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IOpera, in partnership with The Orchestra Project, presents the Australian premiere (in concert) of the full orchestral version of Venjamin Fleischmann’s one-act opera, Rothschild’s Violin (1941), completed by Dmitri Shostakovich in (1944), based on the short story of the same name by Anton Chekhov. Fleischmann died fighting in the siege of Leningrad in 1941; his composition teacher Shostakovich determined to complete the score after Fleischmann’s death as an act of homage.The story centres on one Yakov Matveyevich Ivanov, nicknamed "Bronze" (sung by baritone Christopher Hillier) who is the coffin maker in a small village, and also an amateur fiddler in the town's wedding band, led by Moses Ilyich (tenor Robert Macfarlane). Obsessed with losses, both real and imaginary, and faced with the impending death of his own wife (mezzo-soprano Shakira Dugan), he takes out his anger at the world on the band’s Jewish flautist, Rothschild (tenor Asher Reichman). In a magnificent sequence of soliloquies Yakov eventually realises the errors of his ways. Realizing that he cannot take his violin to the grave with him, he bequeaths it to the unsuspecting Rothschild. At once shocked and deeply moved, Rothschild plays a lament, which is elevated in Fleischmann’s score into a stunning orchestral apotheosis.
Over fifty musicians of The Orchestra Project, under the direction of Peter Tregear, deliver Fleischmann and Shostakovich's sumptuous score; one that proves, in every measure, equal to the lyrically comic-tragic, and ultimately redemptive message of Chekhov's extraordinary, and ever-relevant, tale.
Where: Melba Hall, Royal Parade, University of Melbourne
When: Sunday 29 September
3:00 pm Pre-performance talk.
3:45 pm Performance (45 min)
Tickets: $40/$25 https://www.trybooking.com/CVETA
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Melba Hall, Melbourne, Australia
Tickets
