MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE MEDIA RELEASE
GREAT PEFORMERS 2014 CONCERT SERIES
The World’s Best Perform at Melbourne’s Best Place to Hear
Melbourne, October 2013 – Melbourne Recital Centre launches the fourth season of its highlyacclaimed flagship concert series, Great Performers: nine spectacular performances by the world’s
best musicians in the acoustic splendour of the Centre’s Elisabeth Murdoch Hall.
Since the inception of the series in 2010, Melbourne’s music lovers have embraced the opportunity
to hear musicians such as Jordi Savall, Paul Lewis, Susan Graham and Richard Tognetti in the
intimacy of a solo recital. Between 2012 and 2013, the series enjoyed a three-fold increase in the
number of season ticket holders, and several of the 2013 concerts have sold out several months in
advance, including Murray Perahia. Audiences are discovering the powerful combination of a
brilliant artist, carefully selected repertoire and ideal space that is unique to the Great Performers
series.
In 2014, the Great Performers include accomplished violinist Daniel Hope, dynamic violist Maxim
Rysanov as well as Julia Lezhneva, a young coloratura soprano who is being compared to Cecilia
Bartoli. Kirsten Siddle, Melbourne Recital Centre’s Director of Programming says, “Great
Performers is a showcase of musicians that we know audiences will engage with and find inspiring.
Some, like pianist Joanna MacGregor and violinist Daniel Hope, are very well-known, wellestablished international artists, but we also want to introduce the next generation of Greats. Superb
piano duo Alice Sara Ott and Francesco Tristano are a great example of this – two Gen-Y musicians
who are completely at home crossing musical boundaries and attracting fans from the classical and
pop worlds.”
In this geographically and musically diverse season, Melbourne-based classical guitarist Slava
Grigoryan appears with French-Canadian/Japanese violinist Karen Gomyo in a recital of fiendishly
virtuosic repertoire by Paganini, Vivaldi and more. French pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet mixes
Beethoven with Ravel, British pianist Nicolas Hodges blends late Beethoven with Debussy and
Daniel Hope paints a musical portrait of the great 19th century violinist Joseph Joachim. Returning
to the Centre after her triumphant performance with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra is cellist Alisa
Weilerstein, this time completely unaccompanied as she performs Bach, Golijov and Kodály, a
fitting encore performance by one of the world’s most exciting young musicians.
Season tickets (with savings of up to 30%) in four-, six- or nine-packs are available from 11 October
at melbournerecital.com.au/greatperformers or by phone, 03 9699 3333 (9am-5pm, Mon-Fri).
Package prices start at $255 and individual tickets are released on 30 November.
Bookings: melbournerecital.com.au or 03 9699 3333
For media enquiries and interview requests:
Pia Johnson pia.johnson@gmail.com / 0413 450 951
Di Rolle
di@dirolle.com / 0419 001 068
GREAT PERFORMERS 2014: ARTISTS AND DATES
Artist(s)
Daniel Hope (violin)
with associate artist (TBC late-2013)
Time and Date
7.30pm, Tue 11 Feb
Julia Lezhneva (soprano)
with Michael Antoneko, piano
7.30pm, Wed 19 Mar
Karen Gomyo (violin)
Slava Grigoryan (guitar)
Joanna MacGregor (piano)
7.30pm, Wed 26 Mar
Maxim Rysanov (viola)
with Ashley Wass (piano)
Alice Sara Ott & Francesco Tristano
(piano duo)
7.30pm Tue 17 Jun
Alisa Weilerstein (cello)
7.30pm, Tue 8 Jul
Nicolas Hodges (piano)
7.30pm, Wed 27 Aug
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)
7.30pm, Tue 25 Nov
7.30pm, Tue 1 Apr
7.30pm, Wed 2 Jul
Repertoire Notes
A Celebration of Joseph Joachim,
including violin sonatas by Brahms
(No.1 in G) and Grieg (No.3).
Baroque and bel canto arias by
Vivaldi, Handel, Porpora, Mozart,
Bellini and Rossini.
Solos and duos by Paganini, Tartini,
Guiliani and Vivaldi
Preludes and Fugues by Bach and
Shostakovich, whimsical children’s
pieces by Gubaidulina and bird
music by Couperin, Messiaen and
others.
Schubert, Schumann, Prokofiev and
Shostakovich’s viola sonata.
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring in the two
piano version, plus works by
Rimsky Korsakov and Ravel.
Solo cello music by Bach, Golijov,
Britten and Zoltan Kodály’s
magisterial sonata.
Beethoven’s Sonata No.32, Op.111
and Debussy’s two books of Etudes.
Beethoven sonatas Nos. 22, 24, 25 &
26, Ravel’s Miroirs and Bruno
Mantovani’s Le Livre de Jeb.
All Great Performers concerts are preceded by a free Pre-Concert Talk by musicologists and
musicians at 6.45pm.
For more information, please refer to the Great Performers 2014 brochure.
For media enquiries and interview requests:
Pia Johnson pia.johnson@gmail.com / 0413 450 951
Di Rolle
di@dirolle.com / 0419 001 068
31 Sturt Street
Southbank
Victoria 3006
Australia
T +61 (0)3 9207 2228
F +61 (0)3 9207 2662
Email@melbournerecital.com.au
www.melbournerecital.com.au