CONCERT PROGRAM2–3 NOVEMBER 2017
Ode to
Joy
mso.com.au
Program includes Carl Vine’s Microsymphony, Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, plus arias and orchestral excerpts from Fidelio,
Götterdämmerung, Die Walküre and Otello.
SATURDAY 3 MARCH 2018 | 7.30pmArts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall
Pre-concert talk at 6.15pm
Season Opening Gala
Sir Andrew Davis conductorNelson Freire pianoStuart Skelton tenor
Nelson Freire Piano
MSO13688 OpeningGala2018_ProgramAd.indd 1 26/10/2017 12:11 pm
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Melbourne Symphony OrchestraBenjamin Northey conductor
Australian String QuartetJacqueline Porter soprano
Liane Keegan contraltoHenry Choo tenor
Shane Lowrencev bassMelbourne Symphony Orchestra ChorusWarren Trevelyan-Jones chorus master
Adams Absolute Jest
INTERVAL
Beethoven Symphony No.9 Choral
Running time: 2 hours and 30 minutes, including 20-minute interval
In consideration of your fellow patrons, the MSO thanks you for dimming the lighting on your mobile phone.
The MSO acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we are performing. We pay our respects to their Elders, past and present, and the Elders from other communities who may be in attendance.
mso.com.au (03) 9929 9600
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AUSTRALIAN STRING QUARTET
For more than 30 years, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ) has created unforgettable chamber music experiences for national and international audiences. From its home base at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, the ASQ reaches out across Australia and the world to engage people with an outstanding program of performances, workshops, commissions and education projects.
In recent years the ASQ has appeared at international music festivals and toured extensively throughout the United Kingdom, Europe, New Zealand and Asia.The Quartet members are Dale Barltrop (violin), Francesca Hiew (violin), Stephen King (viola) and Sharon Grigoryan (cello). The distinct sound of the ASQ is enhanced and unified by its matched set of 18th century Guadagnini instruments, handcrafted by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini between (circa) 1743 and 1784 in Turin and Piacenza, Italy. They are on loan to the ASQ for their exclusive use through the generosity of Ulrike Klein and UKARIA.In 2017 the ASQ have been closely associated with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as its Ensemble in Residence.Image courtesy Jacqui Way
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Established in 1906, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an arts leader and Australia’s oldest professional orchestra. Chief Conductor Sir Andrew Davis has been at the helm of MSO since 2013. Engaging more than 2.5 million people each year, and as a truly global orchestra, the MSO collaborates with guest artists and arts organisations from across the world.
BENJAMIN NORTHEY CONDUCTOR
Australian conductor Benjamin Northey is the Chief Conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra and the Associate Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Northey also appears regularly as a guest conductor with all major Australian symphony orchestras, Opera Australia (Turandot, L’elisir d’amore, Don Giovanni, Così fan tutte, Carmen), New Zealand Opera (Sweeney Todd) and State Opera South Australia (La sonnambula, L’elisir d’amore, Les contes d’Hoffmann). His international appearances include concerts with the London Philharmonic, Tokyo Philharmonic and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestras and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg.
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JACQUELINE PORTER SOPRANO
Jacqueline Porter holds an honours degree in Music Performance and a Bachelor of Arts (Italian) from the University of Melbourne. Equally at home on the operatic stage and the concert platform, Jacqueline appears regularly with Australia’s major symphony orchestras and choral societies.
Performance highlights include Peer Gynt (Grieg), The Ugly Duckling (Prokofiev) and Bachianas Brasileiras No.5 (Villa Lobos) with Sydney Symphony Orchestra; Faure’s Requiem, Mahler’s Symphony No.4, Mozart’s Requiem and Rachmaninoff’s The Bells with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; Tavener’s Song of the Angel (Dark MOFO Festival) and Last Night of the Proms with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.
Operatic roles include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro); Despina (Così fan tutte); Princess (Sleeping Beauty); Drusilla (L’Incoronazione di Poppea) for Victorian Opera and Gretel (Hänsel and Gretel) for State Opera of South Australia.
Jacqueline has recently performed a Viennese program with the Adelaide Symphony and was not only part of the MSO’s Mid-Season Gala performance of Massenet’s Thaïs, but also sang Exsultate, jubilate with the MSO during this year’s Mozart Festival.
LIANE KEEGAN CONTRALTO
Liane Keegan has received scholarships from the Opera Foundation Australia, Shell Royal Covent Garden Scholarship which enabled her to study at the National Opera Studio London. She attended the AIMS summer School in Graz Austria on the Opera Australia Foundation Scholarship and in 1997 won a Bayreuth Bursary from the Wagner Society of Great Britain.
Throughout her career, Liane’s roles have included Azucena (Il trovatore) for the Opera of South Australia, Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera) for Opera Australia, Rosa Mamai (L’Arlesiana) and Marcellina (Le nozze di Figaro) with Opera Holland Park London, Filippyevna (Eugene Onegin) with Staatstheater Stuttgart, and Klytaemnestra (Elektra) and Brigitta (Die tote Stadt) with Theater Hagen.
Concert appearances have included Mozart’s Requiem with Sir Neville Mariner and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Barbara in Korngold’s Violanta at the 1997 BBC Proms conducted by Paul Daniels and Waltraute in Die Walküre with Antonio Pappano at the Edinburgh Festival. She last appeared with the MSO at this year’s Last Night of the Proms and as Albine in Thaïs.
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SHANE LOWRENCEV BASS
In 2016, Shane Lowrencev sang Escamillo (Carmen) and Schaunard (La bohème) for Opera Australia and Hunding in Die Walküre for the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. In 2017, he appears as Scarpia (Tosca), Escamillo and Shaunard for the national company and is soloist with the Melbourne, Tasmanian and West Australian Symphony Orchestras.
