Sydney Symphony Performs Music Of Brahms

The Sydney Symphony was established in 1932 and one of its first major projects was to perform the music of Brahms for the centenary anniversary of the composer's birth in 1933. Now, in its 75th year, the Sydney Symphony, under the baton of its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Maestro Gianluigi Gelmetti, pays homage to its beginnings by launching its 2007 anniversary season with a Brahms Festival, giving the people of Sydney a unique insight into the music of this orchestral genius.

The Festival will be on from 15 February to 3 March at Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.

The Sydney Symphony has performed many festivals throughout its 75-year history, most recently a Sibelius Cycle in 2004 and Shostakovich Festival in 2002. Such composer-led musical celebrations are treasured not only by musicians of the Orchestra, but by audience members who are given the chance to embark on a musical journey with the Orchestra.

According to Maestro Gelmetti, festivals offer a rare chance to hear a composer's full cycle of works and discover new insights into the spirit of the music and its creation.

"Performing such festivals is a special challenge. It's a remarkable test of stamina but it can also take an orchestra's playing to a new level. It gives the orchestra and audiences the chance to focus on a composer's unique style, ideas and sound and understand them on a much deeper level," Maestro Gelmetti said.

Brahms is undoubtedly considered of one the greatest composers of the 19th century and his expressive compositions still speak to us today with their warmth, long lyrical melodies and rich harmonies. His music is also rigorous and precise but this is only a means to an end, a way to create the thrilling climaxes, soaring melodies and dusky, autumnal sonorities that make him so special.

For Sydney Symphony Principal Oboe, Diana Doherty, Brahms is one of the reasons to be an orchestral player rather than a soloist.

"The music envelops you," says Doherty. "It's totally satisfying both technically and emotionally and to play all Brahms' pieces together is a wonderful opportunity to feel and hear the works in context. Brahms Symphony No. 1 was the first work I ever played in an orchestra. When we began playing I didn't understand Brahms but by the end of that performance I was head over heels in love with him!" -- www.sydneysymphony.com