TSO set to feature plenty of Brahms, Beethoven and a whole lot of Baroque in the new year.
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra has publicly announced its 2016 season programme – and it’s set to feature plenty of Brahms, plenty of Beethoven, and a whole lot of Baroque.
Introducing the programme, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Marko Letonja says the act of going to a concert “taps into something elemental in us all”.
“It not only puts us in touch with great music, it puts us in touch with ourselves and with those around us,” he muses.
But it’s not all heavy business. Next year will take off with a song, as a Gilbert & Sullivan Spectacular opens the season on February 26. Lovers of the comic operas will be thrilled to hear hits from The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, and Trial by Jury. Andrew Greene will step in to conduct Lorina Gore (some readers may have seen the soprano’s unlikely performance on The Bachelor Australia last month), Jonathan Abernethy (tenor) and Stuart Maunder (baritone) accompanied by singers from the TSO Chorus.
Lorina Gore © David Lewis
March sees work by masters Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Ravel performed across two concerts with Croatian-born pianist Dejan Lazić presenting a piano concerto in each. A number of world class pianists will journey to the southern island next year including Ukranian-born pianist Alexander Gavrylyuk, Russian-born Nikolai Demidenko, French pianist Cedric Tiberghien, and Germany’s Lars Vogt. Vogt will come fresh off the First Night of the Proms at the 2015 BBC Proms and this will be his debut with the TSO.
The Beauty of Brahms will sound in April, with former BBC Young Musician of the Year Nicola Benedetti teaming up with cellist Leonard Elschenbroich for the composer’s Concerto for Violin and Cello. The two string players have so far had a booming career – and romance – having hooked up as lovers eight years ago. This will be Benedetti’s TSO debut. The Brahms’ Violin Concerto will be performed by Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma, also performing with the orchestra for the first time.
Benedetti and Elschenbroich © Jane Lawrence
Tasmania celebrates most seasons with a ripper festival, and the TSO will join in on the fun with a July performance of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. And it’s bound to be huge as the TSO Chorus comes together with participants in the Festival of Voices Chorus. Who better to lead the masses than Richard Gill? Singers Sara Macliver, Fiona Campbell, Richard Butler and Christopher Richardson will feature as soloists.
The TSO will return to its roots when it presents Grieg’s Piano Concerto, performed at the orchestra’s very first concert in 1948 and this time played by Spain’s Javier Perianes. The event will also be a celebration of the present, with a new commission by Melody Eötvös performed.
Concertgoers can enjoy an evening of their very own with The People’s Playlist. Johannes Fritzsch will conduct works chosen by members of the audience who can vote for their favourites online via the TSO’s website. The voting system won’t open until May 1, but there’s plenty of inspiration in the year’s programme to get people started on ideas.
Arguably one of Australia’s finest musicians, Richard Tognetti will conduct and perform in a concert featuring Vasks’ Vox Amoris, Haydn’s disturbingly catchy Symphony No 104 London, and three works by Bach including Tognetti’s own arrangement of Canons on a Goldberg Ground.
Richard Tognetti
More Haydn will ensue with The Creation – a work inspired by the Old Testament and one which was performed at the opening of the Hobart Town Hall on September 27, 1866 – almost exactly 150 years ago to the day of this September 10 concert.
After their joint success with this year’s James Bond: Licence to Thrill themed concert, Guy Noble and Mary Carewe will come together again in a bid to wow audiences with musical hits from Chicago, The Sound of Music, Les Misérables and more. In November, Swedish soprano and experienced Wagner singer Nina Stemme will join with Australian tenor Stuart Skelton to sing excerpts from Wagner’s marathon Tristan and Isolde before the year wraps up as brightly as it opened with works by American composers Copland, Adams and Gershwin and Australian Ian Munro.
Comments
Log in to join the conversation.