Born in Melbourne, Shane studied at Melba Memorial Conservatorium, Australian National Academy of Music and at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London; he won the 2008 Australian Singing Competition's Opera Awards.
Shane is a full-time principal artist with Opera Australia. His roles have included – Scarpia in Tosca, title roles in Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, Escamillo in Carmen, Schaunard in La bohème and principal bass roles in La fanciulla del West and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Shane has enjoyed a distinguished career on the concert platform having performed the bass solos in Handel’s Messiah, La Resurrezione; Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Mozart’s Requiem, Mass in C Minor; Bach’s B Minor Mass, St John Passion, Christmas Oratorio and St Matthew Passion and Haydn’s Creation.
HENRY CHOO TENOR
Henry Choo is regarded as one of Australia's finest lyric coloratura tenors with a voice that displays great versatility across a range of styles. He is an alumnus of both the Young Artist Program of Opera Queensland and the Moffatt Oxenbould Young Artist Development Program of Opera Australia. He has received multiple Green Room Award nominations, most recently for his portrayal of Robert Leicester in Melbourne Opera's production of Maria Stuarda.
Henry's many roles include Ernesto (Don Pasquale), the Italian Singer (Der Rosenkavalier), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Acis (Acis and Galatea), Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Nadir (The Pearl Fishers), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Lord Percy (Anna Bolena), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Ben (The Bone Feeder).
Henry has worked with the Symphony Orchestras of Melbourne, Sydney, Tasmania, Darwin, New Zealand, Christchurch, the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Orchestra Victoria, Sydney Philharmonia, Australia Ensemble and Auckland Bach Musica.
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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS
For more than 50 years the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus has been the unstinting voice of the Orchestra’s choral repertoire.
The MSO Chorus sings with the finest conductors, including Sir Andrew Davis, Edward Gardner, Mark Wigglesworth, Bernard Labadie, Masaaki Suzuki and Manfred Honeck, and is committed to developing and performing new Australian and international choral repertoire. Commissions include Brett Dean’s Katz und Spatz, and Paul Stanhope’s Exile Lamentations, and the Chorus has also premiered works by such composers as James MacMillan, Arvo Pärt, Hans Werner Henze, Alfred Schnittke, Gavin Bryars, and Pēteris Vasks.
Recordings by the MSO Chorus for Chandos and ABC Classics have received critical acclaim. It has performed across Brazil and at the Cultura Inglese Festival in Sao Paolo, in Kuala Lumpur with the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, with The Australian Ballet, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Barbra Streisand, at the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the AFL Grand Final, the Sydney Olympic Arts Festival, and Anzac Day commemorative ceremonies.
WARREN TREVELYAN-JONES CHORUS MASTER
Recently appointed as Chorus Master of the MSO Chorus, Warren Trevelyan-Jones is also the Head of Music at St James’, King Street in Sydney and is regarded as one of the leading choral conductors and choir trainers in Australia. Warren has had an extensive singing career as a soloist and ensemble singer in Europe, including nine years in the Choir of Westminster Abbey, and regular work with the Gabrieli Consort, Collegium Vocale (Ghent), the Taverner Consort, The Kings Consort, Dunedin Consort, The Sixteen and the Tallis Scholars. He has appeared on over 60 CD recordings, numerous television and radio broadcasts, and in many of the worlds' leading music festivals and concert halls.
Warren is also Director of the Parsons Affayre, Founder and Co-Director of The Consort of Melbourne and, in 2001 with Dr Michael Noone, founded the Gramophone award-winning group Ensemble Plus Ultra. Since 2015, he has been regular Guest Chorus Master with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus. Warren is also a qualified music therapist.
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PROGRAM NOTES
JOHN ADAMS (born 1947)
Absolute Jest for string quartet and orchestra
Australian String Quartet
John Adams’ music often grows out of his engagement with particular works from the past including vernacular music – march, hymn and jazz ballad. Early pieces like Shaker Loops and Christian Zeal and Activity elaborate patterns out of fragments of nonconformist hymnody; Grand Pianola Music reaches its fulfilment in a rolling, big-hearted popular tune.
In 1979 Adams began the series of large-scale orchestral works such as Short Ride in a Fast Machine and Harmonielehre (whose title references the teaching method of Arnold Schoenberg) that spring from a confident, optimistic energy embodied in the use of large-scale fields of stable diatonic harmony; by the early 1990s, in his Chamber Symphony, Adams explores more introspective, and occasionally darker, worlds in a piece that encompasses references to Schoenberg and the scores of Warner Bros. cartoons.
Adams has written about how it is a rite of passage as a ‘classical composer…to share the bed’ with one of the canonical figures. And they don’t come more canonical than Beethoven, whose ‘ecstatic energy’ has frequently given Adams ‘powerful, archetypal experiences’. It was,
however, a performance of Stravinsky’s Pulcinella by the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas that got Adams thinking about taking ‘musical artefacts from the past’ and, as he says of Stravinsky, working them ‘into his own highly personal language’. For this commission, to celebrate the San Francisco Symphony’s centenary in 2011-12, Adams resolved to write a concerto grosso for string quartet and orchestra. Having, as he says, ‘loved the Beethoven string quartets since I was a teenager […] crafting something out of fragments of Opus 131, Opus 135 and the Grosse Fuge (plus a few more familiar “tattoos” from his symphonic scherzos) was a totally spontaneous act for me’. Fully aware of the logistical challenges, and the significant differences between chamber and orchestral performance, Adams allows for discreet enhancement of the quartet’s sound, and carefully orchestrates so as not to overwhelm it.
