DMITRY SINKOVSKYAUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURGORCHESTRASydney and Melbourne July/August 2014 Dmitry Sinkovsky (Russia) guest director, baroque violin and countertenorPaul Dyer AO artistic directorAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra

PROGRAM

VIVALDI Concerto in C major RV 177CORELLI Concerto grosso Op. 6 No. 11 in B flat major VIVALDI Concerto in d minor RV 246

INTERVAL

VIVALDI Cantata RV 684 for alto, strings and continuoAVISON/SCARLATTI Concerto grosso No. 3 in d minorVIVALDI Concerto in d minor RV 242 Op. 8 No. 7 ‘Per Pisendel’

Sydney City Recital Hall Angel PlaceWednesday 23 July, Friday 25 July, Saturday 26 July, Wednesday 30 July, Friday 1 August all at 7pm, Matinee Saturday 26 July at 2pm

Melbourne Melbourne Recital CentreSaturday 2 August at 7pmSunday 3 August at 5pm

Chairman’s 11Proudly supporting our guest artists

The duration of this concert is approximately 2 hours including interval.We kindly request that you switch off all electronic devices during the performance.

Macquarie Group is again proud to be the principal partner of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

The Brandenburg’s exciting 25th year concert series features some of the baroque and early classical periods’ most renowned composers, as well as some more modern names. As the Brandenburg has done year after year, well-loved and lesser-known pieces are brought to life through the precision and passion of the orchestra, the Brandenburg Choir and some of the most talented names in international concert music. This is a year of celebrating achievement. From small beginnings, the Brandenburg has become one of Australia’s great treasures. And although the orchestra has evolved over more than two decades, what has remained constant is its dedication, expertise and an unfailing pursuit of excellence.

Macquarie recognises that these qualities can deliver powerful outcomes. It is a privilege to support the Brandenburg as it shares its love of the music of centuries past with audiences today. Whether it is in the concert hall or in the classrooms visited as part of its education program, the Brandenburg continues to make an enduring contribution to the legacy of baroque music.

We congratulate Paul Dyer, Bruce Applebaum and the Orchestra on their 25th anniversary and for creating a wonderful year of concerts. We hope you enjoy the performance.

Greg Ward Deputy Managing Director, Macquarie Group Limited

25 YEARS OfACHIEVEMENT

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR'SMESSAGEOne of the things I love most about my role as Artistic Director of the Brandenburg is the opportunity to share with our audiences the exciting new baroque musicians that I come across in my research for each season. One such jewel is the multi-talented Russian baroque violinist Dmitry Sinkovsky, our Guest Director for this concert series in his debut Australian performances.

Dmitry comes from an almost forgotten baroque tradition: not only is he a dazzling and energetic violin virtuoso, but he is also a countertenor. I am thrilled to share the stage with this unique musician who will perform some of Vivaldi’s lesser known but glittering concertos with the Orchestra. The technical demands and virtuosity of these concertos means that they are rarely heard, and we are thrilled to have this musician of exceptional ability join us to perform them.

This concert series is also a rare opportunity to experience the beautiful sound of Dmitry’s violin, on loan to him by the Jumpstart Jnr Foundation and crafted by Francesco Ruggeri in 1675, the first in a long line of exceptional luthiers. Ruggeri instruments are highly prized for their superior construction and tone, and it will be a thrill to hear this wonderful violinist with this very special violin.

Dmitry is at the forefront of today’s baroque specialists and it is a pleasure to welcome him to the Brandenburg stage.

Paul Dyer AO Artistic Director and Conductor 3

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Dmitry Sinkovsky (Russia) guest director, baroque violin and countertenorPaul Dyer AO artistic directorAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra

THE MUSICIANS ON PERIOD INSTRUMENTS

Baroque Violin 1Matt Bruce, Sydney+* (Resident Concertmaster)Catherine Shugg, MelbourneBianca Porcheddu, CanberraSkye McIntosh, Sydney

Baroque Violin 2Ben Dollman, Adelaide+*

Sarah Dunn, SydneyMatt Greco, The Hague, The NetherlandsTim Willis, MelbourneShaun Warden, Sydney

Baroque ViolaMonique O'Dea, Sydney+1

Marianne Yeomans, Sydney Heather Lloyd, SydneyJames Eccles, Sydney

Baroque CelloJamie Hey, Melbourne+*

Anthea Cottee, Sydney Rosemary Quinn, Sydney

Baroque Double BassKirsty McCahon, Sydney+*

Theorbo/GuitarTommie Andersson, Sydney+*

HarpsichordPaul Dyer, Sydney+*

OrganJoanna Tondys, Sydney+

AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA DMITRY SINKOVSKY “…What stands out at concert after concert is the

impression that this bunch of musicians is having a really good time. They look at each other and smile, they laugh…there’s a warmth and sense of fun not often associated with classical performance.” Sydney Morning Herald

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, led by charismatic Artistic Director Paul Dyer, celebrates the music of the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with excellence, flair and joy. Comprising leading specialists in informed performance practice from all over Australia, the Brandenburg performs using original edition scores and instruments of the period, breathing fresh life and vitality into baroque and classical masterpieces – as though the music has just sprung from the composer’s pen.

