20
14
CO
NC
ER
T S
ER
IES
0 3
GP
G R E AT P E R F O R M E R SM E L B O U R N E R E C I TA L C E N T R E P R E S E N T S
Wednesday 27 august 2014
_ 7.30PM
_ Pre-concert talk by Leigh Harrold 6.45pm-7.15pm, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
_ This concert is being broadcast on ABC Classic FM
_ Duration: Two hours including one 20-minute interval
nICO as HOdges P I A N O
PIA
NO
0 5
GP
N I C O L A S H O D G E SG
P0 4
2 0 1 4 C O N C E R T S E R I E S
GR
EA
T P
ER
FO
RM
ER
S
PROgRaM
LudWIg Van BeetHOVen (b. Bonn, Germany, 1770 – d. Vienna, Austria, 1850)
Six Bagatelles, Op.126 I Andante con moto, cantabile e compiacevole [‘Walking-pace’, singingly and gracefully] II Allegro [Fast] III Andante, cantabile e grazioso [‘Walking-pace’, singingly and gracefully] IV Presto [Very fast] V Quasi allegretto [‘Nearly allegretto’ i.e. a bit faster than Andante] VI Presto–Andante amabile e con moto–Presto [Very fast – a comfortable ‘andante’ with movement – very fast] Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111 I Maestoso–Allegro con brio ed appassionata [Majestic – Fast, with vigor and passion] II Arietta: Adagio molto semplice e cantabile [Little aria (song): Slowly, very simply and singingly]
InteRVaL: 20 MINUTES
CLaude deBussy (b. Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, 1862 – d. Paris, France, 1918)
12 Études
Book One I Pour les «cinq doigts», d’après Monsieur Czerny [For the ‘five fingers’, after Mr Czerny] II Pour les Tierces [for thirds] III Pour les Quartes [for fourths] IV Pour les Sixtes [for sixths] V Pour les Octaves [for octaves] VI Pour les huit doights [for the eight fingers]
Book Two I Pour les Degrés chromatiques [for chromatic steps] II Pour les Agréments [for ornaments] III Pour les Notes répétées [for repeated notes] IV Pour les Sonorités opposes [for contrasting sonorities] V Pour les Arpèges composés [for composite arpeggios] VI Pour les Accords [for chords]
PIA
NO
0 7
GP
N I C O L A S H O D G E SG
P0 6
2 0 1 4 C O N C E R T S E R I E S
GR
EA
T P
ER
FO
RM
ER
S
aBOut tHe MusIC
Beethoven dedicated this ineffably subtle set of miniatures to his brother Johann, not so much as an act of fraternal devotion, but because he owed him money which he had planned to pay off with his previous set of Bagatelles, Opus 119, but had then been forced to sell those pieces to a publisher to acquit another agreement. Unlike his earlier two sets of Bagatelles, Opus 126 was conceived as a continuous set to be played together. At the head of one of the earliest sketches Beethoven wrote the term “Cyclus” and then “Ciclus [sic] von Kleinighkeit.” [“Cycle of trifles” or “Cycle of bagatelles”]. Written between the completion of the Ninth Symphony in 1824 and the commencement of work on the first
of his five late string quartets, evidence of unity is found not only in the sketches but in the progression of keys, which is noteworthy for its focus on modulations based on a major third. Interestingly, the identical pattern crops up in the finale of Beethoven's next work, the String Quartet in E-flat, Opus 137. The first Bagatelle (Andante con moto) is a binary form movement of gentle sensibility and great originality, with its second part interrupted as though, in improvisation, the composer suddenly becomes fixated on a phrase which forces the music into a different metre and pace. The second (Allegro) in G minor is based on a vigorous toccata-like idea. After the spiky first section,
the second half leads off into a cantabile (‘singing’) section, but, just at the point where it seems to be trying to bring back the opening idea it leaps off into a new idea and texture. Bagatelle number three (Andante), in E-flat, also seems to derive from a three part form, although the central section is much curtailed while the final return expands with the filigree figuration associated with the slow movements in Beethoven’s late piano sonatas, notably Opus 111. The fourth (Presto) in B minor, is reminiscent of some of the movements in binary time that Beethoven sometimes wrote instead of a scherzo (usually in triple time) in his late works (such as in the String Quartet in B-flat, Opus 130). Its outer sections are implacable and frenetic, giving way to a central section which is its mirror opposite in expression: a simple lapping quiet figure over a tranquil drone bass. In number five (Quasi Allegro), in G major, the opening section sets up an expectation of simplicity which is continued into the central section in C major. However the return moves out to the very extremes of the keyboard, allowing the opening theme to return only as a coda. The final, sixth bagatelle (Presto–Andante amabile), is an even greater juxtaposition of opposites than the fourth, as great
indeed as found anywhere in Beethoven’s music. Beethoven writes an Andante of tender thoughtfulness, and great formal subtlety, evoking the piano sound and ornamentation patterns of his late piano style at its most sublime. Yet as though anxious that the listener might lapse into sentimental reverie, Beethoven frames this beautiful music with a curtain raising and lowering flourish of a bizarrely incongruous mood.
