Hamburg Season Brochure

QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE 23 AUGUST TO 5 SEPTEMBER

THE WORLD TO BRISBANE

THE WORLD TO BRISBANET

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IIn recent years the perception of Queensland, both nationally and internationally, has changed dramatically. Acknowledged by media and public alike, this change has been

driven by a combination of government initiative and vision, and daring programs in the visual and performing arts.

Exhibitions featuring the art of Warhol, Picasso and Matisse, of rare masterpieces from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Prado in Madrid together with eclectic exhibitions such as the Valentino show have completely altered the way the world and our fellow Australians see the state of Queensland and the city of Brisbane.

Queensland Performing Arts Centre, with invaluable support from Events Queensland, has played a major role in this extraordinary process, inaugurating exclusive seasons by some of the world’s greatest international performing arts companies appearing exclusively in Brisbane. First came the Paris Opera Ballet, then the National Ballet of Cuba. We have also hosted the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, and the electrifying Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin.

Next comes the visit of not one but three great companies from the magnificent city of Hamburg.

Queensland Performing Arts Centre welcomes these visitors whose exclusive appearance here in August 2012 will further enhance Brisbane’s already impressive reputation as a cultural capital.

INTERNATIONAL SERIES

INTERNATIONAL SERIES

International Series

In addition to being a mercantile powerhouse, Hamburg has an enviable cultural life with some forty theatres, sixty museums and over one

hundred music clubs. It is also home to a great symphony orchestra, a celebrated opera house and a world renowned ballet company, all three of which will make their first appearance in Australia for an exclusive Brisbane season in August 2012.

Australian conductor Simone Young is both Musical Director of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and General Manager of the Hamburg State Opera. Young will lead the former in a performance of Mahler’s mighty Symphony No. 2, Resurrection, with a Queensland chorus and international soloists. A renowned interpreter of the operas of Richard Wagner, Simone Young will also conduct two concert performances by the Hamburg State Opera of Das Rheingold, the first work in his epic Ring Cycle.

The magnificent Hamburg Ballet, led by its Artistic Director and Principal Choreographer John Neumeier will present the Australian premiere of two of his finest works – Nijinsky, an Nijinsky, an Nijinsky hommage to the legendary Russian dancer, and his witty, elegant ballet version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

These remarkable guest performances form part of Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s International Series, bringing the world to Brisbane.

The great port of Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany, the seventh largest city in the European Union

and one of the most affluent in Europe.

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IMAGES. A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM AND NIJINSKY, BALLETS BY JOHN NEUMEIER, HAMBURG BALLET © HOLGER BADEKOW

‘For me, John Neumeier is a man of reason and passion. His creativity always surprises and captivates me because the universe he imagines is so rich and diverse.’

Brigitte Lefèvre Director of Dance Paris Opera Ballet

The Hamburg Ballet is one of the great dance companies in the world. Its fame is due in no small measure to its leadership. In 1973 American

dancer and choreographer John Neumeier was appointed Artistic Director. Under his leadership the company has achieved two of the rarest qualities in the world of the performing arts – stability and an unwavering commitment to innovation.

It is a truly international company, with dancers drawn not only from Germany but also from twenty three other countries including America, France, Russia, Ukraine, Brazil and Australia.

Neumeier has choreographed ballets for companies such as the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bolshoi, the Royal Danish Ballet, Britain’s Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, and he continues to create works of great power and beauty. His musical sensibility is unique and his love of movement and the body is evident in all of the work he creates.

Each year he presents a season as a tribute to his hero, the legendary Vaslav Nijinsky, the programs for which attract some of the finest dancers of our time.

This legendary figure in the world of ballet brings his company to Australia for the very first time for this exclusive Brisbane season showcasing two of his most admired works, a playful version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and his thrilling, dramatic Nijinsky.

Shakespeare’s great comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of his most popular works, performed innumerable times in

almost every country in the world and in a myriad of interpretations, from a spectacular 1934 outdoor staging in the Hollywood Bowl, a subsequent film and Peter Brook’s legendary 1970 production for the Royal Shakespeare Company which toured the world.

It has also provided lavish inspiration for composers and choreographers, including Benjamin Britten’s eponymous opera and George Balanchine’s ballet version using Felix Mendelssohn’s famous incidental music.