The Orchestra’s name pays tribute to the Brandenburg Concertos of J.S. Bach, whose musical genius was central to the baroque era. Celebrating their 25th anniversary in 2014, the Brandenburg continues to deliver exhilarating perforances. The Brandenburg has collaborated with such acclaimed and dynamic virtuosi as Andreas Scholl, Fiona Campbell, Philippe Jaroussky, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Emma Kirkby, Andreas Staier, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Genevieve Lacey, Andrew Manze and more.

Through its annual subscription series in Sydney and Melbourne, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra performs before a live audience in excess of 40,000 people, and hundreds of thousands more through national broadcasts on ABC Classic FM. The Brandenburg also has a regular commitment to performing in regional Australia. Since 2003 the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra has been a member of the Major Performing Arts Group, which comprises 28 flagship national arts organisations supported by the Australia Council for the Arts.

Since its beginning, the Brandenburg has been popular with both audiences and critics. In 1998 The Age proclaimed the Brandenburg “had reached the ranks of the world’s best period instrument orchestras”. In 2010 the UK’s Gramophone Magazine declared “the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is Australia’s finest period-instrument ensemble. Under their inspiring musical director Paul Dyer, their vibrant concerts and recordings combine historical integrity with electrifying virtuosity and a passion for beauty.”

The Australian proclaimed that “a concert with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is like stepping back in time, as the sounds of period instruments resurrect baroque and classical works with reverence and authority.”

The Brandenburg's sixteen recordings with ABC Classics include five ARIA Award winners for Best Classical Album (1998, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2010).

Discover more at brandenburg.com.au

AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURGORCHESTRA

* Denotes Brandenburg Core Musician+ Section Leader 1 Monique O’Dea appears courtesy of Presbyterian Ladies' College, Sydney (staff) Harpsichord preparation by Geoffrey Pollard in Sydney and Alastair McAllister in MelbourneContinuo organ by Henk Klop, Garderen, The Netherlands 2004 supplied by Carey Beebe Harpsichords in Sydney Organ preparation by Joanna Tondys in Sydney and Ken Falconer in Melbourne

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PAUL DYERIn January 2013 Paul Dyer was awarded the Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for his ‘distinguished service to the performing arts, particularly orchestral music as a director, conductor and musician, through the promotion of educational programs and support for emerging artists’ in recognition of his achievements as Co-founder and Artistic Director of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Brandenburg Choir.

Paul Dyer is one of Australia’s leading specialists in period performance styles. He founded the ABO in 1990 and has been the orchestra’s Artistic Director since that time. Paul has devoted his performing life to the harpsichord, fortepiano and chamber organ as well as conducting the Brandenburg Orchestra and Choir.

Paul completed postgraduate studies in solo performance with Bob van Asperen at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague, performed with many major European orchestras and undertook ensemble direction and orchestral studies with Sigiswald Kuijken and Frans Brüggen.

Paul appears as a soloist, continuo player and conductor with many major ensembles including the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Queensland Orchestra, Australia Ensemble, Australian Chamber Orchestra, Opera Australia, Australian Youth Orchestra, Victorian State Opera, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Vancouver, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, London.

Paul has performed with many prominent international soloists including Andreas Scholl, Cyndia Sieden, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Andreas Staier, Marc Destrubé, Christoph Prégardien, Hidemi Suzuki, Manfredo Kraemer, Andrew Manze, Yvonne Kenny, Emma Kirkby, Philippe Jaroussky and many others. In 1998 he made his debut in Tokyo with countertenor Derek Lee Ragin, leading an ensemble of Brandenburg soloists, and in August 2001 Paul toured the orchestra to Europe with guest soloist Andreas Scholl. As a

recitalist, he has toured Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United States.

Paul is an inspiring teacher and has been a staff member at various Conservatories throughout the world. In 1995 he received a Churchill Fellowship and he has won numerous international and national awards for his CD recordings with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and Choir, including the 1998, 2001, 2005, 2009 and 2010 ARIA Awards for Best Classical album. Paul is Patron of St Gabriel’s School for Hearing Impaired Children. In 2003 Paul was awarded the Australian Centenary Medal for his services to Australian society and the advancement of music. In 2010 Paul was awarded the Sydney University Alumni Medal for Professional Achievement.

“The violinist Dmitry Sinkovsky gyrated like a rock guitarist during his gorgeous rendition of Vivaldi’s Concerto, his virtuosity seeming as effortless as Ms. DiDonato’s, and his soulful, aching rendition of the Adagio holding the audience spellbound” (after a concert in Carnegie-hall , New York Times, 20 Nov 2012).

Virtuoso violinist Dmitry Sinkovsky was being groomed for an international career by the Moscow Conservatory, where he graduated in 2005, when he decided to change direction and concentrate on historical performance practice. He studied baroque violin with Marie Leonhardt in Amsterdam and singing with Michael Chance in Den Haag, Jana Ivanilova in Moscow and Marie Daveluy in Montreal. He has since been awarded numerous prizes in major competitions including the Premio Bonporti in Italy (2005), the Bach Competition in Leipzig (2006), the Musica Antiqua Competition in Bruges (first prize, audience prize and critics' prize - 2008), the Romanus Weichlein prize at the Biber competition in Austria in 2009 for his “extraordinary interpretation of the Biber's Rosary sonatas” and first prize at the Telemann Competition in Magdeburg (2011). Critics and public alike praise his ability to “play from the heart” whilst performing music of dazzling difficulty.

