Melbourne Symphony Orchestra | Also Sprach Zarathustra
March 14, 2026, Hamer Hall, Melbourne
Conductor: Jaime Martín
Soloist: María Dueñas (violin)
The Occasion
Saturday at Hamer Hall in Melbourne preceded the glittering media event of the year, the Oscars from L.A., where excellence is acknowledged, indulged and rewarded. The revelry didn’t stop there, as St Patrick’s Day a day later invited Irish and non-Irish carousers to celebrate life. A Spanish duo were creating musical magic of their own right here on St Kilda Rd in the MSO’s Also Sprach Zarathustra concert.
Program
Melody Eötvös – The Deciding Machine (Australasian premiere)
Beethoven – Violin Concerto
R. Strauss – Also Sprach Zarathustra
A Novel History of Zarathustra
Composed in 1896, Thus Spoke Zarathustra (tone poem) by Richard Strauss has achieved a curious double life: both monumental and kitsch. Its opening fanfare — immortalised by 2001: A Space Odyssey — is among the most recognisable moments in classical music. The music’s vast orchestral gestures and cosmic ambition, inspired by Thus Spoke Zarathustra, once suggested philosophical grandeur. Yet constant reuse in film, advertising, and parody has softened its aura, turning the sunrise motif into shorthand for mock heroism. The result is a work simultaneously awe-inspiring and overfamiliar: a masterpiece whose very popularity nudges it toward affectionate kitsch.
The Performance
The both silky and muscular MSO had their ‘game of two halves’ star shining proudly during Saturday’s concert. Spanish Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor, Jaime Martín and his fellow compatriot, young virtuoso María Dueñas, held their own, as, added to their Castilian tradition of flamenco and bullfighting, they scorched the classical earth.
What a joy to witness two Spanish masters at the top of their craft, celebrating what is possibly the finest concerto in the violin repertoire. In this respect, Beethoven has set the mark at a height unattainable to mortal composers. His extraordinary and epic 40-plus-minute work for solo violin and average-sized orchestra is unsurpassed in the repertoire.
Endlessly rich and beautiful melodies, inspired and innovative ideas, relentlessly tearing at one’s heartstrings. Profoundly beautiful, yet also fiendishly difficult, the piece was given a rhapsodic rendering at the hands of Dueñas’ bow and Martín’s understated baton.
When one thinks of the repertoire of outstanding violin concerti, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Bruch, Berg, and others immediately come to mind. But the one that sets all of these apart, and inspired those that followed onto bigger and better things, was indeed L.V.B.
The young Spanish fiddle prodigy, who seemed almost too fragile, frail, and too tender in years, handled this improbably epic gem with such exquisite touch that it took us on a rapturous, spellbinding journey to end the first half.
In the hands of Martín at the helm, who has now been Chief Conductor of the MSO for a number of years, this and the rest of the evening was a treat to behold. The first composition that we heard in the first half, although falling short of Beethoven’s superior musical craftsmanship, was to be applauded for the creative programming of the MSO. A rhythmically string concept lay the platform for Eötvös’ musical adventure.
All change! All change! The second half belonged to the German master, Richard Strauss. Probably the lesser known of the two Strausses, Richard left the light, frothy puff pastry stuff to Johann, and concerned himself with the major orchestral architecture of the highest order.
For many in the audience, the opening bars of Thus Spake Zarathustra immediately took one to the countless adverts using the opening bars and Kubrick’s seminal work mentioned above. But Richard Strauss is a far more complex character. Der Rosenkavalier, Salome, and other major, dense, complex German modern works illustrate his deft sophistication. It was an exultant performance of a piece bursting with chromaticism, colour and Germanic strength.
Conclusion
All in all, this was a triumphant evening. One was sent away on a euphoric cloud, humming any of the most glorious melodies from the classical repertoire, courtesy of the great L.V.B.
It is enough that one writes a concerto to demonstrate the technical prowess and intricate relationship between soloist and orchestra. And Bruch and Tchaikovsky’s concertos certainly have many moments of magic which transcend the normal spheres of human consciousness. But Beethoven is in a league of his own, and for 40-plus minutes, one was transported and treated to the highest ecstatic offerings that only a genius such as L.V.B., in the hands of sublime artistes, can supply.
