Friday 15 Mar 2024 7:30pm
Federation Concert Hall, nipaluna / Hobart
Streaming live & playback via TSO On Demand
Conducted by Eivind Aadland,
featuring Alexander Gavrylyuk on piano.
The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra acknowledges the traditional owners and continuing custodians of lutruwita / Tasmania. We pay respect to the Aboriginal community today, and to its Elders past and present. We recognise a history of truth, which acknowledges the impacts of colonisation upon Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and stand for a future that profoundly respects their stories, culture, language and history.
About the concert
Works
Grieg Norsk, Op 53 No 1; Kulokk and Stabbelåten, Op 63 No 2 (10 min)
Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16 (30 min)
3 movements:
- Allegro molto moderato
- Adagio –
- Allegro moderato molto e marcato
20 minute interval
Sibelius Symphony No 3 in C, Op 52 (29 min)
3 movements:
- Allegro moderato
- Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto
- Moderato - Allegro (ma non tanto)
Sibelius Finlandia, Op 26 (8 min)
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A 'movement' is a longer piece of music broken up into bite-size pieces. It makes it easier to perform and provides contrast within the work. Find out more here.
Alexander Gavrylyuk playing the piano.
Uncover the stories behind the works.
A folk affair
Norsk, Op 53 No 1; Kulokk and Stabbelåten, Op 63 No 2
Composed by Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)
10 minutes
We commence our evening with Edvard Grieg's three miniatures for orchestra, Norsk (Norwegian) followed by Kulokk (Cow Call) and Stabbelåten (Peasant Dance).
Like many composers of his generation, Grieg was interested in drawing inspiration from the folk music traditions of his homeland.
The principal melody of Norsk, for instance, has the easy-going gait of a folk song, and Kulokk, which is slow and serene, has a naïve, folk-like quality.
Stabbelåten, which is upbeat, is based upon an authentic folk dance. It commences with a brief gesture mimicking the open strings of the violin, suggesting a rustic fiddle band warming up.
Through "Kulokk" and "Stabbelåten," Grieg demonstrates his mastery of weaving folk elements into classical compositions, creating works that are both culturally specific and universally appealing.
Gripping Grieg
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op 16
- Allegro molto moderato
- Adagio –
- Allegro moderato molto e marcato
Composed by Edvard Grieg (1843–1907)
30 minutes
Folk music influences are also evident in the main work by Grieg in this concert, his celebrated Piano Concerto in A minor, which was composed in 1868 and won widespread fame for the then little-known composer.
Tunefulness pervades the opening movement, which unfolds in the manner of a rhapsody. The concerto commences in dramatic fashion with the soloist executing a ferocious charge down the keyboard (covering six octaves in total).
This segues into the opening theme – a pithy and memorable melody around the chords of A minor and C major which leads to a more lyrical, searching paragraph.
The slow movement, which is in the surprising key of D-flat major, offers an oasis of calm. Muted strings set the scene and the piano spins gentle decoration in the style of an extemporisation.
The finale, which is back in the key of A minor, evokes the Norwegian ‘halling’, a folk dance in duple time. The heavy tread of the halling (heard at the outset) contrasts with a sweet, bird-like melody introduced by the flute, the two themes being extensively worked out as the movement progresses.
More about Grieg
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) is the composer of some of the most instantly recognisable of all orchestral works including the Piano Concerto, In the Hall of the Mountain King and Morning Mood.
Ironically, it is not in the area of orchestral music that Grieg felt most comfortable but, rather, intimate genres such as music for solo piano (his ten volumes of Lyric Pieces are masterpieces) and solo songs with piano accompaniment.
Like many composers of his generation, Grieg turned to the folk music of his homeland – in his case, Norway – in an attempt to fashion a distinctly national style. Grieg’s incidental music for Ibsen’s Peer Gynt further consolidated his credentials as a Norwegian composer.
But Grieg was no stay-at-home provincial. He studied at the Leipzig conservatory, travelled widely, attended the inaugural Ring cycle at Bayreuth in 1876 (also Parsifal some years later) and formed friendships with fellow composers Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Delius.
Melbourne-born composer and pianist Percy Grainger (1882–1961) came to know Grieg in his last years and remained a strong advocate of the Norwegian composer’s music throughout his life.
Rousing & Beloved
Symphony No 3 in C, Op 52
- Allegro moderato
- Andantino con moto, quasi allegretto
- Moderato - Allegro (ma non tanto)
Composed by Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
29 minutes
We turn to the music of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius for the second half of the concert, commencing with his Symphony No 3, which was composed in 1907.
The opening movement juxtaposes confident material in the key of C major (pedal notes on C, open fifths and pentatonic melodies create a cheerful, arcadian mood) with somewhat more equivocal ideas in the minor mode.
The second movement, which is in the rarely encountered key of G-sharp minor, commences with a bittersweet theme in the style of a waltz. It is introduced by the woodwinds and takes on different guises as the movement unfolds.
The third and final movement opens with seemingly disconnected fragments, but these coalesce into a noble, hymn-like theme which is clothed in different orchestral colours before leading to a grand closing paragraph reiterating the home key of C.
A rallying cry
Finlandia, Op 26
Composed by Jean Sibelius (1865–1957)
8 minutes
The concert concludes with Finlandia, a piece which made Sibelius a hero in his native country.
Commencing with a sinister-sounding brass statement, Finlandia soon assumes a more sympathetic bearing and builds to a rousing episode for full orchestra before a dignified, anthem-like tune emerges – you’ll probably be humming it as you leave the concert!
Composed in 1899 – a time when Finland was under the yoke of Russia – Finlandia became the rallying cry for a people yearning to be free.
