Listening Guide 8
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FIREBIRD AN INSTRUMENTAL SPECTACULAR 19 + 20 MAR 2021 CONCERT HALL, QPAC PROGRAM | FIREBIRD I CONTENTS WELCOME 1 IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE ORCHESTRA 2 FOR YOUNGER EARS 4 LISTENING GUIDE 8 ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES 14 SUPPORTING YOUR ORCHESTRA 24 MUSICIANS AND MANAGEMENT 26 II PROGRAM | FIREBIRD WELCOME Welcome to today’s concert! I am delighted to have all of you joining us in the Concert Hall once again. This concert is an almighty musical experience featuring one of my favourite composers, Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky writes in a way that fits well under the fingers and also in the ears. He creates incredibly vivid images and stories with his writing, and weaves an atmosphere that you can’t help but be drawn into. Stravinsky had a canny way of bringing out the woody texture of the bassoon sound, but he also used the instrument for those lamenting moments in which the yearning tenor sound prevails. If I was on a desert island and there was a desert island orchestra, I’d play only Stravinsky ballets and Mozart and Strauss operas. Needless to say, I’m very excited that we are peforming Stravinsky's Firebird alongside Mozart's Piano Concerto No.19. What a treat to be joined by eminent Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi who will bring this piece to life. I know it will be a concert to remember. From the whole Orchestra, we cannot thank you enough for returning to us this year so that we can all enjoy live music together - now and into the future. Nicole Tait Section Principal Bassoon IN THIS CONCERT Conductor Elena Schwarz Relive this concert on ABC Classic Soloists Simon Tedeschi on 25 April at 1pm (AEDT). PROGRAM FRI 19 + SAT 20 MAR WEBER Overture to Der Freischütz 10’ MOZART Piano Concerto No.19 in F, K.459 28’ STRAVINSKY Suite from The Firebird (1919 version) 23’ Queensland Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the traditional custodians of Australia. We acknowledge the cultural diversity of Elders, both past and recent, and the significant contributions that Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples have made to Queensland and Australia. To ensure an enjoyable concert experience for everyone, please remember to turn off your mobile phones and all other electronic devices. Please muffle coughs and refrain from talking during the performance. 1 IF YOU'RE NEW TO THE ORCHESTRA PERCUSSION TIMPANI FRENCH HORN TRUMPET TROMBONE TUBA CLARINET BASSOON FLUTE OBOE PIANO DOUBLE BASS VIOLIN 2 CELLO VIOLA CONDUCTOR WHO SITS WHERE Orchestras sit in sections based on types of instruments. There are four main sections in the symphony orchestra (strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion) and sometimes a keyboard section. STRINGS BRASS These instruments produce sound by bowing or Brass players create sound by vibrating their plucking stretched strings. lips. When this vibration is pushed through large First / Second Violin brass tubes, it can create significant noise. Viola French Horn Cello Trumpet Double Bass Trombone / Bass Trombone Harp Tuba WOODWIND PERCUSSION Wind instruments produce sound by being These instruments create sound by being blown into. struck or shaken. Some instruments just make Flute / Piccolo a sound; others play particular notes. Clarinet / E-flat Clarinet / Bass Clarinet Timpani, Bass drum, Snare drum, Cymbals, Oboe / Cor Anglais Glockenspiel, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Bassoon / Contrabassoon Tam-tam, Triangle, Sleigh Bells. KEYBOARD Keyboard instruments are played by pressing keys. Piano 2 PROGRAM | FIREBIRD WHO’S ON STAGE TODAY CONCERTMASTER VIOLA FLUTE TRUMPET Warwick Adeney Imants Larsens ~ Alison Mitchell ~ Richard Madden = Yoko Okayasu >> Hayley Radke >> Mark Bremner CO-CONCERTMASTER Charlotte Burbrook de Richard Fomison Natsuko Yoshimoto PICCOLO Vere Kate Lawson * TROMBONE Linda Garrett ASSOCIATE Jason Redman ~ Nicole Greentree CONCERTMASTER OBOE Ashley Carter >> Alan Smith Bernard Hoey Huw Jones ~ Kirsten Hulin-Bobart Sarah Meagher >> BASS TROMBONE VIOLIN 1 Jann Keir-Haantera Alexa Murray Matthew McGeachin ^ Rebecca Seymour * Graham Simpson Lynn Cole Nicholas Tomkin COR ANGLAIS TUBA Ann Holtzapffel Alexa Murray Thomas Allely * Joan Shih CELLO Brenda Sullivan Trish Dean = CLARINET TIMPANI Brian Catchlove = Tim Corkeron * Jason Tong Matthew Kinmont + Kate Travers Stephen Tooke Tim Byrne PERCUSSION Claire Tyrell Kathryn Close BASSOON David Montgomery ~ Brynley White Deborah Davis Nicole Tait ~ Josh DeMarchi >> Sonia Wilson Andre Duthoit David Mitchell >> Jacob Enoka Kaja Skorka Evan Lewis VIOLIN 2 Craig Allister Young HARP Gail Aitken ~ CONTRABASSOON Jill Atkinson * Wayne Brennan ~ DOUBLE BASS Claire Ramuscak * Katie Betts ^ Phoebe Russell ~ KEYBOARD Jane Burroughs Dušan Walkowicz >> FRENCH HORN Mitchell Leigh ^ Faina Dobrenko Anne Buchanan Malcolm Stewart ~ Simon Dobrenko Justin Bullock