That same music is also used by the Hamburg Ballet’s celebrated choreographer and Artistic Director John Neumeier in his ravishing version of this great classic tale of magic, mistaken identity and lovers’ quarrels.

The Hamburg BalletA Midsummer Night’s Dream

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QPAC and Events Queensland present

A Midsummer Night’s DreamThe Hamburg Ballet - John Neumeier

Choreography & StagingJohn Neumeier

MusicFelix Mendelssohn

György Ligeti - traditional Mechanicals music

Stage Design & CostumesJürgen Rose

Queensland Symphony OrchestraConductor

Simon Hewett

PerformancesThursday 30 August - Wednesday 5 September

Playhouse, QPAC

Neumeier sees the action existing on three levels and chooses his music and movement accordingly. For the lovers and the court scenes, it’s Mendelssohn. For the mysterious fairy world it’s works by Hungarian György Ligeti, one of the most important composers of the late twentieth century, and for the comic scenes, the mechanicals wheel on a barrel organ to grind out familiar street tunes.

This is one of Neumeier’s most joyous creations, a rare combination of inspired concept, exquisite, haunting choreography and broad comedy. Appealing to audiences of all ages, it has been included in the repertoire of many internationally renowned companies including the Paris Opera Ballet.

The Hamburg BalletNijinsky


Nijinsky The Hamburg Ballet - John Neumeier

ChoreographyStage Design & Costumes

John Neumeier

MusicFrédéric Chopin, Robert Schumann,

Nikolaj Rimskij-Korsakow Dmitri Shostakovich

PerformancesSunday 26 August - Tuesday 28 August

Playhouse, QPAC

Vaslav Nijinsky was the first male Vaslav Nijinsky was the first male Vsuperstar of ballet, a mythic Vsuperstar of ballet, a mythic Vdancer and a virtuoso who, Vdancer and a virtuoso who, Vduring his short career, Vduring his short career, Velectrified audiences throughout Europe. Millions of words have been written about his legendary leaps, the intensity of his characterisations, each forged by the genius of his imagination.

Born in Kiev in 1890 he began dancing with a circus at the age of seven. At nine he joined the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg. His career was meteoric, brief and blazing like a comet, but by the time he was twenty he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and his mental health deteriorated. He relocated to neutral Switzerland during World War II. The last time he ever danced in public was one evening at the Suvretta House Hotel near St. Moritz.

Choreographer John Neumeier, a passionate historian of the Ballets Russeswith which Nijinsky first danced in the west, takes this event as his starting point as Nijinsky’s fevered brain recalls the great ballets in which he danced and some of those he choreographed.

Nijinsky is a haunting, insightful memorial Nijinsky is a haunting, insightful memorial Nijinskyto the greatest of male ballet dancers, an artist whose innovations, like those of the choreographer himself, are still powerful today.

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Hamburg State Opera with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra

Das Rheingold

Richard Wagner (1813 – 1883) was one of the towering figures of the nineteenth century. Polymath, poet, philosopher, political

activist, essayist, theatre director, musical theorist, conductor and composer, he is however best known for his operas and especially for his great masterpiece, the epic Der Ring des Nibelungen, or simply, the Ring. This mighty work consists of four separate operas designed to be performed sequentially although they are occasionally given singly.

Wagner spent twenty-six years on the composition of the Ring. Although Das Rheingold comes first in the series, it was Rheingold comes first in the series, it was Rheingoldthe last to be composed.

It acts as a prologue that sets in motion the whole tale of the theft of the magic gold from the Rhinemaidens, the vainglorious and eventually fatal ambitions of the gods,

the curse on the gold, the murder of the giant Fasolt by his brother Fafner and the fateful bargain struck by Wotan, the leader of the gods, that unleashes the dramatic events of the subsequent operas.

Simone Young was the first woman ever to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and in 1999 came another first when she led that same orchestra to become the first female musician to conduct a complete Ring Cycle. She has also conducted complete performances in Berlin and most recently in Hamburg.

In Brisbane she will direct not only her Hamburg State Opera ensemble but also a number of illustrious guest singers, many of whom have performed at Bayreuth, the theatre where the first complete Ring Cycle was seen in 1876 and which has become a pilgrimage shrine for dedicated Wagnerites.


Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner

Concert performanceThe Hamburg State Opera with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra

presented in association with Brisbane Festival

ConductorSimone Young

SoloistsWotan Falk Struckmann

Fricka Anna LarssonAlberich Eike Wilm Schulte

Donner Jan BuchwaldDonner Jan BuchwaldDonnerFreia Vida Mikneviciute

Froh Chris LysackLoge Jürgen Sacher Mime Peter Galliard

Erda Deborah HumbleWoglinde Ha Young Lee

Wellgunde Maria MarkinaFlosshilde Anne-Beth Solvang

Fasolt Tigran MartirossianFasolt Tigran MartirossianFasoltFafner Adrian SampetreanFafner Adrian SampetreanFafner

PerformancesThursday 23 AugustSaturday 25 AugustConcert Hall, QPAC

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Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestrawith the Hamburg State Opera

Mahler Symphony No.2 Resurrection

In 1891, 30-year-old composer and conductor Gustav Mahler took up the baton as First Conductor of the Hamburg Opera. The Hanseatic city

would be his home for the next six years.

Hamburg nurtured Mahler and provided him with opportunities that would turn out to be crucial to his development as a composer and conductor. Mahler’s monumental Second Symphony (Resurrection) and expansive Third Symphony were composed during his Hamburg years.

The ethereal closing chorus of the Resurrection (‘Rise up, yes you will rise up’), one of the most transcendent moments in all music, came to Mahler in a flash of inspiration following the memorial service to the great conductor Hans von Bülow in Hamburg’s vast baroque church of St. Michael.

Von Bülow conducted the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra in the first ever performances of Wagner’s Tristan und Isoldeand Die Meistersinger. He took the youthful

Mahler under his wing in Hamburg and Mahler succeeded him as conductor of the Philharmonic and got his first real taste of conducting, in the concert hall as well as in the opera theatre, in Hamburg.

An idealist and a perfectionist, Mahler drilled the Hamburg players and accepted nothing less than peerless performances from them night after night.

He also took his Hamburg musicians on tour. In 1892 Mahler led players and singers from the Hamburg Opera to London for a season of Wagner operas, including two performances of Das Rheingold. A tour that would go down in history, these were the first ever performances of Wagner’s Ring at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

It seems entirely appropriate that both of these masterpieces by Wagner and Mahler are to be performed by this same orchestra during their f irst ever appearances in Australia and what is in effect Mahler’s orchestra, is to be conducted by an Australian.


Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, Resurrection by Gustav Mahler

Soloists from the Hamburg State Opera with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra

presented in association with Brisbane Festival

ConductorSimone Young

Hamburg State Opera SoloistsAnna LarssonHa Young Lee

PerformanceFriday 24 August

Concert Hall, QPAC

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THE WAGNER PREMIERE EXPERIENCE

Opening NightThursday 23 August8.00pm – Midnight

Concert Hall and Hamburg GardenQPAC

$95 incl gst

THE WAGNER PREMIERE

EXPERIENCEThe first opera of Wagner’s epic Ring Cycle, the powerful Das Rheingold is the centrepiece of the majestic Wagner Premiere Experience.

Attending the premiere of Das Rheingold - an inspiring concert performance of Wagner’s first Ring Cycle opera performed by the Hamburg State Opera with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra - guests at the exclusive opening night event will enjoy complimentary pre-concert drinks and exclusive access to the Hamburg Garden for a post-show reception with Simone Young and members of the Opera and Orchestra.

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 2 GALA EVENING

Friday 24 August 6.45pm – Midnight

Concert Hall and Hamburg Garden QPAC

Gala Evening Individual $1,100 inc gstGala Evening Table $10,000 inc gst


In the tradition of QPAC’s exclusive Gala Evening events, a one-off performance of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 2, Resurrection will form the centrepiece of the Hamburg Gala Evening - an elegant celebration of German excellence that will showcase the beauty of Hamburg and its brilliant artistic legacy.

More than 120 years after composer and conductor Gustav Mahler took up the baton as First Conductor of the Hamburg Opera, his second symphony will be performed in QPAC’s Concert Hall by the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra with soloists from the Hamburg State Opera conducted by one of Australia’s most distinguished musicians, the internationally acclaimed, Simone Young.

Following the performance, guests will adjourn to the beautiful Hamburg Garden created especially for the evening, where they will enjoy the finest wines and sumptuous dining. Simone Young and the members of the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Hamburg State Opera will be invited to join each table.

