Town Hall, Music Performance, Program, Australian Broadcasting Commission, ABC, Celebrity Concert Season, 1940s, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, MSO, Bertha Jorgensen
Summary
Programme accompanying the eighth Melbourne Symphony Orchestra 1948 subscription concert at Melbourne Town Hall. Presented by the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Guest Conductor: Paul Klecki, Solo Pianist: Jascha Spivakovsky, Leader of the Orchestra: Bertha Jorgensen. Includes advertisements for Cylax Soap, George’s of Collins Street, Trans Australia Airlines.
This programme is one of over 300 Town Hall music programmes held in the collection. Dating from the 1920s until the 21st Century, these programmes document performances by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir, the annual Sun Aria Competition, as well as the performances of visiting soloists and conductors from around the world. The advertisements within the programmes are equally fascinating, featuring adverts for TAA Airlines, Berlei, Benson and Hedges cigarettes, and local Melbourne businesses selling everything from records to furs.
This particular program is significant as it includes Bertha Jorgensen, the leader of the orchestra, on the title page. Jorgensen was one of the longest serving members of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, making her debut in the orchestra at only 15, and leading the orchestra before she was 20. She was the first woman to lead an orchestra in Australia, and would continue to play in the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra well into the 1970s, despite criticism from well-regarded conductors and musicians that as a woman she was unfit to lead an orchestra. For her contribution to Australian music Jorgensen was made a civil member of the Order of the British Empire in 1960.
