GUSTAV MAHLER
Symphony No.8 in E flat major
Part I
Hymn ‘Veni, Creator Spiritus’
Part II
Final scene from Goethe’s Faust, Part II
Brett Weymark conductor
Anna-Louise Cole soprano (Magna peccatrix)
Maija Kovalevska soprano (Una poenitentium)
Celeste Lazarenko soprano (Mater gloriosa)
Sian Sharp mezzo-soprano (Mulier samaritana)
Deborah Humble mezzo-soprano (Maria ægyptiaca)
Diego Torre tenor (Doctor Marianus)
Michael Honeyman baritone (Pater ecstaticus)
Christopher Richardson bass-baritone (Pater profundus)
ChorusOz 2023
Children’s Chorus
The Sydney Youth Orchestra with members of Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
Fiona Ziegler concertmaster
Sunday 11 June 2023 at 5pm
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
The performance will run for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes, without interval.
All dona�ons over $2 are fully tax-deduc�ble.
It’s a joy to present the gift of music you experience with us today. Our 2023 season offers joy and energy for performers and audiences alike, bringing people together in community. As the end of the financial year approaches, please consider making a tax-deductible gift to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Box office income alone cannot sustain our efforts. Yoursupport is crucial to our future. Every gift of any size makes a difference.
PHOTO: KEITH SAUNDERS
My Mahler journey began when my Year 8 music teacher played the First Symphony funeral march, based on “Frère Jacques”. In Year 9, we formed part of a combined schools choir to sing the finale to his Resurrection Symphony. I remember feeling like the earth itself was being ripped apart in what was some of the most epic music I’d ever heard. Later, in this very room, I would sing the same work with the great Australian conductor Stuart Challender– a shattering performance that I treasure to this day.
In 2002, I accompanied Sydney Philharmonia Choirs as a fairly green assistant chorus master to perform at the BBC Proms and watch Simon Rattle conduct his very first Mahler8, a work that seems at odds with the deep pessimism of earlier symphonies, and which is quite unlike Mahler’s previous creations.
Mahler believed in Love as the great redemptive power that informs not only Life but Art itself. He saw in the texts of the “Veni Creator Spiritus” and Goethe’s Faust that Love was at the heart of all creation and at the end of life, our salvation. Not only that, he also wrote what was the most complete symphony combining voices and instruments ever written.
It’s an ambitious choice for ChorusOz. But since we’re celebrating the 50th anniversaries of both the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Youth Orchestra, and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs recently celebrated its hundredth, and since we’re relaunching ChorusOz, an event that celebrates participation in the arts – why not aim for Everest with a symphony nicknamed (not by Mahler) “Symphony of a Thousand”?
Let’s see what a choir that met in person only yesterday morning can achieve with a work that won instant fame not only for its sheer scale but for its depth of feeling and expression. Life changing!
Brett Weymark OAM Artistic and Music DirectorWe acknowledge and pay respect to the Gadigal of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country we rehearse, sing and work, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. Our voices bring to life the songs of many cultures and countries, from across the ages, ina spirit of sharing, learning and understanding. The ancient customs and cultures of this land inspire us to create harmony–inmusic and in our society.
Human voices emerge with celestial power in Mahler 8– the first completely choral symphony. David Garrett writes…
It’s a wonder that Mahler managed to compose any of his later symphonies at all. He was a composer with a day job: as the director of Vienna’s Court Opera, his role involved not just conducting, but producing and administration. Composing could be done only during the summer holidays. A flagging of creative energies, even a drying up, would be understandable, and in fact Mahler does seem to have gone through something of the kind in 1906. All the more amazing, then, that his Eighth Symphony was written in just eight weeks.
The temporary drying up of creative inspiration does help explain why the symphony came out as it did; why PartI seems composed in one huge sweep, and drives irresistibly to its conclusion. It is like the answer to the very prayer it sets to music– ‘Come, creative spirit’ – like what happens when a blockage is removed in a stream and the water flows faster and stronger.
As Mahler recalled, he’d gone to his old composing hut resolved to idle the summer away and recruit his strength, but on the threshold, he said, ‘the Spiritus Creator took hold of me and shook me and drove me on for the next eight weeks until my greatest work was done.’
Although the Eighth Symphony was ready for publication in 1907, the premiere did not take place until 12 September 1910.
In a hall within the Munich Exhibition Grounds, Mahler conducted an orchestra of 171 instrumentalists and 858 singers: two adult choirs of 250 each (from Leipzig and Vienna), 350 children and eight soloists.
Mahler feared the Munich impresario’s publicity would turn the performance into a ‘catastrophic Barnum & Bailey Show’ (the famous 19th-century American circus). The slogan ‘Symphony of a Thousand’ used to publicise the symphony then and since is misleading– it can be satisfactorily performed with fewer musicians. It does remind us, however, why this symphony isn’t performed more often. (It wasn’t heard in Australia until 1951, when Eugene Goossens conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and SPC’s predecessor the Hurlstone Choral Society, and has received only ten professional presentations here since then.) Any performance is a triumph of organisation.
“Imagine the whole universebeginning to singand resound. These areno longer human voices,but coursing planetsand suns.”
MAHLER
Beethoven had introduced singing into the symphony with the final movement of his Ninth, and Mendelssohn had followed suit with his Second Symphony (Song of Praise), but Mahler’s Eighth was the first completely choral symphony in which the voices, and their words, are intrinsic to the overall work. The full vocal forces enter at the very beginning, after just one huge preludial chord of E flat major, and will rarely be silent in this near 80-minutes long choral symphony.
You would think that the presence of words makes it easy to say what Mahler’s symphony is ‘about’, and indeed Mahler wanted it performed without explanatory program notes. He hoped the words and music would make his meaning clear.
This is probably true for a German speaker, someone familiar with the works of Goethe, because the second part of the
symphony is a setting of the final scene of Goethe’s Faust. But the first movement uses an ancient Christian hymn, ‘Veni, creator spiritus’, traditionally associated with Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit. (In English churches it’s sung to the words ‘Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire/ and lighten with celestial fire’.)
Mahler makes the conceptual leap to Goethe’s Faust and the theme of redemption through love. These lines from Part I provide the connection: ‘bring light to our senses, pour love into our hearts.’
GUSTAV MAHLER (1860–1911) was born into a Jewish family in Bohemia– one of 12 children, five of whom died in infancy. His parents quarrelled, and conflict may have become associated with the sounds of a brass band in a military camp near their home. He was also indelibly affected by Austrian folksongs. All these influences are reflected in his music: the frequently tragic character of it, the symphonic funeral marches, and the brassy, military outbursts that often interrupt his most tense music. And his first four symphonies and many of his songs are close to the world of the German folk poetry in Youth’s Magic Horn. Mahler studied piano and composition, but his major career was as a conductor. He was appointed music director of the major opera house in Hamburg at 31; and then, in 1897, music director of the Vienna Court Opera. He held this position for a decade, and the “Mahler years” in Vienna are renowned. He also revealed himself to be an outstanding symphonic conductor, first with the Vienna Philharmonic, then as conductor of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera. But after conflict with the conservative NYP Trustees, he returned to Europe a broken and sick man, dying soon after of heart disease. The triumphant premiere of the Eighth Symphony in Munich (1910) before his final return to New York, was the last time he conducted in Europe.
Mahler’s Eighth is a vast shape, beginning with the calling down of divine creative fire and spirit, passing, in the middle of the first movement, through recollection of bitterness, suffering, and pain, and rising gradually, through the setting of the final scene of Faust, back up to the heaven in which it began, showing us that the creative spirit is an expression of love – in Goethe’s terms, that the feminine is the redemptive aspect of God. There are many echoes of the first part in the second, linking the vast structure together.
The ‘Veni, creator spiritus’ hymn is often set to music as a humble, prayerful invocation. Mahler’s makes it sound like a demand! After Mahler’s Fifth, Sixth and Seventh symphonies, the music of this mighty first movement appears almost as a throwback: to the concluding, choral movement of Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony (No.2), to Mahler’s hero Beethoven, and even to music for multiple choirs composed circa 1600, such as Gabrieli’s for St Mark’s Church, Venice. It can also be heard as a defiant answer to those who’d labelled Mahler’s music chaotic, noisy and incomprehensible.
Listen carefully at the very beginning of Part I, where Mahler presents three motifs in succession. These will be referred to again and again, and in Part II as well.
The first motif, strongly rhythmical and powerful, sets the words ‘Veni, Creator Spiritus’, and the rhythm used for ‘spiritus’ will be important.
In sudden quietness a ‘second subject’ appears, with the words ‘Imple superna gratia’ (fill with overflowing grace) set to a
beautiful, flowing melody, presented first by the vocal soloists.
