May 1 Dateline

Birthdays

1850 - Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert), the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He served as the Governor General of Canada, the tenth since Canadian Confederation and the only British prince to do so. In 1910 he was appointed Grand Prior of the Order of St John and held this position until 1939. 

1854 - William Percy French, Irish songwriter and painter, one of Ireland's foremost songwriters and entertainers in his day. In more recent times, he has become recognised for his watercolour paintings. French was renowned for composing and singing comic songs and gained distinction with songs as Phil the Fluther's Ball, Slattery's Mounted Foot, and The Mountains of Mourne (this last was one of several written with his friend and and fellow composer, Houston Collisson). French also wrote many sketches and amusing parodies, the most famous of which is The Queen's After-Dinner Speech, written on the occasion of Queen Victoria's visit to Dublin in 1900. Many of his poems are on the theme of emigration, some he called "poems of pathos". (Mountains of Mourne, lyrics by P. French, sung by Don McLean - beautiful version with captions. YouTube, uploaded by Discover Ulster. Accessed May 1, 2017.)

1872 - Hugo Emil Alfven, Swedish composer, violinist, and choral conductor. Alfvén became known as one of Sweden's principal composers of his time, together with his contemporary Wilhelm Stenhammar. His music is in a late-Romantic idiom. His orchestration is skillful and colorful, reminiscent of that of Richard Strauss. Like Strauss, Alfvén wrote a considerable amount of program music. Some of Alfvén's music evokes the landscape of Sweden. Among his works are a large number of pieces for male voice choir, five symphonies and three orchestral "Swedish Rhapsodies." The first of these rhapsodies, Midsommarvaka is his best known piece.

 
1881 - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ, French Roman Catholic Jesuit priest, paleontologist and idealist philosopher. He trained as a paleontologist and geologist and took part in the discovery of Peking Man. He also conceived the vitalist idea of the Omega Point, and developed Vladimir Vernadsky's concept of noosphere, the sphere of human thought.

1913 - Jan Walter Susskind, Czech-born British conductor, teacher and pianist. He began his career in his native Prague, and fled to Britain when Germany invaded the city in 1939. He worked for substantial periods in Australia, Canada and the United States, as a conductor and teacher. 

1923 - Joseph Heller, American author of novels, short stories, plays, and screenplays. His best-known work is the 1961 novel Catch-22, a satire on war and bureaucracy, whose title has become a synonym for an absurd or contradictory choice. He briefly worked for Time Inc., before taking a job as a copywriter at a small advertising agency, where he worked alongside future novelist Mary Higgins Clark. At home, Heller wrote. He was first published in 1948, when The Atlantic ran one of his short stories. The story nearly won the "Atlantic First".
 

1937 - Bo Nilsson, Swedish composer and lyricist. He first drew notice as a composer at the age of 18 when his Zwei Stücke (Two Pieces) for flute, bass clarinet, percussion, and piano were performed in a 1956 West German Radio (WDR) “Musik der Zeit” concert in Cologne. His early style owes much to Pierre Boulez and Karlheinz Stockhausen, but it also displays a number of personal features: the use of bright percussion sounds behind finely wrought vocal or flute (usually alto flute) lines, a “nervous” fluttering of tonal nuances, and a feeling for miniature, calculated forms. He attracted considerable attention in Germany with a succession of small chamber-music compositions characterised by their refined and unusual instrumentation. The best-known of these is Frequensen (German: Frequenzen, 1957) for piccolo, flute, vibraphone, xylophone, electric guitar, double bass, and percussion.

1944 - Rita Coolidge, American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on Billboard magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts. She won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and then-husband Kris Kristofferson. Her recordings include "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," "We're All Alone", "I'd Rather Leave While I'm in Love" and the theme song for the 1983 James Bond film Octopussy: "All Time High".

1946 - Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE FRGS, British actress, presenter, former model, author, TV producer, and activist. She won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous, and was nominated for the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in the Broadway revival of La Bête. In 2013 she received the Special Recognition Award at the National TV Awards, and in 2017 she was honoured with the BAFTA Fellowship award. Her other TV credits include The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Jam & Jerusalem, among others. Her film appearances include On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Trail of the Pink Panther, Shirley Valentine, and Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, etc. Lumley supports charities and animal welfare groups. 

