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Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians

We pay our respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors of this land, their spirits and their legacy. The foundations laid by these ancestors give strength, inspiration and courage to current and future generations, both First Nations and non-First Nations peoples, towards creating a better Queensland.

  • …
  • What’s On
  • 2023
  • The Dinner Party
  • Classical Music

ensembleqthedinnerparty23 The Dinner Party Ensemble Q, QPAC Classical Music Ensemble Q The Dinner Party

8 Oct 2023
Concert Hall
Buy Tickets
$75 - $90 *
* A transaction fee of $7.20 applies.
2 hours
including interval, subject to change without notice

Overview

At the opening night of Richard Strauss’ Salome at the Stadttheater in Graz in 1906, an extraordinary dinner party took place. The world and its music was changing, and the participants of the dinner party – Puccini, Schoenberg, Zemlinsky, Berg, Mahler, Webern, and Strauss – were at the forefront of music at this volatile time.

In this brilliant performance Ensemble Q re-creates that dinner party and highlights the sometimes astonishing disparity of works written around that time. It was the meeting between deep romanticism and atonality, between deep set tradition and breaking of boundaries to allow freedom of artistic expression.

The program features the stark beauty of solo and duo works by Anton Webern, Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg alongside the rich romanticism of Richard Strauss’ fertile and pictorially imaginative Piano Quartet, Giacomo Puccini’s exquisite string quartet Crisantemi and Gustav Mahler’s Song of the Wayfarer, arranged for chamber ensemble by his dinner party comrade Arnold Schoenberg and performed at The Dinner Party by guest artist, Opera Queensland baritone Shaun Brown.

The delectable desserts feature Alexander von Zemlinsky’s Humoreske for wind quintet, and Till Eulenspiegel Einmal Anders! by Strauss/Hasenöhrl.

Important Information

Champagne Package

Purchase a seat in the first two rows and be given the rare opportunity to be immersed in The Dinner Party. You will be invited to join Ensemble Q on stage during the interval of the performance with a glass of champagne.

Celebrate 40 Years of QPAC and Win!

Purchase a ticket at QPAC in 2025 and go in the draw to win a Hyundai TUCSON Hybrid, thanks to Hyundai – proud Principal Partner of QPAC.

To enter the competition, submit an entry form via the QPAC 40 Giveaway competition page. Terms and conditions apply.

Official ticketing service for QPAC

QTIX is our official ticketing service with selected packages sold through authorised resellers only. Read more about purchasing tickets online.

Concession

Pensioners, Senior Card Holders and Full Time Students.

Bring your group to the theatre and receive assistance with available seating allocation.

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Book your school group and receive assistance with available seating allocation.

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Program

  • Six Little Piano Pieces Op 19 Arnold Schoenberg
  • Crisantemi Giacomo Puccini
  • Three Little Pieces for Cello and Piano, Op 11 Anton Webern
  • Humoreske (Rondo) for wind quintet Alexander von Zemlinsky
  • Four Pieces for Clarinet and Piano Op 5 Alban Berg
  • Song of the Wayfarer, arr Schoenberg Gustav Mahler
  • Interval
  • Piano Quartet in C minor Op 13 Richard Strauss
  • Till Eulenspiegel Einmal Anders! Richard Strauss
  • We should be both delighted and proud that Brisbane has musicians of this calibre.
    Weekend Notes / 4MBS
  • ★★★★
    Full of colour and vivacity…
    Limelight

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