After a varied return of the opening come the words ‘Infirma nostri corporis’ (To our bodies, weak and frail). The music now suggests suffering, doubt and pain.
Then a very important theme: ‘Accende lumen sensibus’ (Bring light to our senses) brings a musical motif that will be revealed in the second movement as a unifier of the whole symphony.
The climax of Mahler’s huge working out of these themes is a double fugue in march rhythm, the children’s choir entering with superb effect. The concluding ‘Gloria’ is a symphonic coda (tail-piece).
The second part of Faust reflects on redemption through love. In the last scene Faust’s soul is borne aloft by angels and granted salvation by the Virgin Mary as Mater Gloriosa (Mother in glory).
Mahler was just then preoccupied with love. He had married a much younger woman, and about the time of the Eighth Symphony, he went to Sigmund Freud for analysis of problems sexual and emotional. Goethe, too, had meditated on the nature of divine and human love over the course of a very long life, and Part II of Faust summarises his insights:
Love is the all-uplifting and all-redeeming power on Earth and in Heaven; and to man it is revealed in its most pure and perfect form through woman. Thus, in the transitory life on earth, it is only a symbol of its diviner being; the possibilities of love, which earth can never fulfil, become realities in the higher life which follows; the Spirit, which Woman interprets to us here, still draws us upwards as Gretchen draws the soul of Faust’.
Mahler concludes his Eighth Symphony with a setting of the Mystical Chorus which ends Faust: All things transitory Are but parable; Here insufficiency Becomes fulfilment, Here the indescribable Is accomplished; The ever-womanly Leads us above.
Mahler dedicated the symphony to his wife Alma, and the music of the Mater Gloriosa is a passionate idealisation of her. ‘You were always for me,’ he wrote, ‘the light and the inner point, raising my feelings to the infinite.’
Adapted from a note by David Garrett © 2000/2023
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) was a poet, novelist, playwright and scientist, as well as a politician and civil servant. He wrote influential plays and novels, and some of the greatest lyric poetry in German, but is above all remembered for Faust. PartI of this great verse drama, published in 1808, reflects the ‘storm and stress’ of Goethe’s youth in its story of academic dissatisfaction (the pact with Mephistopheles) and seduction (Gretchen). PartII, completed just before his death, conveys his scientific interests and wisdom, often in obscure symbolism. Faust’s pact with the devil is part of a restless seeking for knowledge and experience representative of Western man. Faust’s activity, a result of the divine spark in man, brings his ultimate salvation.
Hymn attributed to the Benedictine Abbot Rabanus Maurus (c.780–856)
Text as set by Mahler
Veni, Creator Spiritus
Mentes tuorum visita: Imple superna gratia Quae tu creasti pectora.
Qui Paraclitus diceris
Donum Dei altissimi, Fons vivus, ignis, caritas, Et spiritalis unctio.
Infirma nostri corporis
Firmans virtute perpeti.
Accende lumen sensibus, Infunde amore cordibus.
Hostem repellas longius, Pacemque dones protinus: Ductore sic te praevio, Vitemus omne pessimum.
Tu septiformis munere
Digitus paternae dexterae. Per te sciamus da Patrem, Noscamus [atque] Filium, Credamus Spiritum omni tempore.
Accende lumen sensibus…
Veni, Creator Spiritus, Qui Paraclitus diceris
Donum Dei altissimi…
Da gratiarum munera, Da gaudiorum praemia.
Dissolve litis vincula, Adstringe pacis foedera.
Gloria Patri Domino
Natoque, qui a mortuis
Surrexit, ac Paraclito
In saeculorum saecula.
Come, O Spirit of creation, Enter in the minds you made: Fill with overflowing grace
The hearts Thou hast created.
Thou, whom we call Comforter
Thou gift to us from God on high, Thou living source, thou fire, thou love
Thou benediction of the Spirit.
To our bodies, weak and frail, Give eternal strength and courage
Kindle the light of our understanding And pour love into our hearts.
Drive the arch-foe further from us
Grant us peace henceforth forever: And through Thee, our foremost leader, Let us avoid all evil.
Thou the gift, the sevenfold finger Of the right hand of God the Father, Through Thee let us know the Father, Let us know the Son.
Let us believe in the Holy Ghost
Let us believe forever more.
Kindle the light of our understanding…
Come, O Spirit of creation, Thou, whom we call Comforter
Thou gift to us from God on high…
Grant us the gift of Thy graces
Grant us the anticipation of joys
Free us from the chains of strife
And bind us in the bonds of peace.
Glory be to God the Father, And to the Son, who from the dead Is risen; and to the Holy Ghost
Forever and forever more.
As abridged by Mahler
Mountain gorges, forest, rocks, desert. Holy anchorites scattered up the mountainside, dwelling among the clefts in the rock.
A long orchestral introduction paints the wild landscape where Goethe has set his “holy anchorites” – hermits like the desert fathers of the early Church. This is the scene for Faust’s symbolic transformation.
CHORUS AND ECHO
Waldung, sie schwankt heran, Felsen, sie lasten dran, Wurzeln sie klammern an, Stamm dicht an Stamm hinan.
Woge nach Woge spritzt, Höhle, die tiefste schütz. Löwen, sie schleichen stumm
Freundlich um uns herum, Ehren geweihten Ort, Heiligen Liebeshort
PATER ECSTATICUS
Soaring high and low
Forest sways, Rocks press heavily, Roots grip, Tree-trunk packs close to tree-trunk, Wave upon wave breaks, foaming, deepest cavern provides shelter. Lions, friendly disposed, pad silently round us –place sacred to honours, Refuge sacred to love.
This holy father sings of the ecstasies and agonies of love (which the Anchorites denied themselves). He soars up and down, because he is in an ecstatic state–anout-of-body experience.
Ewiger Wonnebrand, Glühendes Liebeband
Siedender Schmerz der Brust, Schäumende Gotteslust.
Pfeile, durchdringet mich, Lanzen,bezwinget mich
Keulen, zerschmettert mich, Blitze, durchwettert mich;
Dass ja das Nichtige
Alles verflüchtige, Glänze der Dauerstern, Ewiger Liebe Kern!
Eternal passion of delight, Love’s glowing bond, seething agony of the breast, sparkling happiness divine. Arrows pierce me through, spears, subdue me, clubs, crush me quite, lightning flash through me, that all things volatile should vanish without fail, that the everlasting star, nucleus of eternal love, may shine forth!
From the lower regions
A different view of the power of love, in a vision of forest, flood and stream.
Wie Felsenabgrund mir zu Füssen
Auf tiefem Abgrund lastend ruht, Wie tausend Bäche strahlend fliessen
Zum grausen Sturz des Schaums der Flut
Wie strack, mit eig’nem, kräft’gen Triebe, Der Stamm sich in die Lüfte trägt, So ist es die allmächt’ge Liebe
Die alles bildet, alles hegt.
Ist um mich her ein wildes Brausen, Als wogte Wald und Felsengrund!
Und doch stürzt, liebevoll im Sausen, Die Wasserfülle sich zum Schlund, Berufen gleich das Tal zu wässern; Der Blitz, der flammend niederschlug, Die Atmosphäre zu verbessern, Die Gift und Dunst im Busen trug: Sind Liebesboten! sie verkünden
Was ewig schaffend umns umwallt, Mein Inn’res mög’ es auch entzünden Wo sich der Geist, verworren, kalt, Verquält in stumpfer Sinne Schranken, Scharf angeschloss’nem Kettenschmerz.
O Gott! beschwichtige die Gedanken, Erleuchte mein bedürftig Herz.
As the rocky precipice at my feet rests heavily in the deep abyss, as a thousand streams, sparkling, flow to the dread cataract of the foaming flood; as, straight upward, of its own powerful drive, the tree-trunk rears in the air, so it is almighty love that shapes all and cherishes all. When around me wild tumult roars, as if forest and rocky bottom were in upheaval; and yet the mass of waters, loving in its bluster, hurls itself into the gorge summoned presently to water the valley, when the lightning flamed downwards, to purify the atmosphere, which carried in its bosom poison and fumes, these are harbingers of love, they proclaim that which ever seethes, creating, round us, Oh, might it kindle also my inmost being where my spirit, confused and cold, agonizes, imprisoned by a dulled brain fast locked in fetters of pain.
O God, soothe my thoughts, enlighten my needful heart!
Soaring in the upper air, bearing Faust’s immortal soul.
The Pater Profundus’ plea for enlightenment is answered by angels, then blessedboys, uniting thematically the worlds of Goethe and of the hymn “VeniCreator Spiritus”.
Gerettet ist das edle Glied
Der Geisterwelt vom Bösen: Wer immer strebend sich bemüht
Den können wir erlösen.
