Eroica - Morning Symphony
MORNING SYMPHONY SERIES
Thursday 4 July 2024, 11am
Perth Concert Hall
West Australian Symphony Orchestra respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and Elders of Country throughout Western Australia, and the Whadjuk Noongar people on whose lands we work and share music.
How to use your Digital Program
Eroica - Morning Symphony
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Coriolan – Overture (8 mins)
Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No.3 Eroica (47 mins)
Allegro con brio
Marcia funebre (Adagio assai)
Scherzo (Allegro vivace)
Finale (Allegro molto)
Asher Fisch conductor
Asher Fisch appears courtesy of Wesfarmers Arts.
Wesfarmers Arts Pre-concert Talk
Find out more about the music in the concert with this week’s speaker, Sara Duhig. The Pre-concert Talk will take place at 9.40am in the Main Auditorium.
WASO On Stage
About the Artists
Asher Fisch
Principal Conductor & Artistic Adviser
A renowned conductor in both the operatic and symphonic worlds, Asher Fisch is especially celebrated for his interpretative command of core German and Italian repertoire of the Romantic and post-Romantic era. He conducts a wide variety of repertoire from Gluck to contemporary works by living composers. Asher is now the longest serving Principal Conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO), commencing his tenure in 2014. His former posts include Principal Guest Conductor of the Seattle Opera (2007- 2013), Music Director of the New Israeli Opera (1998-2008), and Music Director of the Wiener Volksoper (1995-2000).
Born in Israel, Asher began his conducting career as Daniel Barenboim’s assistant and Kappellmeister at the Berlin Staatsoper. He has built his versatile repertoire at the major opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, and Semperoper Dresden. Fisch has conducted at leading American symphony orchestras including those of Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and Philadelphia. In Europe he has appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic, Munich Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de France, among others.
In addition to his concerts with WASO, Asher’s 2024 season includes Aribert Reimann’s Lear at the Teatro Real de Madrid, Carmen at the Wiener Staatsoper, and Dialogues des Carmélites at the Israeli Opera. Guest engagements with orchestras include a return to the Queensland Symphony in Brisbane. His recent seasons featured Lohengrin and La forza del destino at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Cavalleria Rusticana & Pagliacci at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and concerts with the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Queensland Symphony, Sydney Symphony, and Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra.
Asher’s award-winning recordings include Bruckner’s Symphony No. 8, Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde and tenor Stuart Skelton’s first solo album “Shining Knight” - all recorded with WASO - and Ravel’s L’heure espagnole with the Munich Radio Orchestra. In 2016, the complete Brahms symphonies with Asher Fisch and WASO were released on ABC Classic to great acclaim. His recording of Wagner’s Ring Cycle with the Seattle Opera was released in 2014. His first Ring Cycle recording, with the State Opera of South Australia, won ten Helpmann Awards, including best opera and best music direction. Asher Fisch is an accomplished pianist and has released a solo recording of Wagner piano transcriptions for the Melba label.
Asher Fisch appears courtesy of Wesfarmers Arts.
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About the Music
Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)
After several attempts at writing his own opera (of which only one, the eventual Fidelio, was successful), Beethoven channelled his composing for the theatre into incidental music for the plays of others – above all the overtures to Coriolan (1807) and Egmont (1810). Both plays deal with political or human issues which readily captured the imagination of the passionate and committed composer in this middle period of his creative life. Both overtures, without attempting to trace the action of the dramas, seize immediately upon the vital principles of conflict and sum them up in dramatic tone poems that are self-sufficient musical entities.
Beethoven composed the Coriolan Overture for a drama by Heinrich Collin, a contemporary poet doubtless familiar with Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, which was written on very similar lines. Powerful chords in the introduction reflect the iron determination of the hero in his resolve to reconquer and restore peace to the Rome that has banished him, and his stern rejection of embassies from the city which he now holds under siege. Subsequent vacillating figures reveal the self-doubt that tortures him at the thought of the famine-stricken Roman people and the pleadings of his family. The conflict in his mind is worked out in a powerful development which leads to gradual disintegration and a swift final collapse at the recognition that only the sacrifice of his own life will bring peace without loss of honour.
© Anthony Cane
First performance:
March 1807, Vienna.
First WASO performance:
28-29 June 2013. Rory Macdonald, conductor.
