The weather is finally warming up, and the gigs just keep rolling along.
In late Aug I did a chamber concert for the Myer Foundation in the Capitol Theatre in Bendigo with the Firebird trio and Antoinette Halloran. We played the Trout quintet and I had to rattle off some arrangements of opera classics for a Trout 5tet scoring, eg Carmen Habanera, Musettas Waltz from La Boheme etc. That tested my arranding skills a little!
After helping out the Stonnington Symphony do battle with Beethoven 9, the next main season was La Bayadere with the Australian Ballet and OV.
But the biggest gig of recent months was the Andrea Bocelli tour of Australia and NZ with the Auzzie Pops Orchestra. It was a blast! Bocelli is a star and a lovely person - so too Delta Goodrem, who was gracious enough to all the Stuarts to have thier photo taken with. The highlight of the year for me!
We performed in the big sports/rock arenas, such as Rod Laver in Melbourne, the All Phones arena in Sydney etc.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Kammermusik - Fish Creek Oct 2014
The photos on this page were taken at concerts at two Fish Creek venues in October 2014:-
Sat 4/10/14, Waratah Hills Vineyard. We performed a quartet program of Mozart, Bach and some more modern music - a smorgasbord of treats. The photo below is Roy performing the Bach E maj partita
Sat 25/10/14 - Celia Rosser Gallery, Fish Creek. The main course was Dvorak's majestic quintet in G, with his Terzetto and Rossini's first string sonata. Repeat concerts Parkville on Nov 9th. Great space, lovely audience, it was an all round great occasion......that almost didnt happen.
The shot below is of the Drovak Terzetto rehearsal, with Roy, Tim and Jason
The Fish Creek concert was not without its problems. It would be just wonderful if everyone could get on and make the world a better place but petty politics often gets in the way and stuffs things up. Shame. We got to the gig in the end but it was hard work. We will not be performing in Fish Creek for quite some time, until the scars have healed
Sat 4/10/14, Waratah Hills Vineyard. We performed a quartet program of Mozart, Bach and some more modern music - a smorgasbord of treats. The photo below is Roy performing the Bach E maj partita
Sat 25/10/14 - Celia Rosser Gallery, Fish Creek. The main course was Dvorak's majestic quintet in G, with his Terzetto and Rossini's first string sonata. Repeat concerts Parkville on Nov 9th. Great space, lovely audience, it was an all round great occasion......that almost didnt happen.
The shot below is of the Drovak Terzetto rehearsal, with Roy, Tim and Jason
The Fish Creek concert was not without its problems. It would be just wonderful if everyone could get on and make the world a better place but petty politics often gets in the way and stuffs things up. Shame. We got to the gig in the end but it was hard work. We will not be performing in Fish Creek for quite some time, until the scars have healed
Kammermusik - Fish Creek, May 2014
The photos on this page and in the Gallery show images from our recent concert series in Gippsland. Concerts were at:-
31/5/14 The Celia Rosser Gallery, Fish Creek
1/6/14 Community Hall, Cape Paterson
Fish Creek sold out two weeks before the concert. The gallery is a wonderful space for chamber music, perfect acoustic and Celias wonderful art in the walls.
We have just fixed our next few concerts:-
Sat 4/10/14, Waratah Hills Vineyard just outside Fish Creek. Its a new venue for us, so we are keen to get in there are try it out. We will perform a quartet program of Mozart, Bach and some more modern music - a smorgasbord of treats
Sat 25/10/14 - Celia Rosser Gallery, Fish Creek. The main course will be Dvorak's majestic quintet in G, with his Terzetto and Rossini's first string sonata as entrees. Repeat concerts will be 26/10 in Cape Paterson and 9/11 in Parkville.
We are still on the hunt for other venues an hour or so from Melbourne. We put in huge amounts of rehearsal time and it makes sense to do a few more performances.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Andrea Bocelli tour - Sept 2014
The highlight of September was the Australian and NZ tour with Andrea Bocelli. Reputed to be worth $40 US, the tour showed just why. Bocelli is a crossover musician, ie he bridges from opera to more popular music such as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra numbers.