Und hat an ihm die Liebe gar
Von oben teilgenommen, Begegnet ihm die sel’ge Schar
Mit herzlichem Willkommen
Saved is the noble member of the spirit world from evil; that man who endeavours, ever striving, him we have power to redeem.
And if, over and above love from on high has taken its part, the blessed host will encounter him with heartfelt greeting.
With the Chorus of Angels, circling the highest peaks
Hände verschlinget euch
Freudig zum Ringverein, Regt euch und singet
Heil’ge Gefühle drein:
Göttlich belehret
Dürfte ihr vertrauen, Den ihr verehret
Werdet ihr schauen.
Jene Rosen, aus den Händen
Liebend-heil’ger Büsserinnen, Halfen uns den Sieg gewinnen, Und das hohe Werk vollenden, Diesen Seelenschatz erbeuten, Böse wichen, als wir streuten
Teufel flohen, als wir trafen
Statt gewohnter Höllenstrafen
Fühlten Liebesqual die Geister;
Selbst der alte Satans-Meister
War von spitzer Pein durchdrungen. Jauchzet auf! Es is gelungen.
Hands, clasp hands joyfully in the circle of union, bestir yourself, and may your songs add holy sentiments thereto. Divinely instructed you may rest assured: He, whom you worship, you will behold.
Those roses from the hands of loving-holy-women penitents, help us to achieve victory and fulfill the divine purpose, capture this soul treasure. Evil retreated as we strewed, devils fled as we pelted them. Instead of the accustomed punishments of hell, the spirits experienced pangs of love: even the old master-Satan himself was pierced by sharp pain. Rejoice! It is fulfilled.
Uns bleibt ein Erdenrest
Uns, zu tragen peinlich, Und wär’er von Asbest
With overlapping voices
Er ist nicht reinlich. Wenn starke Geisteskraft
Die Elemente
An sich herangerafft, Enter soloist
Kein Engel trennte
Geeinte Zwienatur
Der innigen beiden, Die ewige Liebe nur Vermag’s zu Scheiden.
Ich spür soeben, Nebelnd um Felsenhöh
Ein Geisterleben, Regend sich in der Näh.
Seliger Knaben
Seh’ich bewegte Schar
Los von der Erde Druck, Im Kreis gesellt, Die sich erlaben
Am neuen Lenz und Schmuck
Der obern Welt.
In the highest, most pure cell of all
To us remains a residue of earth painful for us to bear; and though it were of asbestos made, yet it is not clean. When the great might of the spirit has grappled fast each element to itself, no angel could divide the two joined natures, of the deeply passionate pair the everlasting love alone would be capable of dividing them.
I perceive at this moment, misty round the rocky heights a rousing of spirits nearby.
I see a stirring host of blessed children, free from the burden of earth, in a circle joined, who delight themselves in the new springtime and embellishment of the world above.
Doctor Marianus is a teacher of the Church, dedicated, as his name indicates, to the cult of the Virgin Mary. This section culminates in an address to the Virgin, and she is seen for the first time, in glory as MotherofGod.
Hier ist die Aussicht frei, Der Geist erhoben
Here the prospect’s free, the spirit elevated
Sei er zum Anbeginn, Steigendem Vollgewinn Diesen gesellt!
Dort ziehen Frauen vorbei, Schwebend nach oben; Die Herrliche mitteninn, Im Sternenkranze, Die Himmelskönigin…
Freudig empfangen wir
Diesen im Puppenstand; Also erlangen wir Englisches Unterpfand.
Löset die Flokken los, Die ihn umgeben. Schon ist er schön und gross Von heiligem Leben.
…Ich seh’s am Glanze
Höchste Herrscherin der Welt!
Lasse mich im blauen Ausgespannten Himmelszelt Dein Geheimnis schauen!
Bill’ge, was des Mannes Brust
Ernst und zart bewegt
Und mit heil’ger Liebeslust
Die entgegen trägt.
Unbezwinglich under Mut, Wenn du hehr gebietest;
Plötzlich mildert sich die Glut, Wenn du uns befriedest.
Jungfrau, rein im schönsten Sinne, Mutter, Ehren würdig, Uns erwählte Königin, Göttern ebenbürtig.
Let him, at first, be joined with these till, ever increasing, finally attain the highest gain.
Women are passing there, soaring towards the heights; in the centre, the all-glorious one, in a coronet of stars, the Queen of heaven…
Joyfully we welcome him in his chrysalis condition; thus do we receive an angelic pledge. Shake off the flakes that envelop him. He is already tall and beautiful through the holy life.
…I perceive by the splendour, most exalted mistress of the world! In the blue outspread vault of heaven make me to behold thy mystery!
Accept that which moves the breast of man tenderly and gravely and which, with life’s holy joy, he offers up to thee. Indomitable our courage, when thou, sublime, commandest; passions at once subside, when thou dost pacify us.
Virgin, pure in fairest thought, mother, worthy to be honoured, to us elected queen, equal to gods.
Mater Gloriosa soars into view
CHOIR
Dir, der Unberührbaren, Ist es nicht benommen, Dass die leicht Verführbaren Traulich zu dir kommen.
In die Schwachheit hingerafft
Sind sie schwer zu retten: Wer zerreist aus eig’ner Kraft Der Gelüste Ketten?
Wie entgleitet schnell der Fuss Schiefem, glattem Boden!
To thee, virgin-unassailable, it is not denied that the easily-led-astray may confidently approach thee. Carried away in frailty, they are difficult to save. Who, of his own strength, can quickly break the chains of appetite? How quickly does the foot slip upon a smooth sloping floor!
The focus now turns to women who lapsed from grace, like Gretchen in Faust, but who repented– the great sinners of Christian tradition: Mary Magdalen, the prostitute who anointed Christ’s feet with oil; the Woman of Samaria, whose relationships were divined by Jesus at the well, where he told her “go, and sin no more”; and Mary of Egypt, a 5th-century penitent, actress and courtesan, who was converted at the Holy Sepulchre and fulfilled a vow to spend 40 years in the desert.
ONE OF THE PENITENT WOMEN, WITH CHORUS OF PENITENT WOMEN
Du schwebst zu Höhen
Der ewigen Reiche, Vernimm das Flehen, Du Gnadenreiche!
Du Ohnegleiche!
MAGNA PECCATRIX
Bei der Liebe, die den Füssen Deines gottverklärten Sohnes
Tränen liess zum Balsam fliessen, Trotz des Pharisäer-Hohnes;
Beim Gefässe, das so reichlich
Tropfte Wohlgeruch hernieder, Bei den Lokken, die so weichlich
Trockneten die heil’gen Glieder–
Thou dost soar to the heights of the eternal kingdom, accept our prayer, thou rich in mercy, thou, unparalleled!
By the love that on the feet of thy divinely transfigured Son let fall tears as balsam, despite the scorn of the Pharisees, by the vessel that so richly dropped sweet fragrance, by the tresses that so softly dried the holy limbs–
Bei dem Bronn zu dem schon weiland
Abram liess die herde führen, Bei dem Eimer, der dem Heiland
Kühl die Lippe durft’ berühren; Bei der reinen reichen Quelle, Die nun dorther sich ergiesset, Überflüssig, ewig helle, Rings durch alle Welten fliesst–
Bei dem hochgeweihten Orte
Wo den Herrn man niederliess,
Bei dem Arm der von der Pforte
Warnend mich zurükke stiess;
Bei der vierzigjähr’gen Busse
Der ich treu in Wüsten blieb;
Bei dem sel’gen Scheidegrusse
Den im Sand ich niederschrieb–
Die du grossen Sünderinnen
Deine Nähe nicht verweigerst
Und ein büssendes Gewinnen
In die Ewigkeiten steigerst, Gönn auch dieser guten Seele, Die sich einmal nur vergessen, Die nicht ahnte, dass sie fehle
Dein Verzeihen angemessen!
Drawing closer
Neige, neige, Du Ohnegleiche, Du Strahlenreiche, Dein Antlitz gnädig meinem Glück!
Der früh Geliebte, Nicht mehr Getrübte
Er kommt zurück.
By the well to which of old already Abraham drove his flock, by the water-pot which was suffered to touch, refreshing, the Saviour’s lips, by the pure rich spring which, spilling over, eternally clear. pours from thence, flows around about through all the world–
Mary of Egypt (Acta Sanctorum)
By the sublime and holy place where they laid Our Lord, by the arms that, from the gate, warning, thrust me back, by the 40-year long repentance I faithfully adhered to in the desert. By the sacred farewell I wrote in the sand–
Thou who dost not deny thy presence to penitent women who have greatly sinned, and raise to eternity the victory gained by repentance, grant also to this good soul, who fell but once, not suspecting that he erred, thy just pardon!
