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The White Hat Guide to the Arts Centre
(formerly the Victorian Arts Centre then the Melbourne Arts Centre)
Purchase a Smartvisit Card for a free tour of this attraction 
the Arts Centre
St Kilda Road
Southgate
Tel: (03) 9281 8000 |
the Arts Centre (known as the Victorian Arts Centre until 2003 and then the Melbourne Arts Centre until 2010 and now the [with a lower case 't' Arts Centre] is the major performing arts venue in Melbourne. The complex consists of a major concert hall and theatre as well as a number of smaller performance and gallery spaces, cafes, restaurants and other facilities. It is adjacent to the National Gallery of Victoria (International Collection) and nearby is Federation Square with the NGV Australian Collection, Australian Centre for the Moving Image and BMW Edge performing space. Over the road from the Arts Centre is the Melbourne Recital Centre and Elisabeth Murdoch Hall. Also in the Southbank precinct is the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and the Malthouse Theatre and the Iwaki Auditorium. The Melbourne Arts Centre also administers the nearby Sidney Myer Music Bowl. Thus the Arts Centre forms a hub for much of the larger scale arts activities in Melbourne. The complex consists of two major buildings - one housing the theatres and the other housing the concert hall. The State Theatre is the major venue for the Melbourne-based Australian Ballet and Melbourne Theatre Company. It is also the major venue used by Opera Australia when they are in Melbourne. The Melbourne Concert Hall was renamed Hamer Hall in 2004 to honour the contribution Sir Rupert Hamer made to the arts in Victoria. It is the major venue used by the Melbourne Symphony - however the building is currently undergoing a major refurbishment and will reopen at a date to be announced.
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Beethoven 9 - Ode to Joy
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The Australian
Chamber Orchestra with Richard Tognetti (Artistic Director
and Lead Violin), Choir of Clare College, Cambridge (Graham Ross
Director), Lucy Crowe (soprano), Fiona Campbell (mezzo soprano),
Allan Clayton (tenor) Matthew Brook (bass)
White Hat has long believed that many modern performance of Beethoven
symphonies by large symphony orchestras lack the vitality and drive of a
performance by a first rate chamber orchestra - supplemented where necessary -
of the proportions that Beethoven was writing for For those who share this view
we suggest you look no further. Critics called the ACO's recent Beethoven
concert in London “the finest concert of the summer” and spoke of
“thrilling playing”, “vibrant drive” and “total involvement”,
concluding, “this compact chamber orchestra matches anything Europe can offer
in energy, precision and interpretative rigour.”
Joined by one of the finest British choirs this concert promises to be
something special where every note Beethoven wrote can be heard rather than lost
in a sea of overblown orchestral 'atmosphere'.
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2.30pm 12 Aug; 8pm, 13 Aug 2012 |
The Arts Centre, Hamer Hall, Melbourne
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Buy tickets direct from ACO
here |
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Monteverdi's L'Orfeo
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 In
the early 17th century, Claudio
Monteverdi was one of of a handful of Italian composers pioneering a new
form of music drama which we know now as opera. His
L'Orfeo is one of the earliest
operas ever written and , in White Hat's opinion, still one of the best. It
calls on the full palette of the Renaissance orchestra as well as the virtuoso
vocal techniques of the time. This performance presents one of the rare
opportunities to hear it in Australia performed with period instruments. Markus
Brutscher fro will perform m Germany) Orfeo with international and
Australian guest artists and the
Australian
Brandenburg Orchestra (Artistic Director and conductor Paul Dyer) |
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5pm, Sunday 23rd September 2012 |
Hamer Hall, The Arts Centre, Melbourne
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Enquiries & bookings: 1300 782 856 |
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Mozart, Handel & Vivaldi Concertos
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The Australian Chamber Orchestra with Richard Egarr (Guest Director, Harpsichord, Fortepiano)
and Satu Vänskä (Lead Violin)
Keyboard players, conductor, historian, and director of the Academy of Ancient Music, Richard Egarr directs this concert from the harpsichord
and performs Mozart's delightful Piano Concerto No.12 on the fortepiano. White
Hat suggests you take the opportunity to hear the difference it make to have a
Mozart concerto played on the fortepiano rather than an overblown concert grand. Satu Vänskä is soloist in a Vivaldi concerto on the
ACO's
Stradivarius violin.
