Conductor: Mariss Jansons Guest Pianist: Yefim Bronfman
From
29 November to 1 December 2013, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with Chief
Conductor Mariss Jansons will perform in Sydney for the first time
“…arguably
the world's greatest orchestra… the depth and eloquence of the strings,
the quick-witted brilliance of the woodwind and the rounded security
of the brass are unfailing.”
The
Guardian (UK)
“So
absorbing is his (Mariss Jansons’) interpretative acumen, so riveting his
command of structure, texture and idiom that I generally just want to go away
and savour what I have heard and treasure the experience of somehow being
lifted out of myself.”
The
Telegraph (UK)
In December 2008, a group of international critics invited by Gramophone ranked the Royal
Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO) as the best symphony orchestra in the world. This
year, the RCO celebrates 125 years of concerts with a world tour visiting six
continents in a single year – the very first orchestra ever to do so. Now, for
the first time, Australian audiences will have the opportunity to experience
the unique quality and beauty of this brilliant orchestra.
Soon after its establishment in 1888, the RCO developed into one of the
leading orchestras in Europe. The character of the orchestra has been shaped by
longstanding relationships with each of its chief conductors – numbering only
six in total during its 124-year history. A wide variety of composers such as
Strauss, Mahler, Debussy and Stravinsky frequently conducted the Concertgebouw
Orchestra and the orchestra enjoyed a close relationship with Gustav
Mahler and championed many of his symphonies. In 1988 the orchestra was
granted Royal status.
RCO Chief Conductor Mariss Jansons ranks among the most outstanding
symphony conductors of our time. His orchestral work is widely recognized
through his extensive touring activities, world-wide television and radio
broadcasts and many lauded recordings. Jansons has been awarded a number of
international prizes and accolades and he is an honorary member of the
Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna and the Royal Academy in London.
The orchestra’s only Australian member is violinist Jane Piper who has
played with them since 2011. The musician, originally from Sydney, is an alumni
of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Australian Chamber Orchestra.
For Sydney Opera House, the concerts by the Royal Concertgebouw
Orchestra are the latest as part of its World Orchestras Program and are
supported by Major Partner, Etihad Airways. In 2013, as part of Sydney Opera
House’s 40th birthday celebrations, Sydney Opera House will also present
the Australian premiere performance by Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Previous orchestras
include the Vienna Philharmonic with Valery Gergiev in 2006 (which also toured
to Perth), the Israel Philharmonic with Zubin Mehta in 2008, the London
Philharmonic with Vladimir Jurowski in 2009, the Berlin Philharmonic with Sir
Simon Rattle in 2010 and a return visit by the Vienna Philharmonic in 2011 with
Christoph Eschenbach.
REPERTOIRE
The RCO will perform works that have played
an important role in its history. Its first program will
feature Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5,
composed in 1888, the year the orchestra was founded. The second program comprises Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3 with
soloist Yefim Bronfman, widely regarded as one of the most talented
virtuoso pianists performing today, and Richard Strauss’s Ein
Heldenleben, a work the composer dedicated to the
RCO.
Program
1: LEGENDARY (repeated in Sydney)
Wagenaar Ouverture De getemde feeks (The Taming of the
Shrew)
Stravinsky The Firebird Suite
Tchaikovsky Symphony No 5
Program
2: HEROIC
Beethoven Piano
Concerto No 3 in C Minor
Strauss Ein Heldenleben
(A Hero’s Life)
2013 SYDNEY SEASON DETAILS
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Advance tickets on sale from 22 January
Tickets on sale to the public from 23 February, priced from $89.
Sydney season details
Friday 29 November, Saturday 30
November, Sunday 1 December
Sydney Opera House
http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/about/program_rco.aspx
NOTES TO EDITORS
MEDIA INFORMATION (for Sydney and national media):
Meera Hindocha, Senior Publicist,
Sydney Opera House
T. 9250
7834, E. mhindocha@sydneyoperahouse.com
The Sydney season is proudly supported by the Sydney Opera House Major
Partner Etihad Airways and Media
Partner JCDecaux.