The reliance on Beethovenian scherzos (‘jokes’) lies, of course, behind the somewhat enigmatic title, and Adams relates that some early audience members and critics took the title to mean that there was no more to the work than a ‘backslapping joke’. In fact, one critic expressed ‘disgust at the abuse of Beethoven’s great music’. But Adams was in no way seeking to make fun of Beethoven (other than the fun that is there already), nor to distort Beethoven’s music to make a political or aesthetic point, as English composer Michael Tippett does in his bitter deconstruction of Beethoven’s Ninth in his own Third
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Symphony. Adams insists that...
the act of composing the work (one that took nearly a year of work) was the most extended experience in pure ‘invention’ that I’ve ever undertaken. Its creation was, for me, a thrilling lesson in counterpoint, in thematic transformation and formal design. The ‘jest’ of the title should be understood in terms of its Latin meaning, gesta: doings, deeds, exploits. I like to think of ‘jest’ as indicating an exercising of one’s wit by means of imagination and invention.
The first of the work’s five linked sections (recomposed extensively after the premiere) begins in mystery: the timpanist quietly but insistently gives out the rhythmic cell from the scherzo of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony under a glinting trio of cowbells, harp and piano in mean-tone tuning (that is, not the ‘equal temperament’ preferred since the late 18th century). This creates a texture of gleaming stillness despite the music’s tempo, from which a fragment from Beethoven’s Ninth and one from the scherzo of Beethoven’s C-sharp minor Quartet, Op.131 emerge, using Adams’ trademark shifts of metrical emphasis and sudden cuts between the solo and orchestral groups. After three sections in fast, energetic tempos, which introduce fragments of the scherzo from the String Quartet in F, Op.135, a section marked Meno mosso creates a quite different atmosphere: relentless bounding is succeeded by more
chromatic and pensive motifs drawn from the opening movement of Op.131, which is cross-bred with material from the Grosse Fuge, Op.133 (the original finale of Op.130, and a work of such abstraction that Stravinsky believed it would be ‘contemporary forever’).
Overall, Absolute Jest is a set of free variations but here the material is treated fugally – that is, according to rules of counterpoint that might seem to undermine the spontaneity of variations form. In fact, though, Adams is merely echoing the form of the finale of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, which brings together free elaboration and strict counterpoint, as well as popular manners and ‘learnèd’ formality. Raw energy reasserts itself in the finale, which consists of vivacissimo and prestissimo sections that allude to the powerfully repeated opening chords of the “Waldstein” Sonata, Op.53 (inspired by the memory of Adams’ son practising), but the last word is given to the gentle chiming of the harp, piano and cowbells.© Gordon Kerry 2017
This is the first performance of this work by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
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LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN (1770-1827)
Symphony No.9 in D minor, Op.125 Choral
Allegro, ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
Molto vivace – Presto – Molto vivace
Adagio molto e cantabile – Andante moderato
Allegro assai (Choral Finale on Schiller’s Ode to Joy)
Jacqueline Porter sopranoLiane Keegan contraltoHenry Choo tenorShane Lowrencev bassMelbourne Symphony Orchestra ChorusWarren Trevelyan-Jones chorus master
This Kiss of the whole world!
In 1981 the United Nations decided, in resolution 36/67, that 21 September would henceforth be designated as the International Day of Peace; a worldwide day of armistice, ceasefires and non-violence. On this day Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was going to be performed all around the globe; its message of Alle Menschen werden Brüder (All mankind become brothers) making a profound impact – even if only for a day.
It is, however, interesting to look at the political use of this Symphony, which, more than any other piece of music, has become an emblem for the widest variety of ideologies.
In 1972 the European Council elected the famous theme from the last movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony as its anthem, and asked
PROGRAM NOTES
the conductor Herbert von Karajan to write three different arrangements, all without text, so the music, being a universal language, would be able to communicate the ideals of freedom, peace and solidarity to people from all nationalities. In 1985 the music even became the offical anthem of the European Union, which was remarkable, given the fact that the Symphony had a very controversial history within Europe, especially in Germany.
During the period of the Third Reich the music of the Ninth Symphony was perceived to communicate the idea of one united people under the leadership of a Lieber Vater (Loving Father). Adolf Hitler had the Symphony performed by Wilhelm Furtwängler on 19 April 1942 as a birthday present to himself. It was a performance of incredible depth and intensity, as if the conductor wanted to secure that the message of humanity and compassion would come across in a time where these had become rare virtues.
58 years later, on 7 May 2000, the same music sounded once again; this time with Sir Simon Rattle conducting in the former concentration camp Mauthausen – a concert for which members of the governing Austrian Schwartz-Blaue coalition, among them Chancellor Schüssel and the extreme right wing politician Jörg Haider, were conspicuously not invited.
One of the most incredible moments in recent history was, of course, the fall of the Berlin Wall. Immediately afterwards, on Christmas Day 1989, Leonard Bernstein conducted a choir
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and orchestra with musicians from both sides of the Iron Curtain during a concert for freedom with – of course – Beethoven’s Ninth. For this occasion Bernstein even adapted the text, substituting the word Freude (joy) with Freiheit (freedom). Furthermore, less than six months previous, on the other side of the world, tens of thousands of students had gathered on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, only becoming silent when Beethoven’s Ninth was played over loudspeakers. Their feeling of liberty was sadly short lived and crushed a day later when the army arrived.
Through these, and many other politically charged performances of Beethoven’s Ninth – not to mention the influence this work has had on literature, film and visual arts (think Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange or Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze in Vienna’s Secession Building) – the Symphony has gained almost mythical dimensions. The work has become part of the human collective consciousness. But let’s be clear about one important fact: stripped away from the text, as powerful as Beethoven’s notes are, the notes themselves never convey any political standpoint. Music doesn’t chose sides. As the conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim eloquently expressed: ‘You cannot use music for something else [...] When that happens, the music will be manipulated. Music has indeed been manipulated by many regimes.’
The value of an iconic work of art such as Beethoven’s Ninth lies in its
contribution to the political debate, because of the space it allows for personal reflection and shared emotion.