Beethoven was 52 when he completed his Piano Sonata No.32 in C minor, Op.111, just one year younger than Debussy when he wrote the Douze Études, to be heard in the second half. Although the style of the works and the temperament of the composers could scarcely be more different, both works share characteristics of the ‘late style’ found in the final maturity of many artists – sparseness and economy of utterance, mastery and avoidance of the inessential. As Beethoven’s last sonata, the striking duality of the two movements of Opus 111, moving from the tempestuous to the sublime, has attracted much comment, not least from other artists. Salient among them is Thomas Mann’s in his epic musical novel, Doktor Faustus (1947) who sees the work as philosophy: an exploration of the objective and the subjective.
PIA
NO
0 9
GP
N I C O L A S H O D G E SG
P0 8
2 0 1 4 C O N C E R T S E R I E S
GR
EA
T P
ER
FO
RM
ER
S
A different literary perspective is found in Milan Kundera’s novel The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (1979). Contrasting the variations in the second movement with symphonic expectations, Kundera writes:
“The symphony is a musical epic. We might compare it to a journey leading through the boundless reaches of the external world, on and on, farther and farther. Variations also constitute a journey, but not through the external world. You recall Pascal’s pensée about how man lives between the abyss of the infinitely large and the infinitely small. The journey of the variation form leads to that second infinity, the infinity of internal variety concealed in all things.” Milan Kundera, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting, (London: Penguin, 1983), p.164
Described prosaically, the sonata encompasses a first movement in C minor, in sonata form, with an extended Introduction (Maestoso) in which elements of the main material are presaged. The contrasting key, unusually for the classical era, but not for
late Beethoven, is in A-flat major (rather than the expected E-flat major). The main theme for the first movement derives from an idea sketched in the late 1790s when he was writing his first sonatas. The second movement is a 16-bar theme of utmost peace, with each half repeated followed by four variations, each progressively dividing the rhythm into smaller units. The repeats of the theme are also literal repeats in the variations until the apparent stasis of the fourth variation where they are composed out to inhabit by turns the extreme highs and lows of the keyboard. This variation is followed by a brief modulation to E-flat through a chain of trills in the upper register, a transition back to an embellished return of the theme, and a Coda in which all tension is eased away. The completion of these variations seems to have enabled Beethoven to also complete another late masterpiece for the keyboard, the Thirty-three Variations on a Waltz by Diabelli, Opus 120, and the final variation of that work makes subtle allusions to the current sonata. It was only after that work, and a further set of Bagatelles, that Beethoven gave his final verdict on
the piano, “an inadequate instrument”. The rest was silence.