Leftie:
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn

More birthdays and historical events today, 1 May - On This Day. 

 

Historical Events

1707 - Scotland and England are united by an Act of Parliament - England, Wales, and Scotland are united to form Great Britain. The first article of the act describes the Union flag as a combination of the cross of St. Andrew and the cross of St. George. the final design will  also incorporate the cross of St. Patrick of Ireland. It is often called the "Union Jack" as British ships fly the flag on the jackstaff. Otherwise, it is simply called "Union flag."

1761 - Joseph Haydn joins the service of Prince Esterhazy as Kapellmeister, in Eisenstadt, Austria. His association lasts some thirty years.

1772 -  In the Archbishop's Palace in Salzburg, on May 1, 1772, although not in its entirety, Wolfgang A. Mozart renders a private performance of his Il sogno di Scipione, K. 126, a dramatic serenade  in one act (azione teatrale), to Pietro Metastasio's libretto (which has been set to music several times), based on the book Somnium Scipionis by Cicero. Mozart had originally composed the work at the age of 15 for his patron, Prince-Archbishop Sigismund von Schrattenbach. After the bishop's death before it could be performed, Mozart dedicated it to Schrattenbach's successor, Count Colloredo. Only one aria, the final chorus and the recitative dedicating it to the new Prince-Archbishop were performed. It is highly unlikely that it was ever performed in its entirety in Mozart's lifetime. (Il Sogno video:  Il sogno di Scipione 2019 Buzza Boncompagni Bobro. Accessed February 25, 2019.)

1786 - The Marriage of Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), K. 492, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart premieres in Vienna, Austria. It is an opera buffa in four acts, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte.

April 30 Dateline

Birthdays

1662 - Queen Mary II of England, Scotland and Ireland, co-reigning with her husband, King William III & II, from 1689 until her death from smallpox at the age of 32. Although their father James, Duke of York, was Roman Catholic, Mary and her younger sister, Anne, were raised as Anglicans at the behest of their uncle, King Charles II. Charles lacked legitimate children, making Mary second in the line of succession. She married her Protestant first cousin, William of Orange, in 1677. 

1777 - Carl Friedrich Gauss,  German mthematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and sciences.

1870 - Franz Lehar, Austro-Hungarian composer of operettas. He is mainly known for his operettas, of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow (Die lustige Witwe). He also wrote sonatas, symphonic poems and marches. He also composed a number of waltzes (the most popular being Gold und Silber, composed for Princess Pauline von Metternich's "Gold and Silver" Ball, January 1902), some of which were drawn from his famous operettas. Individual songs from some of the operettas have become standards, notably "Vilja" from The Merry Widow and "You Are My Heart's Delight" ("Dein ist mein ganzes Herz") from The Land of Smiles (Das Land des Lächelns). His most ambitious work, Giuditta in 1934 is closer to opera than to operetta. It contains the ever popular "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" ("On my lips every kiss is like wine"). Lehár was also associated with the operatic tenor Richard Tauber, who sang in many of his operettas.

1877 - Alice B. Toklas (Alice Babette Toklas), American-born writer and life partner of American writer Gertrude Stein, member of the Parisian avant-garde of the early 20th century.

1909 - Queen Juliana of the Netherlands (born Juliana Louise Emma Marie Wilhelmina), Queen of the Netherlands from 1948 until her abdication in April 1980, in favour of her daughter Beatrix. Due to Wilhelmina's failing health, Juliana took over royal duties briefly in 1947 and 1948. In September 1948 Wilhelmina abdicated and Juliana ascended to the Dutch throne. Her reign saw the decolonization and independence of the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and Suriname. Despite a series of controversies involving the royal family, Juliana remained a popular figure among the Dutch. Upon her death in 2004 at the age of 94, she was the longest-lived former reigning monarch in the world. 

1933 - Willie Nelson, American musician, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie, combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust, made Nelson one of the most recognized artists in country music. He was one of the main figures of outlaw country, a subgenre of country music that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restrictions of the Nashville sound. Nelson has acted in over 30 films, co-authored several books, and has been involved in activism for the use of biofuels and the legalization of marijuana. (Willie Nelson - Stardust. YouTube, uploaded by gringotroller. Accessed April 30, 2012.)

