Concert of classical elegance

Symphony Central Coast will open its 2025 season with a nod to classical music at a concert of Classical Elegance at Brentwood Village auditorium on Sunday, February 16.

For nearly 300 years, European music from the 18th and 19th centuries has been the lifeblood of orchestral repertoire.

Prized for their charming melodies, balanced forms and refined orchestration, works by Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, Gluck and others are sure crowd-pleasers and epitomise the enduring appeal of classical music.

The concert on Sunday will feature works that are grand, dramatic and energetic, such as The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba,the first movement from Handel’s oratorio Solomon, and four movements from his Water Music, written for King George I’s excursion up the Thames from Whitehall Palace to Chelsea in 1717.

Mozart’s final symphony, nicknamed the Jupiter, is regarded by many as among the greatest symphonies in classical music and the orchestra will play the last two movements.

Gluck’s Dance of the Blessed Spiritsfrom his opera Orpheus and Eurydice is a gentle pastorale and Glinka’s Waltz from his ‘patriotic-heroic-tragic’ opera A Lifefor the Tzaris an elegant illustration of the singing and dancing part of an extravagant occasion.

Lester Morris, of Winston Hills, is one of Australia’s two foremost motorcycle writers in Australia, a commentator at race meetings, a trained opera singer, actor and stage director, and now, at the age of 92, the author of several children’s books.

If People Had Tails is a charming set of poems, pondering that very question.

Music to accompany was written by Steven Stanke in 2024 and Morris himself will read his book, with music from a live orchestra.

Also on the program is Prokofiev’s evergreen Peter and the Wolf, again narrated by Morris.

This is a concert of timeless masterpieces of classical music that will remain cherished treaures in the world of music.

The concert will get underway at 2:30pm on Sunday, February 16, at Brentwood Village auditorium, Scaysbrook Dr, Kincumber.

Tickets are available at the venue of at symphonycentralcoast.com.au