Shortly after Germany declared war on France in August 1914, Debussy wrote to a former pupil, “I think we are going to pay dearly for the right to dislike the music of Richard Strauss and Schoenberg… French art needs to take revenge quite as seriously as the French army does!” (Roger Nichols, The Life of Debussy, Cambridge, 1998, p.222). Despite his depression at the war and illness from rectal cancer, for which he underwent colostomy surgery in 1915, he seems to have taken his own call to arms seriously. His revenge was certainly sweet, at least in musical terms. As well as the set of 12 Études, he produced a major work for two pianos En blanc et noir, three of a planned set of six sonatas for diverse instruments (the completed ones were for cello and piano, violin and piano, and flute, viola and harp), some shorter piano pieces, and an unfinished Ode à la France for soprano, choir and orchestra. But his French pride was far more than a response to war. Throughout his whole life, Debussy had cultivated a style of piano piece that was unpretentious in form and scale, superbly crafted, often evocative of a scene, character or genre, and building on what he saw
as the true French keyboard tradition, dating back to the French Baroque masters, Rameau and Couperin. For Debussy, the French tradition was one that emphasised subtlety, clarity, understatement and allusion, in place of the more imposing, structures and motivic logic of the German tradition. Many of his pieces were grouped into suites (the Suite Bergamasque, Pour le piano, and Children’s Corner) or sets (Images, Estampes and Préludes), and it is apt and fortunate that he returned to this final set of Études at the end of his life to produce what is arguably his most refined exploration of pianistic colour and texture.
The pedagogical étude (or study) would, in the normal course of events, be relegated to the practice room, were it not for the fact that the piano study attracted the attention of composers such as Chopin, Alkan and Liszt, whose monumental sets of studies established a lineage followed by most pianist/composers of the next century. In their hands, studies became much more than digital calisthenics for doughy fingers. As the titles of Debussy’s Études show, they evolved into sophisticated syntheses of technical and musical ideas, to the extent that the two can no longer be sensibly separated. The specific
PIA
NO
0 1 1
GP
N I C O L A S H O D G E SG
P0 1 0
2 0 1 4 C O N C E R T S E R I E S
GR
EA
T P
ER
FO
RM
ER
S
impetus for Debussy was a French edition of the works of Chopin, including, of course, his two sets of studies, which he edited for his publisher Durand. Debussy’s Études were written during a highly productive seaside summer vacation in Pourville, Normandy, in 1915, during which he also completed the Cello Sonata and sketched several other works. The title page carries the dedication “A la mémoire de Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Claude Debussy. Été 1915”.
Debussy had already taken a dig at more pedestrian piano studies in his mock finger-strengthening piece Dr Gradus ad Parnassum from the Children’s Corner Suite (the title is a reference to a set of studies by Clementi). Debussy returns to this conceit in Étude I, for the ‘five fingers’ dedicated to Carl Czerny, a hugely talented pianist (and student of Beethoven), who wrote some of the most vacuous technical studies in the piano repertoire. Debussy’s five-finger study begins as a parody, starting with well disciplined excursions on this five-note pattern increasingly interrupted by ‘wrong’ notes, like a student getting bored, until it animates into something resembling a gigue.
In characteristic manner, Debussy always seems to be looking for the beautiful in the mundane, erupting in joyous exultation in the coda.
The next four studies explore the technical and musical problems of playing double notes with a single hand, spaced at the musical intervals of the third, fourth, sixth and octave. Double note studies appear in Chopin’s études, Opus 25, No.6 (thirds), No.8 (sixths), and No.10 (octaves) and are also a feature of Liszt’s Transcendental Study, Feux follets. The study in thirds, Étude II pursues a murmuring, slightly melancholy sound world, interrupted twice by a declamatory idea based on repeated notes.
Although double notes are a common technical problem for pianists, the study in fourths, Étude III, is original to Debussy. In a letter to Durand, Debussy wrote, “You will find something not heard before”. The sound world is one of quiet solemn resonance, hinting at the oriental, as in the movement from Estampes entitled Pagodes and the second of the Images: Et la lune descend sur la temple qui fut.
While writing Étude IV for sixths Debussy wrote, “For a very long time, the continuous use of sixths reminded me of pretentious Misses, sitting in a drawing room, the sulking over their embroidery, while envying the scandalous laughter of the mad ninths”. Instead of primness, Debussy creates sensitive drifting harmonies in a mood of delicate tenderness.
In place of Chopin’s stormy octave study, Debussy’s Étude V, for octaves, is dance-like and rhythmically quirky, with a secondary idea alternating between the two hands like clanging bells. The first book is completed with Étude VI, which returns to the finger study idea of the first étude, but with a new twist – the word “fingers” is taken literally and the thumbs are completely excluded, resulting in complex modal textures generated from superimposing the four fingers of each hand in rapid swirling patterns. As a manner of keyboard playing, it harks back to old Baroque techniques.
