Forget Euro Summer. It’s WASO Winter.

JULY

Edward Gardner Conducts Brahms | Fri 11 & Sat 12 July, Winthrop Hall

Straight from Old London Town, Edward Gardner (Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra), makes his long-awaited debut with WASO for a program of Schubert, Britten and Brahms.

Although based on the work of French poet Arthur Rimbaud (layover in Paris, anyone?), Britten’s Les Illuminations will dazzle and seduce just like the English capital that Gardner calls home. The song-cycle offers a quick succession of emotionally-charged snapshots, richly layered like the city itself. While one movement might provide the soundtrack for a calm walk through Hyde Park, others could easily underscore that chaotic blur of Oxford Street, the shadowed Underground, or the endearing duality of a city where Victorian pubs sit next to modern skyscrapers; grandeur and chaos, side by side.

AUGUST

Bruch’s Violin Concerto | Fri 15 & Sat 16 August, Winthrop Hall

Next stop: Amsterdam. WASO’s Principal Conductor, Asher Fisch, returns to Perth for a concert that includes Strauss’ Macbeth, Schumann’s Symphony No.4, and the jewel in the crown – Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1, performed by the indelible Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma.

What does Bruch’s Violin Concerto have in common with The Netherlands’ popular capital? Both are lyrical, emotional and full of soul. From quiet reflection to spirited joy, this is the kind of music that would suit your canal-side bike ride as much as your exploration of vibrant hidden courtyards.

Speaking of travel – we’re taking this program on the road! If you can’t make it to Perth, you can catch Asher, Simone and the full Orchestra performing this concert in Kalgoorlie and Bunbury for our Passion and Power regional tour.

La Mer | Fri 29 & Sat 30 August, Winthrop Hall

End your WASO staycation with a cross-continental journey as you sail the seas in this evocative oceanic concert experience. Depart from port with a stormy send-off as Wagner’s Overture to The Flying Dutchman launches you thrillingly into the evening ahead.

Sail into the unknown with the world premiere of Paul Stanhope’s Mahāsāgar which conjures the beauty and danger of the vast Indian Ocean, before drifting into the calm waters and poetic stillness of Ravel’s Une barque sur l’océan. Your voyage comes to an end with Debussy’s La Mer. The music swells, shifts and dazzles like lights over the deep blue as you reach your final destination, immersed in the sublime power of the sea.