One of the Pentitent Women, formerly named Gretchen
Incline, incline thy countenance graciously, thou unparalleled, thou richly-radiant, upon my happiness. the love of long ago, now free from stain, is returning.
THE BLESSED BOYS
Circling near Er überwächst uns schon An mächtgen Gliedern, Wird treuer Pflege Lohn
Reichlich erwidern. Wir wurden früh entfernt Von Lebechören; Doch dieser hat gelernt, Er wird uns lehren.
Vom edlen Geisterchor umgeben, Wird sich der Neue kaum gewahr, Er ahnet kaum das frische Leben, So gleicht er schon der heil’gen Schar.
Sieh, wie er jedem Erdenbande Der alten Hülle sich entrafft, Und aus ätherischem Gewande Hervortritt erste Jugendkraft. Vergönne mir ihn zu belehren, Noch blendet ihn der neue Tag!
The Mater Gloriosa sings, making the final plea.
Komm! Hebe dich zu höhern Sphären! Wenn er dich ahnet, folgt er nach.
Komm! Komm!
He outstrips us already on mighty limbs, he will richly requite the reward of faithful care. We were early snatched from this choir of life; but this man has learnt, he will teach us.
Encircled by the noble choir of spirits the newly-arrived is scarcely conscious of himself, hardly conscious of the new life, so much does he resemble the sacred host already.
See how he divests himself of every earthly bond of his erstwhile husk. And, from ethereal raiment, steps forth in the first flush of youth! Let me be his tutor, the new day dazzles him still.
Come! Raise yourself to the supreme spheres! When he apprehends you, he will follow after.
Come! Come!
Prostrate, adoring. The Chorus repeat his words
Doctor Marianus urges all penitents to look up to the Redeemer’s gaze, and the mystic chorus echoes his words, then sings of the Eternal Feminine, drawing humankind towards heaven.
Blicket auf zum Retterblick, Alle reuig Zarten, Euch zu sel’gem Glück
Dankend umzuarten!
Werde jeder bess’re Sinn
Dir zum Dienst erbötig; Jungfrau, Mutter, Königin, Gottin, bleibe gnädig!
Alles Vergängliche
Ist nur ein Gleichnis; Das Unzulängliche, Hier wirds Ereignis; Das Unbeschreibliche
Hier ist’s getan; Das Ewig-Weibliche Zieht uns hinan.
Look up, up to the Redeemer’s gaze, all creatures frail and contrite that you may gratefully be translated to blissful fortune. May every better impulse be ready at your service; virgin, mother, queen, goddess, be ever gracious!
All things transitory are but parable; here insufficiency becomes fulfillment, here the indescribable is accomplished; the ever-womanly draws us heavenward.
English rendering by Friedel Becker and Peggie Cochrane. Reproduced by kind permission of Universal Music Australia.
Commentary by David Garrett
PHOTOS: KEITH SAUNDERS
One of Australia’s foremost choral conductors, Brett Weymark OAM is celebrating his 20th season with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Appointed Artistic and Music Director in 2003, he has conducted the Choirs throughout Australia as well as internationally. He has also conducted the Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland, West Australian and Tasmanian symphony orchestras, Orchestra of the Antipodes, Sydney Youth Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic, as well as productions for WAAPA, Pacific Opera and OzOpera, and he has performed with Opera Australia, Pinchgut Opera, Australian Chamber Orchestra, The Song Company and Musica Viva.
He studied singing and conducting at the University of Sydney and the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, continuing his conducting studies with Simon Halsey, Vance George, Daniel Barenboim and John Eliot Gardiner, amongst others.
His repertoire at SPC has included Bach’s Passions and Christmas Oratorio, the Mozart, Verdi, Duruflé and Fauré requiems, and Orff’s Carmina Burana. He champions Australian composers, and has premiered works by Matthew Hindson, Elena Kats-Chernin, John Peterson, Daniel Walker, Rosalind Page, Peter Sculthorpe, Andrew Schultz and Ross Edwards. In 2011 he premiered his own work Brighton to Bondi with the Festival Chorus. He has also conducted musical theatre programs including Bernstein’s Candide, which won
multiple BroadwayWorld Sydney awards. Under his direction, SPC received a Helpmann Award for Oedipus Rex and Symphony of Psalms, directed by Peter Sellars, and was nominated for a Limelight Award for Purcell’s King Arthur.
He was chorus master for the Adelaide Festival productions of Saul (2017), Hamlet (2018) and Requiem (2020), and he has prepared choirs for Charles Mackerras, Zubin Mehta, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Simon Rattle. He has recorded for the ABC and conducted film scores for Happy Feet, Mad Max Fury Road and Australia.
Recent conducting highlights include Sweeney Todd (West Australian Opera), Jandamarra by Paul Stanhope and Steve Hawke (SSO), Michael Tippett’s A Child Of Our Time (Adelaide Festival) and Carousel (State Opera South Australia).
In 2001 he was awarded an Australian Centenary Medal and in 2021 the Medal of the Order of Australia.
Brett Weymark is passionate about singing and the role music plays in both the wellbeing of individuals and the health and vitality of a community’s culture. He believes music can transform lives and should be accessible to all.
In 2023, Brett Weymark celebrates 20 years as Artistic and Music Director of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. The 2023 season reflects highlights of his distinguished career and the strengths of the choirs he leads.
Last year, Anna-Louise Cole made a stunning role debut as Turandot with Opera Australia at the Sydney Opera House, thrilling critics and audiences alike. Other appearances for Opera Australia have included the title role in Aida (Griffith Opera on the Beach) and Crobyle in Thaïs. She also sang Gerhilde (Die Walküre) and Third Norn (Götterdämmerung) in OA’s 2016 Ring cycle, receiving a 2017 Green Room Award nomination for Best Female in a Supporting Role.
In 2022, she appeared as Chrysothemis in Elektra for Victorian Opera and as Elsa in Lohengrin in Bologna (her European debut). Engagements this season include Brünnhilde in Der Ring des Nibelungen and Venus in Tannhäuser in Concert (OA); Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth (Opera Queensland); and Mahler’s Symphony No.2 in Melbourne.
Her roles with Australia’s state and local opera companies also include Tosca, First Lady in Die Zauberflöte and the Messenger of Peace in Rienzi. Concert highlights have included Rossini’s Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Mass in C minor, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Berg’s Seven Early Songs.
Anna-Louise Cole holds degrees in German and Music Performance from the University of Melbourne. She has also studied at the Kunst Universität in Graz, Austria and the University of Freiburg.
Maija Kovalevska is a Latvian soprano who studied for many years under Mirella Freni. Most recently, she has sung Mimì (La bohème) in Sydney, Melbourne and for Semperoper Dresden; Maddalena (Andrea Chénier) and the title role in Tosca for the Sigulda Festival; Verdi’s Requiem in London, Melbourne and for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs; and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony in Canada. Other recent appearances include Alice Ford in Falstaff at Hamburg State Opera and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
She made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Mimì, later returning as Euridice in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice; her Wiener Staatsoper debut was as Tatyana in Eugene Onegin, followed by appearances as Mimì, Micaela in Carmen, the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro, Violetta in La traviata and Amelia in Simon Boccanegra. She has sung Micaela and Mimì for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden and Liù (in a new production of Turandot) at La Scala Milan, as well as Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta for Semperoper Dresden, and her performance as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini at the Salzburg Festival was filmed for commercial release. In December she will sing Gutrune in Opera Australia’s production of Der Ring des Nibelungen.
A graduate of both the Guildhall School in London and the Sydney Conservatorium Opera School, Celeste Lazarenko has appeared with English National Opera, Opera North, Opéra Angers-Nantes, Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, Pinchgut Opera and Sydney Chamber Opera. She has received many prizes and awards, in Australia and abroad, and was a finalist in the Kathleen Ferrier Competition in London.
In 2023 her engagements include Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for Opera Australia, Ilia (Idomeneo) for Victorian Opera and La Voix humaine for Sydney Chamber Opera.
In Australia, her roles have included the title role in The Cunning Little Vixen for Victorian Opera, Female Chorus in The Rape of Lucretia for Sydney Chamber Opera, and Télaïre (Rameau’s Castor et Pollux), Medea (Cavalli’s Giasone), and Leonore (André Grétry’s L’Amant jaloux) for Pinchgut Opera. In addition to Donna Anna, her work with Opera Australia includes Pamina and Second Lady in The Magic Flute, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro on tour, Sylviane in The Merry Widow, Kate Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, and the Fiji Woman in Whiteley (Kats-Chernin).