Gigs were in Auckland, Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth - in rock/sports arena, for example the Rod Laver Arena was used in Melbourne, the home of the final of the Australian Open tennis in January. Each venue held 1000s, the larger ones probably had 10,000 or so in the audience. The tickets were over $1000!!
The sets where huge - three large screens with a big video show, orchestra, chorus, light show, it was the full work. And there were two guest artists, an operatic soprano and pop artist, who on our tour was Delta Goodrem.
The Stuarts were chuffed to have thier photo taken with the stunning Delta!
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
Very busy June
Its been a busy year so far but things shift up a gear in June. The ballet was full on (three programs in a month) and there other stuff including two wonderful chamber concerts.
In June I performed music by Richard Strauss, Puccini, Brahms, Joby Talbot, Tchiakovsky, Mozart, Lalo, Georges Lentz, Faure, Rachmaninov, Gorecki, Haydn and Vaughan Williams.
The first of the chamber gigs was the Kammermusik concerts in Gippsland. The shot to the Right is taken in the Celia Rosser gallery in Fish Creek. I followed on from the success of The Ring (abridged) and the next opera to get the treatment was Tosca (abridged). It was fun and went down well. Jason Bunn was a star, on viola, glock and with his magnificent acting!
At time of writing this page I am at the end of our mid year break, which has been much needed. The batteries are re-charged, ready to go again...
In June I performed music by Richard Strauss, Puccini, Brahms, Joby Talbot, Tchiakovsky, Mozart, Lalo, Georges Lentz, Faure, Rachmaninov, Gorecki, Haydn and Vaughan Williams.
The first of the chamber gigs was the Kammermusik concerts in Gippsland. The shot to the Right is taken in the Celia Rosser gallery in Fish Creek. I followed on from the success of The Ring (abridged) and the next opera to get the treatment was Tosca (abridged). It was fun and went down well. Jason Bunn was a star, on viola, glock and with his magnificent acting!
At time of writing this page I am at the end of our mid year break, which has been much needed. The batteries are re-charged, ready to go again...
Kammermusik tour May/June 2014
The photos on this page and in the Gallery show images from our recent concert series in Gippsland. Concerts were at:-
31/5/14 The Celia Rosser Gallery, Fish Creek
1/6/14 Community Hall, Cape Paterson
Fish Creek sold out two weeks before the concert. The gallery is a wonderful space for chamber music, perfect acoustic and Celias wonderful art in the walls. We performed:-
R Strauss - sextet from Capriccio
Puccini/Riley - Tosca (abridged)
Brahms - sextet no 2 in G
Our audience arrived before finished our seating all - the locals are keen on getting the vest seats. Sid Cowling, a local bass player is always keen to keep an eye on Stuart!
Tosca was fun, if a little tongue in cheek. The whole story plus the best tunes were all performed in 30 mins, for a fraction of the price of the opera. An no singers!! Fun was had by all, especially Jason!!
We are working on plans for a series of three concerts each in Fish Creek, Cape Paterson and Parkville, around the following dates:-
late Oct - possibly a Dvorak program including the string quintet in G and the Terzetto
Labour Day weekend 2015, 7th and 8th March
Late May - Gallery closing weekend
We are still on the hunt for other venues an hour or so from Melbourne. We put in huge amounts of rehearsal time and it makes sense to do a few more performances.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Rigoletto with Opera Australia and Orchestra Victoria
We are coming to the end of the Autumn Opera Australia season in Melbourne, with a two month fun of four operas:-
Verdi - Rigoletto conducted by Renato Palumbo
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin. I was covering this show so didnt get the chance to play it, which is a shame as its beautiful
Rossini - A Turk in Italy, not his best but typical Opera Buffa, lots for fun on stage
Bizet - Carmen, where every number is on the greatest hits album, a real show stopper for the audience. We have two casts and one Carmen is very much better with the castanets than the other! Its a fab production but the highlight for the audience is when the horse bows with chorus in the curtain calls. Half the band scarper to the audience side of the pit wall once the gig is over, to get the best view
I was principal for Rigoletto, which gave me the chance to play the solo....which is acually a duetto for cello and bass, but we tend to think of it as a bass solo. Its the longest solo line in the repertoire. It comes at a part of the show when Rigoletto is negotiating with an assassin in a dark alleyway. Verdi had a clear concept of what a lyrical bass solo meant - something really bad is going to happen. His other notable example is Act 4 of Otello, when the bass section play a lyrical line just before the King kills his wife Desdemona.