1943 - Bobby Vee (born Robert Thomas Velline), American singer, songwriter and musician who was a teen idol in the early 1960s and also appeared in films. According to Billboard magazine, he had thirty-eight Hot 100 chart hits, ten of which reached the Top 20. He had six gold singles in his career. He was famous for "Take Good Care of my Baby" (1961). (YouTube, uploaded by boopkid. Accessed April 30, 2015.) 

1954 - Dame Elizabeth Jane Campion, DNZM, New Zealand screenwriter, film director and producer, famous for the movie "The Piano". She is the second of seven women ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director and the first and only female filmmaker to receive the Palme d'Or, which she received for the acclaimed film The Piano (1993), for which she also won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Among her other directed films An Angel at My Table and Bright Star are the most highly regarded. (The Piano (1993).wmv. Uploaded by circeo59. Accessed April 30, 2019.) 

Lefties:
None known
 

More birthdays and historical events today, 30 April - On This Day.

 

 

Feature:

 

Below is a video of  Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande, (Act III, Scene 4). Sir Simon Rattle, conductor · Berliner Philharmoniker · Gerald Finley, bass baritone (Golaud) · Elias Mädler, boy soprano [soloist of the Tölzer Knabenchor] (Yniold) · Peter Sellars, staging / Recorded at the Berlin Philharmonie, 20 December 2015. Accessed April 30, 2018.)  Brilliant boy soprano Elias!

Historical Events

1483 - Pluto moves inside Neptune's orbit, making it the furthest planet from the sun until mid-1503.

1803 - Louisiana is sold by France to the U.S. for U.S. $15 million.

April 29 Dateline

Birthdays

1854 - Henri  Poincaré, French mathematician, theoretical physicist, engineer, and philosopher of science. He is often described as a polymath, and in mathematics as "The Last Universalist," since he excelled in all fields of the discipline as it existed during his lifetime.

1893 - Harold Clayton Urey, American physical chemist whose pioneering work on isotopes earned him the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1934 for the discovery of deuterium. He played a significant role in the development of the atom bomb, as well as contributing to theories on the development of organic life from non-living matter.

1899 - Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington, American composer, pianist, and leader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death over a career spanning more than fifty years. (Duke Ellington Live. Uploaded by onemediamusic. Accessed April 29, 2013.)

1901 - Hirohito (Emperor Shōwa), 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, ruling over the Empire of Japan from 25 December 1926 until 2 May 1947, after which he was Emperor of the state of Japan until his death. He was succeeded by his fifth child and eldest son, Akihito. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had seven children, two sons and five daughters. By 1979, Hirohito was the only monarch in the world with the title "emperor." Hirohito was the longest-lived and longest-reigning historical Japanese emperor and one of the longest-reigning monarchs in the world.

1931 - Frank Auerbach, German-British painter. Born in Germany, he has been a naturalised British citizen since 1947. A strong emphasis in his work is its relationship to the history of art. Showing at the National Gallery in London in 1994 he made direct reference to the gallery's collection of paintings by Rembrandt, Titian and Rubens. Unlike the National Gallery's Associate Artist Scheme, however, Auerbach's work after historic artists was not the result of a short residency at the National Gallery, it has a long history, and in this exhibition he showed paintings made after Titian's Bacchus and Ariadne, from the 1970s to Rubens's Samson and Delilah made in 1993.

1933 - Rod McKuen (Rodney Marvin McKuen), American poet, singer-songwriter, and actor. He was one of the best-selling poets in the United States during the late 1960s. Throughout his career, McKuen produced a wide range of recordings, which included popular music, spoken word poetry, film soundtracks and classical music. He earned two Academy Award nominations and one Pulitzer nomination for his music compositions. McKuen's translations and adaptations of the songs of Jacques Brel were instrumental in bringing the Belgian songwriter to prominence in the English-speaking world. His poetry deals with themes of love, the natural world and spirituality. McKuen's songs sold over 100 million recordings worldwide, and 60 million books of his poetry were sold too. (Rod McKuen - You. YouTube, uploaded by bawoo ko. Accessed April 29, 2019.)