On the concert platform, she has appeared with the Queensland, Sydney and New Zealand symphony orchestras, Australian Haydn Ensemble, Sydney University Graduate Choir, and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, most recently as the Israelite Woman and Dalila in Handel’s Samson.
Sian Sharp joined Opera Australia as a member of the Moffatt Oxenbould Young Artist Program following her time as a Developing Artist with Opera Queensland. She has since sung many of the major mezzosoprano roles for the company, including the title role and Mercédès in Carmen, Amneris (Aida), Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims), La Belle Dulcinée (Don Quichotte), Waltraute and Siegrune (Ring cycle), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Emilia (Otello), Federica (Luisa Miller), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Rosina (The Barber of Seville), Arsace (Partenope), Second Lady (Die Zauberflöte), Marcellina (The Marriage of Figaro), Annio (Laclemenza di Tito), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Stéphano (Romeo et Juliette), Nancy (Albert Herring), Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Inez (Iltrovatore), Lola (Cavalleria rusticana), Kitchen Boy (Rusalka) and the Page (Salome).
This year she will also sing Mrs Alexander (Satyagraha) and the Muse (The Tales of Hoffmann), and return as Giovanna and Maddalena (Rigoletto).
On the concert platform she has performed with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (Messiah), the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (Mary, The Flying Dutchman).
For Sydney Philharmonia Choirs she has sung Bach’s St John Passion, Elijah and The Dream of Gerontius.
Mezzo-soprano Deborah Humble is one of Australia’s most successful international artists. As a principal with Hamburg State Opera, she sang Zenobia (Radamisto), Page (Salome), Bradamante (Alcina), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel) and Erda and Waltraute in Der Ring des Nibelungen. Her international engagements include appearances with the Edinburgh Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Salzburg Easter Festival, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Lyric Opera, Seattle Symphony, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Stuttgart Philharmonic, Hamburg Philharmonic and the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris–performing works as diverse as Handel’s Messiah and Verdi’s Requiem.
Most recently, she has appeared in Strauss’s Elektra and Honegger’s Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher in Hamburg; Das Rheingold, Siegfried and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in Hong Kong; Siegfried in Boston; Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Singapore; Tristan und Isolde in Mexico City; Der fliegende Holländer in Lille; Peter Grimes for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra; and Gloria Bruni’s Symphony No.1 (Ringparabel) in Minsk. Last year, she sang Clytemnestra in Elektra for Victorian Opera and appeared as a soloist with the Sydney, Queensland and New Zealand symphony orchestras. This year, she sings Fricka and Waltraute in Der Ring des Nibelungen (Opera Australia) and Clairon in Capriccio (Victorian Opera). Last month she appeared for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs in Verdi’s Requiem.
Born in Mexico City, Diego Torre was a DomingoThornton Young Artist at Los Angeles Opera, where he made his company debut as Don José in performances of Carmen. A leading tenor at Opera Australia for many years, his most celebrated roles include Radames (Aida), Turiddu (Cavalleria rusticana), Canio (Pagliacci), Calaf (Turandot), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rodolfo (La bohème), Gustavus (Un ballo in maschera), the Duke (Rigoletto), Rodolfo (Luisa Miller), Gabriele Adorno (Simon Boccanegra), and the title role in Don Carlo.
For Opera Australia in 2021 and 2022, he sang Cavaradossi, Don José (Carmen), Foresto (Attila), Faust (Mefistofele), Eléazar (LaJuive) and the title role in Ernani; he also appeared as soloist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, he returns to OA as Radames and Pinkerton.
Recent international engagements have included Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del West) in Mexico City, Canio for Grand Théâtre de Genève, and Calaf and Manrico (Il trovatore) for Teatro Regio di Torino. He sang Calaf in Oslo, Cavaradossi in China and Saarbrücken, Corrado (Il corsaro) in Parma, and Turiddu, Canio and Cavaradossi in Genoa.
His most recent appearance for Sydney Philharmonia Choirs was in May, singing Verdi’s Requiem.
Michael Honeyman began his career singing lyric tenor roles, but since his role debut as Amonasro (Aida), he has gained a reputation as a specialist in the dramatic baritone roles of Verdi and Puccini. This year he returns to Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour as Sharpless (Madama Butterfly) and to Opera Australia as Amonasro, and he will appear in recital for Opera Queensland.
With Opera Australia he has also sung the title roles of King Roger (Green Room Award and Helpmann Award nomination), Wozzeck (Helpmann Award) and Simon Boccanegra. Other roles with OA include Miller (Luisa Miller), Escamillo (Carmen), Ford (Falstaff), Di Luna (Il trovatore), Donner (Das Rheingold), Ortel (Die Meistersigner von Nürnberg), Amfortas (Parsifal), and Giorgio Germont (La Traviata). He has also appeared as Ned Keene (Peter Grimes) for both the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Brisbane Festival, featured in The Sopranos (Opera Queensland), and sung leading roles with West Australian Opera and State Opera South Australia.
Equally at home on the concert platform, his concert repertoire includes Elijah, the Dvořák and Mozart requiems, Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, Handel’s Messiah, Rachmaninoff’s Vespers and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. He has also sung in recitals for ArtSong Perth and ABC Classic.
Michael Honeyman is a graduate of both the Australian National University and the Australian Opera Studio Perth.
Christopher Richardson is a graduate of the Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, and the recipient of the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Aria Award and the Frances MacEachron Award at the Oratorio Society of New York’s Solo Competition at Carnegie Hall.
He has appeared with Pinchgut Opera, Opera Queensland, Handel in the Theatre, Canberra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, Perth Symphonic Chorus, Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Society, Festival of Voices Hobart, Canberra Choral Society, the Allegri Ensemble, Hobart, and the Melbourne, Sydney, Queensland and Tasmanian symphony orchestras.
His most recent performances include Brahms’s A German Requiem as guest soloist with The Song Company, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and Messiah at St Andrew’s Cathedral, Sydney and with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. For Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, he sang Haydn’s Nelson Mass and Handel’s Coronation Anthems in 2022 and Handel’s Samson in April.
He has also been invited to appear in The Enchanted Island (10 Days on the Island Festival, Tasmania), The Genius of J.S. Bach (Melbourne Recital Centre); Beethoven’s Mass in C (Victoria Chorale), and Fauré’s Requiem (Perth Symphonic Chorus). He features on the CD of Calvin Bowman songs, Real and Right and True.