In 1784 Friedrich Schiller – yes, the poet of the Ode to Joy – wrote that the jurisdiction of the stage starts where the jurisdiction of the courts ends:
When morals are no longer being taught, when no religion is being believed in, when no laws are at hand, Medea will still look at us, descending the steps of her palace, after the murder of her children. [...] In the same way as a visual presentation works stronger than dead letters or a cold narration, theatre works deeper and longer than morals and laws.
Schiller cherished lofty ideals and his Ode to Joy, which was in fact meant as a geselliges Lied (merry song) that could be sung by a group of friends, their glasses raised (Lasst den Schaum zum Himmel sprützen: Dieses Glas dem guten Geist – Let the foam bubble to the heavens: this glass to the Good Spirit), expresses these Utopian ideals about living and dying in freedom under the guiding eye of a benign God in the best possible way. Beethoven made a conscious decision to use not the whole of the lengthy poem, but only a couple of strophes that suited his ideas.
Beethoven must have started to think about the poem and the symphony around 1793 and the first real sketches were made in 1789/1799. When he received the commission from the London Philharmonic Society for two new symphonies in 1817, he immediately commenced to work feverishly. From
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that same year we have a groundplan for, in Beethoven’s words:
An Adagio Cantique – pious song in a symphony in the ancient modes – Lord we praise thee – alleluja – either as an independent piece or as the introduction to a fugue. The whole second symphony will probably be characterised this way, whereby the singing voices will enter in the finale, or even in the Adagio. [...] Or the Adagio will be repeated in the finale in a certain way, after which the singing voices will be introduced one by one.In the text of the Adagio, a Greek myth, the text of a religious song – in the Allegro, a celebration of Bacchus.
In this note we see the structure and the character of the work slowly emerging. The link Beethoven makes between the ancient Greek (the concepts of the Apollinian and the Dionysian) and the Christian faith is very interesting.
After the Napoleonic wars, Austria slipped into a political crisis, as well as a deep economical recession. Many of Beethoven’s noble and wealthy patrons went bankrupt and as a result concert life, that was heavily relient on the support of these noblemen, came to a standstil. Still, despite all this, Beethoven was able to organise an Akademie on 7 May 1824 in the Kärntnerthor Theatre with a huge orchestra and chorus made up of some of Vienna’s top musicians and singers. The program opened with the Overture to Die Weihe des Hauses (The
Consecration of the House), written two years before for the inauguration of the new Josephstadt Theatre.
Was it Beethoven’s intention to ‘consecrate’ the theatre for the ensuing musical ritual by means of this overture? Because, after the Overture, came three movements from the Missa Solemnis – Kyrie, Credo and Agnus Dei; two prayers for pity and peace, as well as the creed. The final work on the program was the new symphony: three instrumental movements, including an Adagio as ‘cantique’, followed by a ‘Dionysian’ Finale: Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt? Such ihn überm Sternenzelt. (Do you sense your Creator, world? Go seek him beyond the stars!)
A look at some of the reviews show that the dramaturgy of the program didn’t fail. The Allgemeine Theater Zeitung called Beethoven a ‘musical Shakespeare’ who has all possibilities of his art at his command and who ‘with the tiniest of gestures can sing about the deepest belief in the holy work of redemption, praises God and the hope for compassion.’ Another found the opening Allegro ‘bold and defiant, executed with truly athletic energy’. Punctuating the movement’s enormous 15-minute design, strategically placed returns of its colossal opening idea underpin the almost fissile energy generated by the sheer mass of scraping, blowing and drumming. Never before had sounds of such sustained violence been imagined, let alone produced by instruments.
PROGRAM NOTES
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Wagner later pictured the second movement as a Bacchanalian spree of worldly pleasures. But while its motoric force is compulsive, Beethoven hardly thought of his big scherzo as mindless. Far from it; he keeps its overflowing energy meticulously controlled and channelled, not least when the predominant four-bar triple beat is dramatically jerked into three-bar phrases.
Berlioz imagined the slow movement ‘might better be thought as two distinct pieces, the first melody in B flat, four-in-a-bar, followed by an absolutely different one, in triple-time in D’. Yet, in Beethoven’s interweaving of this unlikely pair, Berlioz heard ‘such melancholy tenderness, passionate sadness, and religious meditation’ as to be beyond words to describe.
Everyone in the first Vienna audience in May 1824 must have known that something extraordinary was about to take place. Certainly, the London press intimated in advance of the British premiere a year later: ‘In the last movement is introduced a song! Schiller’s – famous Ode to Joy – which forms a most extraordinary contrast with the whole, and is calculated to excite surprise, certainly, and perhaps admiration.’
To Adolph Bernhard Marx – the early 19th-century music historian whose writings helped enshrine Beethoven as ‘supreme master’ and Germany as centre of the ‘cult of music’ – Beethoven’s earlier symphonies had suggested that instrumental music
could be even more eloquent than words. Yet finally, Marx believed, Beethoven showed that this was not so: ‘Having devoted his life to instrumental sounds, he once again summons his forces for his boldest, most gigantic effort. But behold! – unreal instrumental voices no longer satisfy him, and he is drawn irresistibly back to the human voice.’
As the orchestra introduces brief flashbacks to each of the first three movements, the cellos and basses attempt an unlikely recitative: ‘but when the string basses painfully attempt their ungainly imitation of human speech; and when they begin to hum timidly the simple human tune, and hand it over to the rest of the orchestra, we see that, after all, the needs of humanity reach beyond the enchanted world of instruments, so that, in the end, Beethoven only finds satisfaction in the chorus of humanity itself.’ Despairing of instruments’ feeble efforts, the solo baritone announces (the introductory lines are Beethoven’s own, not Schiller’s):
O friends! No more these sounds! Instead let us sing out more pleasingly, with joy abundant!© Graeme Skinner, 2014 and Ronald Vermeulen, 2017
The first performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra took place on 13 November 1941, under conductor Bernard Heinze. The soloists were Thea Philips, Frances Forbes, William Herbert and Raymond Beatty, with the Melbourne Philharmonic Society Choir. The Orchestra’s most recent performances were in April 2015 with Diego Matheuz; the soloists were Susan Gritton, Fiona Campbell, Bülent Bezdüz and Teddy Tahu Rhodes.
