Rattle premieres Brett Dean's Songs of Joy
(September 2008)
Sir Simon Rattle conducts the world premiere of Brett Dean's Songs of Joy on 2 October as part of his return to conduct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, who first nurtured his talent. The new work for baritone and orchestra is to be sung at the premiere by Peter Coleman Wright, and is related to Dean's forthcoming opera Bliss, based on the novel by Peter Carey, and due for premiere in Sydney in 2010.Songs of Joy, a Liverpool Capital of Culture commission, consists of three songs setting texts by Amanda Holden intended for Harry Joy, the adman in Carey’s novel who is offered a nightmarish view of his life and family after suffering a heart attack. In the first song, Harry's Vision, the protagonist describes his journey through Heaven and Hell. The energetic Ballad of Little Titch is a tall story which Harry tells on his first time out after his convalescence. The final Sonnet is a serenade to the new love in Harry's life, after he abandons job and home to settle in the rainforest.
For programme notes by Amanda Holden visit the RLPO website.
Rattle first worked with Dean when he moved from his native Australia to Germany to take up a position as a violist with the Berliner Philharmoniker. Rattle conducted Dean's Gesualdo-inspired score Carlo with the orchestra and their musical relationship has continued since Dean devoted himself to full-time composition in 2000 and returned to Australia. In 2006 Rattle conducted the premiere of Komarov's Fall, one of a number of 'asteroids' commissioned to accompany performances of Holst's The Planets, also released on disc by EMI.
Lars Vogt and the Ensemble Wien-Berlin are touring Dean’s Polysomnography for piano and wind quintet to the UK, Germany and Austria in October, following its premiere at the Lucerne Festival on 7 September. Concerts take place at the Wigmore Hall in London (4 Oct), the Philharmonie in Essen (6 Oct), the Philharmonie in Berlin (7 Oct), the Royal Conservatoire in Brussels (8 Oct) and the Konzerthaus in Vienna (9 Oct).
A new disc devoted to Brett Dean's music has been released by BIS and is available from our Online Shop. The CD features Dean as composer and violist, including the Viola Concerto, Komarov's Fall, Twelve Angry Men and Intimate Decisions.
> Further information on Work: Songs of Joy
Photo: Noosa Weekender Magazine
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