1936 - Zubin Mehta, Indian conductor of Western and Eastern classical music. He is music director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. (Z. Mehta conducting Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Recorded at the National Center for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, April 17, 2016, uploaded by accentusmusic. Accessed April 29, 2019. And here's our all-time favourite symphony from Mahler: Symphony No. 2 in C minor "Resurrection", conducted by Zubin Mehta, with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO). Uploaded by SymphonyOfAThousand. Accessed April 29, 2014.)

1958 - Michelle Marie Pfeiffer, American actress. Known for pursuing eclectic roles in a wide range of film genres, she has consistently received acclaim for her versatile performances. One of the most prolific actresses of the 1980s and 1990s, her accolades include a Golden Globe Award and a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and one Primetime Emmy Award. Pfeiffer has established herself as one of Hollywood's most bankable stars, with fifteen of her films grossing at least $100 million at the box office. Her total worldwide gross as a leading lady exceeds $2 billion. Pfeiffer has been cited among the world's most beautiful women.

1970 - Andre Kirk Agassi, American retired tennis player and former world No. 1 In singles, eight-time Grand Slam champion and a 1996 Olympic gold medalist, as well as being a runner-up in seven other Grand Slam tournaments. During the Open Era, Agassi was the first male player to win four Australian Open titles, a record that was later surpassed by Novak Djokovic when he won his fifth title in 2015, and then by Roger Federer in 2017. Agassi is 2nd of five male singles players to achieve the Career Grand Slam in the Open Era after Rod Laver and before Federer, Nadal and Djokovic and fifth of eight in history, the first of two to achieve the Career Golden Slam, and the only man to win a "Career Super Slam" (all four majors, plus the Olympic gold medal, plus at least one title at the ATP Tour World Championships).

Leftie:
Mathematician Henri Poincaré
 

More birthdays and historical events today, 29 April - On This Day.
 

Historical Events

1429 - Seventeen-year-old French peasant Joan of Arc leads a group into the city of Orleans, which has been under siege by the English.

1770 - Captain James Cook lands in Australia, in a cove he names Botany Bay.

1798 - Joseph Haydn's oratorio The Creation is first performed, at Schwarzenberg Palace, Vienna. The first public performance takes place on March 19, 1799.

Enjoy this video of "The heavens are telling" from Franz Josef Haydn's The Creation with The Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. Accessed April 2, 2022. 

April 28 Dateline

Birthdays

1715 - Franz Josef Sparry, Austrian composer of the Baroque period born in Graz, studied theology at the University of Salzburg, and began his career as a composer. He wrote a Tafelmusik, his best-known work. He was director of music at Kremsmünster Abbey from 1747.

1900 - Jan Oort, Dutch astronomer, who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Milky Way and a pioneer in the field of radio astronomy. The Oort cloud, the Oort constants, and the asteroid, 1691 Oort, were all named after him. Oort determined that the Milky Way rotates and overturned the idea that the Sun was at its center. He also postulated the existence of the mysterious invisible dark matter in 1932, which is believed to make up roughly 84.5% of the total matter in the Universe and whose gravitational pull causes "the clustering of stars into galaxies and galaxies into connecting strings of galaxies". He discovered the galactic halo, a group of stars orbiting the Milky Way but outside the main disk. Oort is also responsible for important insights about comets, including the realization that their orbits "implied there was a lot more solar system than the region occupied by the planets."

1906 - Kurt Friedrich Goedel (or Gödel), Austro-Hungarian-born, and later American logician, mathematician, and philosopher. Considered along with Aristotle and Gottlob Frege to be one of the most significant logicians in history, Gödel had an immense effect upon scientific and philosophical thinking in the 20th century, a time when others such as Bertrand Russell, Alfred North Whitehead, and David Hilbert were using logic and set theory to investigate the foundations of mathematics. 

1908 - Oskar Schindler, Austro-German industrialist and a member of the Nazi Party who is credited with saving the lives of 1,200 Jews during the Holocaust by employing them in his enamelware and ammunitions factories in occupied Poland and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.

1926 - Harper Lee (born Nelle Harper Lee), American novelist, Pulitzer Prize winner of her famous 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and has become a classic of modern American literature. Lee only published two books, yet she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 for her contribution to literature. She also received numerous honorary degrees, though she declined to speak on those occasions. She assisted her close friend Truman Capote in his research for the book In Cold Blood (1966). Capote was the basis for the character Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird.