There are antecedents for Étude VII, exploring chromatic degrees (patterns based on the step-wise movement of semitones) in Chopin’s study Opus 10, No.2, and in Liszt’s Feux follets, and Chasse neige.
There is a hint of swirling will-of- the-wisps in Debussy’s work but he said to Durand that he had found “a new way of treating a rather worn-out device”. Étude VIII, for ornaments is another of the pieces which Debussy returned to at several stages in his life (such as the Sarabande in the Suite Pour le piano and Hommage à Rameau from the Images) which pay tribute to the Baroque French harpsichord style. The ornaments are intricately notated in a dreamy and volatile re-creation of keyboard improvisation.
The particular problem with repeated notes, the subject of Étude IX, on the piano is allowing the key time to return to a position where it can be re-struck. Debussy became fascinated by the technical and textural possibilities, resulting in piece of quiet nervous agitation. Étude X returns to the meditative quasi-oriental soundscape with quiet distant bells. Étude XII is a study in ornate extended arpeggios which sweep across the whole keyboard or fold back on themselves. In contrast to the bold arpeggio studies which begin Chopin’s Opus 10 and conclude his Opus 25, Debussy creates ornamental textures of great delicacy that flash only momentarily. Étude XII is a study in chords and wide leaps
PIA
NO
0 1 3
GP
N I C O L A S H O D G E SG
P0 1 2
2 0 1 4 C O N C E R T S E R I E S
GR
EA
T P
ER
FO
RM
ER
S
aBOut tHe aRtIst
An active repertoire that encompasses such composers as Beethoven, Berg, Brahms, Debussy, Schubert and Stravinsky reinforces pianist Nicolas Hodges’ special prowess in contemporary music. As Tempo magazine writes, “Hodges is a refreshing artist; he plays the classics as if they were written yesterday, and what was written yesterday as if it were already a classic”.
Born and trained in London, and now based in Germany, where he is a professor at the Stuttgart Conservatory, Hodges approaches the works of Classical, Romantic, 20th century and contemporary composers with the same questing spirit, leading The Guardian to comment that “Hodges' recitals always boldly go where few other pianists dare, with an energy that sometimes defies belief”.
As a concerto soloist, Nicolas Hodges’ past and imminent engagements include performances with US orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, MET Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, St Louis Symphony, and with European orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, BR-Sinfonieorchester, Bamberger Symphoniker, hr-Sinfonieorchester, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, London Philharmonic, Philharmonia, London Sinfonietta, City of Birmingham Symphony, BBC Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, ÖRF Symphony Vienna, Helsinki Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Basel Sinfonietta, ASKO/Schoenberg Ensemble Amsterdam and Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España, while performances further afield include dates with the
Nicolas Hodges, piano
based on a distinctive and highly original harmonic progression heard at the start.
On completing the set Debussy wrote to his publisher: “Last night, at midnight, I copied the last note of the Études. Ouf! The most detailed Japanese print is child’s play, compared to the graphism in some of the pages, but I am happy. It is good work”. (Robert Schmitz. The Piano Works of Claude Debussy. Dover, 1966. p.222)
© 2014 Peter McCallum
Dr Peter McCallum is a musicologist at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney and chief music critic for the Sydney Morning Herald.
PIA
NO
GP
N I C O L A S H O D G E SG
P
2 0 1 4 C O N C E R T S E R I E S
GR
EA
T P
ER
FO
RM
ER
S
1 5
1 4
Nicolas Hodges is no stranger to Australia, having performed at the 2009 Melbourne Festival. It was here Australian audiences got a taste of his “command of the idiom and his total bravura and commitment” (Colin Anderson, Classical Source, UK). Hodges’ 2014 Australian concert engagements include the virtuoso modernism of Ligeti’s Piano Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Robertson at Sydney Opera House and tonight’s performance at Melbourne Recital Centre featuring Debussy’s 12 Études. Hodges affinity with Debussy is reflected in his numerous performances of the studies including a concert at New York’s Zankel Hall in early 2013. The New York Times said of Hodges’ performance of Étude I, ‘Pour les cinq doigts’: “As the pianist plays a simple five-note pattern, a “wrong” note is bluntly struck, an effect Mr Hodges evoked charmingly. This “mistake” kicks the étude into fervid animation as the music becomes a wash of runs and hazy passagework, all played beautifully by Mr Hodges”.
