closing words resonated deeply with me.

They capture the same tension that animates this work: between erasure and remembrance, submission and the faint, persistent echo of autonomy.

A defining element lies in the contrast between the chorus and the mezzosoprano. In my libretto, the chorus sings entirely in Latin, their texts pared back to stark, slogan-like fragments that echo the ritualised language of totalitarian belief.

Against this, the mezzo-soprano sings in English – the voice human, vulnerable, and narrative – offering a solitary reflection within an atmosphere of collective obedience.

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At its centre stands the third movement, O Gentle Eye, a dystopian love song from the mezzo-soprano, addressed to an authoritarian figure. Its expression is deliberately ambiguous: devotion, selfpreservation, irony and indoctrination intertwine, leaving the listener unsure where sincerity ends and survival begins.

Across six movements, Are There Any Questions? traces a journey from remembrance to revelation, from ruin to uneasy transfiguration. The music moves between opposites – beauty and distortion, stillness and agitation, intimacy and enormity, order and chaos. The trajectory culminates in Divine Dystopia, where a civilisation’s splendour rises and falls; majesty dissolves into stillness, leaving only echoes behind.

Ultimately, Are There Any Questions? is at once a remembrance and a gesture of defiance – a testament to the human capacity to feel, to doubt, and to preserve who we are amid the pressures of a world inching toward dystopia. Even as the self flickers, the hymn remains – an inheritance of what it means to be human.

Joe Chindamo oam © 2026 JOE CHINDAMO OAM is an Australian composer whose work reveals a distinctive and captivating artistic voice, earning national and international recognition. His music combines cantabile lyricism with a sophisticated harmonic language, architectural clarity and a vivid orchestral palette, resulting in works that are immediately compelling and richly layered.

He is the MSO’s 2026 Composer in Residence, and Are There Any Questions? is the first of his compositions to emerge from his tenure. In October, the MSO will premiere his new Flute Concerto, also commissioned as part of his residency, with soloist Eliza Shephard.

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Chindamo’s orchestral output includes Ligeia for trombone and orchestra and Concerto del Motore for clarinet and orchestra (both commissioned by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra), and his Violin Concerto and Concerto for Orchestra (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra). His music has been heard across Australia and Europe, including the European premiere of Ligeia under John Wilson with soloist Peter Moore (Principal Trombone, London Symphony Orchestra), and in April, the ASO will premiere Concerto del Motore, with soloist Dean Newcomb.

Melbourne performance highlights have included his Principia Clarinettica (Melbourne Chamber Orchestra and MSO Associate Principal Clarinet Philip Arkinstall), Ligeia (MSO with Jonathan Ramsey, now Principal Trombone of the Berlin Philharmonic), Concerto for Orchestra (MSO with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya), and in February, the premiere and broadcast of Machiavelli’s Mirror – A Renaissance Suite for string orchestra, commissioned by the MCO. He has also been commissioned by leading ensembles such as the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Melbourne Chamber Orchestra, Camerata, Australian String Quartet, Wilma & Friends, Southern Cross Players, Ensemble Offspring and Omega Ensemble.

As pianist and composer, he collaborated extensively with Zoe Black, producing five CDs, two of which were nominated for ARIA awards, reflecting a long-standing partnership celebrated for artistry and imagination.

Joe Chindamo was awarded the Order of Australia in 2022 for service to music and the performing arts, recognising his enduring contribution to Australian musical life.

February–March Program

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)

Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) PART 1. L’Adoration de la terre (Adoration of the Earth) Introduction Les Augures printaniers. Danses des adolescentes (The Augurs of Spring. Dances of the Young Girls) Jeu du rapt (Ritual of Abduction) Rondes printanières (Spring Rounds) Jeux des cités rivales (Games of the Rival Tribes) Cortège du sage – Le Sage (Procession of the Sage – The Sage) Danse de la terre (Dance of the Earth) PART 2. Le Sacrifice Introduction Cercles mystérieux des adolescentes (Mystic Circles of Young Girls) Glorification de l’élue (Glorification of the Chosen One) Evocation des ancêtres (Evocation of the Ancestors) Action rituelle des ancêtres (Ritual of the Ancestors) Danse sacrale. L’élue (Sacrificial dance. The Chosen One) The first notes of The Rite of Spring emerge from the middle of the orchestra: a solitary bassoon playing a tortuous melody at the top of its range. Imagine a seedling, striving to pierce the frosty spring soil. At the 1913 premiere – played on a French bassoon with its distinctive reedy sound – it must have sounded strained and difficult, and Stravinsky wanted it so. Today, every bassoonist perfects this solo as a matter of course.