1928 - Yves Klein, French painter, important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein was a pioneer in the development of performance art, and as a forerunner of minimal art, as well as pop art.(Yves Klein: With theVoid, Full Powers. Uploaded by Walker Art Center. Accessed April 28, 2020. The Life and Work of Yves Klein told by Rotraut. Uploaded by Louisiana Channel. Accessed April 28, 2020.)

1941 - Ann-Margret Olsson, Swedish-American actress, singer, and dancer. As an actress, she is known for her roles in Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas, Carnal Knowledge, The Train Robbers, Tommy, and Going in Style, among others. She has won five Golden Globe Awards and been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and six Emmy Awards. In 2010, she won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Initially billed as a female version of Elvis Presley, she has a sultry, vibrant contralto voice. She had a minor success in 1961 and a charting album in 1964, and she scored a disco hit in 1979. She recorded a critically acclaimed gospel album in 2001 and an album of Christmas songs in 2004.

Lefties:
None known

More birthdays and historical events today, 28 April - On This Day.

 

Historical Events

1920 - Azerbaijan, a country in the Caucasus, joins the Soviet Union.

1947 - Norwegian marine biologist Thor Heyerdahl sets out from Peru on the raft Kon-Tiki to prove that Peruvians could have settled in Polynesia. The journey to the Tuamotu Islands takes 101 days.

Agatha Christie Books for Young Readers

Literature / Mystery/Crime: Agatha Christie

 

Are you an Agatha Christie fan like us? Then this post is for you. Christie fans from around the world were asked which book they would recommend to young readers hoping to immerse themselves into the world of Agatha Christie for the first time. These ten thrilling mysteries came out on top and some fans have been asked to explore what it is about these stories that make them so appealing. 

Read on...  Reading List recommended for young readers (great for adults too!)  

1. The Murder of Roger Akroyd

2. The ABC Murders

3. The Body in the Library

4. The Mysterious Affair at Styles

5. Cat Among the Pigeons

6. Murder on the Orient Express

7. And Then There were None

8. The Secret Adversary

9. Why Didn't They Ask Evans?

10. Death on the Nile

Widely acknowledged to be the best-selling author in the world after Shakespeare, Dame Agatha Christie's crime & mystery books are so popular simply because they have compelling detectives & related major characters, and colourful suspects. Her novels are one of the first murder mysteries ever written.

Resource:

Recommended for Young Readers. The Home of Agatha Christie. 21 April 2023. Accessed April 24, 2023.

(c) April 23, 2023.  Tel. Inspired Pen Web. All rights reserved.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: Verdi's Requiem

Choral Singing / Sacred Music: Requiem

VERDI'S REQUIEM presented by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

Date: Saturday 20 May 2023 at 2pm
Venue: Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs lifts the roof of the Sydney Opera House with Verdi’s Requiem – music’s most awesome mass for the dead. Like any of his operas, Verdi offers the full range emotions in his music – from dramatic terror to heart-melting serenity – and gives us a deeply personal expression of grief. In front of the powerful 350-voice Festival Chorus and Sydney Philhamonia Orchestra are four of Australia’s leading opera stars, all conducted by artistic and music director Brett Weymark.

Ten minutes into Verdi’s Requiem, the “Dies irae” (Day of Wrath) thunders through the hall, carrying all who hear it on a wave of terror as Verdi dials the drama up to 11. At the other extreme is the anguish of the weeping “Lacrymosa” and the gleaming serenity of the “Lux aeterna” (Light Eternal). Verdi has given us a musical expression of grief that’s both deeply intimate and supremely spectacular and that combination is what makes his Requiem one of the best-loved choral works in the repertoire.

 

Verdi’s Requiem might be funeral music – a mass for the dead – but its emotional impact, and the sheer drama of the music, is equal to a night at the opera. So if you love his operas (think Rigoletto, La Traviata, Aida…) join us to experience the genius of his Requiem with our biggest choir, the Festival Chorus, stars of the Australian opera stage and the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra in full force.

PROGRAM

Verdi's Requiem

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
Maija Kovalevska soprano
Deborah Humble mezzo-soprano
Diego Torre tenor
David Greco bass
Festival Chorus
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

 

PRE-CONCERT TALK

Come to the Northern Foyer from 1pm to hear 2MBS Fine Music presenter Ross Hayes speak about Verdi’s Requiem. This talk is made possible with the support of 2MBS Fine Music. Grab a drink at the bar and enjoy this free, 30-minute talk, with plenty of time to find your seat for the 2pm concert.