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after Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805)
Ode An die Freude (To Joy)
O Freunde, nicht diese Töne! Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere.*
Freude, schöner Götterfunken,Tochter aus Elysium,wir betreten feuertrunken,Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!Deine Zauber binden wiederwas die Mode streng geteilt:alle Menschen werden Brüderwo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Wem der grosse Wurf gelungeneines Freundes Freund zu sein,wer ein holdes Weib errungen,mische seinen Jubel ein!Ja, wer auch nur eine Seelesein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehleweinend sich aus diesem Bund!
Freude trinken alle Wesenan den Brüsten der Natur,alle Guten, alle Bösen,folgen ihrer Rosenspur.Küsse gab sie uns und Reben,einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,und der Cherub steht vor Gott.
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegendurch des Himmels prächtgen Plan,laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen!
Oh friends, no more these sounds!Instead let us sing out morepleasingly, with joy abundant.
Oh joy, pure spark of God,daughter from Elysium,with hearts afire, divine one,we come to your sanctuary.Your heavenly powers reunitewhat custom sternly keeps apart:all mankind become brothers beneath your sheltering wing.
Whoever has known the blessingof being friend to a friend,whoever has won a fine woman,whoever, indeed, calls evenone soul on this earth his own,let their joy be joined with ours.But let the one who knows none of thissteal, weeping, from our midst.
All beings drink in joyat Nature’s bosom,the virtuous and the wicked alikefollow her rosy path.Kisses she gave to us, and wine,and a friend loyal to the death;bliss to the lowest worm she gave,and the cherub stands before God.
Joyously, as His dazzling sunstraverse the heavens,so, brothers, run your course,exultant, as a hero claims victory.
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Text by Friedrich von SchillerEnglish translation Anthony Cane © 2000
*The initial three lines were added by Beethoven in 1823.
Freude, schöner Götterfunken,Tochter aus Elysium,wir betreten feuertrunken,Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!Deine Zauber binden wiederwas die Mode streng geteilt:alle Menschen werden Brüderwo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen,diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!Brüder, über’m Sternenzeltmuss ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?Such’ ihn über’m Sternenzelt!Über Sternen muss er wohnen.
Freude, schöner Götterfunken…
Oh joy, pure spark of God,daughter from Elysium,with hearts afire, divine one,we come to your sanctuary.Your heavenly powers reunitewhat custom sternly keeps apart:all mankind become brothers beneath your sheltering wing.
Be enfolded, all ye millions,in this kiss of the whole world!Brothers, above the canopy of stars must dwell a loving Father.
Do you fall down, ye millions?In awe of your Creator, world?Go seek Him beyond the stars!For there assuredly He dwells.
O joy, pure spark of God, etc.
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MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Sir Andrew Davis Chief Conductor
Benjamin Northey Associate Conductor
Tianyi Lu Cybec Assistant Conductor
Hiroyuki Iwaki Conductor Laureate (1974-2006)
FIRST VIOLINS
Dale Barltrop Concertmaster
Eoin Andersen Concertmaster
Sophie Rowell Associate ConcertmasterThe Ullmer Family Foundation#
John Marcus Principal
Peter Edwards Assistant Principal
Kirsty BremnerSarah Curro Michael Aquilina#
Peter FellinDeborah GoodallLorraine HookKirstin KennyJi Won KimEleanor ManciniDavid and Helen Moses#
Mark Mogilevski Michelle RuffoloKathryn TaylorMichael Aquilina#
Oksana Thompson*
SECOND VIOLINS
Matthew Tomkins Principal The Gross Foundation#
Robert Macindoe Associate Principal
Monica Curro Assistant PrincipalDanny Gorog and Lindy Susskind#
Mary AllisonIsin CakmakciogluFreya Franzen Anonymous#
Cong GuAndrew HallAndrew and Judy Rogers# Isy WassermanPhilippa WestPatrick WongRoger YoungJenny Khafagi*
VIOLAS
Christopher Moore PrincipalDi Jameson#
Fiona Sargeant Associate Principal
Lauren BrigdenTam Vu, Peter and Lyndsey Hawkins#
Katharine BrockmanChristopher CartlidgeMichael Aquilina#
Anthony ChatawayGabrielle HalloranTrevor Jones Cindy WatkinElizabeth WoolnoughCaleb WrightLisa Grosman*Helen Ireland*
CELLOS
David Berlin Principal MS Newman Family#
Rachael Tobin Associate Principal
Nicholas Bochner Assistant Principal
Miranda Brockman Geelong Friends of the MSO#
Rohan de Korte Andrew Dudgeon#
Keith JohnsonSarah MorseAngela SargeantMichelle WoodAndrew and Theresa Dyer#
DOUBLE BASSES
Steve Reeves Principal
Andrew Moon Associate Principal
Sylvia Hosking Assistant Principal