You’re more likely to hear this famous musical moment floating into the auditorium than struggling to find its way.

(Later in life, Stravinsky said if he’d known how easy the solo would become for bassoonists, he would have transposed it up half a step every ten years!)

A century on, the ballet score at the heart one of the 20th century’s great succès de scandale has become a venerable classic.

Even the story of the riot at the premiere is old news. (The riot, incidentally, was provoked more by Vaslav Nijinsky’s choreography than by Igor Stravinsky’s music, which even the dancers could barely hear over the din.) And yet, even MSO 2026 Season

though this music is more than a century old, it hasn’t lost its shock value.

This is in large part because of Stravinsky’s innovative handling of rhythm, but the opening points to an equally important feature of The Rite of Spring: its haunting melodies and striking use of orchestral colours. And those melodies are infused with folk motifs – not necessarily full phrases, but short, brittle fragments, reduced to their essence and repeated in compelling patterns.

Stravinsky, for his part, denied folk influence in The Rite, admitting to only one instance: that opening bassoon solo stems from a Lithuanian folk song. (Russian music scholar Richard Taruskin subsequently established that Stravinsky’s raw material included more than a dozen Lithuanian, Byelorussian, Russian and Ukrainian tunes, nearly all of them related to ancient spring festivities.) Ironically, as Taruskin pointed out, ‘It was precisely the most novel aspects of Stravinsky’s music, its form and rhythm, that were most heavily indebted to folklore.’

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Rite of Spring designer Nicholas Roerich matched Nijinsky’s anticlassical, ‘prehistoric’ choreography and Stravinsky’s ‘bloodcurdling’ music with costumes deeply informed by Slavic folklore and ancient ritual.

Ultimately, however, the lasting trademark of The Rite of Spring is the elemental, and often savage, rhythm. This spring awakening – conceived by Stravinsky, Nijinsky and the original designer Nicholas Roerich as ‘Scenes from Pagan Russia’ – is ancient and fierce. Stravinsky’s ‘primitive’ harmonies and rhythms have become a familiar part of our musical language, absorbed into sound worlds as diverse as the concert hall, the film studio, and rock power chords, but they still sound undeniably modern and even a little confronting. There’s no need to put on ‘1913 ears’ (or thump the head of your neighbour) in order to experience the essence of The Rite of Spring.

The list of musical numbers mirrors the ballet’s scenario, outlining its terrifying drama of ritual sacrifice, and the larger structure of the music is easily discernible.

It falls in two roughly equal parts – The Adoration of the Earth and The Sacrifice – each of which begins quietly and mysteriously (not all of The Rite is brutal) before building to a shattering climax.

Stravinsky’s pounding syncopations begin by emphasising all the wrong beats while basically following a regular metrical scheme, but by the Sacrificial Dance of 38

the Chosen One at the end of the ballet, every bar is in a different time signature, with the beats changing rapidly from groups of three, to two, to five…

Stravinsky, who composed at the piano, said of the Sacrificial Dance that at first he knew how to play it, but not how to write it down. And Pierre Monteux, who conducted the premiere, never actually saw the ballet, quite possibly because he didn’t dare take his eyes off the music.

The Rite of Spring made Stravinsky’s name. The 31 year old was already a minor celebrity when the ballet premiered in Paris, but The Rite brought him notoriety.

And while the original ballet soon fell out of the repertoire, the music quickly established a place in the concert repertoire. Stravinsky made sure of that, suppressing the original scenario and its pagan Russian setting, and claiming, for example, that the physicality of his hammering chords had inspired the vision of a ‘Great Sacrifice,’ rather than the reverse. ‘I have written a work that is architectonic,’ he said, ‘not anecdotal.’ We might not believe that – this music is too visceral to be purely abstract – but it’s also true that the hypnotic, ritualistic qualities of Stravinsky’s music stand on their own.

Yvonne Frindle © 2023/2026 February–March Program

The Rite of Spring Monday 23 March at 6:30pm

Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne

Artists Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Benjamin Northey conductor and host

Program Stravinsky The Rite of Spring [33’] Introduced by Benjamin Northey

The artist biography and program note for this performance can be found on pages 30 and 37.