Ian O’Brien * Delia Kinmont Paul O’Brien Vivienne Collier- Natalie Low Ken Poggioli Vickers Tim Marchmont Lauren Manuel Nicholas Thin Helen Travers Harold Wilson ~ Section Principal = Acting Section Principal >> Associate Principal + Acting Associate Principal * Principal ^ Acting Principal PROGRAM | FIREBIRD 3 FOR YOUNGER EARS Carl Maria Von Weber Der Freischütz: Overture An Overture is head at the start of an opera. An opera is a dramatic story that is brought to life by singers and an orchestra through their voices, actions and the music. Today you won't hear the opera, just the music. This Overture was written by German composer Carl Maria von Weber. The story of the opera begins in a dark forest. Weber uses French horns to represent the hunters. When the timpani begin (can you see the huge drums at the back of the Orchestra?) the evil Zamiel appears and tempts the hunters with magic bullets in exchange for their souls. The music becomes louder. Suddenly, there’s a change in the music. Can you hear it? The main tune (called a melody) becomes softer and gentler. DID YOU KNOW? This represents the arrival of a new character, Agathe. The composer is using A melody in music is a this piece of music to introduce sounds that will be heard later in the opera, like group of notes of high the different sounds used to represent and low sounds which different characters. are played one after the other. When put together they make Listen again. Scan the a tune, just like words QR code to listen at home. make a sentence! 4 PROGRAM | FIREBIRD Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Piano Concerto No.19 in F, K.459 A piano concerto is a piece of music that showcases the piano and is performed by someone called a 'soloist.' Think of it like the piano is the singer and the orchestra is the band. The soloist in this concert is Simon Tedeschi, a piano player. He will be performing music written by Mozart, an Austrian composer. Legend goes that Mozart wrote this piece of music for himself to play. Once he wrote it, he took it on tour and performed it in front of an emperor. LISTEN OUT FOR... This piece of music is meant to make you feel happy. If you listen carefully, you can hear that the music changes from big to small sounds and back again. At times, the piano is the main instrument playing while at other times you can hear the entire orchestra. Watch and listen as the music switches between piano and orchestra. DID YOU KNOW? Mozart began creating and performing music music from the age of five! He was often called the ‘child composer’ and was considered a musical genius. PROGRAM | FIREBIRD 5 FOR YOUNGER EARS Igor Stravinsky Suite from The Firebird Today you’re about to hear some music that tells a story. The music our musicians are performing is called The Firebird and it was written by Igor Stravinsky, a composer from Russia. The story goes like this... One day Prince Ivan is hunting in a magical forest. He strays into an enchanted part of the forest that is haunted by an evil magician whose name is Koschei. In Koschei’s forest, Prince Ivan sees a magical creature, the Firebird. The Firebird has magical feathers that flicker and glitter like flames. Captivated by her, Prince Ivan captures the Firebird but agrees to set her free when she offers him one of her magical feathers. The magical feather will help the prince if he should need it. Later, we discover the evil magician Koschei has captured thirteen princesses! Prince Ivan falls in love with one of the beautiful princesses and decides to rescue her. The prince confronts Koschei, but the evil magician sends his monsters after the prince. In peril, the prince calls on the Firebird for help. She rescues the prince by making the monsters dance until they fall into a deep sleep. While they sleep, the Firebird shows the prince an egg where the evil magician’s soul is kept. The prince destroys the egg, and with it Koschei’s soul, freeing the captured princesses. 6 PROGRAM | FIREBIRD LISTEN OUT FOR... In The Firebird, different characters are represented by different kinds of music. Human characters like Prince Ivan or the princesses are represented with simple melodies based on Russian folk music. Mythical characters in the story, like the evil Koschei or the enchanted Firebird, are represented with music that sounds a little offbeat. Can you hear the difference? The original Firebird music was a ballet, but in this concert we don’t have any dancers. Instead we are going to play all the best bits from the ballet. See if you can hear these moments: 1. The spooky rumble on the double basses (they are some of the biggest instruments in the orchestra and look like giant violins) as Prince Ivan enters the enchanted forest. 2. The fluttery music when he meets the Firebird. 3. The beautiful and romantic music as Ivan sees the dancing princesses. 4. The big BANG! when Koschei sends out his monsters. This music is pretty wild, as the Firebird makes Koschei and the monsters dance themselves into exhaustion.