Hemispheres collide this May in Eight Seasons 

Spring has arrived with joy
Welcomed by the birds with happy songs, 
And the brooks, amid gentle breezes, 
Murmur sweetly as they flow. 
- Poem inspired by Vivaldi’s Spring (Concerto No. 1 in E Major) Allegro 

As Melbourne begins to descend into the cold this May, Orchestra Victoria will traverse through the seasons with a pairing of two unmissable classical works with The Eight Seasons.

The Eight Seasons features Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons presented alongside Argentinian composer Astor Piazzola’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. 

Both works will create a masterful fusion of a timeless classic and a modern interpretation that translate the changing seasons to sound. 

The performance will feature 35 musicians comprising Orchestra Victoria’s full string section, including award-winning concertmaster Sulki Yu leading the program. Bespoke lighting will set the scene as the orchestra moves through spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

“The Four Seasons in concert has always been a delightful experience for any classical musical fan, and Piazzola’s The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires is a richly engaging work that we are excited to present this year,” Yu said.  

Both bodies of work encapsulate each season with stunning violin movements, and I am very excited to perform this program alongside my fantastic colleagues from Orchestra Victoria at the Melbourne Recital Centre. I invite all classical music lovers and those interested in expanding their musical horizons to come and travel with us.

This enchanting evening will serenade audiences at the Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre on Thursday, May 2.

The most recognisable of Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi’s works, The Four Seasons follows Vivaldi's interpretation of the seasons while living in Baroque-era Mantua, Italy in 1720. 

The works were considered ground-breaking for their time, becoming one of the earliest examples of what was later called “program music”– music with a narrative element. 

Moving from airy to dramatic, the sounds of The Four Seasons have been threaded throughout popular culture since their conception and still resonate with audiences today. 

More than 200 years later, the seasons were again interpreted by Argentinian composer Astor Piazzola in The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Composed in 1969, Piazzola was inspired by the tango sounds and humid climate of Argentina and the changing seasons of the Southern Hemisphere. 

The evening will feature Orchestra Victoria’s concertmaster Sulki Yu performing virtuosic violin solos throughout the program. Appointed concertmaster in 2021, Yu was most recently Principal First Violin at the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London. 

She has appeared as soloist with many orchestras including the Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Orchestre Nationale de Lille, Budapest Symphony, Moscow State Academic Symphony, and Royal Wallonie Chamber Orchestras.