Tokyo Philharmonic and Melbourne Symphony. In recent seasons, Hodges has become especially closely associated with the piano concertos of Elliott Carter (who celebrated his hundredth birthday in 2008), Beat Furrer (b.1954) and Thomas Adès, with Hodges giving the premiere of the British composer’s In Seven Days in London, April 2008.
Among the distinguished conductors with whom Nicolas Hodges has collaborated are Daniel Barenboim, James Levine, Leonard Slatkin, David Robertson, Hans Graf, Oliver Knussen, Thomas Adès, George Benjamin, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Ilan Volkov and Tadaaki Otaka. As a recitalist, he has performed at such venues as Carnegie Hall (New York), Wigmore Hall (London) and IRCAM (Paris), and his festival appearances have included Tanglewood, the BBC Proms, Paris (Festival d’Automne), Lucerne, Salzburg, Vienna (Wien Modern), Zurich (Tage für Neue Musik), Innsbruck (Klangspuren) and Brussels (Ars Musica).
Future plans include concerto engagements at the BBC Proms with London Sinfonietta, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, BR-Sinfonieorchester Munich, LSO, SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln. Many of these involve contemporary works, including the premieres of concerti written especially for Hodges by Georges Aperghis, Luca Francesconi, Gerald Barry, Miroslav Srnka and Hugues Dufourt. Recital appearances include Carnegie Hall and CalPerformances (Berkeley), in a programme featuring Debussy, Stravinsky and a new work written by Sir Harrison Birtwistle, Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Bolzano Busoni Festival, Musica Strasbourg, Wittener Tage für neue Musik, Ultraschall Festival Berlin and Ostertöne Hamburg.
Nicolas Hodges’ discography includes solo and concertante works by Carter, Furrer, Birtwistle, Finnissy, Adams and Ferneyhough. Future CD releases include discs of Brian Ferneyhough on Neos, Walter Zimmermann on Mode, Harrison Birtwistle on Metronome and Rolf Riehm on Wergo.
PIA
NO
GP
N I C O L A S H O D G E SG
PG
RE
AT
PE
RF
OR
ME
RS
1 7
1 6
InsPIRed gIVIng
Robert MacFarlaneSally MacIndoe*David Marr & Sebastian TesorieroNorene Leslie McCormacMaria MercurioDr Richard Mills AM*Elizabeth O’Keeffe* +Prof David Penington AC & Mrs Sonay Penington*Helen L PerlenDr Robert PiaggioKerryn PratchettPeter Rose & Christopher MenzRae RothfieldSamara, Countess of BeekmanMeredith Schilling* +Kate & Stephen Shelmerdine Family FoundationBarbara & Duncan SutherlandElisabeth & Peter TurnerYouth Music AustraliaJacqueline Williams & Peter MurnaneSally WebsterPeter Weiss AOIgor Zambelli
Supporters ($500+)Anonymous (1)Ingrid Braun +The Hon Mary Delahunty*Vivien and Jacob FajgenbaumMargaret & Baden HaggerDr Robert Hetzel*David & Rosemary HousemanGeorge & Grace KassThe Hon Sen Rod Kemp MP & Ms Daniele Kemp*Peter & Barbara KollinerAnn LahoreTravis Pemberton*Margarita & Paul SchneiderGreg Shalit & Miriam FaineBarry & Barbara ShyingAnne Stonehouse AMJohn & Myriam Wylie
* Donations directed to the Elisabeth Murdoch Creative Development Fund. List of patrons accurate as of 18 August 2014.
We thank the following patrons whose generosity ensures the Centre can make a real difference in the lives of young artists and reach the broadest possible audience.
