Voyage
Filled with dramatic melodies, lush harmonies, and a heavenly display of talented Territory and interstate musicians, Darwin Symphony Orchestra (DSO) invites you on an musical journey with their final performance of 2024, Voyage.
By Jenna Kirkham
TRAVERSING THROUGH THREE impressive works, this month’s performance is a stunning display of the passion talented composers and musicians can convey through music alone.
“The voyage is through style. We’ve got ballet, to opera, to piano concerto,” says Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, Jonathan Tooby.
“In their original form, this would have involved dancers, it would have involved opera singers, and a piano soloist … But I guess that’s a measure of the brilliance of the music, that they can be done without those things.”
Joining talented Top End musicians, DSO welcomes two notable visitors. Melbourne pianist Stefan Cassomenos and guest conductor Richard Mills.
“We start with an Australian work, and what’s really cool about it is that the guy who composes the music is going to be conducting the orchestra, Richard Mills,” says Tooby.
“This is the first time we’ve had a guest conductor for a long time. Richard Mills is a fabulously well-known conductor, he’s brilliant … he’s got quite an illustrious career.”
Mills shares highlights from the ballet, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. The second body of work, titled Four Sea Interludes – originally performed as part of an opera – continues to weave audiences down an evocative path, as it captures each change in scenery.
“The first piece is called ‘Dawn’, so it has this incredible sort of foreboding but beautiful sound, and then there’s ‘Sunday Morning’ which is really lively, and there’s one called ‘Moonlight’ which is over the ocean. It’s just breathtakingly beautiful … you can absolutely image these scenes,” says Tooby.
Fearlessly navigating one of the greatest works in the piano repertoire, Stefan Cassomenos takes on Rachmaninov’s famous Second Concerto, a high energy end to this year’s performance.
“The thing about Rachmaninov, his music for pianists, they’re like marathons for soloists, they’re just enormous, there’s fistfuls of notes, so it really requires an extraordinary musician to be able to do that,” says Tooby.
Known for their wide-ranging performances and spectacular talent, music fans can see out the 2024 DSO experience on a very special Voyage.
Voyage
WHEN SAT 7 DEC | 7.30PM
AT DARWIN ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
COST $22-$65
INFO dso.org.au
Header, thumbnail & inset: Hannah Herbert