Seating is on the carpeted stairs in the Northern Foyer.
Access the Northern Foyer via the new tunnel from the Southern Foyer.

• Saturday 20 May: 1:15PM-1:45PM
• Concert Hall, Northern Foyer stairs

 

Reviews: 

Verdi’s Requiem: A concert review by Shirley Politzer. May 24, 2023 by Shirley Politzer.  "Supporting the wonderful soloists is the very capable Sydney Philharmonia Festival Chorus, which filled four boxes around the stage. They were able to use their voices successfully to create the mood required as well as sing in a fugal style or single-line melody. They were also a visual pleasure in how they sat and stood all together and held their folders-something I believe is as important as their singing.  Brett Weymark, artistic and music director of the Sydney Philharmonic Choirs and Orchestra, had full command of the 50 orchestra members, 330 odd choir surrounding him, and the four soloists, leaving nothing to chance." Accessed 25 MAy 2023.

VERDI’S REQUIEM WITH SYDNEY PHILHARMONIA CHOIRS. 5 Stars.  Sydney Arts Guide. Reviewed by Annabelle Drumm, 21 May 2023. "Lead by Artistic Director Brett Weymark, the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra and combined choirs of 350 voices were out in full force. It’s a work that starkly highlights each area of the orchestra in their moments of magic and the musicians fully embraced each opportunity."  Accessed 22 May 2023.

Related Links:

Requiem (Verdi).  en.wikipedia.org

Verdi's Requiem (Messa de Requiem). Inspired Pen Web.

Video Credit:

2023 Verdi's Requiem 2.  Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.  Experience the drama and emotional power of Verdi’s Requiem, from the sky-shattering terror of the Dies Irae to the sublime, heart melting Lacrymosa. Four of Australia's leading opera stars and the 350+ voices of our Festival Chorus fill the Sydney Opera House Concert in this single matinee performance.  YouTube, accessed April 20, 2023.

 

Photo Credit:

 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs / Keith Saunders.

Resources:

Verdi's Requiem. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed April 6, 2023 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' 2023 Season Catalogue. 

 

Tickets:

Premium $129 | A $105 | B $85 | C $60 | D $45
Concessions $116 | A $92| B $75 | C $55 | D $41
Under 30 $30
A booking fee of $8.95 per transaction applies.

BOOK TICKETS HERE

COVID-19 SAFETY AT SPC CONCERTS

Up-to-date COVID guidelines will be available a few weeks before the concert. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs regularly update their guidelines based on health directives from NSW Government & the Sydney Opera House. 

(c) April 20, 2023. Tel.  Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs - Handel's SAMSON

Choral Singing / Musicals

Handel's Samson presented by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

Date:  Saturday 8 April 2023, 7pm
Venue: Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall

Raise the roof, bring down the temple - with Handel's mightiest oratorio!

Samson, Judge of Israel, married a Philistine woman, Dalila, who discovered that his supernatural strength derived from his never cutting his hair. Dalila shore his hair while he was sleeping and betrayed him to her people, the Philistines, enemy of the Israelites. The Philistines captured Samson and put his eyes out.

In “Let the Bright Seraphim,” an Israelite woman calls upon heavenly hosts to commemorate Samson's heroic death and triumph over the Philistines. The piece is an example of the archetypal genre of Baroque vocal music, the da capo aria.

"Let the bright Seraphim in
burning row their loud uplifted
angel-trumpets blow.

Let the cherubic host, in tuneful
choir, touch their immortal
harps with golden wire.

Let the bright Seraphim in
burning row their loud uplifted
angel-trumpets blow."

 

Hot on the heels of Messiah, Handel embarked on another masterpiece: a new oratorio on the story of Samson, the Bible’s original muscle man. Samson was composed shortly after Handel's most famous work Messiah and consolidates the German composer's turn from Italian opera to the development of the English oratorio.This is Biblical drama at its very best – vividly imagined music composed with the finest actor-singers in mind, an opera in all but name.