All donations, big or small, directly impact the Centre’s ability to provide transformative music experiences for everyone. Join us in support of one of the world’s great halls. To speak to the Director of Development, Sandra Robertson, please call 03 9207 2641 or email [email protected]
OuR PaRtneRs
Over 380 ensembles appear each year; 80 of them from overseas. Join our philanthropic partners and help support the presentation of the world’s best artists right here in Melbourne.
Founding Patron The Late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch ac dbe
Melbourne Recital Centre acknowledges the generous support of its business and philanthropic partners
Supporting Partners
International Airline Partner
Business Partners
Board MembersKathryn Fagg, Chair Peter Bartlett Stephen Carpenter Des Clark
Joseph Corponi Margaret Farren-Price John Higgs Julie Kantor Eda Ritchie am
Founding BenefactorsThe Kantor Family The Calvert-Jones Family Lyn Williams AM Helen Macpherson Smith Trust Robert Salzer Foundation The Hugh Williamson Foundation
Principal Government Partner
Program Partners
Foundations
THE HUGH WILLIAMSON FOUNDATION
Encore Bequest ProgramAnonymous (2)Betty Amsden oam
Magnum Opus Circle ($20,000+) Betty Amsden oam* Colin Golvan qc & Dr Deborah Golvan* Cathy Lowy & The Late John Price* Naomi Milgrom ao* Lady Marigold Southey ac* Annamila Pty Ltd* Majlis Pty Ltd* The Playking Foundation
Virtuoso Circle ($10,000+) Jean Hadges Mrs Margaret S Ross am & Dr Ian C Ross* J.A. Westacott & T.M. Shannon Skipp Williamson* Melbourne Recital Centre Board of Directors Kathryn Fagg* Peter & Cally Bartlett* Stephen Carpenter & Leigh Ellwood Des & Irene Clark Joseph Corponi Margaret & Ronald Farren-Price Mr John Higgs am & Mrs Betty Higgs Julie Kantor* Eda Ritchie am
Composers Circle ($4000+) Anonymous (2) Brian & Esther Benjamin Warwick & Paulette Bisley The Late Harold Campbell-Pretty & Krystyna Campbell-Pretty* Andrew & Theresa Dyer George & Laila Embelton Dr Helen Ferguson*
Andrea Goldsmith Richard Gubbins* Yvonne Von Hartel AM & Robert Peck am* Hans & Petra Henkell* Dr Alastair Jackson* Mr Peter Jopling am qc* Dr Garry Joslin & Prof Dimity Reed am* Alison & David Lansley Geoff & Jan Phillips Lady Primrose Potter ac* Craig Reeves Maria Sola in memory of Malcolm Douglas Janet Whiting & Phil Lukies* Lyn Williams am Melbourne Recital Centre Senior Management Message Consultants Australia Pty Ltd The Vizard Foundation*
Musicians Circle ($2500+) Eva Besen ao & Marc Besen ao Jim Cousins ao & Libby Cousins* Naomi Golvan & George Golvan qc* + Robert & Jan Green* Jenny & Peter Hordern Peter B Murdoch QC* + Sarah & Baillieu Myer ac James Ostroburski Christine Sather Dr Cherilyn Tillman & Mr Tam Vu* Drs Victor & Karen Wayne Global Leadership Foundation*
Prelude Circle ($1000+) Anonymous (5) Adrienne Basser
Graeme & Paulene Blackman Helen Brack Bill & Sandra Burdett Barbara Burge* John & Thelma Castles* Maxine Cooper & Michael Wright Mary Draper Lord Francis Ebury & Lady Suzanne Ebury Maggie Edmond The Late Lorraine Elliott am Penny & Grant Fowler* The Leo & Mina Fink Fund Susan Fallaw* William J Forrest am Dr Jane Gilmour oam* Angela Glover Nance Grant am mbe & Ian Harris Sue Hamilton & Stuart Hamilton ao Kristin & Martin Haskett Judith Hoy Penelope Hughes Prof Andrea Hull ao* Darvell M Hutchinson am Stuart Jennings Michael & Silvia Kantor* Dorothy Karpin Alan Kozica & Wendy Kozica Diana Lempriere* Robert MacFarlane Sally MacIndoe* David Marr & Sebastian Tesoriero Norene Leslie McCormac Maria Mercurio Dr Richard Mills am*
