Beethoven Grosse Fugue (Grand Fugue), Op.133
Steve Reich Duet for Two Violins and String Orchestra
Joaquín Turina La oración del torero (The Bullfighter’s Prayer), Op.34
John Rotar Beyond the Front Door*
Nigel Westlake/Lior Compassion – Symphony of Songs for tenor and chamber orchestra

*World premiere

FEATURING

Lior, vocals

WHAT TO EXPECT

Beethoven’s Grand Fugue has been termed “a great artistic testament to the human capacity for meaning” and provides a gripping Season 2021 opening work. You will be transported to a chapel where macho bullfighters pray for their lives ahead of their encounters in the Madrid arena, a scene that inspired Turina to write his sensual The Bullfighter’s Prayer. Steve Reich’s 1994 Duet commemorates the humanity of the great violinist, Yehudi Menuhin and is dedicated to ideals of international understanding which Yehudi practised throughout his life. In a world premiere commissioned during the COVID-19 pandemic, Queensland composer John Rotar’s Beyond the Front Door provides a poignant recollection of isolation in 2020. Following interval, we welcome a special guest artist, Australian singer/songwriter Lior, for a performance of Compassion, the song cycle he wrote together with Australian composer, Nigel Westlake. The words reach out across the religious divide between Islam and Judaism in a remarkable and authentic celebration of compassion.