Latest Melbourne News

Melbourne Recital Centre CEO Dr Jacques de Vos Malan yesterday announced a “musical cornucopia” for the inaugural season of Melbourne Recital Centre.  The opening of Melbourne’s most exciting new concert venue will be celebrated with a 14-concert week-long mini-festival from Sunday, February 8, 2009, the 100th Birthday of Melbourne Recital Centre patron, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE. 
 
The festival is part of a programme of more than 70 concerts, workshops and events from February 8 to April 30, presented by both Melbourne Recital Centre and key national and local organisations and ensembles.  Opus ’09 No. 1 is the first of three seasons of concerts that will be presented in 2009.
 
Featuring two concerts each night, the Melbourne Recital Centre Opening Festival will present in combination performers of international renown including Gidon Kremer (violin) and Kremerata Baltica, Michael Collins (clarinet), Piers Lane (piano), Goldner String Quartet, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Cyndia Sieden (soprano), Roger Woodward (piano, celeste), The Song Company, Steven Osborne (piano), Libra Ensemble, and Paul Hillier’s Theatre of Voices.
 
The season continues with a residency by the Arditti Quartet, and performances by Kodô and TaikOz, TinAlley String Quartet, Thomanerchor Leipzig, Freshwater Trio, Australian String Quartet, La Compañia, Sandra Bullock (mezzo soprano), Australian Art Orchestra, Miriam Allen (soprano), Benaud Trio, Les Voix Humaines, Speak Percussion and Ensemble Offspring.
 
The inaugural season also includes a week-long Easter mini-festival, Walk to the Field of Stars - A Musical Pilgrimage.  Highlights include Reich’s majestic Tehillim; Paul Grabowsky’s moving Passion; Messiaen’s Quartet for the end of time; Haydn’s Seven Last Words; and Renaissance sacred music by The Consort of Melbourne and La Compañia.
 
“The cornucopia of programming devised for the inauguration of Melbourne Recital Centre showcases the new venues and their suitability for many musical genres, including chamber ensembles, small orchestras, choirs, vocal ensembles, solo voices and instruments.  It is a concentration of fine music in the city that is virtually unprecedented,” said Melbourne Recital Centre CEO Dr Jacques de Vos Malan.  “Due to the hard work of our talented Artistic Administrator David Barmby, it includes some of the very best Australian and international musicians, alongside concerts or shared programs by key presenting partners.
 
“This new centre has given us the freedom to do some things differently,” he added.  “We are presenting concerts at a variety of times.  We’re not selling annual subscriptions.  We’re breaking the year up into three seasons, starting each year in February on Dame Elisabeth’s birthday, which gives us the opportunity to be very flexible in programming and take up opportunities as they arise.  We’re launching a membership package.  We’re treating the whole of the twentieth century as if it is a reality to explore, rather than a problem to avoid.  We’re re-thinking ways of presenting the difficult pieces of our time, by incorporating lighting, video projection or other new media.  We’re pushing the envelope at the other end as well, extending the repertoire that we present back beyond the Classical era to include more works of the Baroque and Renaissance.  And we’re re-instating neglected genres, including Lieder and keyboard recitals. 
 
“This intensity of the programming, from the fourteen concerts of the opening week through to the festival of Holy Week, is not something that any city could sustain indefinitely.  But the diversity and richness of this musical tapestry and the spirit of scholarly exploration are approaches to which David Barmby and I are both committed and which will become our characteristic signature," said Dr de Vos Malan.
 
Melbourne Recital Centre also launched its new annual Member’s Program, new flexible way to enjoy music in Melbourne.  Adults are $75 per year, and Youth (Under 27) $50.
 
Tickets for Opus ‘09 No. 1 concerts range from $20–$90 and are now on sale.  Book online at www.melbournerecital.com.au or telephone the Melbourne Recital Centre Box Office on 03 9699 3333.
 
Melbourne Recital Centre is in the final stages of construction at the corner of Sturt Street and Southbank Boulevard, Southbank.  Comprising two magnificent performance spaces, the 1000-seat Elisabeth Murdoch Hall and the 150-seat Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre is built to exceptional standards.  A significant project of the Victorian Government, through Arts Victoria and Major Projects Victoria, Melbourne Recital Centre is scheduled to open to the public in February 2009.
 
Further information: www.melbournerecital.com.au