Archived event
About this performance
This year RMIT celebrates 100 years of architectural and cinematic wonder at The Capitol.
From silent films to contemporary performance, near demolition to reinvention, the theatre has stood the test of time.
Opening in November 1924 the Chicago-Gothic-style theatre, then known as the Capitol Theatre, was the first extravagant “picture palace” to be built in Victoria. It is renowned for its ceiling which is made up of 33,000 plaster crystals lit by thousands of coloured lights to create the impression of a crystalline cave of wonder.
In homage to its origins and to celebrate its centenary, RMIT is partnering with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra to present a special performance led by MSO Principal Viola Christopher Moore and featuring animations by RMIT Digital Design students.
Featuring
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Christopher Moore director / viola
Program
A lush work by a young Schoenberg and an elegy by Richard Strauss written in his later years are featured in this program for string orchestra.
R. Strauss Metamorphosen
Influenced by Goethe's poetry, Strauss composed Metamorphosen for 23 solo strings, with each playing an independent part in a masterful display of counterpoint.
Schoenberg Transfigured Night
Schoenberg also drew on poetry for his early work Transfigured Night. Based on the poem by Richard Dehmel, Schoenberg's symphonic realisation for string orchestra tells a story of conflict transfigured into unity.
RMIT Bachelor of Design (Animation and Interactive Media) students from Digital Design (School of Design), under the direction of lecturers Laura Eldar and Scarlet Sykes Hesterman, have collaborated with the MSO to create short animations to accompany Transfigured Night at this performance. Students have created works in response to both the music itself, and the emotions and narrative they uncovered through their listening. This series of thematically connected animated snippets will be interspersed throughout the performance.
Duration: approx. 1 hour and 30 minutes including interval