Dmitry Sinkovsky is now much in demand as a soloist and conductor, performing extensively in Europe, Canada, Australia, Russia and the USA. He heads the ensemble La Voce Strumentale, which he founded in 2011 and works with some of the finest Baroque orchestras today including Il Giardino Armonico (Italy), Concerto Köln (Germany), Il Complesso Barocco (Italy), Arion Baroque Orchestra (Canada), Australian Brandenburg Orchestra (Australia), Armonia Atenea (Greece), the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra (Finland), and the Seville Baroque Orchestra (Spain).

He has a very fine voice and often performs as a countertenor. During the last 3 years with La Voce Strumentale, Dmitry has sung in many productions including: “Gloria e Himeneo” of Vivaldi, “Messiah”,

“Clorie, Tirsi, Fileno”, “Amarilli Vezzosa” “Ollinto Pastore” of Handel, “La nozze di Iole ed Ercole” of Leonardo Leo, and many others.

In 2015 he will conduct Handel's oratory “Il Trionfo del Tempo” in Moscow, and for the first time in history he will be also one of the title singers at the same production. In the 2012 to 2015 seasons he will be guest conductor of Il Complesso Barocco accompanying distinguished mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in her Drama Queens concert tour. The extensive tours will cover major concert halls throughout Europe, the USA and Asia.

He has recorded with Naïve and Caro Mitis. His recent Vivaldi CD “Per Pisendel” with Il Pomo d`Oro orchestra received a Diapason D`Or. In 2014, Dmitry's new Cds "Rosary Sonatas of H.I.F von Biber" and his first vocal/instrumental solo album of A. Vivaldi with La Voce Strumentale will be released.

Dmitry Sinkovsky continues to teach violin and viola at the Moscow Conservatory. As a laureate of the Jumpstart Jr. Competition in the Netherlands he has been loaned a superb violin by Francesco Ruggeri (1675).

DMITRY SINKOVSKY

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DMITRY SINKOVSKY

After supper I received a visit from Vivaldi, the famous composer and violinist … He let me listen to his very difficult and quite inimitable fantasias on the violin, so that, being close at hand, I could not but marvel even more at his skill.

Johann von Uffenbach, Venice, 1715

At the beginning of the eighteenth century the concerto was the pinnacle of instrumental music. Originally the term “concerto” simply meant any piece performed by a group of voices and/or instruments playing together. By the late seventeenth century the term had gained its more modern meaning of an instrumental piece featuring one or more soloists, whose parts were set in relief against the background of the accompanying strings. This kind of solo concerto was developed by musicians in northern Italy in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and took Europe by storm in the hands of Antonio Vivaldi, whose vivid concertos for a variety of instruments but above all for solo violin were widely disseminated across Europe beginning in the 1710s.

The solo concerto was particularly popular in Venice, Vivaldi’s home town, but in Rome, where Archangelo Corelli was the dominant figure in musical life, the concerto grosso form which he perfected was favoured instead. It featured a small group of soloists, called the concertino, typically made up of two violins and cello, contrasted against the rest of the orchestra, known as the ripieno (full) or concerto grosso (large ensemble). ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741)Concerto in C Major RV 177

Allegro ma poco Largo Allegro

If rapid and acute tones are evils, Vivaldi has much of the sin to answer for. “It is very usual,” says Mr. Wright in his Travels through Italy, from 1720 to 1722, “to see priests play in the orchestra. The famous Vivaldi, whom they called the Prete Rosso, very well known amongst us for his concertos, was a topping man among them at Venice.”

Charles Burney, A General History of Music, 1789

Vain, egotistical, boastful, grasping, with an extraordinary zest for life – these words, amongst many others, have been used to describe Antonio Vivaldi, known as “the Red Priest” because of the colour of his hair. He was ordained as a priest in 1703 but had to stop saying mass only three years later because of a debilitating chest complaint (probably bronchial asthma). “I almost always stay at home and go out only in a gondola or carriage, since my chest ailment … prevents me from walking.” It did not stop him from becoming one of Italy’s most successful opera composers in the first decades of the eighteenth century, however. He claimed to have written over ninety operas, although so far only forty nine have been identified. Unlike most other musicians in the first half of the eighteenth century, Vivaldi was never employed on a long-term basis by either a member of the nobility or the church, but in his home town of Venice he was hailed as a teacher and violin virtuoso, and for most of his life his services as a composer were in constant demand.

He was particularly associated with the Pio Ospedale della Pietà, one of four Venetian ospedali which cared for orphans and children of the destitute and which maintained an all-female orchestra and choir as a means of providing the girls with a source of income. A number of the girls grew into renowned virtuosi, and many lived their whole lives at the ospedali, performing and teaching.

Vivaldi was hired as a violin teacher in 1703 by the Pietà, and under his guidance their orchestra became one of the finest and most versatile ensembles in all of Italy and attracted travellers from throughout Europe. Charles de Brosses, a French politician who visited Venice in 1739, wrote:

The most exquisite music here is that of the Ospedali. The one of the four Ospedali I visit most often and like best, is La Pieta; it is also the foremost because of the perfection of the orchestra. What precision of performance! Only here does one hear those superb ways of bowing which are admired … at the Paris Opéra.”