Handel plunges into the action: we meet Samson, already shorn and blinded, living in a “total eclipse”, a broken prisoner of the Philistines. And over three acts, the music traces a psychological drama that ends with the destruction of the temple and the hero’s ultimate redemption. This great but all too rarely performed oratorio shows Handel’s gift for musical characterisation with rousing choruses for devout Israelites and decadent Philistines, and exquisite arias, ranging from Dalila’s alluring music to the rejoicing sounds of “Let the bright Seraphim”, the much-loved highlight.

For Samson, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Symphony Chorus, some favourite soloists and a massive orchestra (by baroque standards) will unite under the baton of Maestro Brett Weymark to bring the theatre into the concert hall. 

Saturday 8 April 2023 at 1pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall

Running Time: This performance will run for 3 hours including one 20-minute interval.

Image: Conductor Brett Weymark, soloists, Symphony Chorus, and the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra in this very special Easter weekend matinee concert.  

 

PROGRAM

Deborah Cheetham Fraillon  & Matthew Doyle Tarimi Nulay - Long time living here* 

George Frideric HANDEL Samson 

* Commissioned for SPC's 100 Minutes of New Australian Music project

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
Alexander Lewis tenor (Samson)
Celeste Lazarenko soprano (Israelite Woman, Dalila)
Russell Harcourt countertenor (Micah)
Christopher Richardson bass‑baritone (Manoa)
Andrew O’Connor bass (Harapha)
Symphony Chorus
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

Tickets:

Premium $129 | A $105 | B $85 | C $60 | D $45
Concessions $116 | A $92| B $75 | C $55 | D $41
Under 30 $30
A booking fee of $8.95 per transaction applies.

Reviews: 

Great Praise for Samson. ClassikON. by Daniel Kaan | Apr 9, 2023 | Ambassador thoughts, Choirs, Music Directors & Conductors, Orchestras

Handel’s Samson Sydney Philharmonia Choir. Opera House Concert Hall. April 8, 2023. The Sydney Morning Herald.  Reviewed by Peter  McCallum. ★★★★  Reviewed alongside other performances.

 

Handel’s Samson: A music review by Shirley Politzer. J-Wire. April 10, 2023 by Shirley Politzer

 

Samson (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs).  Sydney Philharmonia Choirs celebrates a significant milestone with blazing performance of Handel's Samson, with soloists and choir on top form.  Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House.  ★★★★★  Reviewed on 8 April, 2023  by Steve Moffatt on 10 April, 2023

Related Links:

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa sings Handel's "Let the Bright Seraphim". YouTube, uploaded byDame Kiri Lover. Accessed March 24, 2023.

Handel Oratorio Samson. Inspired Pen Web.  Accessed March 24, 2023.

Video Credit:

2023 Handel's Samson V1 - YouTube. 2023 Season, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed March 24, 2023.

2023 Handel's Samson V2 - YouTube. 2023 Season, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed March 24, 2023.

Resources:

Brett Weymark Conducts HANDEL'S SAMSON at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Broadway World. Accessed March 24, 2023.

Handel's Samson. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed MArch 24, 2023 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' 2023 Season Catalogue.

COVID-19 SAFETY AT SPC CONCERTS

Up-to-date COVID guidelines will be available a few weeks before the concert. SPC regularly update their guidelines based on health directives from NSW Government & the Sydney Opera House. 

 

(c) March 24, 2023. Tel.  Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' The Golden Age of Broadway

 Choral Singing / Musicals

 

The GOLDEN AGE of BROADWAY presented by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs

Date:  Saturday 6 May 2023, 7pm
Venue: Sydney Opera House, Concert Hall

Note: This Concert Hall performance will be broadcast live to a ticketed audience on the Forecourt, as part of Inside/Out at the House, celebrating 50 years of the Sydney Opera House. Find out more at Sydneyoperahouse.com 

All the classic favourites in a dazzling tribute to the great Broadway musicals. 

 

What’s playin’ at The Roxy? I’ll tell ya what’s playin’ at The Roxy!

For one night only the Sydney Opera House will go back to a time of lush orchestrations, toe-tapping tunes, and those catchy songs that changed the shape of musical theatre for decades to come.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs will light up the stage with over 100 choristers, a star-studded cast of vocalists, and bring the Golden Age of Broadway back to life with the brilliant music of Leonard Bernstein, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and more.