Most recent WASO performance:
8 February 1998. Marco Zuccarini, conductor.
Instrumentation:
two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, three horns, two trumpets, timpani and strings.
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About the Music
About WASO
Engage | Excite | Experience | Educate
From the centre of Perth to the furthest corners of the state, we have provided the soundtrack to life in WA since 1928.
As the State Orchestra, Perth’s first and finest, WASO is the largest employer of performing artists in Western Australia and reaches two million people with musical experiences each year on stage, in our community, and online.
From concert halls to classrooms, hospitals to aged care, we bring joy, inspire learning, and nurture participation in our community, because everybody deserves the opportunity to experience live music. Every year, through community and leading industry partnerships, we engage a new generation of young and emerging artists to help secure a bright future for music in Australia.
We celebrate our rich classical music heritage with great artists from all over the world and commission and perform new repertoire to renew and expand it.
The Orchestra collaborates widely with major arts companies and independent artists, performing opera to ballet, movies to musicals, jazz to rock. We champion the diversity of music in all its forms, with a team of talented and passionate people who create unforgettable experiences for all West Australians to enjoy.
Asher Fisch is Principal Conductor and Artistic Adviser of our Orchestra and we are proud to call Perth Concert Hall home.
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Your Concert Experience
Get the best out of your concert.
- Explore the music
Be sure to take a quick look at the performance schedule or enjoy a deep dive into the music with your concert program online or in the foyer. - Share with your friends
Snap a selfie from your seat, capture the artist bows and share the experience with friends. Don’t forget to tag us! #wasymphonyorchestra - Clap with enthusiasm
Whether you are welcoming your favourite artist to the stage, or showing appreciation at the end of a piece, we love thunderous applause. Not sure when to clap? Here’s a tip; if the conductor’s arm is raised, hold it. If it’s relaxed, go for it! - Respect those around you
Ensure your mobile phone is on silent and does not disrupt the experience of those around you. If you need to cough or sneeze, please do this into your elbow. Cough lozenges are available from the Information
Desk located on Level 1. Masks are welcome but not required. - Accessible services available
For information about our services such as assisted listening and accessible toilets please search “Perth Concert Hall Access” online. - Latecomers admitted at a suitable time
If you arrive late or leave your seat during a performance, your auditorium entry will need to wait until a suitable break. - Drinks and nibbles
The Wardle Kitchen is open for casual dining, serving delicious hot meals before each performance, while our Grab and Go stations offer quick bites such as sushi and sandwiches. Bars are available on the first two levels, and you are welcome to bring your cold drink into the auditorium. - First Aid available
St John First Aid officers are present at every WASO concert. Please notify a Perth Concert Hall team member if you require any first aid assistance. - Box Office is open
Get tickets to your next WASO experience at the Box Office located on the ground floor (Level 1). Our Box Office is open one hour prior to each performance, and during interval, or you can email us anytime at boxoffice@waso.com.au. You can also visit us Mon-Fri 9am-5pm.
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Meet the Musician
Som Howie
Associate Principal Clarinet
Do you remember the first orchestral work you heard (live or recording)?
Shortly after I started learning how to play the clarinet, my dad bought a CD of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, so that was one of the times I can remember listening to the sound of an orchestra. But when I was really young, Dad would play vinyl recordings of Shostakovich and Rachmaninov which I apparently used to dance to - though I can’t remember that!
What made you want to learn to play the clarinet?
I actually wanted to play the trumpet but my primary school band program didn’t have any trumpets left. My dad, who works at the Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, was approached by the head of woodwind at the time, Mark Walton. Mark, who lived close to us, wanted to make a video of how to teach beginner clarinet and send the video to rural communities in NSW that didn’t have access to teachers. He asked if I was interested in being the guinea pig clarinet student for this project and I thought, ‘Why not’! After my first lesson with Mark, I was absolutely hooked.
How do you typically prepare for a concert?
Usually, on the day of a concert, I don’t play too much. I tend to either listen to recordings of the repertoire and do some mental practice with my part or double-check any important bits with the score. I think overall for me it’s about getting into the right headspace before the concert.
When no one’s watching, what music do you listen to?
I listen to all sorts of stuff. To be honest it usually just depends on what mood I’m in, I don’t think I have any one favourite genre. Some days it’s Daft Punk, and the next day could be The Beatles.
If I wasn’t a musician, I would be a…
A certified Lego Professional.
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