Elizabeth O’Keeffe* + Prof David Penington ac & Mrs Sonay Penington* Helen L Perlen Dr Robert Piaggio Kerryn Pratchett Peter Rose & Christopher Menz Rae Rothfield Samara, Countess of Beekman Meredith Schilling* + Kate & Stephen Shelmerdine Family Foundation Barbara & Duncan Sutherland Elisabeth & Peter Turner Jacqueline Williams & Peter Murnane Sally Webster Peter Weiss ao Igor Zambelli
Supporters ($500+) Anonymous (1) The Hon Mary Delahunty* Vivien and Jacob Fajgenbaum Margaret & Baden Hagger Dr Robert Hetzel* David & Rosemary Houseman George & Grace Kass The Hon Sen Rod Kemp mp & Ms Daniele Kemp* Peter & Barbara Kolliner Ann Lahore Travis Pemberton* Margarita & Paul Schneider Greg Shalit & Miriam Faine Barry & Barbara Shying Anne Stonehouse am John & Myriam Wylie
*Donations directed to the Elisabeth Murdoch Creative Development Fund + Legal Friends of Melbourne Recital Centre List of patrons accurate as of 18 July 2014
Music Circle Patrons Program
Leadership CircleArtist Development Colin Golvan qc & Dr Deborah Golvan The Vizard Foundation
Jenny Anderson Ken Bullen
Jim Cousins ao & Libby CousinsDr Garry Joslin
The Estate of Beverley Shelton & Martin SchönthalMary Vallentine ao
Great Performers Geoff & Jan Phillips Lady Primrose Potter ac Hans & Petra Henkell
Life-long Learning Betty Amsden oam Kathryn Fagg
New Music Naomi Milgrom ao Peter Jopling am qc
Local Heroes Lady Marigold Southey ac Brian & Esther Benjamin Warwick & Paulette Bisley Andrew & Theresa Dyer Dr Garry Joslin & Prof Dimity Reed am Majlis Pty Ltd Jean Hadges Skipp Williamson
Master Class Cathy Lowy & The Late John Price George & Laila Embelton
DesignBrandingDigital
The Late Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE
Kathryn Fagg, ChairPeter BartlettStephen Carpenter
Des ClarkJoseph CorponiMargaret Farren-Price
John Higgs AMJulie KantorEda Ritchie AM
LEADERSHIP CIRCLESArtist Development Colin Golvan QC & Dr Deborah GolvanThe Vizard FoundationGreat PerformersGeoff & Jan PhillipsLady Primrose Potter ACHans & Petra HenkellMaster Class Cathy Lowy & The Late John Price George & Laila EmbeltonLife-long Learning Betty Amsden AOKathryn FaggNew MusicNaomi Milgrom AOPeter Jopling AM QCLocal HeroesLady Marigold Southey ACBrian & Esther BenjaminWarwick & Paulette Bisley Andrew & Theresa Dyer Dr Garry Joslin & Prof Dimity Reed AM Majlis Pty LtdJean HadgesSkipp Williamson
ENCORE BEQUEST PROGRAMAnonymous (2)Betty Amsden AOJenny AndersonKen BullenJim Cousins AO & Libby CousinsDr Garry JoslinThe Estate of Beverley Shelton & Martin SchönthalMary Vallentine AO
MUSIC CIRCLE PATRONS PROGRAMMagnum Opus Circle ($20,000+)Betty Amsden AO*Colin Golvan QC & Dr Deborah Golvan*Cathy Lowy & The Late John Price*Naomi Milgrom AO*Lady Marigold Southey AC*Annamila Pty Ltd*Majlis Pty Ltd*The Playking Foundation
Virtuoso Circle ($10,000+)Jean Hadges Mrs Margaret S Ross AM & Dr Ian C Ross*J.A. Westacott & T.M. ShannonSkipp Williamson*Melbourne Recital Centre Board of Directors
Kathryn Fagg* Peter & Cally Bartlett* Stephen Carpenter & Leigh Ellwood Des & Irene Clark Joseph Corponi Margaret & Ronald Farren-Price Mr John Higgs AM & Mrs Betty Higgs Julie Kantor* Eda Ritchie AM