WHAT TO LISTEN fOR

Vivaldi composed some five hundred concertos, of which two hundred and thirty were for solo violin. We know very little about the origins of most of the concertos, not even when they were written, or for whom, although many of them would have been for the Pietà, for whom he worked on and off most of his life. Surviving records show that even when he was away from Venice he was still contracted by the Pietà to compose new concertos for them.

The style of this concerto has led to it being dated to around 1734. Like many other eighteenth century composers, Vivaldi frequently recycled his own work, and the main theme of the first movement comes from the sinfonia (overture) to his opera L’Olimpiade, which premiered at the Teatro Sant’Angelo in Venice on 17 February 1734.

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ARCANGELO CORELLI (1653–1713) Concerto Grosso Opus 6 No.11 in B flat major

Prelude Allemande Adagio/Andante largo Sarabande Gigue

Arcangelo Corelli was the first composer whose fame came exclusively from instrumental composition, the first to gain an international reputation primarily through music publishing, and the first to compose “classic” instrumental works which were admired long after his death. He was educated in Bologna but spent almost all his adult life in Rome, and by 1676, at the age of only twenty three, he was already one of the city’s foremost violinists. His playing was described as “learned, elegant and pathetic,” although one witness commented that when he played he appeared “half mad” and that “it was usual for his countenance to be distorted, his eyes to become as red as fire, and his eyeballs to roll as if in an agony.”

Corelli was fortunate in attracting the patronage of powerful people, particularly of Cardinal Pietro Ottoboni, nephew of the Pope and an extremely wealthy and influential patron of the arts who was described by Charles De Brosses as “without morals, without reputation, debauched, ruined, a lover of the arts, a great musician”. Under Ottoboni’s patronage Corelli devoted most of his time to composition, and finally retired from performing altogether in 1708.

Corelli’s fame came from the dissemination of his works, boosted by the boom in music publishing which occurred throughout Europe around 1700. His six published volumes of trio sonatas and concertos were enormously influential across Europe for many years after his death, and in England his works developed almost a cult following among professional and amateur musicians. His compositions and compositional style were much imitated, often without acknowledgement; indeed nine trio sonatas published in 1730 as Corelli’s Opus 7 were not by Corelli at all.

WHAT TO LISTEN fOR

Corelli’s landmark Opus 6 set of twelve concertos was published posthumously in 1714. Corelli composed slowly, polishing and revising his works until he considered them fit for publication, and the composer Georg Muffat reported hearing these or similar pieces played in Rome as early as 1682. Corelli’s concerti grossi were written for festivals in Rome for which huge orchestras of sometimes more than one hundred players were assembled. Contemporary accounts indicate that Corelli was an exacting orchestra leader: he insisted not only on accuracy of pitch but that the bows of all players should synchronise exactly with each other.

Like many concerti grossi, this concerto was based on a set of dance movements. After a slow prelude, the concertino (soloists) play an allemande underpinned by a busy solo cello bass part. A short adagio consisting of a simple series of chords leads to an andante largo reminiscent of the opening prelude. Two further dance movements, a sarabande and gigue, conclude the concerto.

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741) Concerto in d minor RV 246

Allegro Largo allegro

The impression created by Vivaldi’s brilliant playing was captured by German traveller Johann von Uffenbach in 1715:

Towards the end Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment – splendid – to which he appended a cadenza which really frightened me, for such playing has never been nor can be: he brought his fingers up to only a straw’s distance from the bridge, leaving no room for the bow – and that on all four strings with fugues and incredible speed. With this he astounded everyone ...

WHAT TO LISTEN fOR

Vivaldi structured the first and last movements of his concertos around repeating refrains. This is now referred to as ritornello form, from the Italian “ritorno”, meaning return. The refrain is played first by the full orchestra, and this is followed by an episode for the solo instrument which contrasts with the ritornello and uses different melodic material. After each new episode the full orchestra returns with the ritornello but now varied in some way, and so on throughout the movement. This sometimes very loosely followed structure provided the platform for Vivaldi’s musical imagination to run riot. The endless variation of the ritornellos and episodes, as they cycle through a number of different tonalities, is what gives the music much of its typical “Vivaldian” drive and energy.

INTERVAL

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741) Cessate, omai cessate, Cantata RV 684 for alto, strings and continuo

From 1713 onward Vivaldi spent long periods away from Venice pursuing his career as an opera composer and entrepreneur. From 1718 to 1720 he was in Mantua, where he wrote three operas and supervised their performance. While he was there he was employed to compose music for the Mantuan court which included a large number of cantatas, including this one. Vivaldi was a shameless self-promoter, and still used his Mantuan title of maestro di capella da camera long after he had left the city.

WHAT TO LISTEN fOR

A cantata was a small scale vocal work with a secular text, generally consisting of two or three arias linked with recitative (sung speech), and scored for solo voice and continuo or small ensemble. (German sacred cantatas of the same period, like those of JS Bach, are a different genre). Although Vivaldi is not known for his cantatas, in fact he wrote thirty seven of them, nearly all in the two years that he spent at Mantua. A cantata was usually for private performance, but this one must have been composed for an important court occasion as the vocal part requires a certain level of virtuosity and the accompaniment is orchestrated. Little is known about the text, in which a spurned lover rails against the heartless Dorilla, but Vivaldi probably took it from an opera which is now lost.