Damien EckersleyBenjamin HanlonSuzanne LeeStephen Newton Sophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser#
FLUTES
Prudence Davis Principal Anonymous#
Wendy Clarke Associate Principal
Sarah Beggs
PICCOLO
Andrew Macleod Principal
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MSO BOARD
Chairman
Michael Ullmer
Managing Director
Sophie Galaise
Board Members
Andrew DyerDanny GorogMargaret Jackson ACDavid KrasnosteinDavid LiHyon-Ju NewmanHelen Silver AO
Company Secretary
Oliver Carton
OBOES
Jeffrey Crellin Principal
Thomas Hutchinson Associate Principal
Ann BlackburnThe Rosemary Norman Foundation#
COR ANGLAIS
Michael Pisani Principal
CLARINETS
David Thomas Principal
Philip Arkinstall Associate Principal
Craig HillRobin Henry*
BASS CLARINET
Jon Craven Principal
BASSOONS
Jack Schiller Principal
Elise Millman Associate Principal
Natasha Thomas
CONTRABASSOON
Brock Imison Principal
HORNS
Carla Blackwood* Guest Principal
Saul Lewis Principal Third
Abbey Edlin Nereda Hanlon & Michael Hanlon AM#
Trinette McClimontLauren Manuel*^
TRUMPETS
Geoffrey Payne Principal
Shane Hooton Associate Principal
William EvansRosie TurnerTristan Rebien*
TROMBONES
Brett Kelly Principal
Richard Shirley
BASS TROMBONE
Mike Szabo Principal
TUBA
Timothy Buzbee Principal
PERCUSSION
Robert Clarke Principal
John ArcaroTim and Lyn Edward#
Robert Cossom
TIMPANI##
Brent Miller*
HARP
Yinuo Mu Principal
PIANO/CELESTE
Louisa Breen*Leigh Harrold*
# Position supported by
## Timpani Chair position supported by Lady Potter AC
* Guest Musician
^ Courtesy of Queensland Symphony Orchestra
18
MELBOURNE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA CHORUS
CHORUS MASTER
Warren Trevelyan-Jones
REPETITEUR
Tom Griffiths
CHORUS COORDINATOR
Lucien Fischer
SOPRANO
Aviva BarazaniEva ButcherStephanie CollinsRita FitzgeraldCatherine FolleySusan FoneCamilla GormanKarling HamillEmma HamleyPenny HuggettTania JacobsAnna KidmanKarin OttoJodie PaxtonTanja RedlMhairi RiddetJo RobinElizabeth RusliNatalia SalazarJillian SamuelsJemima Sim Shu XianFreja SoininenChiara StebbingElizabeth TindallTara Zamin
ALTO
Aleksandra AckerSatu AhoRuth AndersonCatherine BickellCecilia BjörkegrenKate BramleyJane BrodieAlexandra CameronSerena CarmelAlexandra ChubatyJill GieseDebbie GriffithsRos HarbisonSue HawleyJennifer HenryKristine HenselHelen MacLeanChristina McCowanRosemary McKelvieSiobhan OrmandyAlison RalphMair RobertsHelen RommelaarAnnie RunnallsLisa SavigeHelen StaindlLibby TimckeJenny Vallins
TENOR
James AllenTony BarnettPeter CampbellJohn CleghornGeoffrey CollinsJames DipnallDavid FloydLyndon HorsburghWayne KinradeJessop Maticevski ShumackDominic McKennaMichael MobachJean-Francois RavatDaniel RileyTim Wright
BASS
Maurice Amor Richard BolithoPaul Alexander ChantlerRoger DargavilleAndrew HamJordan JanssenGary LevyVern O'HaraEdward OunapuuStephen PykLiam StraughanMatthew ToulminTom TurnbullMaurice WanSimon WrightMaciek Zielinski
Proudly supporting the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
*Including a percentage of sales going to support your MSO. To redeem, simply enter code SUPPORTMSO during check-out.
Enjoy 10% off online wine*
www.langi.com.au
20
SUPPORTERS
MSO PATRONThe Honourable Linda Dessau AC, Governor of Victoria
ARTIST CHAIR BENEFACTORSAnthony Pratt Associate Conductor Chair
Joy Selby Smith Orchestral Leadership Chair
The Cybec Foundation Cybec Assistant Conductor Chair
The Ullmer Family Foundation Associate Concertmaster Chair
Anonymous Principal Flute Chair
The Gross Foundation Principal Second Violin Chair
Di Jameson Principal Viola Chair
MS Newman Family Foundation Principal Cello Chair
Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AO 2018 Soloist in Residence Chair
PROGRAM BENEFACTORS
Cybec 21st Century Australian Composers Program The Cybec Foundation
Cybec Young Composer in Residence made possible by The Cybec Foundation
East Meets West supported by the Li Family Trust
Meet The Orchestra made possible by The Ullmer Family Foundation
MSO Audience Access Crown Resorts Foundation Packer Family Foundation
MSO Education supported by Mrs Margaret Ross AM and Dr Ian Ross
MSO International Touring supported by Harold Mitchell AC
MSO Regional Touring Creative Victoria The Robert Salzer Foundation
The Pizzicato Effect Collier Charitable Fund The Marian and E.H. Flack Trust Schapper Family Foundation Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust Supported by the Hume City Council’s Community Grants Program (Anonymous)
Sidney Myer Free Concerts Supported by the Myer Foundation and the University of Melbourne
CHAIRMAN’S CIRCLE $100,000+Marc Besen AC and Eva Besen AOJohn Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel The Gross Foundation ◊
David and Angela LiMS Newman Family Foundation ◊
Anthony Pratt ◊
The Pratt FoundationJoy Selby SmithUllmer Family Foundation ◊
Anonymous (1)
VIRTUOSO PATRONS $50,000+Di Jameson ◊
