Utopias

TICKET PRICES

Adult | $78
Concession | $67
30 & Under/Student | $33

To book this concert over the phone call the Melbourne Recital Centre box office on 03 9699 3333 or email [email protected]

EXCELLENT SEATS REMAIN ON SALE

Upon clicking ‘book now’ you will be redirected to the Melbourne Recital Centre’s booking page for Utopias

"[Who could] have failed to be impressed, nay, moved, by their ability, through a flexible yet disciplined approach to colour, phrasing and tempo, to push against the Mozart’s architecture so convincingly and thereby honour the composer’s own propensity to “go rogue”?

Or have been swept along by the sensitivity, muscularity and occasional jocularity but above all humanity of their Shostakovich?"

"The Allegro finale returned to the duelling motif in a wild ride across a nightmare soundscape, sawing so boisterously that Hiew began to shred her bow.

The intensity of Shostakovich’s era was seemingly writ large in jagged outbursts and sustained flurries of notes way beyond any Hitchcock moment. Cello vented frustration in pizzicato outrage to trigger one final fury across the ensemble, hammered home in the climax to whoops, cheers and applause."

"...the playing from the ASQ is in another stratosphere. Here are four humans who bow together, articulate together, breathe together. So synchronised are the two violins, they become one voice... Their connection solidifies the sublimity of the quartet; it’s no wonder so many composers have used the ensemble as a vehicle for their music."

ENTER WORLDS OF FANTASTICAL VISIONS, INTIMATE REVELATION, AND QUIET HOPE FOR THE SPIRIT OF MANKIND

Vanishing visions of the idyll—a Utopian world of natural splendour, both aquatic and pastoral—are conjured by an intricate and highly original string soundscape from Thomas Adès, titled Arcadiana. Following this is Mozart’s String Quartet in D minor—intensely personal in its expression, moments of intimately sublime sorrow give way to bursts of playful radiance, in only the way Mozart can achieve.

Finishing this concert is a work which provides an outward lens to the internal world of a composer balancing a delicate and dangerous relationship with political powers. Dedicated to his third wife Irena, Dimitri Shostakovich’s String Quartet No.9 is defined by its introspective whisperings, caressing melodies, and dramatic edge-of-your-seat rhythmic bite.

PROGRAM

THOMAS ADÈS
Arcadiana

MOZART
String Quartet No.15 in D minor, K.421

SHOSTAKOVICH
String Quartet No.9 in E-flat Major, Op.117

Approximately 100 minutes including interval

PROGRAM PLAYLIST

COVID-19 SAFETY AND ASQ CONCERTS

All ASQ concerts will comply with venue COVID-19 safety protocols. The use of face masks is encouraged.

Concert

Melbourne Recital Centre
Melbourne
Kulin Nation

Mon 15 May 2023
7pm

Upon clicking ‘book now’ you will be redirected to the Melbourne Recital Centre’s booking page for Utopias

PROGRAM

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Utopias

Concert

Melbourne Recital Centre Melbourne Kulin Nation Mon 15 May 20237pm

Upon clicking ‘book now’ you will be redirected to the Melbourne Recital Centre’s booking page for Utopias

PROGRAM

PROGRAM PLAYLIST

Join our Mailing List

Melbourne Recital Centre
Melbourne
Kulin Nation

Mon 15 May 2023
7pm