DMITRY SINKOVSKY

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DMITRY SINKOVSKYCessate, omai cessaterimembranze crudelid’un affetto tiranno;già barbare e spietatemi cangiaste i contentiin un immenso affanno.Cessate, omai cessatedi lacerarmi il petto,di trafiggermi l’alma,di toglier al mio cor riposo e calma.Povero core afflitto e abbandonato,se ti toglie la pace un affetto tiranno,perché un volto spietato, un’alma infidala sola crudeltà pasce ed annida.

ARIAAh, ch’infelice sempremi vuol Dorilla ingrata,ah, sempre più spietatam’astringe a lagrimar.

Per me non v’è ristoro,per me non v’è più spene.E il fier martoro e le mie pene,solo la morte pùo consolar.

Ah, ch’infelice ...

A voi dunque ricorro,orridi spechi, taciturni orrori,solitari ritiri ed ombre amiche;tra voi porto il mio duolo

Cease, now cease,cruel memoriesof a despotic love;so heartless and pitiless,you have turned my happinessinto immense sorrow.Cease, now ceaseto rip open my breast,to pierce my soul,to rob my heart of rest and calm.Poor heart, afflicted and abandoned, a tyrannical passion robs you of peace,because a pitiless face, a unfaithful soul,harbours and nurtures only cruelty.

Ah, unhappy forever ungrateful Dorilla wishes me to be;ah, ever more pitilesslyshe forces out my tears.

For me there is no remedy,for me no more hope.And my fierce torture and painonly death can comfort.

Ah, unhappy forever ...

So it is to you I return,gloomy places, silent horrors,lonely caves and friendly ghosts,to you I bring my grief,

perché spero da voi quella pietadeche Dorilla inumana non annida.Vengo, spelonche amate,vengo, spechi graditi,alfine meco involtoin mio tormento in voi resti sepolto.

ARIANell’orrido albergo,ricetto di pene,potrò il mio tormentosfogare contento,potrò ad alta voce chiamare spietataDorilla l’ingrata,morire potrò.

Andrò d’Acherontesu la nera sponda,tingendo quest’ondadi sangue innocente,gridando vendettaed ombra baccantevendetta farò.

Nell’orrido albergo ...

because I hope to receive from you that pitythat inhuman Dorilla cannot provide.I come, dear caves, I come, welcoming places.Finally, in torment, I will bury myself in you.

In this horrible refuge,sheltered from pain,I shall be able to give ventto my grief,I will be able to call loudly to Dorilla, the heartless and ungrateful one,I will be able to die.

I will go to the gloomy banks of the Acheron*, staining that streamwith my innocent blood,crying vengeance,and, like the ghost of a Bacchante*,I will take my revenge.

In this horrible refuge …

* From Greek mythology: Acheron is the river that flows through Hades (hell); the Bacchantes were followers of the Greek god Bacchus, capable of great ferocity.

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Ben Dollman, Period Violin

CHARLES AVISON (1709–1770) Concerto No 3 in d minor from Twelve Concerto’s in Seven Parts … Done from Two Books of Lessons for the Harpsichord Composed by Sig. Domenico Scarlatti

Largo andante Allegro spirito Vivace Più allegro

“Of the first and lowest Class are, VIVALDI … and LOCATELLI, whose Compositions being equally defective in various Harmony and true Invention, are only a fit Amusement for Children; nor indeed for these, if ever they are intended to be led to a just Taste in Music.”

Charles Avison, An Essay on Musical Expression, 1752

Charles Avison was an English organist, composer, teacher, and concert manager. He was also one of the most important English writers in the field of musical aesthetics, publishing his controversial and influential Essay on Musical Expression in 1752. In this essay and in the extensive notes he wrote to accompany his published compositions he promoted an aesthetic which favoured moderation and shunned the extravagance, found, according to Avison, in the music of Vivaldi and Handel. He disliked the display of virtuosity or excessive ornamentation, considering it was done “merely from a Desire of being distinguished”. For him, an effective solo performance was to be found “in the tender and delicate Touches, which to such indeed are least perceptible, but to a fine Ear productive of the highest Delight”.

Avison lived all his life in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and probably because of this his compositions were limited to only two genres: accompanied keyboard sonatas and string concertos. They were intended primarily for amateurs and the small orchestras which could be mustered in a provincial city. The four movement concerto grosso or “grand concerto” was the main type of orchestral music composed in England in the first half of the eighteenth century, long after it had been superseded in Europe by the Vivaldian three movement solo concerto. However it was an ideal form to use when composing for provincial orchestras, as the difficult solo sections could be played by professional musicians and the easier tutti sections by the gentleman amateurs who made up the rest of the ensemble. There was a great demand for pieces of this type in the middle of the century, and Avison was one of the most prolific and accomplished composers of them, writing no less than ninety-two.

