Tuesday 12 January 2021 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm Wednesday 13 January 2021 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm
Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons is possibly the best known and most loved work of classical music.
Written 3 centuries ago it is an endlessly inventive depiction of each season and of the human activity influenced by the rhythms of the year. Vivaldi created an undisturbed pastoral world in the Age of the Enlightenment; balanced, colourful and harmonious.
What, then, would Vivaldi have made of the ‘many and new’ seasons in these years of the 21st century?
The [Uncertain] Four Seasons brings new musical imagery to Vivaldi’s creation. In this special performance, climate prediction data has been harnessed to reimagine Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in an ambitious multimedia collaboration between Australian composers, designers, innovators and scientists.
A Baroque masterpiece combined with the sounds of a changing world, The [Uncertain] Four Seasons warns of dangers, offers hope and inspires action.
The project is introduced by Damon Gameau, the filmmaker behind the documentary 2040, and draws on the work of prominent climate campaigners and authors Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac.
It builds upon the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra’s 2019 performance in Hamburg, which fused Vivaldi’s music with historic weather data.
The Australian premiere is a partnership between the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne composer Hugh Crosthwaite, Monash University’s Climate Change Communication Research Hub, design and innovation agency AKQA and German advertising agency Jung von Matt.
Sydney Festival is planning for 2021 with a focus on the recovery and rejuvenation of Australian arts, celebrating the very best new Australian work and the joy of shared live experiences. The safety and well-being of artists and audiences is foremost in our planning.
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