Riggers was fun to play.
Verdi - Rigoletto conducted by Renato Palumbo
Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin. I was covering this show so didnt get the chance to play it, which is a shame as its beautiful
Rossini - A Turk in Italy, not his best but typical Opera Buffa, lots for fun on stage
Bizet - Carmen, where every number is on the greatest hits album, a real show stopper for the audience. We have two casts and one Carmen is very much better with the castanets than the other! Its a fab production but the highlight for the audience is when the horse bows with chorus in the curtain calls. Half the band scarper to the audience side of the pit wall once the gig is over, to get the best view
I was principal for Rigoletto, which gave me the chance to play the solo....which is acually a duetto for cello and bass, but we tend to think of it as a bass solo. Its the longest solo line in the repertoire. It comes at a part of the show when Rigoletto is negotiating with an assassin in a dark alleyway. Verdi had a clear concept of what a lyrical bass solo meant - something really bad is going to happen. His other notable example is Act 4 of Otello, when the bass section play a lyrical line just before the King kills his wife Desdemona.
Riggers was fun to play.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Julia Lezhneva
We perform with many artists but its rare that one completely takes your breath away. Julia Lezhneva is 24 and if she is not a global superstar already she will be acknowledged thus very soon. She is quite remarkable.
She performed baroque and classical show pieces in a concert that was part of the Hobart Baroque festival. It will live long in the memory.
This concert was a fitting end to my latest spell with the TSO. A lot of fun and great music...
...and now its time to return to Melbourne for the opera season. First up is Rigoletto and as principal all bass players will understand what that means! Part way thro the first act is one of the longest bass solos in the whole repertoire - actually its a duetto with the cello, but we like to think of it as a bass solo.
The rest of the year is starting to take shape. I will be in Melbourne for April and May doing the opera season, then the ballet will take up June, all with Orchestra Victoria.
She performed baroque and classical show pieces in a concert that was part of the Hobart Baroque festival. It will live long in the memory.
This concert was a fitting end to my latest spell with the TSO. A lot of fun and great music...
...and now its time to return to Melbourne for the opera season. First up is Rigoletto and as principal all bass players will understand what that means! Part way thro the first act is one of the longest bass solos in the whole repertoire - actually its a duetto with the cello, but we like to think of it as a bass solo.
The rest of the year is starting to take shape. I will be in Melbourne for April and May doing the opera season, then the ballet will take up June, all with Orchestra Victoria.
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Christopher Seaman and Tan Dun
Orchestras work with a wide range of conductors. In the database attached to this website I have listed the conductors I have worked with over the year - its not complete, just the ones I could remember and those worthy of mention. And that list now stands at 134. I have been lucky enough to work with some great musicians, including:-
Recently I worked with two great musicians on this list. Once more I had the pleasure of playing in the orchestra for the Symphony Services Australia conductor training program, directed remarkable Christopher Seaman. I have done these sessions for a few years now, with several bands, but I never tire of them. Christopher is sharp, witty and insightful. His handling of the conductors and the orchestra is amazing. I learn so much each session I do.