QUICK FIX AT HALF SIX: THE RITE OF SPRING | 23 March

QUICK FIX AT HALF SIX

CONCERT EVENTS Tonight’s onstage introduction will be Auslan interpreted Running time: 1 hour. Timings listed are approximate.

Quick Fix at Half Six is supported by City of Melbourne.

The MSO’s Auslan interpreted performances receive funding from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing MSO 2026 Season

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Adrian and Louise Nelson Marian Neumann Ed Newbigin Valerie Newman Amanda O’Brien Phil Parker Sarah Patterson The Hon Chris Pearce and Andrea Pearce Jason Peart Sienna di Pietro and Lewis Pierce William Ramirez Geoffrey Ravenscroft Ian Reddoch Dr Christopher Rees Fred and Patricia Russell Carolyn Sanders Julia Schlapp Irene Sutton Tom Sykes Allison Taylor Hugh and Elizabeth Taylor Lily Tell Serey Thir Geoffrey Thomlinson Mely Tjandra Rosemary Warnock Amanda Wasilewski Amanda Watson Deborah and Dr Kevin Whithear OAM David Willersdorf AM and Linda Willersdorf Dr Kelly and Dr Heathcote Wright Charles and Jill Wright Richard Ye Anonymous (13)

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Roger Chao Sandra Dent James Dipnall Sophie E Dougall in memory of Libby Harold Alan Egan JP Gunta Eglite Marguerite Garnon-Williams Dr Clem Gruen and Dr Rhyl Wade Louis J Hamon OAM Charles Hardman and Julianne Bambacas Carol Hay Dr Jennifer Henry Graham Hogarth Rod Home David Horowicz Lyndon Horsburgh Katherine Horwood Tony Howe Lindsay Wynne Jacombs Michael Christopher Scott Jacombs John Jones Merv Keehn and Sue Harlow Pauline and David Lawton Robyn and Maurice Lichter Christopher Menz and Peter Rose Dr Helen MacLean Andrea McCall Cameron Mowat Laurence O’Keefe and Christopher James David Orr Matthew O’Sullivan Rosia Pasteur Kerryn Pratchett Penny Rawlins Margaret Riches Anne Roussac-Hoyne and Neil Roussac Michael Ryan and Wendy Mead Anne Kieni Serpell and Andrew Serpell Jennifer Shepherd Suzette Sherazee Professors Gabriela and George Stephenson Pamela Swansson Frank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam Tisher Mr and Mrs R P Trebilcock Christina Helen Turner Michael Ullmer AO The Hon Rosemary Varty Francis Vergona Mr Steve Vertigan and Ms Yolande van Oosten Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman February–March Program

Robert Weiss and Jacqueline Orian Terry Wills Cooke OAM and the late Marian Wills Cooke Mark Young Anonymous (18) The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following Estates Norma Ruth Atwell Angela Beagley Barbara Bobbe Michael Francois Boyt Christine Mary Bridgart Margaret Anne Brien Ken Bullen Deidre and Malcolm Carkeek Elizabeth Ann Cousins The Cuming Bequest Margaret Davies Blair Doig Dixon Neilma Gantner Angela Felicity Glover The Hon Dr Alan Goldberg AO QC Derek John Grantham Delina Victoria Schembri-Hardy Enid Florence Hookey Gwen Hunt Family and Friends of James Jacoby Audrey Jenkins Joan Jones Pauline Marie Johnston George and Grace Kass Christine Mary Kellam C P Kemp Jennifer Selina Laurent Sylvia Rose Lavelle Dr Elizabeth Ann Lewis AM Peter Forbes MacLaren Joan Winsome Maslen Lorraine Maxine Meldrum Professor Andrew McCredie Jean Moore Joan P Robinson Maxwell and Jill Schultz Miss Sheila Scotter AM MBE Marion A I H M Spence Molly Stephens Gwennyth St John Halinka Tarczynska-Fiddian Jennifer May Teague Elisabeth Turner MSO 2026 Season

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Chair Sponsors – supporting the beating heart of the MSO.



2025 Europe Tour Circle patrons – elevating the MSO on the world stage.

☼

First Nations Circle patrons – supporting First Nations artist development and performance initiatives.