Musicians
Eivind Aadland
Chief Conductor & Artistic Director
Supported by Anonymous
Eivind Aadland is one of Norway’s most respected conductors. Since 2020 he has been Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. He was Chief Conductor and Artistic Leader of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra for seven seasons from 2004, during which time he conducted the complete Beethoven and Mahler symphony cycles. His extensive work with Scandinavian orchestras includes regular guest engagements with the Oslo and Bergen Philharmonics, the Stavanger Symphony, the Gothenburg Symphony and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he has conducted acclaimed productions of Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and Die Fledermaus for Den Norske Opera, Oslo.
He has also worked extensively in the Far East and Australia. He is a frequent visitor to the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the National Orchestra of Belgium and Iceland Symphony Orchestra. He has also worked with Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse, Gürzenich-Orchester Cologne, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Lausanne and Scottish Chamber Orchestras and the symphony orchestras of Melbourne, Finnish Radio, Bamberg, Staatskapelle Weimar, SWR Stuttgart and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. In addition to his career as a conductor, Eivind Aadland is a devoted collector of, and authority on, contemporary art. His private collection encompasses works in the diverse media of painting, photography, video and installation.
Alexander Gavrylyuk
Solo Pianist
Alexander Gavrylyuk is internationally recognised as one of the leading pianists of his generation for his electrifying and poetic performances. Gavrylyuk launched his 2017/18 season with a BBC Proms performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto described as “revelatory” by The Times and “electrifying” by Limelight.
Born in Ukraine in 1984 and holding Australian citizenship, Alexander began his piano studies at the age of seven and gave his first concerto performance when he was nine years old. He won First Prize and Gold Medal at the Horowitz International Piano Competition (1999), First Prize at the Hamamatsu International Piano Competition (2000), and Gold Medal at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Masters Competition (2005).
Alexander has since gone on to perform with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including: New York, Los Angeles, Czech, Warsaw, Moscow, Royal Scottish, Seoul, Israel and Rotterdam Philharmonics; NHK, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit Symphony orchestras; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia, Wiener Symphoniker, and collaborating with leading conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Herbert Blomstedt, Andrey Boreyko, Thomas Dausgaard, Valery Gergiev, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Louis Langrée, Cornelius Meister, Rafael Payare, Alexander Shelley, Vladimir Spivakov, Markus Stenz, Sir Mark Elder, Thomas Søndergård and Osmo Vänska.
Gavrylyuk has appeared at many of the world’s foremost festivals, including the Hollywood Bowl, Bravo! Vail Colorado, Mostly Mozart, the Ruhr Festival, the Kissinger Sommer International Music Festival, the Gergiev Festival in Rotterdam.
As a recitalist Alexander has performed at the Musikverein in Vienna, Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Southbank Centre’s International Piano Series, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Master Pianists Series, Suntory Hall, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, Cologne Philharmonie, Tokyo City Concert Hall, San Francisco, Sydney Recital Hall and Melbourne Recital Centre. As a chamber musician, Gavrylyuk has toured extensively with violinist Janine Jansen.
Alexander has made numerous solo recordings as well as a recording of the complete Prokofiev concerti with the Sydney Symphony and Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Alexander currently serves as Artist-in-Residence at Chautauqua Institution where he leads the piano program as Artistic Advisor. He has also been named Artist in Residence at the Wigmore Hall in London. A Steinway Artist, he currently lives in Sydney with his wife Zoki and their daughters Anna and Olivia.
Orchestra List
Eivind Aadland Conductor
Alexander Gavrylyuk Piano
Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra
Violin
Emma McGrath Concertmaster
Ji Won Kim Associate Concertmaster
Lucy Carrig-Jones Principal Second
Jennifer Owen Principal First
Miranda Carson
Tobias Chisnall
Doreen Cumming
Frances Davies
Michael Johnston
Elinor Lea
Christopher Nicholas
Rohana O'Malley
Hayato Simpson
Grace Thorpe
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Did you know our Concertmaster plays a violin hand-crafted by one of the finest and most important luthiers (a string-instrument maker) of the nineteenth century, Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (1798–1875).
He crafted 3000+ instruments in his time and we’re very proud to have a violin made in 1845 on loan from two of our generous Tasmanian patrons.
Viola
Caleb Wright Principal
Susanna Low
William Newbery
Rodney McDonald
Ariel Postmus
Cello
Jonathan Békés Principal
Ivan James
Nicholas McManus
Martin Penicka
Double Bass
Stuart Thomson Principal
Matthew McGrath
Adrian Whitehall
Flute
Rosie Gallagher Guest Principal
Lloyd Hudson Principal Piccolo
Oboe
Eve Newsome Guest Principal
Dinah Woods Principal Cor Anglais
Clarinet
Andrew Seymour Principal
Eloise Fisher Principal Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
Tahnee van Herk Principal
Evan Lewis Guest Principal Contrabassoon
French Horn
Greg Stephens Principal
Claudia Leggett Principal
Jules Evans
Roger Jackson
Julian Leslie
Trumpet
Tristan Rebien Guest Principal
Mark Bain
Melanie Wilkinson
Trombone
David Robins Principal
Jackson Bankovic
Bass Trombone
James Littlewood Guest Principal
Tuba
Tim Jones Guest Principal
Timpani
Matthew Goddard Principal
Percussion
Gary Wain Principal
*Correct at time of publishing
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Federation Concert Hall has been our home since 2001. It's distinctive curve, golden Tasmanian timber, contemporary design and deep red seats set the tone for the ultimate concert experience.
In 2020, major acoustical enhancements were made to the hall, amplifying the venue's, and the TSO's, reputation as world-class.
Photo credit: Fin Matson
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