THE NIJINSKY PREMIERE EXPERIENCE

Opening NightSunday 26 August 3.00pm – 7.00pm

Playhouse and Hamburg Garden QPAC

$95 incl gst

THE NIJINSKY PREMIERE

EXPERIENCEOver more than four decades, legendary choreographer John Neumeier has established The Hamburg Ballet as one of the world’s great dance companies.

The Nijinsky Premiere Experience on Sunday 26 August will celebrate the company’s very first visit to Australia and guests are invited to immerse themselves in Neumeier’s world of power and beauty.

Attending the Australian premiere of Nijinsky, VIP guests will enjoy complimentary interval drinks and exclusive access to the Hamburg Garden for a post-show reception with fine wines and canapés savoured alongside John Neumeier and members of The Hamburg Ballet.

THE DREAM PREMIERE EXPERIENCE

Thursday 30 August 7.30pm – 11.30pm

Playhouse and Hamburg Garden QPAC

$95 incl gst

THE DREAM PREMIERE

EXPERIENCEUnder the direction of the legendary John Neumeier many of the finest dancers from across the globe have performed with this innovative company. The Company’s brilliant performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be presented with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Simon Hewett.

Opening night guests are invited to be a part of the inner circle during The Dream Premiere Experience on Thursday 30 August.

At this Australian premiere performance event, VIP guests will enjoy complimentary interval drinks and exclusive access to the Hamburg Garden for a post-show reception with fine wines and canapés, meet John Neumeier and dancers of The Hamburg Ballet, Simon Hewett and musicians of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

GALA EVENING TABLE$10,000 including GST

Includes attendance at table by 2 artists 8 premium performance tickets

8 places at the pre performance reception interval and Gala Evening post performance dinner

Cost of ticket and Gala Evening package $7000, voluntary tax deductable donation $3,000.

GALA EVENING INDIVIDUAL$1,100 including GST

Includes 1 premium performance ticket1 place at the pre performance reception

interval and Gala Evening post performance dinner

Cost of ticket and Gala Evening package $700,voluntary tax deductable donation $400.

TAX DEDUCTION

The voluntary tax deductible donation will enable QPAC to continue to present

the very best of international performances to Queensland audiences.

A receipt will be issued for tax deductibilitypurposes. Claims should be made under the

title Queensland Performing Arts Trust.


ENQUIRIES 07 3842 9706

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Thursday 23 August 8.00pm Concert HallSaturday 25 August 8.00pm Concert Hall

Friday 24 August 8.00pm Concert Hall

Opening NightSunday 26 August 3.00pm PlayhouseMonday 27 August 7.30pm PlayhouseTuesday 28 August 7.30pm Playhouse

Opening NightThursday 30 August 7.30pm PlayhouseFriday 31 August 7.30pm PlayhouseSaturday 1 September 2.00pm PlayhouseSaturday 1 September 7.30pm PlayhouseSunday 2 September 3.00pm PlayhouseMonday 3 September 7.30pm PlayhouseTuesday 4 September 7.30pm PlayhouseWednesday 5 September 7.30pm Playhouse

HAMBURG PHILHARMONIC THE HAMBURG ORCHESTRA BALLETPREMIUM $195 $160A RESERVE $160 $130B RESERVE $130 $95C RESERVE $95 -

COMBINE ONE CONCERT AND ONE BALLET $305BOTH BALLET $270BOTH CONCERTS $340

Prices include GST where applicable. A transaction fee may apply. Concession applies for Australian Pensioners, full-time students & 16 years and under with a valid ID.

DAS RHEINGOLD

NIJINSKY

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

TICKET PRICES

MAHLER SYMPHONY NO. 2

BOOK NOW qpac.com.au or phone 136 246

Gala Evening bookings 07 3842 9706

HAMBURG SEASON PACKAGES - SAVE UP TO $50

CORRECT AT TIME OF PRINTING.

QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRECnr Grey & Melbourne Streets, South Bank, Queensland

PRESENTING PARTNERS

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THEHAMBURG SEASON

QUEENSLAND PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE 23 AUGUST TO 5 SEPTEMBER

Puck: If we shadows have offended,think but this, and all is mended,that you have but slumbered here

while these visions did appear.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEAREA MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM

Documents

Hamburg Season Brochure