The concerto as a vehicle for virtuosic display flourished during the 19th Century, becoming increasingly complex and ambitious works. While performances of typical concerto in the baroque era lasted about ten minutes, those by Beethoven, for example, could last half an hour or longer. Concertos from all ages, since their development in late 1600s, have remained a conspicuous and important part of the repertoire for concert performances and recordings and this concert will feature the four soloists chosen from the Symphony Central Coast Concerto Competition.

Prodigies

Central Coast Grammar School

Personal sacrifice, heroism, eventual triumph: the struggle for liberty and justice is eternal. In Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, the main character, Leonore, the wife of politically imprisoned Florestan, poses as boy named Fidelio, and enters the prison where her husband is kept, attempting to ingratiate herself with the gaoler and free Florestan. Beethoven himself struggled to find the most appropriate music for the opening, finally settling on Leonore no. 3, an overture that relects her determination, bravery and humanity.

Dramatic, Magic And Tragic

Japan is famous for its animated movies, or anime, but the films from Studio Ghibli are in a league of their own. Spirited Away (2001) won the best animated feature award at the 2003 Academy Awards and pretty much encapsulates the entire Ghibli ethos. A stunningly-realised tale of a 10-year-old girl, Chihiro, who is travelling with her parents to her new home. When her father takes a shortcut, Chihiro ends up lost and alone in the spirit world, and has to navigate a dreamlike landscape, populated by increasingly grotesque characters, to save her parents. We’ll also be performing the music from My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke, and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Wallace, Gromit And Shaun

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, a young Viking, initially dismissed as a clumsy and underweight misfit, soon becomes renowned as a brave dragons expert, defending his home as leader of a flying corps of dragon riders. In How to Train Your Dragon, he captures his first dragon and befriends it, teaming up to destroy the gargantuan dragon Red Death.

A Grand Day Out

The French Revolution saw the fall of the monarchy and the rise of a liberal democracy. The constitution, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, was created. Napolean Bonaparte  was appointed leader and First Consul of the French Republic. Beethoven began work on a mighty Eroica (heroic) symphony, dedicated to the man who he believed embodied the new democratic and anti-monarchical ideals.

Beethoven And Tchaikovsky – Masterful!

For creatives in the early Twentieth Century, Paris was a magnet. The post-war years, “the crazy years”, drew writers like Hemingway, Yeats and Pound. Artists developed dadaism, surrealism, cubism and futurism. It was the home of Picasso, Modigliani, Duchamp, and Satie, Ravel and Stravinsky.

French Connections

Facts are scarce and mysterious. Schubert made no mention of the symphony during his short lifetime. It lay buried, like hidden treasure, in a cluttered study until the 1860s – more than 30 years after his death. The full score, clearly written in Schubert’s own hand, includes two movements: a wonderful melodic first movement and a heartbreaking second. And then, nine bars of a scherzo, followied by… nothing. The music stopped abruptly as if Schubert had been interrupted mid-thought.

Symphony Central Coast

Sep 21, 2025

Prodigies

Jun 29, 2025

Dramatic, Magic And Tragic

Symphony Central Coast