2016 Concerts

Paul Terracini | conductor
Julia Gu | piano

BEETHOVEN  Coriolan Overture
CHOPIN  Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor

BEETHOVEN  Symphony No. 5 in C minor

Taking inspiration from the impending invasion of Rome by the legendary general Coriolanus, Beethoven’s Coriolan overture is a fitting opener for a concert featuring his momentous Fifth Symphony. That stormy, heroic symphony was written during a time of turmoil – for Beethoven, as his deafness increased, and for Europe, in the face of Napoleon’s advancing army.

This season’s featured young soloist, eighteen-year-old Julia Gu, won the Conservatorium High School’s 2015 Concerto Competition playing the second piano concerto of a similarly youthful Chopin. The multi-award-winning rising star is now studying in Hamburg and returns to Australia especially for this performance. 

Paul Terracini  conductor
David Elton  trumpet

SHOSTAKOVICH  Festive Overture
RICHARD HAIR  Perpetuum Mobile
ARUTIUNIAN Trumpet Concerto in A flat major
TCHAIKOVSKY  Symphony No. 5 in E minor

Three voices of Russia: a festive overture commissioned for a commemoration of the Revolution; a sparkling concerto infused with the gypsy-like sounds of Armenia; and a grand symphony full of aching sorrow, searing passion and dramatic gestures.

The virtuosic trumpet concerto by Soviet/Armenian composer Alexander Arutiunian is one of the most popular works in the twentieth-century repertoire for the instrument. Its fiery rhythms will sizzle in the hands of Sydney Symphony principal trumpet, David Elton.

Richard Hair’s Perpetuum Mobile is a youthful composer’s exploration in symphonic texture and was a runner-up in the 2009 2MBS-FM/Willoughby Symphony Young Composer Award. This is its first performance.

Paul Terracini conductor
Annabelle Chaffey  soprano
Anna Yun  mezzo-soprano
Jin Tea Kim  tenor

Adrian Tamburini  bass

Sydney Chamber Choir, Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers, Warrimoo Chorale
Lucy McAlary  chorus director
VERDI  Messa da Requiem

Verdi’s setting of the Latin Mass for the Dead is like no other, juxtaposing sacred devotion with operatic high drama. Ranging from tender, prayerful moments of private grief to cataclysmic outpourings of anguish, Verdi’s score lays bare the entire gamut of human emotions in the face of divine judgment, with spinechilling effect. With four outstanding soloists from Opera Australia, a chorus of over one hundred, a large symphony orchestra and blazing trumpets announcing judgment day, this performance is guaranteed to raise the roof. Sydney Chamber Choir will combine with members of Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers and Warrimoo Chorale to sweep you along in the magic of Verdi’s vocal sound. 

Performance partners: Opera Australia and Sydney Chamber Choir

Paul Terracini  conductor
Kirsten Williams  violin

DVOŘÁK  Carnival Overture
WIENIAWSKI  Violin Concerto No, 2 in D minor
BRAHMS  Symphony No. 2 in D major

Dvořák described his Carnival Overture as depicting “a lonely, contemplative wanderer reaching at twilight a city where a festival is in full swing”. Its festive energy sets the scene for a concerto rich in both Romantic lyricism and technical showmanship, by the Polish violin master Henryk Wieniawski. Kirsten Williams, Associate Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony, is one of Australia’s most inspiring musicians – a virtuoso violinist, highly-regarded strings educator and passionate musical contributor to community causes.

Completing our cycle of Brahms symphonies, the second symphony is the lightest and most cheerful of the four: sometimes likened to Beethoven’s “Pastoral”, it stands in contrast with Brahms’ notoriously brooding and stern personality.

George Ellis conductor
George Washingmachine  clown

A serious concert presenting works by MOZART, BEETHOVEN, GRIEG and
KHACHATURIAN is disrupted by an accidental visitor to the stage. Is the
clown inadvertently disturbing the sanctity of the concert platform or is
he being wilfully mischievous? Will he and the conductor remain enemies or
find a way to reconcile their musical differences?

This hugely popular show, which has played to sold-out audiences at the
Sydney Opera House and around Australia, is guaranteed to have you and your children laughing out loud!

What Canberra audiences said:

“What a great introduction for young children to an orchestra.”

“Very entertaining. Laughter filled the hall. Great for all ages.”

“The musical pieces were engaging and allowed the children to learn more
about musical concepts (dynamics, beat, etc.)”

“Fabulous, wonderful, age-appropriate, funny, witty, audience-involved, pants-droppingly hilarious and terrific!”

Paul Terracini   conductor

An Operantics production (fully staged)

Dave Smith  Ferrando
Tristan Entwistle  Guglielmo
Ian Warwick  Don Alfonso
Joelene Griffith  Fiordiligi
Katie Miller-Crispe  Dorabella
Samanta Lestavel  Despina

Following its acclaimed Sydney season in 2015, Operantics’ debut production of Mozart’s final opera buffa (comic opera) comes to the Penrith Symphony Orchestra 2016 season.

Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (Thus Do They All, or The School for Lovers) is a tale of love, deception and forgiveness. The fiancée-swapping
antics are updated to modern-day Sydney, as two young North Shore lads assume disguises to test the faithfulness of their girlfriends – two socialite sisters from the Eastern Suburbs.

All kinds of antics ensue that take the lovers far from the safety of their privileged upbringings. At the end of the day, is anyone to be trusted in
love?

Paul Terracini   conductor

An Operantics production, presented as a concert performance, featuring

Joelene Griffith Amina
Michael Butchard Elvino
Christopher Nazarian Count Rodolfo
Jermaine Chau Teresa
Jessica Harper Lisa
Gerard Atkinson Alessio 

BELLINI  La sonnambula

Our first complete opera-in-concert performance presents La sonnambula (The Sleepwalker). Written near the end of Bellini’s short life, it is one of his best-known operas and a landmark work in the bel canto operatic repertoire.

Amina, an orphan, is about to be married to Elvino, a rich landowner, but her affections for him are rivalled by the unrequited love of Lisa, an inn-keeper. The festivities are interrupted by the unexpected return of Count Rodolfo, son of the late Lord of the village. When Amina, who sleepwalks, is found on the couch in the Count’s lodgings at the inn, Elvino is overcome by jealousy and rejects her. The suspicions aroused by a handkerchief dropped in the Count’s room are hard to shake off. Only when Amina, while sleepwalking again, is heard singing of her love for Elvino, does Elvino finally relent. He takes her in his arms, she awakens, and the wedding preparations resume.

Paul Terracini  conductor
Caroline King  soprano
Barbara Jin  alto
Paul Sutton  tenor
Christopher Nazarian  bass

Penrith City Choir, Academy Singers, Warrimoo Chorale
Lucy McAlary chorus director

Handel  Messiah

What better way to greet the Christmas season than by attending a performance of Messiah?

For more than a quarter of a millennium, Handel’s most famous oratorio has been one of the best-loved of all works in tradition of western sacred music. Voices and instruments unite in music of great beauty and emotion to narrate the Christian story, from the news of the Messiah’s birth to his life, death and resurrection.

Penrith’s resident symphony orchestra performs here with outstanding vocal soloists from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and with the combined voices of Penrith City Choir and Youth Choir, Academy Singers and Warrimoo Chorale.

Whether you are experiencing Messiah for the first time, or it is a familiar musical experience that you look forward to each year, this performance is not to be missed.

Book early to avoid disappointment, as our past Messiah performances have often sold out well in advance!