Haydn’s Sun & Mendelssohn’s Stars
19 February 2023
In the Utzon Room
Classical Music
String quartets by Haydn, Bach & Mendelssohn, performed by a premier ensemble on instruments of the period in an intimate setting. Hear the music brand new, as it was first made.
Date |
Time |
Sunday 19 February |
5pm |
Ticket | Description & price |
---|---|
Standard | Adults aged 17+ |
Premium | $125 |
A Reserve | $95 |
Concession | Senior/Pensioner card holders/Full-time students |
Premium | $115 |
A Reserve | $85 |
Child 16 & Under | |
Premium | $115 |
A Reserve | $85 |
Prices correct at the time of publication and subject to change without notice. Exact prices will be displayed with seat selection. Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times. All children must hold a valid ticket.
The only authorised agency for this event is Sydney Opera House. For more information about Authorised Agencies, see the FAQ below.
General Public tickets on-sale
12pm, Tuesday 22 November
Age
Recommended for all ages
Children aged 15 years and under must be accompanied at all times. Children aged 0-23 months at the time of a performance may be seated on a parent’s lap free of charge. All children occupying a seat or aged 2 year/s of age or older must hold a valid ticket.
No Language Barrier
Wheelchair accessible and audio loop available
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House.
Dark, Dazzling & Lovelorn String Quartets
The stock image of a cheerful sun that decorated the first edition of Haydn’s 6 Quartets Opus 20 earned them a nickname that proved apt. Not due to their composer’s consistently cloudless disposition, but because of their central and epoch-making place in the string quartet universe.
The sixth, in A major, skirts the deep melancholy of some of its sister quartets, but beautiful shadows still flit across its bright face, which seems, like this concert, to look forward to the expressiveness of romanticism and backward to the intricacies of the baroque. In its genial-sounding finale - a rigorous three-subject fugue replete with inversions and retrogrades, no less- Joe gives the finger to those critics who were writing him off as a lightweight, and perhaps, indirectly, to Enlightenment guru Rousseau, who regarded counterpoint as a “barbaric invention”.
Haydn never encountered J S Bach’s mighty Art of Fugue, but a decade on from this quartet, at a Viennese salon for early-Early-Music-nerds, he probably heard his friend Mozart’s string arrangements of fugues from The Well-Tempered Clavier. He would have marvelled at the intricate clockwork of Bach’s final statement on the subject as performed here by quartet.
Beethoven worshipped such contrapuntal tapestries and paid them homage in his final quartets. As baffling as these were to the public, another musical prodigy, Felix Mendelssohn, not only “got them”, but, aged only 18, used the formidable A minor Op. 132 as a model for his first, in the same key.
Fugue and counterpoint are embedded in this miraculously mature work, which also brims with compelling, passionate melodies. It seems to sing like an opera without words, and is haunted by a questioning musical motif (“Is it true?”) from an early song, for which Mendelssohn also wrote the lyrics:
Is it true?
That you always wait for me by the vine-draped wall?
And that with the moonlight and the little stars you consult about me also?
Three brilliant minds generate musical energy to keep the dark at bay in this richly satisfying programme.
Presented by The Australian Haydn Ensemble
AHE STRING QUARTET
Skye McIntosh, violin
Matthew Greco, violin
Karina Schmitz, viola
Daniel Yeadon, cello
ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN HAYDN ENSEMBLE
Under the direction of Artistic Director Skye McIntosh, the Australian Haydn Ensemble, are one of Australia’s leading historically informed orchestras and chamber music groups. The ensemble brings together world-class musicians who excel in both research and performance on period instruments.
These are instruments that were made and played at the time the music was composed by Haydn, Beethoven and Mozart. It can also mean an instrument that is made by a master instrument maker of more modern times, based on older instruments (perhaps now unplayable) as well as scholarship and research. The sound they make is uniquely beautiful, and often different to modern instruments.
AHE’s repertoire is principally music of the early classical era and the late baroque period (such as Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, C.P.E. Bach and others).
The Ensemble's name pays tribute to the great Joseph Haydn, known as 'Papa Haydn', who was a central figure of the late 18th century, also often known as the “Father of the String Quartet”.
AHE’s performances bring audiences as close as possible to the music the composers heard when they created these marvellous and enduring works.
![](/sites/default/files/styles/16x9__375w/public/collaborodam_assets/HAYDNSSUN_MENDELSSOHNSSTARS_INLINE_SOH_1.jpg.webp?itok=0jHaxnuM)
Other information
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six min walk to the Opera House.
Covid-safe information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We remind our audiences and visitors to please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We have a number of safety measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. While face masks are no longer required, we ask all our patrons and visitors to practise good hygiene. Please stay home if you feel unwell and read more about our flexible ticket options.
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
Ticket purchases and collection at our Box Office is discouraged and eTicket or postal delivery methods should be used, wherever possible. However, if you are collecting your tickets from the Box Office, we recommend doing this at least 60 minutes before the event starts. If you have already received your tickets, the venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Please take your seats as soon as you arrive.
If you are late, we will seat you as soon as we can and, where possible, in your allocated seat. However, to reduce movement in the venue as well as minimise disruption to the performance and other patrons, ticketholders may be seated in an allocated latecomer’s seat. Please be aware that some events have lock-out periods. In these cases, latecomers will be admitted at a suitable break in the performance. On occasions, this may not be until the interval, or at all where there is no interval.
Details of our right to refuse admission can be found in our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Events.
In accordance with our venue security procedures, Opera House security will be scanning and checking bags under the Monumental Stairs, prior to entering the building. Bags will be scanned by an x-ray machine, and staff will wear appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) when handling your belongings, such as gloves. Cloaking facilities will be open 60 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 60 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. However it is strongly encouraged that you travel lightly to minimise contact and queuing. Any bags larger than an A4 piece of paper will need to be checked into the Cloak Room.
The authorised agency for this event is the Sydney Opera House.
Only tickets purchased by authorised agencies should be considered reliable. If you purchase tickets from a non-authorised agency such as Ticketmaster Resale, Viagogo, Ticketbis, eBay, Gumtree, Tickets Australia or any other unauthorised seller, you risk that these tickets are fake, void or have previously been cancelled. RESALE RESTRICTION APPLIES. For more details, please refer to our General Terms and Conditions for Tickets and Attendance at Events.
Please contact Box Office on 9250 7777 as soon as possible to advise if you can no longer attend.
Foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
The venue doors will be open 45 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and 30 minutes pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances.
Please bring a credit or debit card for any on site purchases to enable contactless payment. You’re welcome to bring your own water bottle but no other food and drinks are permitted inside our venues. Opera Bar, Opera Kitchen and Portside are also available for you to enjoy.
The health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at the Sydney Opera House is our top priority. In line with this commitment, the Opera House became a smoke-free site in January 2022. Read our Smoke-free Environment Policy.
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