Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Master Series 2009
The core of our season, this Series brings together a truly exceptional array of international and Australian soloists, from leading pianists including Marc-André Hamelin and Imogen Cooper to Conductor Simone Young and the Australian String Quartet. With even more Adelaide performances in 2009 Arvo Volmer will conduct 8 of the 12 concerts, including the continuation of the successful Mahler Symphony cycle.
Pre-concert talks: for each Master Series concert, you are invited to join us for a free pre-concert talk one hour prior.
Mahler and Paganini
Master Series 1
Adelaide Festival Theatre
Friday 20 March at 8.00pm
Saturday 21 March at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Violin | Feng Ning |
| Nigel Westlake | Shimmering Blue |
| Paganini | Violin Concerto No 1 |
| Mahler | Symphony No. 1, Titan |
And now for the next enthralling chapter: Arvo Volmer continues his magnificent traversal of Mahler symphonies with the First. No one ever composed a first symphony of such audacious originality, encompassing exquisite nature sounds, rollicking dance tunes, sophisticated irony and darkness. The blazing, triumphant climax always inspires audiences to wild ovations. Feng Ning, winner of the prestigious Paganini Competition in 2006 and praised by Yehudi Menhuin, imbues his unique fusion of brilliance and insight on a work of such fiendish virtuosity, that Paganini's contemporaries believed only a player in league with the devil could perform it!
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Bravura Rachmaninov
Master Series 2
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 1 May at 8.00pm
Saturday 2 May at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Piano | Barry Douglas |
| Veljo Tormis | Overture No 2 |
| Uuno Klami | Kalevala Suite |
| Rachmaninov | Piano Concerto No 3 |
Barry Douglas is a colossus among pianists and his performances are invariably hailed as 'unmissable'. He delves beneath the electrifying surface brilliance of Rachmaninov's daunting Third Piano Concerto to discover its soulful core and uniquely Russian sense of yearning. Uuno Klami is a revered figure in Finnish music. His spiritual affinity with Finland's fabulous mythology inspired his tuneful and rapturous Kalevala Suite. It is paired with one of the most popular works of Estonian music, Tormis' vigorous Overture.
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Mozart and Mendelssohn
Master Series 3
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 15 May at 8.00pm
Saturday 16 May at 6:30pm
Sunday 17 May at 2:00pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Piano | Imogen Cooper |
| Stravinsky | Jeu de Cartes |
| Mozart | Piano Concerto No 23 in A, K 488 |
| Verdi | Aïda |
| Mendelssohn | Symphony No 4, Italian |
In a program of pure joy, the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra and their Chief Conductor are joined by British pianist Imogen Cooper, always a welcome visitor, whose interpretation of Mozart was described by the Chicago Tribune as a 'joy to behold, so confident and warm-hearted it makes time stand still.' With its warmth and colour, Italy has always intoxicated and liberated composers, but none was inspired to produce a work of such charm and exuberance as Mendelssohn in his Italian Symphony, especially in the final whirlwind saltarello. Stravinsky's sparkling Jeu de Cartes (The Card Game) - a ballet in 'three deals' dazzles with quicksilver wit.
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Legendary Sibelius
Master Series 4
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 5 June at 8.00pm
Saturday 6 June at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Violin | Adele Anthony |
| Mendelssohn | A Midsummer Night's Dream Overture |
| Ross Edwards | Violin Concerto, Maninyas |
| Sibelius | Lemminkäinen Suite |
Worlds of myth and fantasy are explored when the ASO and Arvo Volmer lure us into the adventures of Lemminkäinen, in the vast musical canvas Sibelius created for this Finnish wild child. The Suite ranges from the exotic delights of the tempting maidens of Saari, to the soulful strains of The Swan of Tuonela and triumph of Lemminkäinen's return home, some of the most viscerally exhilarating music ever composed. Maninyas is established as a classic of Australian music, an enchanting evocation of mysterious landscapes and we welcome back Adele Anthony, one of the most successful and beloved artists Adelaide has produced.
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Elgar's Enigma
Master Series 5
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 19 June at 8.00pm
Saturday 20 June at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Australian String Quartet | |
| Matthew Hindson | The Rave and the Nightingale |
| Elgar | Introduction and Allegro |
| Elgar | Enigma Variations |
The ASO joins forces with Adelaide's other leading musical treasure, the ASQ, for a brilliant concert combining the contemporary and the traditional. Arvo Volmer has championed Carl Vine's new symphony, a work of this great Australian composer's creative maturity. Matthew Hindson's The Rave and the Nightingale is a twenty-first century take on Schubert, while Elgar's impassioned Introduction and Allegro was inspired by the breathtaking scenery of his native Worcestershire. The musical portraits of Elgar's friends in his Enigma Variations balance lust and affection, but the noble strains of the Nimrod variation have made it one of the most beloved tunes in all music.
