Anima Eterna Brugge Beethoven's Symphonies Program

ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE BEETHOVEN’S SYMPHONIES ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE

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AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE

FREE PROGRAM PROUDLY MADE POSSIBLE BY

ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE BEETHOVEN’S SYMPHONIES

ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE | BELGIUM | AUSTRALIAN EXCLUSIVE CITY RECITAL HALL 20–23 JANUARY CONCERT HALL, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE 25 JANUARY CO-PRESENTED WITH SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE

DIRECTOR

Jos van Immerseel ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Jakob Lehmann FLUTE

Georges Barthel Charles Zebley PICCOLO (SYMPHONIES 5, 6 & 9)

Lamorna Nightingale OBOE

Jose Domenech Lafont Lidewei De Sterck CLARINET

Lisa Shklyaver Diederik Ornée BASSOON

Jane Gower Györgyi Farkas DOUBLE BASSOON (SYMPHONIES 5 & 9)

Antoine Pecqueur HORN

Stefan Blonk Martin Mürner Renée Allen Jörg Schulteß (9th Symphony only) TRUMPET

Thibaud Robinne Sebastian Schärr

TROMBONE ALTO (SYMPHONIES 5, 6 & 9)

Timothy Dowling TROMBONE TENOR (SYMPHONIES 5, 6 & 9)

Cas Gevers TROMBONE BASS (SYMPHONIES 5 & 9)

Gunter Carlier TIMPANI

Koen Plaetinck PERCUSSION (9TH SYMPHONY ONLY)

Wim De Vlaminck Colin Piper Thimothy Bridgen VIOLIN & CONCERT MASTER

Anna McMichael (9th Symphony only) VIOLA

Bernadette Verhagen Simon Oswell Galina Sinchenko Manuel Visser Wanda Visser

Overture to the Creatures of Prometheus 4min32 Interval 20min Symphonies 1 & 2 27min30

CELLO

21 JANUARY

Ute Petersilge Dmitriy Dikhtyar Hilary Metzger Natasha Kraemer DOUBLE BASS

Love Persson James Munro Mattias Frostenson

Rachael Beesley

9TH SYMPHONY ONLY

VIOLIN

Australian Brandenburg Choir

Daniela Helm Balázs Bozzai Laura Johnson Malina Mantcheva László Paulik Martin Reimann John Meyer Barbara Erdner Evan Few Femke Huizinga Paulien Kostense Joseph Tan

CITY RECITAL HALL 20 JANUARY

SOPRANO

Berit Solset MEZZO-SOPRANO

Marianne Beate Kielland TENOR

Yves Saelens BARITONE

Lars Johansson Brissman

Symphony 4 31min Interval 20min Symphony 3 44min

22 JANUARY Symphony 8 25min Interval 20min Symphony 7 40min

23 JANUARY Symphony 6 42min Interval 20min Symphony 5 31min

CONCERT HALL, SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE Symphony 9 64min no interval Co-presented with Sydney Opera House

ABOUT THE MUSIC To assess artistic accomplishments against the backdrop of their historical ‘weight’ and innovation, is – at any account – a tricky business. But to state that music history would have taken a different course without Ludwig van Beethoven’s symphonic oeuvre seems to be a safe claim nonetheless.

When Beethoven first embarked upon his symphonic adventure, it was the blueprint of Haydn’s symphonies that served as a guideline. As much as it is clear that Beethoven took some clues from his eminent colleague, however, his own fingerprints jump from the pages of the score as well – the dissonance of the opening chord may well serve as a powerful testimony to his idiosyncratic approach.

With his third symphony in Es Dur – nicknamed Eroica – Beethoven passed a true milestone: this is a ground-breaking, pioneering piece of compositional brilliance that rightly belongs to the top layer of the classical repertoire. Here, Beethoven managed to marry tradition with innovation, merging a wide range of ideas and influences into a startlingly fresh symphonic idiom that perfectly mirrors his disposition and temperament.

Sinfonie n° 5 (c moll), on the other hand, holds a unique position in the orchestral oeuvre because of its organic construction resting upon one single motif: a rhythmical-melodic nucleus that – so the story goes – the composer associated with destiny and fate. Any doubts regarding his personal appreciation of the idea of a predestined life track, though, are swept away by the work’s final section: boasting confidence and joy, it

celebrates man’s power to turn around the wheel of fortune and to conquer life’s most daunting obstacles.

After moving away from the Viennese ‘classical’ symphonic model in his Third to Fifth Symphonies, Beethoven continued to explore his symphonic ideal in the Sixth Symphony. This time, he built his composition upon a programmatic structure: a narrative framework unfolding through the subtitles of the five movements as an account of a country walk – from the joyful ‘Natureingang’ past burbling brooks, charming country folk and gathering clouds, to the shepherd’s song and the jubilant ending. This structure is not a straitjacket: ‘Mehr Ausdruck von Empfindung als Malerei’ (‘More an expression of feeling than painting’), Beethoven wrote on the score. In other words: far beyond a description of a walk, the ‘Pastoral’ is a soundscape reflecting the sense of merging with and losing oneself in nature.

While Symphony n°7 – a virtuoso exploration of the possibilities offered by the orchestral pallet and of the widest possible range of rhythmical ideas and procedures – was probably Beethoven’s most successful symphonic creation in the 19th century, it is n°9 that at the present age excels at gathering laurels.

Completed in 1824, and boasting even wider dimensions than its predecessors, this masterfully crafted cathedral of sound moves from dismay to triumph, from troubled introspection to joint jubilation. By integrating Schiller’s Ode an die Freude in the symphony’s final, Beethoven for the first time brings vocal parts into the symphonic cast: a most striking innovation, that nevertheless should be understood as just the tip of the iceberg of the Beethovenian symphonic reform.