Brett Weymark Artistic and Music Director
Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director
Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master and Principal Rehearsal Pianist
Claire Howard Race, Stephen Walter Rehearsal Pianists
Gillian Akers
Fiona Allen-Ankins
Anne Arcus
Sara Armbrecht
Evelyn Arnold
Cecile Atkins
Rosemary Atkinson
Helen Aylett
Janet Bagnall
Carmel Baker
Carol Barelli
Diane Barnetson
Kate Bartlett
Janet Bassett-Smith
Barbara Bell
Ines Benavente
Polly Bernard
Suzanne Biddles
Anne Birt
Renee Bittoun
Helen Black
Anne Blake
Judith Blayden
Belinda Blekemore
Anna Boerner
Janne Bonnett
Chickey Bray
Deborah Brun
Flora Buckley
Kirsten Busby
Angela Campbell
Kathy Campbell
Jenny Candy
Raechel Carroll
Carolyn Carter
Jane Carthey
Kathy Caruana
Kate Chen
Lucy Chester-Crowe
Bec Chou
Josephine Chow
Trudy Collinson
Kay Cooper
Rosemary Cooper
Anne Cosentino
Helen Cosgrove
Patricia Cotter
Beverly Coulter
Nathalie Crane
Narelle Ctercteko
Libby Day
Margaret De Campo
Silvia de Poe Diestel
Mirijana De Vries
Robbe
Alexis Dean
Rose Dee
Brigid DeNeefe
Roselyn Dixon
Angela Dixon
Jennifer Dobbie
Geraldine Doogue
Ying Duan
Rumi Dunlap
Jeannette Durick
JJ Edmondson
Megan Ellis
Glenda Emslie
Deborah Encel
Ayla Erken
Pauline Evans
Joanna Fan
Stephanie Fernando
Rebecca Fitzpatrick
Linda Foulsham
Jane Fry
Angela Gafen
Ros Garrity
Sheridan Gaudry
Jehane Ghabrial
Maureen Glancy
Amanda Goh
Marilyn Gosling
Lynette Graham
Sally Grice
Mary Grieve
Patricia Hale
Jean Hamilton
Helen Hannaford
Bethany Hardi
Pamela Hargreaves
Ping He
Heidi Hereth
Lana-anne Herodes
Linden Hilgendorf
Ruth HillNoble
Rebecca Hocking
Lilian Hong
Gay Hosie
Barbara Howarth
June Howell
Patricia Howes
Yameng Hu
Shar Hughes
Jillian Hulme
Jennifer Irvine
Pamela Jangor
Hermine Jessurun
Marg Jones
Marian Jones
Kym Jones
Imogene Jones
Martie Juszka
Heather Karmel
Sally Kehoe
Rachel Kelly
Anne Keogh
Yunjung Kim
Catherine Kim
Margaret Klecko
Rosemary Knight
Nadia Koh
Lilly Krienbuhl
Kathy Kruger
Marharyta Kuian
Elke Lackner
Susan Laing
Merle Lamb
Justine Lancaster
Meredith Lane
Robyn Laurens
Alexandra Law
Elizabeth Lee
Grace Lee
Jessica Lee
Judy Lee
Sally Lee
Stella Lee
Lorrae Lemond
Yvette Leonard
Helen Levett
Vivian Lewin
Anna Li
Christine Lindsay
Laura Lloyd Jones
Penny Lloyd Jones
Carolyn Lowry
Patricia Lowry
Amy Lun
Kerry Matthey
Sue McBeth
Sue McCarthy
Janette McDonnell
Sarah McGlone
Catherine McGrath
Margaret McIntosh
Narelle McKenzie
Susan McNatty
Raphaela Mazzone
Anne Michell
Fiona Millard
Judith Miller
Jane Miller
Jacqueline Milne
Ludmilla Milo
Koren Mitchell
Sandy Modra
Elizabeth Moore
Elaine Moore
Anne Morphett
Alison Morris
Mary Mortimer
Sarah Muetterlein
Cassandra Muir
Joy Nason
Elaine Ng
Jane Nieminska
Kathleen Oakley
Elizabeth Ann O’Donovan
Maria O’Leary
Rosemary Olson
Rebecca O’mara
Jennie Orchard
Keegan O’Toole
Nathalie O’Toole
Chris Pemberton
Anna Pender
Gill Pennington
Margaret Phipps
Marisa Pongan
Fran Ponsonby
Christine Rigg
Georgia Rivers
Ruth Rodell
Danielle RosenfeldLovell
Naomi Roseth
Helen Roxburgh
Janet Russell
Robyn Saunders
Kath Selkirk
Julie Sergienko
Halia Silins
Sue Simon
Katherine Sivieng
Julia Smailes
Emi So
Bettina Söderbaum
Lyndall Soper
Margaret Spillane
Patricia Springborg
Margaret Stanley
Robyn Stevens
Elizabeth Stewart
Josephine Stirna
Doris Stokes
Kate Sugars
Elizabeth Swaine
Jula Szuster
Anne Tanner
Margaret Tarrant
Mary Taylor
Susan Thomas
Dawn Torrens
Cherry Tunnock
Patricia Tyler
Frances Underwood
Karen Van Beelen
Kaajri Vaughan
Stephanie Wainberg
Sarah Walsh
Rita Warleigh
Sara Watts
Sarah Wheeldon
Sarah Wielgosz
Elizabeth Wilkie
Jacqueline Wilkins
Rosemary Williams
Margaret Wilson
Liz Wilson
Cecilia Wong
Caroline Woolias
Patricia Wright
Leigh Wright
Olivia Wroth
Gabriella Young
Angeline Zaghloul
Larissa Zavialov
Sheena Adamson
Marie Aitken
Leonie Aitken
Janet Allen
Cathryn Amey
Joanna Andrew
Lyn Baker
Tanima Banerjee
Megan BarrettLennard
Wilma Basson
Marsha Beck
Mary Bennett
Lillian Bennetts
Caroline Bessemer
Libbie Best
Jackie Blackledge
Penelope Blackwell
Robyn Blainey
Elizabeth Blyth
Anne Bourke
Mary Boyd Turner
Wendy Bright
Anne Brown
Sally Brown
Donna Brown
Susan Brumby
Yvonne Buckley
Mary Buckley
Robyn Burgess
Ursula Burgoyne
Marjorie Cardwell
Geraldine Carlin
Riana Chakravarti
Jisun Chang
Bronwen Channon
Maria Chappell
Elaine Charker
Joyce Cheam
Gladys Chee
Grace Chen
Deborah Chesney
Kate Christiansen
Liliana Ciobanu
Tina Claridge
Terri Clark
Emily Clay
Victoria Clay
Elizabeth Clement
Emma Clinton
Kate Clowes
Jill Coberger
Michele Connell
Marilyn Connelly
Juleigh Cook
John Cooper
Patricia Corey
Elizabeth Corson
Kate Coulman
Christine Craddock
Catherine Cresswell
Maggie Cripps
June Cunningham
Louise Cuschieri
Marie Anne Daniels
Katrina Darnbrough
Claire Deakin
Amanda Dean
Thea den Hollander
Linda Dewater
Kristine Diana
Dino-Villegas
Jennifer Dunlop
Catherine Dunn
Lynette Dwyer
Gillian Eastgate
Gail Edinborough
Megan Elliott
Marjory Ellsmore
Monica Emmett
Judith Evans
Heather Evans
Pam Ezzy
Jessica Farrell
Margaret
Farren-Price
Helen Ferry
Bernadette Fitzgerald
Susanna Fleck
Christine Forster
Katie French
Mely Galacio
Susan Gandy
Bunny Gardiner-Hill
Danielle Gardner
Christine Gascoyne
Louise Genge
Sybbi Georgiou
Cindy Geyer
Pamela Gilbert
Robyn Gilbert
Jandy Godfrey
Genevieve Godwin
Myfanwy Goggin
Jan Gooding
Jepke Goudsmit
Christine Grant
Sandra Gray
Jeannie Gray
Jane Greaves
Virginia Greene
Lucy Greene
Jill Greenhalgh
Qirong Guo
Jenny Haag
Judith Hadley
Reyna Hadley
Christina Hall
Siobhan Hannigan
Marjolijn Haraghey
Therese Harding
Sue Harris
Bronwyn Hartwig
Bernie Heard
Terrie Heath
Judy Heath
Rachael Henry
Anne Heritage
Glenda Hewitt
Cecilia Hannah Hibbert
Ruth Hills
Marie-Anne Hockings
Margaret Hofman
Suzanne Hume
Pamela Humphreys
Anne-Marie Hutchinson
Christy Ip
Vanessa Jacob
Betty Jacobs
Elizabeth James
Christine James
Melinda Jefferson
Pamela Jeffrey
Anne Johnston
Alice Jones
Fiona Joneshart
Tracey Jordan
Kate Kaszonyi
Colleen Keating
Michelle Keenan
Sheenagh Kelley
Paula Kelly
Alison Kent
Marian Kernahan
Caroline Kerridge
Lesley Kind
Pamela King
Lisa Kirby
Rhondda Klein
Sara Klug
Marina Korneeva
Helena Kujansuu
Robyn Lakos
Gillian Lamberti
Rose Lane
Astrid Lane
Debra Langford
Christie Le Goy
Gillian Lee
Alex Leemann
Eloise Leemann
Brenda Lesueur
Suiwah Leung
Annabelle Lewis
Ann Linsten
Paula Llull-Llobera
Rosemary Long
Rebecca Lovelock
Lenny Ann Low
Julie Lulham
Barbara Lyle
