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Canberra Today 14°/16° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Adventurous landmarks in music for CSO

YOU feel as if he’s here all the time, but this week is in fact the first time this year that the busy chief conductor and artistic director of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, Nicholas Milton, has been in Canberra.

Busy conductor Nick Milton
Busy conductor Nick Milton

He’s here to conduct the orchestra’s second concert in its Llewellyn Series, titled “Mahler”.

The program will bring one of the biggest orchestras seen on the stage, featuring four of each woodwind instrument and seven French horns for Mahler’s “Symphony No. 1”.

Of this mighty work, the composer said, “A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything” and it is through this symphony that he is credited with redefining the popular understanding of what a symphony can be.

Mahler is not the only treat on the program. The guest soloist for the evening will be Australian pianist Clemens Leske, who will perform Beethoven’s “Piano Concerto No.4”. Written during the time of rapid development for the pianoforte, this concerto “set a new benchmark for the technical skills required of a concert pianist.”

Pianist Clemens Leske
Pianist Clemens Leske

Clemens, a lecturer in Piano at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, has recently performed Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in their Proms series of and has also recently performed in Beijing and Guangzhou.

And just to put everyone in a good mood, Milton has decided to open the performance with Mozart’s sparkling Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro” – and it’s not even in the advertised program.

Llewellyn Series 14.2: “Mahler”, at Llewellyn Hall, 7.30pm, May 7 and 8, Pre-concert talk 6:45pm. Bookings to 1300 795 012 or ticketek.com.au

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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