Imagine trying to direct 500 musicians and singers in a two-hour, supposedly cursed symphony.
That's what veteran Queensland maestro conductor John Curro will be doing on Wednesday night at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane.
A sold-out Concert Hall will witness the first performance in 30 years of The Gothic: Havergal Brian's Symphony No. 1.
The Guiness Book of Records recognises the symphony as the longest, largest and most technically difficult ever composed. This is the first time it has been performed outside England.
Concert-goers can thank Brisbane community radio manager Gary Thorpe for bringing it to QPAC.
He was at London's Royal Albert Hall in 1980, and since then his dream has been to bring the logistical nightmare to his home town.
"Brian wrote it really without any thought of performance limitations," Thorpe says.
"He just let his imagination run riot. He didn't really think about the fact it was going to be slightly impractical to perform."
The performance is dedicated to the late Sir Charles Mackerras, an Australian conductor recognised as a national treasure, who died in July this year.
Source http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2010/12/22/3099102.htm?site=brisbane
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