Mary McArthur
Antonia McCafferty
Jan McCreary
Clare McDonogh
Melanie McGrane
Nicky McKibben
Madi Maclean
Prue McLennan
Rhondda McMurray
Elizabeth Jane McNeil
Barbara McNeill
Tina McVeigh
Rachel Maiden
Robyn Main
Silvia Manzanero
Joan Martin
Clare Martin
Mary Martin
Hannah Mason
Phillipa Matheson
Jessica Medd
Linda Mercer
Louise Merrington
Eva Millares
Frances Miller
Lyn Mills
Ruth Mitchell
Amita Monterola
Liz Moore
Carolyn Morcom
Keira Moriarty
Eve Morris
Penelope Morris
Clare Morton
Fiona Morton
Janet Moull
Karlene Munday
Eugenia Munro
Gabriele Munro
Chizuru Maruyama
Lluisa Murray
Gemma Murray
Tracey Mythen
Manisha Narasimhan
Valerie Neller
Wendy Ng
Heather Nichols
Suzanne Nikoletti
Rininta Nugroho
Anne O’Regan
Lesley O’Dowd
Tiffany O’Neill
Heather Ogilvie
Emily Ong
Margaret Patterson
Beverley Payne
Kate Pearl
Wendy Pearson
Fiona Peden
Karen Pedley
Mary Petkovic
Sally Pierce
Catherine Pilko
Susan Ping Kee
Liz Porter
Sheryl Ann Pulling
Marilyn Ramage
Rosemary Rayfuse
Teresa Rede
Kate Reid
Anne Renard
Kathryn Reynolds
Robyn Reynolds
Caroline Rhind
Jo Rhodes
Mary Ridgway
Vicki Ritchie
Kaylene Roberts
Natalia Roorda
Lynne Ruicens
Suzie Ruse
Rose Ryan
Amanda Ryan
Joanne Rynja
Emilia Saez
Lourdes StGeorge
Mary Sambell
Kristin Sanders
Felicity Saunders
Calista Saw
Jennifer Schofield
Lynne Sell
Sophie Seng Hpa
Maite Serra
Christine Shale
Meg Shaw
Anabel Sheen
Jennifer Shepherd
Anne Sherriff
Yuko Shimizu
Susanne Silver
Katrina Simon
Jennifer Slatyer
Alysoun Smalley
Ann Smith
Megan Solomon
Inge Southcott
Genevieve Spalding
Bernadette Spencer
Cathy Spitteler
Carolyn Syme
Hiroko Takaobushi
Birgit Tauber
Jean Taylor
Elspeth Templeman
Laura Tingle
Norma Tovey
Kenna Tso
Heather Turner
Therese Underwood
Unmani Unmani
Virginia Vagg
Lawrence
Phoenix Van Dyke
Helen Vastenhoud
Michelle Vaughan
Erica Venter
Anthea Vescio
Renate Wagner
Sherry Wang
Beatrice Warburton
Annemiek Waters
Moira Westmore
Elizabeth Wetherell
Annabel Wheeler
Nell White
Suzanne Whyte
Judy Williams
Anne Williams
Sarah Williams
Eileen Williamson
Louise Wilson
Amanda Wilson
Pamela Windsor
Susan Wittenoom
Sybil Wong
Rosemary Wong
Enrica Wong
Marianna Wong
Chrys Woodyard
Heather Woollen
Nikki Woolley
Evana Wright
Cheryl Wright
Roswitha Wulff
Jiajia Xu
Noriko Yamanaka
Nola Zentilomo
Ann Zubrick
Julie Bakalor
Russel Barnes
Robert BarrettLennard
Andrew Birt
Ron Blackwell
Monika Bojarski
Bill Brennan-Jones
Jane Brooks
Peter Campbell
Jacquelin Capell
Kevin Chan
Chris Chinnock
David Collings
Daniel Comarmond
Darrall Cutting
Jennifer Donovan
Brendan Edgeworth
Elizabeth Etherington
Barbara Filter
Kate Foot
Steven Frigo
Mary Garland
Anthony Green
Garry Harris
Oliver Harris
Alan Harvey
Ezra Hersch
Xintong Hu
Alan Ivory
Edwin Jiang
Peri Kauwhata
Murray Keir
Paul Kennedy
Ju Kim
Ayse Kiran
Michael Langford
L Lee Levett-Olson
Robert Lewin
Alex Lin
Joy Linton
Paul Lorraine
Elin Melgaard
Jeffrey Mellefont
Joseph Micali
Helen Moore
Geraldine Moore
Marianne Mulcahy
Simon Ngo
Joyleen Ohazy
Margaret Olive
Rob Partridge
Christinne Patton
Judith Randall
Alison Robertson
Esther Roorda
Mieke Roper
Tony Roscioli
Adrian Sheen
Mike Shenouda
Gareth Taylor
Geoff Thompson
Linda Thompson
Denis Tracey
Junia Vaz de Melo
Jo Watkins
Philip Watkins
George Watkins
Jacob Wielgosz
Carola Wittekind
Isaac Wong
Kenji Yamashita
Chang Wen Yang
Andrea Zocco
John Aitken
Stuart Anderson
David Angell
Jock Baird
Stephen Barnett
Derrick Beech
Jonathan Billington
Oliver Birke
Peter Brack
Ken Brown
Michael Browne
Nick Bulleid
Chris Burrell
Ewen Cameron
Barry Campton
Bruno Cassal
Ric Caster
Anthony Cheshire
Russell Conway
John Cooper
Michael Coughlan
Paul Couvret
Greg Cresp
Lindsay Cutler
Paul Degeling
Donald Denoon
Leo Dent
James Devenish
Andrew Djemal
Bill Dowsley
Michael Eadie
Jenny Edwards
Roderick Enriquez
Scott Etherington
David Ford
Jesse Fraser
Jim Friedhofer
Jet Galacio
Graham Georgeson
Ian Graham
Robert Groves
Paul Hammond
Brad Hilton
Lindsay Hodda
Peter Hogg
Andrew Howell
David Jeffrey
Greg John
Ainslie Just
Timothy Kaye
Adrian Keenan
Seema Khanna
Daniel Khong
Terence Kwan
Giordano Laguna
Quentin Lamour
Clive Lane
Bruce Lane
Lincoln Law
Ben Leong
Richard Lewis
Tim Linton
Johann Loibl
David McDonald
Steven McKay
Alexander Maltas
Tim Miles
Richard Millard
Chris Moore
Sam Morrell
David Morris
Scot Morris
Andrew Moschou
Brian Mulhall
Luke Murtagh
Takuhiro Nakamura
Jeremy Nash
Colin Nicholson
Craig Nudelman
Kelvin Olive
Lionell Pack
Alex Paterson
Edward Phillips
Michael Phillips
Timothy Readman
David Rendell
David Ross
Russell Ross
Michael Ryan
Peter Scally
Horst Joachim Schirra
William Sewell
David Shields
James Smith
John Smith
Enrico Sondalini
James Tait
Pete Pakapat
Thipayaprapai
Chris Tinney
Mario Venturelli
Luke Visser
Timothy Ward
Ben Waters
Michael Whitby
Tony White
Paul WhymperWilliams
Howard Wiggins
Terence Williams
Alastair Wilson
Phillip Woods
Don Woollen
Denis Wright
Steven Yu
Zheming Zhang
Neave Bailey
Vedhavalli
Balamurugan*
Kylie Batterham
Chan*
Jaylise Beale
Andy Bestel*
Josephine Bradfield*
Arianna Brini*
Samantha Browne*
Grace Chen
Alyse Chong
Valerie Chung
Saskia Clark
Luca Del Monaco
Eleanor Donovan*
Abigail Douglas*
Charlotte Doyle
Sophie Fabiansson
Alisa-Jean Fifita*
Selena Gao
Sofia Garcia*
Emily Gardner
Camille Gill*
Yilin (Ina) Guo
Grace Hardy*
Emily Harris*
Edie Hartas*
Ashia He*
Ava Holmes*
Laura Hou
Isabella Hutchinson
Sahana Jain
Yuhansa Jayakody
Tinya Jiang
Noa Keppie*
River Kim*
Vanessa Kwok
Imogen Lam
Cindy Li
Grace Li
Margaret Li*
Jessica Liu
Yolandy Lu
Caspian (April)
McLeod
Lucinda Man*
Sophie Miller
Freya Nylund*
Jemima Ong
Sylvie Reynolds*
Reia Sano*
Caitlyn Saurajen
Katherine Schroder
Kumari Selkirk
De-Zilva
Mika Shapley*
Eilidh Sheaff*
Abigail Smyth*
Ava Tan
Rachel Theresia
Grace Wang
Harriet Waters
Ruby Wheeler*
Amelia Whelan
Liv Wilson*
Charlyne Wong
Stephanie Wong
Roger Xue*
Hayley Yap
Julia Zaitsev*
Shirley Zhang
Michelle Zhao
Eleanor Zhu
Established in 1973 by Peter Seymour, The Sydney Youth Orchestra has evolved into a vital catalyst for fostering professional careers in music and the arts industry. The.SYO is the premier ensemble of SYO, a not-for-profit charity committed to providing young musicians with opportunities to connect, create and cultivate a vibrant musical community. As SYO celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, it proudly continues its mission of nurturing talent and fostering lasting connections within the orchestral realm.