- Corelli
Concerto Grosso, Op.6 No.1
- Castello Two Sonatas, “per stromenti d’arco”
- Biber Battalia
- Vivaldi Violin
Concerto, RV190
- Mozart Piano
Concerto No.12
- Handel Concerto
Grosso, Op.6 No.1
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2.30pm 7th Oct; 8pm 8th Oct 2012 |
The Arts Centre, Hamer Hall, Melbourne
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Buy tickets direct from ACO
here |
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Russian Visions
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 The
Australian Chamber Orchestra with
Richard Tognetti (Artistic Director and Lead Violin),
Steven Osborne
(piano) and David
Elton (trumpet).
Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir is one of his sunniest and most exuberant works
and Shostakovich's first piano concerto is full of pyrotechnics for the pianist
and accompanying trumpet. What is sometimes less recognised is that this work
calls for first rate string playing from the orchestra. For that reason, White
Hat suggests you take the opportunity to get along and hear it with one of the
best string ensembles in Australia - or any other country for that matter.
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2,30pm 11th Nov; 8pm 12th Nov 2012 |
The Arts Centre, Hamer Hall, Melbourne
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Buy tickets direct from ACO
here |
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Audio descriptions for the vision impaired are available at selected performances in this theatre. For more information phone (03) 9864 9222 or go to www.vionaustralia.org.au |
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Sunday Market at the Arts Centre
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An undercover and outdoor market with a wide range of arts and crafts. |
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10am-5pm (6pm during summer), Sundays |
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Enquiries: (03) 9281 8000 |
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The complex also contains the smaller Fairfax Theatre.
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Jeffrey
Smart's Container Train in Landscape
was commissioned in 1983 to hang in the foyer of the Fairfax Theatre of
the Melbourne Arts
Centre. The painting comes into view at the top of the entrance
stairs, and by cunning use of forced perspective the train appears to
remain at the same distance as the viewer descends the stairs. It is
painted on five panels. As a consummate craftsman, Smart integrates the
painting with the colours and columns of the foyer, and as a consummate
artist uses numbers of visual devices to extract beauty form a seemingly
unpromising subject.
Those who know the painting well may notice that the
above image (from the website of the organisation selling the print) is
in fact a mirror image of the original. Never fear - if you buy the
print it is the right way round. |
Click on the State Theatre or Hamer Hall link to the right of the map. Use the controls to zoom in or out on the map or change to satellite view.
If you wish to keep up to date with current shows, finishing soon
alerts of performances and forthcoming shows we recommend that you
subscribe to our free newsletter.
White Hat works hard
to make information on these pages current and correct. However with
many thousands of entries, much of it changing daily, errors may occur.
Always verify the information by using the phone numbers supplied with
each event or venue before making a special trip or using this
information for any other purpose. If you believe some information is
incorrect, please contact us at
corrections@whitehat.com.au
and we will attempt to verify or change the information
DISCLAIMER: White Hat makes no claim as
to the accuracy of this information and takes no responsibility for
incorrect or incomplete information
or for actions based on the information in these pages, and accepts no
liability to any person or organisation for the information contained in
these pages.
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TOURISM NEWS
Qantas In Flight Magazine chooses
White Hat
Cemetery Tour as its featured Australian tour for May
There are many fine historical tours
throughout Australia including cemetery tours. From these, the
prestigious Qantas In Flight Magazine has chosen the White Hat Tour
of Melbourne Cemetery as its featured Australian tour for the May
2007 edition. This tour was also featured by ABC radio on 24 May and
will feature in a documentary series on Burke and Wills to be shown
on European television in 2008. The tour has been operating for many years and has won
praise from a wide range of sources. This is not a dry and stuffy
tour but in keeping with all White Hat offerings it is Informed,
Intelligent, Independent (and occasionally) Irreverent. You can find
details of the tour at White
Hat Tour of Melbourne Cemetery and view the article at
Qantas In Flight Magazine. |
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