Circus! Circus!
11.30am, Sunday 11 November 2012
QPAC Concert Hall
Conductor Johannes Fritzsch
Presenter Guy Noble
Gould Step Dancer
Fucik Entry of the Gladiators
Rota La strada
Stravinsky Circus Polka
Rodgers Carousel Waltz
Today's children are reliant on more sophisticated forms of entertainment than the circus, but a glance at the list of composers featured in this wonderful concert reveals the creative impact of the circus and the fairground atmosphere on musicians of highly diverse characters. Igor Stravinsky wrote his Circus Polka with the subtitle "composed for a baby elephant" as a parody, yet not everything is bright and gaudy: Nino Rota's score for Fellini's classic La Strada "The Road", evokes a nostalgic tenderness towards these nomadic performers.