As part of the Inside/Out at the House classical festival celebrating the Sydney Opera House 50^th Anniversary, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and Orchestra will present a stunning concert inside in the Concert Hall –  whilst also being broadcast to an audience on the Forecourt.

Music was the salve that healed the wounds of 1940’s America, a time in dire need of laughter and lightness – and composers answered the call with upbeat sing-a-long musicals such as On the Town and Kiss Me, Kate while stars like Gertrude Lawrence and Danny Kaye lit up the stage.

The Golden Age reached its zenith in the 1950s when audiences filled the theatres to see the likes of Guys and Dolls and My Fair Lady with their unforgettable tunes and dancing. In the 1960s, as the Sydney Opera House was taking shape on the other side of the world, Broadway’s audiences thrilled to Hello Dolly, Mame and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. It’s high energy, optimistic music that puts the choir in the spotlight!

Sit back and watch the house lights dim, and as the first notes unfold be transported to the Golden Age of Broadway.

Saturday 6 May | 7pm
Concert Hall | Sydney Opera House
And broadcast to the Forecourt

PROGRAM

An evening of dreamy choruses and beloved songs from the Broadway musicals that shaped our times, including Guys & Dolls, Oklahoma, Gypsy, Kiss Me Kate, My Fair Lady, and more*.

*Please note, this program may be subject to change.

 
The performance will run for approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one 20-minute interval.

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark Conductor
Virginia Gay
Georgina Hopson
Kanen Breen
Alexander Lewis
Symphony Chorus
Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra

BOOK TICKETS HERE

This Concert Hall performance will be broadcast live to a ticketed audience on the Forecourt, as part of Inside/Out at the House, celebrating 50 years of the Sydney Opera House. Find out more at sydneyoperahouse.com

 

Image: Conductor Brett Weymark, soloists, Symphony Chorus, and the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra.   

 

Reviews:

Golden Age of Broadway a Bewitching Show.  ClassikON.  Reviewed by Jacqui Smith | May 7, 2023 | Ambassador thoughts, Choirs, Music Directors & Conductors, Orchestras.  Accessed May 9, 2023.

Golden age of Broadway -A music review by Shirley Politzer.  J-Wire.  May 10, 2023. Accessed May 10, 2023.

Review: The Golden Age of Broadway is Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' Contribution to The Sydney Opera House's Inside/Out At The House Season. broadwayworld.com.  Reviewed by Jade Kops. Accessed May 7, 2023.

The Golden Age of Broadway. Stage Whispers. Reviewed by Carol Wimmer. Accessed May 7, 2023.

The Golden Age of Broadway (Sydney Philharmonia Choirs). 4.5/5 Stars.  The stars come out for a night of popular music that sends its audience out on a high. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. Reviewed by Deborah Jones.  May 7, 2023

Related Links:

Broadway: The American Musical. Inspired Pen Web.

New York Philharmonic New Year's Eve: Bernstein on Broadway. YouTube, uploaded by rayray10. Accessed April 26, 2023. The New York Philharmonic celebrates the centennial of the late Leonard Bernstein, its fabled Musical Director from 1958 to 1969. Led by Bramwell Tovey, with special guests Annaleigh Ashford, Christopher Jackson, Laura Osnes and Aaron Tveit, this loving tribute promises to become a classical music moment to remember.

Oscar Hammerstein II. Inspired Pen Web.

Richard Rodgers. Inspired Pen Web.

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs - Bernstein's Candide. Inspired Pen Web

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs - Bernstein's Wonderful Town. Inspired Pen Web.

Video Credit:

Videos are provided by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. 

 

Photo Credit:

 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs / Keith Saunders, Harvey House, Kate Williams, Alex Smiles, Amelia Dowd.

Resources:

The Golden Age of Broadway. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Accessed April 6, 2023 

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs' 2023 Season Catalogue. 

Tickets:

Premium $129 | A $105 | B $85 | C $60 | D $45
Concessions $116 | A $92| B $75 | C $55 | D $41
Under 30 $30
A booking fee of $8.95 per transaction applies.

COVID-19 SAFETY AT SPC CONCERTS

Up-to-date COVID guidelines will be available a few weeks before the concert. SPC regularly update their guidelines based on health directives from NSW Government & the Sydney Opera House. 

 

(c) April 6, 2023. Tel.  Inspired Pen Web.  All rights reserved.