SOFIE TAES

JOS VAN IMMERSEEL Jos van Immerseel was born in Antwerp in 1945. He studied piano (Eugène Traey), organ (Flor Peeters), singing (Lucie Frateur) and direction (Daniel Sternefeld) as well as organology, rhetoric and historical fortepiano (autodidact). His interests soon guided him to the field of early music, the establishment of his own ensemble (Collegium Musicum, 1964-1968), harpsichord studies with Kenneth Gilbert and a victory in the very first Paris Harpsichord Competition (1973). Today, he is recognized worldwide as a remarkable soloist and an outstanding chamber musician. Van Immerseel has built up a parallel and equally impressive career as a conductor, with Anima Eterna Brugge – the project-based period orchestra he founded in 1987

– at the center of his activities. He teaches at music institutes around the world, conducts masterclasses from Weimar to Fukuoka and, in 2014, initiated the Anima Eterna Brugge Master Class Series that now takes place yearly in Bruges. Van Immerseel and AEB are in residence at the Concertgebouw in Bruges and ‘ensemble associé at the Dijon Opera.

Van Immerseel’s activities are documented by more than 100 recordings – a back catalogue that is continuously expanding with the support of record label Outhere Music /Alpha Classics. Recent releases include a live-recording of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana and symphonic masterpieces by Dvořák and Janácek.

At the occasion of van Immerseel’s

special birthday celebration in 2015, two CD boxes have been compiled as well: the Schubertiade, consisting of vocal/instrumental chamber music, and an orchestral anthology of previously released French repertoire (Debussy, Ravel, Poulenc).

Finally, van Immerseel is a collector: convinced that a thorough knowledge of the instruments at the disposal of a composer is imperative for a relevant performance of his works, he has built up a collection of historical keyboard instruments. They are the key to the understanding of a composer and his music: a necessary premise without compromise.

ANIMA ETERNA BRUGGE 30 years and going strong! A few of Anima’s milestones and highlights: 1985 Jos van Immerseel unites five string players to perform Baroque music 1987 A new Baroque orchestra – with a play on the name of the founder – is born: Anima Eterna now counts 17 musicians to explore the Classical Viennese and French Baroque repertoires 1990 The Orchestra takes the complete Mozart piano concertos to the studio and on a Japanese concert tour 1996/7 Innovative recording of Schubert’s symphonies, for the first time with Viennese wind instruments from his era (Diapason d’Or,1998) 2002 Zig-Zag Territoires launches the ‘Collection Anima Eterna’ with two pioneering recordings devoted to Johann Strauss, Jr. and Tchaikovsky 2003 After inaugurating Concertgebouw Brugge on 2 February 2002, Anima becomes its ‘Orchestra in residence’ 2004 Anima revisits Brahms, RimskyKorsakov, Borodin and Liszt (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik) on period instruments 2005 The festive (re)discovery of Ravel on early 20th century French winds marks 20 years of Anima Eterna 2006 International Mozart year: Anima Eterna rekindles its first love, on stage as well as on several new, awardwinning CDs 2008 Three years of preparation result in a Beethoven CD box (Editor’s Choice – Gramophone, a.o.) featuring his complete symphonies and various overtures, and since regarded as a ‘reference recording’

2010 Anima is renamed Anima Eterna Brugge as they move offices to Bruges’ Ezelpoort, and becomes ‘Ensemble Associé de l’Opéra de Dijon’ 2013 After Poulenc and Debussy, Anima’s exploration of Romantic and Early Modern repertoires continues with Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Ravels Ma Mère l’Oye 2014 Debut in Frankfurt’s Alte Oper and revelatory recording of Orff’s Carmina Burana with Collegium Vocale Ghent 2015/16 Maestro van Immerseel’s celebratory year culminates in multiple CD releases – a.o. 4 intimate Schubertiades – and Beethoven-tours in Mexico, Sydney and New York!

AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG CHOIR (9TH SYMPHONY ONLY)

The Choir of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is renowned for its astonishing vocal blend and technical virtuosity. Established by Artistic Director Paul Dyer in 1999 to perform in the first-ever Noël! Noël!

Brandenburg Christmas concert, the Choir has become a regular part of the Brandenburg annual season. The first Noël! Noël! concert combined medieval chant and polyphony as well as carols from around the world in their original settings and languages.

“Music from earlier centuries often requires the sound of the human voice. I wanted to put a group of excellent singers together adding a rich complement to our period instruments. Our Choir is a ravishing blend of radiant Sydney singers,” says Paul Dyer. Originally 13 voices,

the Choir joined the Orchestra and wowed audiences with truly beautiful renditions of both familiar Christmas favourites and rarely-heard sacred works, performing music from the eleventh century to the Baroque. It was an instant success, combining musical, literary and scholarly performances that thrilled audiences and critics alike.

Noël! Noël! has proven to be so popular, the Brandenburg has released its second live recording of Noël! Noël! at City Recital Hall Angel Place, A Celtic Christmas, recorded in 2013.

In addition to the annual Noël! Noël! concerts, the Choir now regularly performs as part of the Brandenburg’s annual subscription season. Bach Cantatas, Handel Coronation Anthems, and Mozart’s great Requiem and Coronation Mass are among the best loved performances of the Choir. Their performance of Handel’s Ode for St Cecilia’s Day received critical acclaim, with the Sydney Morning Herald declaring: “[The Brandenburg Choir is] one of the finest choruses one could put together in this town.”

The current members of the Brandenburg Choir are all professional singers, many of whom also hold music degrees, but they do not all sing full time. From music teachers to lawyers, business managers to medical doctors and nurses, each member looks forward to the opportunity to perform with the Brandenburg throughout the year.

Cover photo: Alex Vanhee

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