DMITRY SINKOVSKY

WHAT TO LISTEN fOR

Avison based a set of concertos, including the one we hear tonight, on enormously popular keyboard pieces by Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti, son of the equally famous Alessandro Scarlatti. Avison modelled these concertos on those of his teacher, the Italian violinist Geminiani, and of Corelli, structuring each one in the typical concerto grosso movement form of slow–fast–slow–fast. Despite what he wrote about the music of other composers, his own concertos are full of baroque exuberance and energy. They were certainly popular in their own day. When he announced the project to publish the concertos, one hundred and fifty one subscribers signed up to buy the music sight unseen.

ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678–1741)Concerto in d minor RV 242 Op 8 No 7 ‘Per Pisendel’

Allegro Largo Allegro

Vivaldi dedicated a number of his concertos to Johann Pisendel, one of the most famous violinists of his time. Pisendel spent thirty years as a violinist and later Konzertmeister (concert master) in the Dresden court orchestra, which was then the finest orchestra in Europe. In 1716–17 he spent nine months in Venice as part of the entourage of his employer, the Prince-Elector of Saxony, and during that time he studied with and became a close friend of Vivaldi. He acquired a large number of manuscripts by Vivaldi, and copied out some of the scores of his concertos, like the two other Vivaldi concertos featured in this concert. Under his leadership the Dresden orchestra became the major promoter of Vivaldi’s music outside Italy, and this was to have a far–reaching influence on German composers such as JS Bach.

This concerto was published in 1725 in a collection of twelve violin concertos with the title Il cimiento dell’armonia e dell’inventione (“The Battle between Harmony and Invention”). The collection also included “The Four Seasons” concertos.

WHAT TO LISTEN fOR

As usual, the first and third movements are built around repeating ritornelli, with the solo violin making florid appearances between them. The brilliance of the writing for solo violin suggests just how greatly Vivaldi respected Pisendel’s abilities. The beautiful Largo second movement belongs almost exclusively to the soloist, who performs above a bare accompaniment from the orchestra.

Program notes and translations © Lynne Murray 201414 15

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John MilhinchDr David Millons AM and Mrs Barbara MillonsNola NettheimPaul O’Donnell Professor David PeningtonJack and Heather PercyJane Perry and Bob D’ArcyIlma PetersW J and R PoateJim and Chris PollittTed and Jean RadfordPatricia H Reid Endowment Pty LtdJohn ScottNigel Scott-MillerDr Celina SeetoMrs El SeviorDaniela ShannonPaul Sheehan Mr Charlie Shuetrim AM and Mrs Sandra ShuetrimAlan and Jennifer SmithMax and Jennie SuichDerek Taylor and Mark WheelerAnne and Richard TravisStephen and Ruth WalshJustice Anthony WhealyJudith WilliamsGregory WoodAnonymous x 20

SUPPORTER I $500 - $999

Gillian AppletonIan Baker and Cheryl SaundersJeanette BeaumontCathe BoagAnnette and Kevin BurgesDavid and Louise ByrneRebecca and Craig ClarkeCarol des CognetsDr Steven CohnTim and Bryony Cox Susan Dixon and Stephen RixMargaret DobbinProfessor Dexter DunphyAnton Enus and Roger HenningProfessor and Mrs Peter FletcherMalcolm and Barbara FranceChristine George

Karl GoiserPhilip and Anabel GosseAudrey HawkinsDr Ailsa Hocking and Dr Bernard WilliamsGeoff HogbinCavan and Mira HogueJudith HoyMichael JonesA and V KoumoukelisElizabeth Mackenzie and Michael BremnerAntoinette le MarchantCarina MartinRichard MasiulanisWendy McCarthy AOJanet and Donald McDonaldI MerrickDr Peter and Mrs June Musgrove

Ron, Lynn and Marcus OgdenTrevor J ParkinDr Kevin PedemontChristina PenderJohn and Catherine PercyBeverly and Ian PryerThe Ranken FamilyMs Gabrielle J RoweJeannette SharpeDr Agnes SinclairRobyn SmilesAnthony TarletonSue ThomsonMiriam and Frank Tisher John and Anne WhaiteJan and David YoungAnonymous x 14

SUPPORTER II $250 - $499

Jaci Armstong Michael Barbour and Elizabeth HeurtierKeith and Claire BeecherLesley BeresfordProfessor Fran Boyle AMCatherine Broady Professor David BryantJenny and Henry BurgerMarianne CochraneChris and Trudy CooteRaymond DebusJanet DoustMs Noelene EvansMichael and Lindsay FitzgeraldMs Sally L GloverRichard and Heather GorrellAlison and David GygerMargaret HopeAlison Iverach

Geoffrey and Laurel JonesHilary KelmanAndrew and Prue KennardDr Peter and Mrs Pamela KennyJann Kohlman Julie Laforest George LawrenceGill ListerIan K LloydMrs Iris LukeHelen McCathieHelen McConaghyLois McCutchanDr Allan and Mrs Patricia McLayHelen MolloyRobbie NeillTony NewmanBrendan O'ConnellJanette Owen

Dr Alice J Palmer Nella PinkertonRobyn RafflesKen RamshawM L RattiganBarbara and Malcolm RichardsonStephen and Sharon SchachDr Gideon and Mrs Barbara ShawRobbie SingletonCharles SuchEric and Eileen Tang Steven Turner and Amanda TrenamanJennifer and Julian TurecekRonald WalledgeChris and Julia WokesGregory W WonSusan Young Anonymous x 22

