Tickets
Standard
$75-$139
Concession
$70-$134
Child (under 18 years)
$20
$7 transaction fee / order
Dates
Thursday 03 October 2024
7:30pm at Hamer Hall
Saturday 05 October 2024
7:30pm at Hamer Hall
Featuring
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Benjamin Northey conductor^
Steven Isserlis cello
^Nodoka Okisawa is unable to conduct this program as originally scheduled.
Program
Akutagawa Triptyque for String Orchestra
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No.1
Naomi Dodd* RUN**
Prokofiev Symphony No.7
*Cybec Young Composer in Residence
**World premiere of an MSO Commission
About this performance
Legendary English cellist Steven Isserlis returns to Melbourne for this exhilarating program conducted by Benjamin Northey, anchored by Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto and Prokoviev’s shimmering final symphony.
- Composer Yasushi Akutagawa was so enamoured with Russian music that he entered the Soviet Union illegally in 1954, where he established friendships with Shostakovich, Khachaturian and Kabalevsky, among others. This fantastic Triptyque (1953) for string orchestra fuses the punchiness of the Russian musical tradition with the folk sounds of his native Japan.
- Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto was written in 1959 for his friend, the legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich. The latter was so taken with it, that he learned it by heart in just four days.
- Emerging Australian composer Naomi Dodd is known for her emotional, passion-filled works. Her new work RUN, commissioned as part of the Cybec Young Composers' Program, is inspired by electronic dance music, with a driving pulse, energetic cross-rhythms and even a bass drop!
- Completed the year before his death in 1953, Prokofiev’s seventh and final symphony showcases his mastery of the orchestra, its apparent simplicity masking deep musical and emotional complexity.
Duration: approx. 1 hour and 45 minutes including interval
Listen to Shostakovich's Cello Concerto
Enhance your experience
Want to learn more about the music being performed? Arrive early for an informative and entertaining pre-concert talk with ABC Classic presenter Stéphanie Kabanyana-Kanyandekwe and Cybec Young Composer in Residence Naomi Dodd.
Thursday 3 October at 6.45pm
Saturday 5 October at 6.45pm
Hamer Hall Stalls Foyer
Featured artists
The Cybec Foundation generously provides support for Naomi Dodd's position as Cybec Young Composer in Residence.