And a completely different musician for whom I have equal respect is Tan Dun. I did a week with MSO directed by TD, doing some of his own music, some more chinese influenced stuff and some western hits such as the Mendlessohn fiddle concerto and five movements from Romeo and Juliet. I love his much - the Pipa concerto is tricky, challenging but hugely rewarding to play. It includes sections where the strings had to scream "Yao" randomly! And another piece required us to sing a tricky melody whilst playing another line!! Tan is due to write a bass concerto this year, commissioned by five orchestras who will perform it in 2015, including the Liverpool Phil and Tasmanian Symphony, where the soloist will be principal bass Stuart Thomson. I cant wait - its wonderful to have such a high profile conductor writing a bass concerto. Itll be fun.
| John | Adams |
| Vladimir | Ashkenazy |
| Christian | Badea |
| Richard | Bonynge |
| Nicholas | Braithwaite |
| John | Corigliano |
| Andrew | Davies |
| Carl | Davies |
| Tan | Dun |
| Mark | Elder |
| Johannes | Fritzsch |
| Tony | Halstead |
| Vernon | Handley |
| Richard | Hickox |
| Christopher | Hogwood |
| Elgar | Howarth |
| Sebastian | Lang-Lessing |
| Andrew | Litton |
| Charles | Mackerras |
| Andrew | Manze |
| Roger | Norrington |
| Christopher | Seaman |
| En | Shao |
| Muhai | Tang |
| Yuri | Temirkanov |
| Robin | Ticciati |
| Yan Pascal | Tortelier |
| Guillaume | Tourniaire |
| Antony | Walker |
| Mark | Wigglesworth |
| David | Willcocks |
| John | Wilson |
| Simone | Young |
| David | Zinman |
Recently I worked with two great musicians on this list. Once more I had the pleasure of playing in the orchestra for the Symphony Services Australia conductor training program, directed remarkable Christopher Seaman. I have done these sessions for a few years now, with several bands, but I never tire of them. Christopher is sharp, witty and insightful. His handling of the conductors and the orchestra is amazing. I learn so much each session I do.
And a completely different musician for whom I have equal respect is Tan Dun. I did a week with MSO directed by TD, doing some of his own music, some more chinese influenced stuff and some western hits such as the Mendlessohn fiddle concerto and five movements from Romeo and Juliet. I love his much - the Pipa concerto is tricky, challenging but hugely rewarding to play. It includes sections where the strings had to scream "Yao" randomly! And another piece required us to sing a tricky melody whilst playing another line!! Tan is due to write a bass concerto this year, commissioned by five orchestras who will perform it in 2015, including the Liverpool Phil and Tasmanian Symphony, where the soloist will be principal bass Stuart Thomson. I cant wait - its wonderful to have such a high profile conductor writing a bass concerto. Itll be fun.
Monday, January 20, 2014
2014 - a break then off we go again
| 2013 was a huge year for me and the basses. After the Ring I had the luxury of a week off before working with the Auzzie Pops Orchestra for the first time which was a lot of fun. We shot up to Sydney for two gigs in the opera house on 27 and 28 Dec before returning to Melbourne for two New Years Eve gigs in Hamer Hall. Soloists James Morrison and Marina Prior were fantastic. Marina reckons she is pushing 50 with 5 kids - I just dont believe it, as she looks and sounds way too good. And James Morrison is quite incredible. I have been lucky enough to work with him a few times, and heard his trumpet and trombone playing, but in this gig he played double and triple stops on the bone as well as performing solos on the alto sax and piano. Is there anything this man cannot do? I am currently enjoying two weeks off before it all starts again in mid Jan, very early, with TSO. But I am not complaining as I am lucky to spend 11 weeks with TSO again, just as I did last year. Later in the year a spell with OV beckons, plus some interesting dates with MSO. Its going to be busy once again. Pension is in Sydney right now, having a new extension fitted by Neil Brawley. Photo - the bass section having just played Gotterdamerung Act I (all 2 hours of it) for the last time. Only 5 hours of show to go! From L to R moi, Hugo Kluger, Nic Synot, Emma Sullivan, Lowri Morgan, Kylie Davies and Davin Holt. |
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