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Romeo and Juliet
Master Series 6
Adelaide Festival Theatre
Friday 17 July at 8.00pm
Saturday 18 July at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Marko Letonja |
| Piano | Piers Lane |
| Kodaly | Dances of Galanta |
| Grieg | Piano Concerto |
| Prokofiev | Romeo & Juliet Suite |
The timeless story of Romeo and Juliet inspired Prokofiev to create one of the most magnificent ballet scores of all time. Its music is richly evocative, encompassing the splendour of Shakespeare's Verona and the heart-rending tenderness of the 'star-cross'd lovers'. Paired with Grieg's uplifting Piano Concerto performed by the brilliant Piers Lane, and the colourful, folkloric Dances of Galanta by Zoltan Kodaly, this is a concert of total sensuous pleasure
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Simone Young Conducts Tchaikovsky
Master Series 7
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 14 August at 8.00pm
Saturday 15 August at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Simone Young |
| Piano | Cedric Tiberghien |
| Prokofiev | Piano Concerto No 2 |
| Tchaikovsky | Symphony No 6 Pathétique |
Simone Young, the greatest Australian conductor of her generation, joins with one of the most exciting artists on the international circuit today, Cedric Tiberghien. Prokofiev's exhilarating Second Concerto has been dubbed 'man versus piano' with its astonishing first movement cadenza. Tiberghien's incendiary performance of this work ensures he always comes out on top! The eloquence and drama of Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony, considered his musical last will and testament, is glorious proof that he did not intend, in Dylan Thomas' words, to '... go gentle into that good night ...'
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Hamelin Plays Beethoven
Master Series 8
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 11 September at 8.00pm
Saturday 12 September at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Piano | Marc-André Hamelin |
| Beethoven | Piano Concerto No 3 |
| Britten | Sinfonia da Requiem |
| Shostakovich | Shostakovich |
Marc-André Hamelin's matchless blend of virtuosity and fearlessness inspired one critic to describe him euphorically as an 'avatar' of the piano. Adelaide audiences will see his playing pulsate with urgency and daemonic power in Beethoven's Third Piano Concerto, where the composer established his credentials as a major musical force. The deadpan humour and subversive wit of Shostakovich's Ninth Symphony often raises audible chuckles from audiences but beneath the jauntiness lies a very serious intent and inspiration. It is contrasted with Britten's intensely emotional masterpiece, the deeply moving Sinfonia da Requiem.
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Beethoven's Eroica
Master Series 9
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 18 September at 8.00pm
Saturday 19 September at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Piano | Marc-André Hamelin |
| Trumpet | Shane Hooton |
| Richard Meale | Suite from Voss |
| Shostakovich | Piano Concerto No. 1 |
| Beethoven | Symphony No 3 Eroica |
Decades after its premiere, Richard Meale's iconic opera Voss, based on Patrick White's novel about a nineteenth century explorer and his mystical connection with the outback, remains a landmark of Australian music. Shostakovich's alternately melancholy and manically comic Piano Concerto No 1 is the perfect vehicle for Marc-André Hamelin's kaleidoscopic versatility and the virtuosity of ASO Principal Trumpet, Shane Hooton. Beethoven's Eroica stunned an unsuspecting public with its audacious new conception of symphonic form, and remains just as powerful today.
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Haydn and Brahms
Master Series 10
Adelaide Town Hall
Friday 9 October at 8.00pm
Saturday 10 October at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Olari Elts |
| Cello | Gautier Capuçon |
| Brahms | Variations on a Theme of Hadyn |
| Haydn | Cello Concerto in C major |
| Brahms | Symphony No 1 |
Brahms was enamoured of the infectious charm of Josef Haydn's music and his Variations (also known as the St Anthony Variations) are his homage to the older master. The Rococo felicities of Haydn's C major Cello Concerto are dispatched with gallic élan by dashing young cellist Gautier Capuçon. Brahms agonised for years before finally producing his First Symphony but when this monumental masterpiece finally appeared, no one was in any doubt that Brahms was the inheritor of Beethoven's mighty symphonic mantle.
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Judd Conducts Walton
Master Series 11
Adelaide Festival Theatre
Friday 16 October at 8.00pm
Saturday 17 October at 6:30pm
| Conductor | James Judd |
| Oboe | Seung-Eun Lee |
| Sculthorpe | Earth Cry |
| Mahler | Blumine |
| R Strauss | Oboe Concerto |
| Walton | Symphony No 1 |
Inheriting the mantle from Elgar, William Walton created some of the most inspiring expressions of the English spirit in music. The shining majesty of Walton's Crown Imperial and Spitfire Prelude and Fugue imbues his Symphony No 1 married with the vigour of 1930s modernity. Richard Strauss, at the end of his long creative life, produced warm, radiant and witty masterpieces such as the Oboe Concerto. ASO Principal Oboe, Seung-Eun Lee takes centre stage in this perennially charming work.
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Tchaikovsky and Mahler
Master Series 12
Adelaide Festival Theatre
Friday 20 November at 8.00pm
Saturday 21 November at 6:30pm
| Conductor | Arvo Volmer |
| Piano | Freddy Kempf |
| Mezzo Soprano | Sally-Anne Russell |
| Tchaikovsky | Piano Concerto |
| Mahler | Symphony No 4 |
The ASO sets the seal on a year of superlative music-making with Freddy Kempf, the charismatic young pianist whose incandescent virtuosity in this greatest of Romantic concertos is tempered with heart-warming sensitivity. The golden thread of the ASO's Mahler Symphony Cycle continues when Arvo Volmer and the orchestra perform the Fourth Symphony, Mahler's ecstatic hymn to childhood innocence and the joys of heaven, a sun-lit world where dark shadows are banished. The concert features the radiant voice of Adelaide's own Sally-Anne Russell.
Buy tickets or return to the ASO 2009 Season Information.