David Krasnostein and Pat StragalinosMr Ren Xiao Jian and Mrs Li QuianHarold Mitchell ACKim Williams AM
IMPRESARIO PATRONS $20,000+Michael Aquilina ◊
The John and Jennifer Brukner FoundationPerri Cutten and Jo DaniellMary and Frederick Davidson AMRachel and the late Hon. Alan Goldberg AO QCHilary Hall, in memory of Wilma CollieMargaret Jackson ACAndrew JohnstonMimie MacLarenJohn and Lois McKay
MAESTRO PATRONS $10,000+Kaye and David BirksMitchell ChipmanSir Andrew and Lady DavisDanny Gorog and Lindy Susskind ◊
Robert & Jan GreenNereda Hanlon and Michael Hanlon AM ◊
Suzanne KirkhamThe Cuming BequestIan and Jeannie PatersonLady Potter AC CMRI ◊
Elizabeth Proust AORae RothfieldGlenn SedgwickHelen Silver AO and Harrison YoungMaria SolàProfs. G & G Stephenson, in honour of the great Romanian musicians George Enescu and Dinu LipattiGai and David TaylorJuliet TootellAlice VaughanKee Wong and Wai TangJason Yeap OAM
PRINCIPAL PATRONS $5,000+Christine and Mark ArmourJohn and Mary BarlowStephen and Caroline BrainProf Ian BrighthopeDavid and Emma CapponiWendy DimmickAndrew Dudgeon AM ◊
Andrew and Theresa Dyer ◊
Tim and Lyn Edward ◊ Mr Bill FlemingJohn and Diana FrewSusan Fry and Don Fry AOSophie Galaise and Clarence Fraser ◊
Geelong Friends of the MSO ◊
Jennifer GorogHMA FoundationLouis Hamon OAMHans and Petra HenkellHartmut and Ruth HofmannJack HoganDoug HooleyJenny and Peter HordernDr Alastair JacksonD & CS Kipen on behalf of Israel KipenDr Elizabeth A Lewis AMPeter LovellLesley McMullin FoundationMr Douglas and Mrs Rosemary MeagherDavid and Helen Moses ◊Dr Paul Nisselle AMThe Rosemary Norman Foundation ◊
Ken Ong, in memory of Lin OngBruce Parncutt and Robin CampbellJim and Fran PfeifferPzena Investment Charitable FundAndrew and Judy Rogers ◊
Max and Jill Schultz
21
Stephen ShanasyMr Tam Vu and Dr Cherilyn Tillman ◊
The Hon. Michael Watt QC and Cecilie HallLyn Williams AMAnonymous (1)
ASSOCIATE PATRONS $2,500+Dandolo PartnersWill and Dorothy Bailey BequestBarbara Bell, in memory of Elsa BellBill BownessLynne Burgess Oliver CartonJohn and Lyn CoppockMiss Ann Darby, in memory of Leslie J. DarbyNatasha Davies, for the Trikojus Education FundMerrowyn DeaconBeryl DeanSandra DentPeter and Leila DoyleLisa Dwyer and Dr Ian DicksonJane Edmanson OAMDr Helen M FergusonMr Peter Gallagher and Dr Karen Morley Dina and Ron GoldschlagerLouise Gourlay OAMPeter and Lyndsey Hawkins ◊
Susan and Gary HearstColin Heggen, in memory of Marjorie Drysdale HeggenRosemary and James JacobyJenkins Family FoundationC W Johnston FamilyJohn JonesGeorge and Grace KassIrene Kearsey and M J RidleyThe Ilma Kelson Music FoundationKloeden FoundationBryan LawrenceAnn and George Littlewood
H E McKenzieAllan and Evelyn McLarenDon and Anne MeadowsMarie Morton FRSAAnnabel and Rupert Myer AOAnn Peacock with Andrew and Woody KrogerSue and Barry PeakeMrs W PeartGraham and Christine PeirsonRuth and Ralph RenardS M Richards AM and M R RichardsTom and Elizabeth RomanowskiJeffrey Sher QC and Diana Sher OAMDiana and Brian Snape AMDr Norman and Dr Sue SonenbergGeoff and Judy SteinickeWilliam and Jenny UllmerElisabeth WagnerBrian and Helena WorsfoldPeter and Susan YatesAnonymous (8)
PLAYER PATRONS $1,000+David and Cindy AbbeyChrista AbdallahDr Sally AdamsMary ArmourArnold Bloch LeiblerPhilip Bacon AMMarlyn and Peter Bancroft OAMAdrienne BasserProf Weston Bate and Janice BateJanet BellDavid BlackwellAnne BowdenMichael F BoytThe Late Mr John Brockman OAM and Mrs Pat BrockmanDr John BrookesSuzie and Harvey Brown
Roger and Col BuckleJill and Christopher BuckleyBill and Sandra BurdettLynne BurgessPeter CaldwellJoe CordoneAndrew and Pamela CrockettPat and Bruce DavisMarie DowlingJohn and Anne DuncanRuth EgglestonKay EhrenbergJaan EndenValerie Falconer and the Rayner Family in memory of Keith FalconerAmy and Simon FeiglinGrant Fisher and Helen BirdBarry Fradkin OAM and Dr Pam FradkinApplebay Pty LtdDavid Frenkiel and Esther Frenkiel OAMDavid Gibbs and Susie O'NeillMerwyn and Greta GoldblattColin Golvan QC and Dr Deborah GolvanGeorge Golvan QC and Naomi GolvanDr Marged GoodeMax GulbinDr Sandra Hacker AO and Mr Ian Kennedy AMJean HadgesMichael and Susie HamsonPaula Hansky OAMMerv Keehn and Sue HarlowTilda and Brian HaughneyPenelope HughesBasil and Rita JenkinsStuart JenningsDorothy Karpin Brett Kelly and Cindy WatkinDr Anne KennedyJulie and Simon KesselKerry LandmanWilliam and Magdalena Leadston
Andrew LeeNorman Lewis, in memory of Dr Phyllis LewisDr Anne LierseAndrew LockwoodViolet and Jeff LoewensteinElizabeth H LoftusChris and Anna LongThe Hon. Ian Macphee AO and Mrs Julie MacpheeVivienne Hadj and Rosemary MaddenEleanor and Phillip ManciniDr Julianne BaylissIn memory of Leigh MaselJohn and Margaret MasonRuth MaxwellJenny McGregor AM and Peter AllenGlenda McNaughtWayne and Penny MorganIan Morrey and Geoffrey MinterJB Hi-Fi LtdPatricia NilssonLaurence O'Keefe and Christopher JamesAlan and Dorothy PattisonMargaret PlantKerryn PratchettPeter PriestTreena QuarinEli RaskinRaspin Family Trust Bobbie RenardPeter and Carolyn RenditDr Rosemary Ayton and Dr Sam RicketsonJoan P RobinsonCathy and Peter RogersDoug and Elisabeth ScottMartin and Susan ShirleyDr Sam Smorgon AO and Mrs Minnie SmorgonJohn SoDr Michael SoonLady Southey ACJennifer SteinickeDr Peter StricklandPamela Swansson
