The stage of the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House was alive with purple blooms and silver highlights as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Chief Conductor Simone Young launched its 2024 program with a Season Opening Gala on Thursday 28 February.<\/p>\n
There was much to celebrate as the orchestra announced the continuation of Young\u2019s tenure as Chief Conductor with the ensemble until the end of 2026 and the premieres of two new pieces \u2013 one, the world premiere of Adam Manning\u2019s Rhythmic Acknowledgement of Country<\/em> and the other, the Australian premiere of French composer Camille P\u00e9pin\u2019s violin concerto Le Sommeil a pris ton empreinte<\/em> (Sleep retains your imprint) with soloist Renaud Capu\u00e7on, performed in the presence of the composer. Gustav Mahler\u2019s incomparable Symphony No. 5<\/em> was the undisputed pinnacle of the evening.<\/p>\n The new look free Concert Guide gave comprehensive insights into historical and musicological aspects of the program along with artist biographies.<\/p>\n Adam Manning is a polymath with Kamilaroi kinship, currently working as the Conservatorium Coordinator at the University of Newcastle, NSW. \u00a0His work in music, art, production and education, connects ancient Indigenous traditions with contemporary expression. Rhythmic Acknowledgement of Country <\/em>was a warmly received 5-minute cameo for which Manning joined the orchestra on stage, playing percussion. The piece blossoms from its quiet, lyrical beginnings into a rhythmically infectious full-blooded thrumming in which the entire orchestra led by Concertmaster Andrew Haveron, participates, playing clapsticks.<\/p>\n Camille P\u00e9pin (b 1990) wrote her violin concerto Le Sommeil a pris ton empreinte<\/em> (Sleep retains your imprint) as a love story inspired by the writings of French Surrealist poet, Paul \u00c9luard. This 25-minute piece has five movements, its style influenced by the American Minimalism of Adams, Reich and Glass, intersecting with the French Impressionism of Debussy and Ravel. The violin concerto was commissioned by the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestra National de Lyon and the Sydney Symphony. \u00a0Its world premiere was in April 2023, performed by Capu\u00e7on with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Young.<\/p>\n