CORPORATE DONORS

APA Group Bain & Company Link Market Services Macquarie Capital

Macquarie SecuritiesPacific Equity PartnersQANTAS Loyalty

BRANDENBURG fOUNDATION PATRONSAMATI $250,000 - $499,999

The Eileen Marie Dyer AM FundAnonymous

STRADIVARI $100,000 - $249,999Cary and Rob Gillespie

Anonymous

GUARNERI $50,000 - $99,999The Martin family in memory of Lloyd Martin AM

Macquarie Group Foundation Anonymous

MAESTRI $25,000 - $49,999John and Robyn Armstrong

Chris and Kathy HarropGreg Hutchinson AM and Lynda Hutchinson

Nick and Caroline MinogueRowan Ross AM and Annie Ross

Christine Yip and Paul Brady

ARCANGELI $15,000 - $24,999Melinda Conrad and David Jones

Norman GillespieGlenn Moss and the late Dr Ken Moss AM

David and Rachel Zehner

CAMERATA $10,000 - $14,999Graham Bradley AM and Charlene Bradley

Rohan MeadThe Clayton family

CHAIRMAN'S 11 Dedicated to the memory of James Strong AO.

Chairman’s 11 supports international and locally based artists who will feature in each Series annually. Membership is by invitation only.

fOUNDING MEMBERS In memory of a first class cricketer (U.K.), W G Keighley

Jillian Broadbent AO Louise Christie

Diana and Richard Fisher Chris and Gina Grubb

Grant and Jennifer KingSusan Maple-Brown

Ms Gretel Packer Anonymous

BRANDENBURG DONORSLIfE PATRONS

Mrs Mary Holt and the late Dr John Holt

Aidan AllenJohn Almgren AM and Yvonne AlmgrenPeter Barclay and Victoria Le GallaisGraham Bradley AM and Charlene Bradley Jillian Broadbent AO The Clayton FamilyJane and David DuncanDon and Deirdre Faithfull in memory of Harold and Edna JohnstonChris and Gina GrubbMrs Mary Holt and the late Dr John Holt Mrs W G Keighley in memory of GeoffreyKatie Lahey AM and Robert MarriottMacquarie Group Foundation Susan Maple-Brown AM and the late Robert Maple-Brown

Antoinette AlbertGlenn BarnesDavid and Leith Bruce-SteerLouise ChristieRick and Sue Coles* J Farren-Price JewellersIn memory of Darrel FraserRoger Massy-Greene and Belinda HutchinsonDavid and Andree MilmanGlenn MossLady Potter ACAnna, Frank and Patricia QuiclerMrs Joyce Sproat and Mrs Janet CookeVictoria TaylorPeter William Weiss AORay Wilson OAM and James Agapitos OAMAnonymous

The Alexandra and Lloyd Martin Family FoundationRohan Mead Nick and Caroline MinogueThe Rodwell Foundation Rowan Ross AM and Annie RossJeanne-Claude Strong in memory of James Strong Greg WardCameron WilliamsAnonymous

* Donors to the Brandenburg International Baroque Study Program. This donor list is current for a 12-month period to 30 June 2014. A complete list of our supporters is on www.brandenburg.com.au

CHRISTINA $10,000 or above RUSPOLI $5,000 - $9,999

18 19

City ReCital Hall angel PlaCe

A City of Sydney VenueClover MooreLord Mayor

Managed byPegaSUS VenUe ManageMent (aP) Pty ltDChristopher RixFounder

Anne-Marie Heath general Manager

City Recital Hall angel Place2-12 Angel Place,Sydney, AustraliaGPo Box 3339,Sydney, nSW 2001

administration02 9231 9000Box Office02 8256 2222 or 1300 797 118Facsimile02 9233 6652Websitewww.cityrecitalhall.com

founding Patron Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE

Board of Directors Kathryn Fagg, Chair Peter Bartlett Tommas Bonvino Stephen Carpenter Des Clark Joseph Corponi Margaret Farren-Price John Higgs Julie Kantor

Executive Staff Mary Vallentine AO, Chief Executive Nesreen Bottriell, Director Corporate Services Robert Murray, Director Marketing & Customer Relations Sandra Robertson, Director Development Kirsten Siddle, Director Programming & Presenter Services

THE AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA GRATEfULLY

ACKNOWLEDGES THE SUPPORT Of OUR PARTNERS

Sponsor of hotel accommodation in Melbourne

Media supporter

Sponsor ofcreative branding & graphic design

SUBSCRIPTION SPONSORMAJOR SPONSOR PRINCIPAL PARTNER

SUBSCRIPTION SPONSORMAJOR SPONSOR PRINCIPAL PARTNER

SUBSCRIPTION SPONSORMAJOR SPONSOR PRINCIPAL PARTNER

Sponsor of business strategy development

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is assisted by the NSW Government

through Arts NSW

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia

Council, its arts funding and advisory body.