With members of Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
Aija Draguns Create NSW Conducting Fellow
James Pensini SYO Head of Orchestral Training and Community Engagement
Nick Munro SYO Head of Operations
Naomi Lennox SYO Orchestral Operations Coordinator
FIRST VIOLINS
Fiona Ziegler* Concertmaster
Suraj Nagaraj
Heather Burnley*†
Klara Decker-Stewart
Caitriona Fox
Rebecca Irwin*
Sophia Juarez
Joshua Kok
Marcus Michelsen*†
Ethan Powell
Sam Silva
Nurhan Solbudak
Maria Lindsay*†
James Krockenberger
Newton Cheang
Darcy Dauth*†
Rachel Easton*†
Emma Hayes*
Annabel Krockenberger
Julia Lim
Natalie Liu
Kimberley Santos
Felicity Yau
VIOLAS
Andrew Jezek*
Caitlin Duncombe
Nicole Forsyth*†
Phoebe Gilbert*†
Alice Moon
Aleksei Prakhiy
Liaam Rao
Asher Tarbox
Jia Xun (Jessica) Teoh
CELLOS
Rowena McNeish*†
Javier Mobellan
Leo Apollonov
Belvina Bai
James Beck*
Christopher Bennett*†
Charlotte He
Cadence Ing
DOUBLE BASSES
Brett Berthold*†
Penelope Brown
Paignthor AcevedoMartin
Daniel Dean*†
FLUTES
James Fortune*†
Matthew Bottaro
Jennifer Ridgway
Emilia Antcliff*†
Julia Sharratt*
Kara Thorpe
Gavin Zev*†
OBOES
Shefali Pryor*†
Natalie Kim
Madison Au
Eve Osborn*†
Alex Tsang
CLARINETS
Deborah de Graaff*†
Gordon Richter
Amelia Dillon
Robert Mackay
Ian Sykes*†
BASSOONS
Lorelei Dowling*†
Hayden Burge
Victoria Grant*†
Dylan Roberts
Jihyun (Bonna) Yoon
HORNS
Robert Johnson*
Bryn Arnold
Sarah Bernard
Bridget Darby
Gabriel Don
Laura Duque Cash
Stefan Grant*†
Kian Shanahan
TRUMPETS
Anthony Heinrichs*
Elizabeth Dawson
Alex Bieri*†
Matthew Hyam
Tom Lim
Freya McGrath
Liam McRae
Toby Rands
TROMBONES
Greg van der Striuk*†
Cooper Rands
Harry Macpherson
Zachary Bonham
Nigel Crocker*
Joshua de Haan
Isaac Tannous
TUBA
Ben Clarke
Contrabassoon supplied courtesy Willoughby Symphony Orchestra
TIMPANI
Brian Nixon*†
Yumo (Alice) Zhang
PERCUSSION
Alexandra (Rosie) Bennett
Ruhani Dhillon
Grace Lee
HARPS
Owen Torr*†
Paul Nicolaou
Kate Moloney*†
Rowan Phemister*
MANDOLINS
Stephen Lalor*
George Teasdell*
CELESTE
Daniel Guo*
PIANO
Claire Howard Race*
HARMONIUM
Tim Cunniffe*
ORGAN
David Drury*
Bold = Principal
* Members of Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
† SYO alumni
Estey Reed Organ No. 378630 (1910) supplied and tuned by Andrew Grahame
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presents the art of choral singing at the highest standard, and develops the talents of those with a passion for singing, in Sydney and beyond. Founded in 1920, it has become Australia’s finest choral organisation and is a Resident Company of the Sydney Opera House.
Led by Artistic and Music Director Brett Weymark OAM and Associate Music Director Dr Elizabeth Scott, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs comprises three auditioned and three community choirs that perform repertoire from choral classics to musical theatre and commissions by Australian composers. SPC presents its own annual concert season as well as collaborating with leading conductors, soloists and orchestras in Australia and overseas. In 2002, SPC was the first Australian choir to sing at the BBC Proms (Mahler’s Symphony No.8 under Sir Simon Rattle), returning again in 2010 to celebrate its 90th anniversary. The Choirs perform in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s season every year, as they have done for more than 80 years. SPC also presents community singing events throughout the year– Chorus Oz (the annual Big Sing), Big Heart Sing at the Sydney Opera House and choral workshops throughout Sydney and NSW.
2020 was Sydney Philharmonia Choirs’ centenary and saw the realisation of the 100 Minutes of New Australian Music project, featuring commissioned works by composers including Elena Kats-Chernin, Deborah Cheetham Fraillon and Brett Dean. In 2022 the Choirs took part in the reopening of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, performing Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and in 2023, Brett Weymark celebrates his 20th anniversary as Artistic Director.
The Hon. Margaret Beazley AC KC, Governor of New South Wales and Mr Dennis Wilson
VICE PATRONS
Prof. the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO
Lauris Elms AM OBE DMus (Syd)
AMBASSADOR FOR SINGING
Yvonne Kenny AM
BOARD
Jacqui Wilkins Chair
Claire Duffy President
Ian Bennett, Katie Blake, StuartGoddard, Terence Kwan, BillNapier, Elizabeth Neilsen, Georgia Rivers
STAFF
Fiona Hulton Executive Director
Brett Weymark OAM Artistic & Music Director
Dr Elizabeth Scott Associate Music Director
Tim Cunniffe Assistant Chorus Master & Principal Rehearsal Pianist
Mark Robinson Artistic Operations Manager
Heather Carr, Lana Kains, Mel Penicka-Smith Choir Support & Administrators
Susan Gandy Orchestra Coordinator
Simon Crossley-Meates Marketing Manager
Naomi Hamer Office & Box Office Administrator
Sarah Howell Philanthropy Associate
John Liebmann Finance Manager
PROGRAM CREDITS
Yvonne Frindle Editor and Design
Tone Bullen, Smörgåsbord Cover Artwork
Immij NSW Printer
Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road, Dawes Point |
sydneyphilharmonia.com.au
SydneyPhilharmoniaChoirsgratefullyacknowledgethevision, commitmentandgenerosityofoursupporters.
$40,000+
Anonymous (1)
$10,000– $39,000
Robert Albert AO and LibbyAlbert
Justice François Kunc and Felicity Rourke
Anonymous (1)
$5,000– $9,999
Stephen and Jennifer Cook
Ruth Edenborough
Diane Hill
Dr David and Sarah Howell
Iphygenia Kallinikos
John Lamble Foundation
Macpherson Family
Jacqueline Rowlands
Anonymous (3)
$2,500– $4,999
Lynette Baker
Susan Barrett
Christine Bishop
Nathalie Deeson– in memory of BrianDeeson
Warren Green
M and D Langford
R&J Perry Family Foundation
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Supper Club
Jean Taylor
Robert Albert AO and LibbyAlbert
Prof. the Hon. Dame Marie
Bashir AD CVO
Ian and Claire Bennett
Christine Bishop
Katie Blake and MichaelJackson
David and Halina Brett
Olivier Chretien
Nathalie Deeson
Ruth Edenborough
Prof. Jenny Edwards
David and Sue Ellyard
Kate Foot
Dr Carolyn Lowry OAM and PeterLowry OAM
Peter and Lisa Macqueen
The late Dr John O’Brien
The late Rosalind StrongAM and the late AntonyStrong
Kay Vernon
Sara Watts
Anthony and Annie Whealy
Jacqui Wilkins
Anonymous (1)
$1,000– $2,499
Jock Baird– in memoriam
Annette McClure
James and Ariella Cox
Rouna Daley
Julie and Bill Dowsley
Prof. Jenny Edwards
Fiona Joneshart
Lilly Krienbuhl
Dr Veronica Lambert
Anna Lo
Rachel Maiden– in memory of Tony Maiden
Jolanta Masojada
Helen Meddings
Jeffrey Mellefont
In memory of Helen Pedersen
Georgia Rivers
Félicité Ross
Joanna Sutherland
Kay Vernon
Sara Watts
Marianna Wong
Anonymous (1)
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Your gift, of any size, would make a vital contribution to ensuring our future.
sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/donate
Donations to Sydney Philharmonia Choirs are recognised for 12 months from the date of donation. Supporters listed here are current as at May 2023. Donations of $500 and above are listed on our website and in our concert programbooks.
Tel Asiado
Carole Bailey
C A Bessemer
Sue Bowring
Julian Coghlan and AndreaBeattie
Ian Connolly
Patricia Curotta
James Devenish
Jane Diamond
Robert Green
Vesna Hatezic
Shirley Hofman
Fiona Hulton
David Jacobs
Maggie McKelvey
Jeffrey Mellefont
Bernadette Mitchell
Robert Mitchell
Chris Moore
Dimitry Moraitis and PeterMorgan
Mary Mortimer and DonaldDenoon
William Napier
Robbie Nicol
Anna Pender
Valerie Rendle
Jonquil Ritter
Paul Roper
Meg Shaw
Ernestine de Vries
Anonymous (2)
We also thank our donors who contribute up to $500. Every gift makes a difference to what we are able to achieve.
Weapplaudthegenerousinvolvementof ourpartnersinsupportingSydney PhilharmoniaChoirs.
HearCarlOrff’sthrillingchoralmasterpiecewith Human Waves,anewworkbyElenaKats-Chernin andlibrettistTamara-AnnaCislowska.
Saturday9September|2PM
BACH’S
Saturday16December|2PM
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Friday15December|8PM
Saturday16December|8PM
Sunday17December|2PM
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