♫

Commissioning Circle patrons – contributing to the evolution of our beloved art form.

∞

Future MSO patrons – the next generation of giving.

The MSO welcomes support at any level.

Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible.

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MSO Family MSO Board

MSO Artistic Family

MSO Staff

Chair Edgar Myer

Jaime Martín Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor

Richard Wigley Chief Executive Officer

Benjamin Northey Principal Guest Conductor

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS

Co-Deputy Chairs Martin Foley Farrel Meltzer Board Directors Shane Buggle Tony Grybowski Lorraine Hook Chris Howlett Joel McGuinness Gary McPherson Lisa Mitchell Meredith Schilling SC Mary Waldron Company Secretary Randal Williams

Daniel Corvaia Cybec Assistant Conductor Sir Andrew Davis CBE † Conductor Laureate (2013–2024) Hiroyuki Iwaki † Conductor Laureate (1974–2006) Warren Trevelyan-Jones MSO Chorus Director Karen Kyriakou Artist in Residence – Learning and Engagement Christian Li Young Artist in Association Joe Chindamo Composer in Residence Andrew Aronowicz Cybec Young Composer in Residence James Henry Cybec First Nations Composer in Residence Xian Zhang, Lu Siqing, Tan Dun Artistic Ambassadors

Simonette Turner Director of Orchestra & Operations Meg Bowker Orchestra Manager Ffion Edwards Orchestra Manager Callum Moncrieff Head of Operations Renn Picard Production Lead Andrew Robinson Production Lead Nicholas Cooper Operations Lead Katharine Bartholomeusz-Plows Head of Artistic Planning Keturah Haisman Artistic & Engagement Manager Veronika Reeves Artistic Administrator Julia Potter Artistic Coordinator Jennifer Collins Principal Librarian Glynn Davies Orchestra Librarian Meg Baker Chorus Administrator

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February–March Program

Nicholas Bochner Head of Learning & Engagement

Phil Paschke Senior Manager, Content & Digital

Erica Dawkins Learning & Engagement Lead

Samantha Meuleman Digital Content Lead

Fergus Inder Jams Program Coordinator Erika Noguchi Executive Producer, MSO Presents Monica Curro MSO+ Creative Director DEVELOPMENT & REACH Suzanne Dembo Chief Operating Officer Amy Jackett Assistant to the Chief Operating Officer Caroline Buckley Head of Strategic Priorities

Sonia Yakub Senior Management Accountant

Beckie Peel Social Media Coordinator

Laura Estupiñan Accountant

Dylan Stewart Director of Marketing & Sales

Matthew Bagi Project Officer

Shannon Toyne Head of Marketing & Sales

Holly Wighton People & Culture Lead

Laura Mitton Campaign Marketing Manager

Aileen Eyou People & Culture Administration Officer

Claudia Biaggini Senior Marketing Coordinator Leah Toyne Marketing Administrator Alison Kearney Customer Experience Manager

Christina Chiam Head of Development

Ben Wallace Box Office Manager

Charlotte Crocker Philanthropy Programs Lead

Nicole Rees CRM & insights Manager

Isobel Lake Grants & Reporting Lead

Sam Harvey CRM & Data Specialist

Keith Clancy Donor Liaison

Marta Arquero Ticketing & Customer Experience Coordinator

Nina Dubecki Events & Partnerships Lead Jayde Walker Director of Brand & Communications

MSO 2026 Season

Anita Drake Chief Financial Officer

Prue Bassett Publicity Manager

Sally Hern Head of Digital Experience

Nellie McLean Head of Partnerships

FINANCE & PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Box Office Attendants Angela, Ashley, Bec, Ben, Bradd, Christine, Emil, Grace, Jessica, Josh, Kara, Kez, Leah, Lucy, Maeve, Sasha, Stephanie

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Thank You to Our Partners Principal Partner

Major Government Partners

Major Partners

Supporting Government Partners

Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing

Supporting Partners

Paul Noonan, Keypoint Law

Training and Education Partners

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February–March Program

Trusts and Foundations

Freemasons Foundation Victoria

Estate of the late Blanch Brooke Hutchings

Sidney Myer MSO Trust Fund

Perpetual Foundation – Alan (AGL) Shaw Endowment

Broadcast and Production Partners

Venue Partners

MSO 2026 Season

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