Composers Circle ($4000+)Anonymous (2)Brian & Esther BenjaminWarwick & Paulette BisleyThe Late Harold Campbell-Pretty & Krystyna Campbell-Pretty*Andrew & Theresa DyerGeorge & Laila Embelton Dr Helen Ferguson*Andrea GoldsmithRichard Gubbins*Yvonne Von Hartel AM & Robert Peck AM*Hans & Petra Henkell*Dr Alastair Jackson*Mr Peter Jopling AM QC*Dr Garry Joslin & Prof Dimity Reed AM*Alison & David LansleyGeoff & Jan PhillipsLady Primrose Potter AC*Craig ReevesMaria Sola in memory of Malcolm DouglasJanet Whiting & Phil Lukies*Lyn Williams AMMelbourne Recital Centre Senior ManagementMessage Consultants Australia Pty LtdThe Vizard Foundation*
Musicians Circle ($2500+)Eva Besen AO & Marc Besen AOJim Cousins AO & Libby Cousins*Naomi Golvan & George Golvan QC* +Robert & Jan Green*Jenny & Peter HordernPeter B Murdoch QC* +Sarah & Baillieu Myer ACJames OstroburskiChristine SatherDr Cherilyn Tillman & Mr Tam Vu*Drs Victor & Karen WayneGlobal Leadership Foundation*
Prelude Circle ($1000+)Anonymous (5)Adrienne BasserGraeme & Paulene BlackmanHelen BrackBill & Sandra BurdettBarbara Burge*David Byrne +John & Thelma Castles*Maxine Cooper & Michael WrightMary DraperLord Francis Ebury & Lady Suzanne EburyMaggie EdmondThe Late Lorraine Elliott AMPenny & Grant Fowler*The Leo & Mina Fink FundSusan Fallaw*William J Forrest AMDr Jane Gilmour OAM*Angela GloverNance Grant AM MBE & Ian HarrisSue Hamilton & Stuart Hamilton AOKristin & Martin HaskettJudith HoyPenelope HughesProf Andrea Hull AO*Darvell M Hutchinson AMStuart JenningsMichael & Silvia Kantor*Dorothy KarpinAlan Kozica & Wendy Kozica Diana Lempriere*
+ Legal Friends of Melbourne Recital Centre.
GP
GR
EA
T P
ER
FO
RM
ER
S1 8
yOu May aLsO enjOy: _ JEAN-EFFLAM BAVOUZET piano_ Great Performers 2014 Tuesday 25 November 7:30pm Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
_ Colour and emotion are Jean-Efflam’s speciality. As one of the world’s great exponents of the exquisitely sensitive music of the Impressionists he is a true poet of the piano, and it is this reflective, lyrical quality that also makes him an ideal interpreter of the music of Beethoven. Since being discovered by conductor Georg Solti in the 1990s, Bavouzet has been taking the long route to international recognition, building a reputation based on glowing reviews, a catalogue of award-winning recordings and word of mouth rather than marketing hype. He now routinely fills halls in Europe and America with the most demanding of pianophiles.
Beethoven has been at the centre of Bavouzet’s recent work and we’ll hear a handful of idiosyncratic middle-period sonatas. Filled with quirky minuets and waltzes, surprising turns of phrase and pungent harmonies, these sonatas were composed as Beethoven reinvented the symphony with his Fifth, and a similar manic energy animates them. The jazz-inflected Le Livre de Jeb was composed especially for J-E.B. Ravel’s Miroirs are five scenes painted by a master of light and shade; unexpected depths lie below a glittering surface to be illuminated by Bavouzet’s art.
_ PROgRaM
_ BeetHOVen Piano Sonata No.22 in F, Op.54 Piano Sonata No.24 in F-sharp, Op.78 'À Thérèse' Piano Sonata No.25 in G, Op.79 Piano Sonata No.26 in E-flat, Op.81a 'Les Adieux'
MantOVanI Le Livre de Jeb
RaVeL Miroirs