22
PRINCIPAL PARTNER
GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
PREMIER PARTNERS VENUE PARTNER
MAJOR PARTNERS EDUCATION PARTNERS
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
� e CEO InstituteQuest Southbank Bows for StringsErnst & Young
TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS
MEDIA AND BROADCAST PARTNERS
The Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust
� e Gross Foundation, Li Family Trust, MS Newman Family Foundation, � e Ullmer Family Foundation
SUPPORTERS
Jenny TatchellFrank Tisher OAM and Dr Miriam TisherP and E TurnerThe Hon. Rosemary VartyLeon and Sandra VelikSue Walker AMElaine Walters OAM and Gregory WaltersEdward and Paddy WhiteNic and Ann WillcockMarian and Terry Wills CookeLorraine WoolleyRichard YePanch Das and Laurel Young-DasAnonymous (22)
THE MAHLER SYNDICATEDavid and Kaye BirksMary and Frederick Davidson AMTim and Lyn EdwardJohn and Diana FrewFrancis and Robyn HofmannThe Hon. Dr Barry Jones ACDr Paul Nisselle AMMaria Solà The Hon. Michael Watt QC and Cecilie Hall
TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONSKen and Asle Chilton Trust, managed by PerpetualCollier Charitable FundCrown Resorts Foundation and the Packer Family FoundationThe Cybec FoundationThe Marian and E.H. Flack TrustGandel PhilanthropyLinnell/Hughes Trust, managed by PerpetualThe Scobie and Claire Mackinnon TrustThe Harold Mitchell FoundationThe Myer FoundationThe Pratt Foundation
The Robert Salzer FoundationAlan (AGL) Shaw Endowment, managed by PerpetualTelematics Trust
CONDUCTOR’S CIRCLEJenny AndersonDavid AngelovichG C Bawden and L de KievitLesley BawdenJoyce BownMrs Jenny Brukner and the late Mr John BruknerKen BullenPeter A CaldwellLuci and Ron ChambersBeryl DeanSandra DentLyn EdwardAlan Egan JPGunta EgliteMr Derek GranthamMarguerite Garnon-WilliamsLouis Hamon OAMCarol HayTony HoweLaurence O'Keefe and Christopher JamesAudrey M JenkinsJohn JonesGeorge and Grace KassMrs Sylvia LavellePauline and David LawtonCameron MowatRosia PasteurElizabeth Proust AOPenny RawlinsJoan P RobinsonNeil RoussacAnne Roussac-Hoyne Suzette SherazeeMichael Ryan and Wendy MeadAnn and Andrew SerpellJennifer ShepherdProfs. Gabriela and George StephensonPamela SwanssonLillian TarryDr Cherilyn Tillman
Mr and Mrs R P TrebilcockMichael UllmerIla VanrenenThe Hon. Rosemary VartyMr Tam VuMarian and Terry Wills CookeMark YoungAnonymous (23)
The MSO gratefully acknowledges the support received from the estates of
Angela BeagleyNeilma GantnerGwen HuntAudrey JenkinsJoan JonesPauline Marie JohnstonC P KempPeter Forbes MacLarenJoan Winsome MaslenLorraine Maxine MeldrumProf Andrew McCredieMiss Sheila Scotter AM MBEMarion A I H M SpenceMolly StephensJean TweedieHerta and Fred B VogelDorothy Wood
HONORARY APPOINTMENTSSir Elton John CBELife Member
The Hon. Alan Goldberg AO QC*Life Member
Geoffrey Rush ACAmbassador
John Brockman OAM*Life Member
Ila Vanrenen*Life Member
*Deceased
◊ Signifies Adopt an MSO Musician supporter
The MSO relies on your ongoing philanthropic support to sustain our artists, and support access, education, community engagement and more. We invite our suporters to get close to the MSO through a range of special events.
The MSO welcomes your support at any level. Donations of $2 and over are tax deductible, and supporters are recognised as follows:
$1,000+ (Player)
$2,500+ (Associate)
$5,000+ (Principal)
$10,000+ (Maestro)
$20,000+ (Impresario)
$50,000+ (Virtuoso)
$100,000+ (Chairman’s Circle)
The MSO Conductor’s Circle is our bequest program for members who have notified of a planned gift in their Will.
ENQUIRIES Phone (03) 8646 1551
Email philanthropy@ mso.com.au
23
PRINCIPAL PARTNER
GOVERNMENT PARTNERS
PREMIER PARTNERS VENUE PARTNER
MAJOR PARTNERS EDUCATION PARTNERS
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
� e CEO InstituteQuest Southbank Bows for StringsErnst & Young
TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS
MEDIA AND BROADCAST PARTNERS
The Scobie and Claire Mackinnon Trust
� e Gross Foundation, Li Family Trust, MS Newman Family Foundation, � e Ullmer Family Foundation
SUPPORTERS
*For more information visit emirates.com/au, call 1300 303 777, or contact your local travel agent.
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Start your journey on a high note in one of our 41 luxury lounges worldwide. Indulge in gourmet dining, paired with premium wines or spirits and take some time to unwind before you fly.
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