Carla Zampatti dresses the women of the Orchestra

Official Wellbeing Partner

Education Partner Digital Partner

MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE

Corner Southbank Boulevard and Sturt Street Southbank VIC 3006 Administration: 03 9699 2228 Box Office: 03 9699 3333 Facsimile: 03 9207 2662

Website: melbournerecital.com.au

20

Patron His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd)

Artistic Director Paul Dyer AO

The Brandenburg Council Jillian Broadbent AO Greg Hutchinson AM Max Suich

The Board Rowan Ross AM, Chairman Cathy Aston Melinda Conrad Paul Dyer AO Katie Lahey AM Rohan Mead Simon Pillar Greg Ward David Zehner Bruce Applebaum, Company Secretary General Manager Bruce Applebaum

Deputy General Manager Bridget O'Brien

Catherine Barker Orchestra Manager

Jill Berry Head of Development

Kyle Buchanan Development Coordinator

Kateryna Collier Ticketing Services Coordinator

Ian Creevey Accounts Assistant

Susan Duffy Executive Assistant

Alison Dunn Marketing Manager

Lilla Ito Project and Concert Management Consultant

Ivana Jirasek Philanthropy Manager

David Joyce Systems Consultant

Aishlinn McCarthy Marketing Executive

John Scott Accountant

Jason Soto Box Office Manager

Joanna Tondys Assistant to Artistic Director

Beth Wilson Receptionist

Steven Godbee Publicity Publicist

KPMG Auditors

Charles Gwynn Andrew O'Connor Christopher Price Repertoire Advisors (honorary)

Brandenburg Ensemble Limited trading as Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is a non-profit organisation registered as a company limited by guarantee. ABN 41 003 908 183

Address 142 New South Head Road, Edgecliff NSW 2027 | Post GPO Box 4416, Sydney NSW 1008 Telephone 61 2 9328 7581 | Website www.brandenburg.com.au | Email mail@brandenburg.com.au

Ben DollmanPrincipal Baroque Violin22 23

OUR RECORDINGSTHE AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA HAS RELEASED SIxTEEN RECORDINGS, WITH SOLOISTS INCLUDING ANDREAS SCHOLL, GENEVIEVE LACEY, YVONNEKENNY, ELIZABETH WALLfISCH, SARA MACLIVER, GRAHAM PUSHEE AND CYNDIA SIEDEN. SEVERAL Of THESE RECORDINGS HAVE RECEIVED AWARDS, INCLUDING fIVE ARIAAWARDS fOR BEST CLASSICAL ALBUM.

A BRANDENBURG CHRISTMASBrandenburg ChoirAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra Paul Dyer, artistic director Christina Leonard, saxophoneLouise Prickett, sopranoABC 476 4687

TAPASAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra Paul Dyer, artistic director 2010 ARIA Award:Best Classical AlbumABC 476 3828

BAROQUE fAVOURITES Australian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic directorABC 476 4056

HANDELCONCERTI GROSSIAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic director 2009 ARIA Award: Best Classical AlbumABC 476 3436

GREAT VIVALDI CONCERTOSAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic director. Featuring guest artists such as Genevieve Lacey, Elizabeth Wallfisch, Hidemi Suzuki, Lucinda Moon and many more. ABC 476 923-3

SANCTUARYAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra Paul Dyer, artistic directorKirsten Barry, baroque oboe 2005 ARIA Award: Best Classical AlbumABC 476 284-0

VIVALDI – IL fLAUTO DOLCEAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic director Genevieve Lacey, recorder2001 ARIA Award: Best Classical Album ABC 461 828-2

MOZART CLARINET CONCERTO & ARIAS Australian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic directorCraig Hill, basset clarinetCyndia Sieden, sopranoABC 476 1250

NOëL! NOëL! Brandenburg ChoirAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic director Sara Macliver, soprano ABC 472 606-2

ANDREAS SCHOLL – VIVALDIAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra Paul Dyer, artistic directorAndreas Scholl, countertenorABC 466 964-2

THE AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA COLLECTION Australian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic directorABC 465 428-2

HANDEL ARIASAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic directorYvonne Kenny, soprano1998 ARIA Award: Best Classical AlbumABC 456 689-2

If LOVE’S A SWEET PASSIONAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic directorSara Macliver, sopranoABC 456 692-2

THE fOUR SEASONSAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic director Elizabeth Wallfisch, baroque violinABC 456 364-2

HANDEL ARIASAustralian Brandenburg Orchestra Paul Dyer, artistic director Graham Pushee, countertenorABC 446 272-2

BRANDENBURG fAVOURITESAustralian Brandenburg OrchestraPaul Dyer, artistic director ABC 434 720-2

24

www.carlazampatti.com.au

Music that fi lls your head, lifts your spirits and brings joy. That’s why we’re proud to be the offi cial wellbeing sponsor of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. To learn more about how Australian Unity brings wellbeing to retirement living, visit australianunity.com.au

We’re helping more people hear the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra.

“If muSIC BE THE fooD of LoVE, PLAy oN...” TWELfTH NIGHT, WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

YOU CAN MAKE A REAL DIffERENCE TO THE fUTURE Of THE AUSTRALIAN BRANDENBURG ORCHESTRA BY MAKING A BEQUEST IN YOUR WILL.

fOR A PRIVATE CONVERSATION, PLEASE CONTACT OUR MANAGER Of PHILANTHROPY:   T: 02 9363 2899 E: DEVELOPMENT@BRANDENBURG.COM.AU M: GPO BOx 4416  SYDNEY  NSW  2001OR REfER TO BRANDENBURG.COM.AU/BEQUESTS/