Towards Light

Peter Sculthorpe, String Quartet No 11
Dvořák, String Quartet No 10 in E flat major, Op 51
Shostakovich, String Quintet Op 57

with Daniel de Borah, piano

The season begins with a work by the doyen of Australian composers, Peter Sculthorpe, one of many compositions inspired by the starkly beautiful landscape of Kakadu and its inhabitants.  From Australia’s unique interior to the sunlit uplands of old Bohemia: Few composers wrote music in all genres which radiated such spontaneous warmth and charm as Antonin Dvořák. Even by his exalted standards, the Op 51 String quartet is full of gorgeous melodies where exuberance is masterfully fused with poignant tenderness. The program culminates with one of Dmitri Shostakovich’s towering chamber masterpieces: the Piano Quintet, op.57, composed during the fateful year 1940 and described as “a last ray of hope” for Russia. It is a work of grand symphonic proportions combining the composer’s hallmark skittish humour and austere dignity with an underlying tension.

Presented in association with the 2012 Adelaide Festival.

Adelaide: Wed 7 March
Brisbane: Thur 8 March
Perth: Mon 12 March
Melbourne: Wed 14 March
Sydney: Thur 15 March