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Schubert and the Viennese Masters

Daniel Thomson (tenor) & John O’Donnell (piano)

A program that explores Schubert Lieder and their influences from the earlier Viennese Masters. Including works by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and others.

Originally from the Macedon Ranges, Daniel Thomson is a London-based tenor soloist, recitalist and chamber singer. Known for his expressive text-based performance and interpretations of Evangelist roles, Daniel’s focus is on historically informed performance of music from the 16th to 19th centuries. 

Concert Program:

Franz Schubert
(1797-1828)

Morgenlied D. 266
Du liebst mich nicht
Winterreise 1. Gute Nacht
Winterreise 5. Der Lindenbaum
Winterreise 24. Der Leiermann
Im Frühling D.882
An den Mond

Joseph Haydn
(1732-1809)

An Thyrsis

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
(1756-1791)

Das Lied der Trennung

Antonio Salieri
(1750-1825)

Der Zufriedene

Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg
(1760-1802)

Una (Bleich flimmert in stürmender Nacht)

Ludwig van Beethoven
(1770-1827)

An die ferne Geliebte:
1. Auf dem Hügel sitz ich spähend
5. Es kehret der Maien
6. Nimm sie hin denn, diese Lieder



Daniel Thomson

Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Daniel Thomson is a London based tenor soloist, recitalist and chamber singer. Known for his expressive text-based performance and interpretations of Evangelist roles, Daniel’s focus is on historically informed performance of music from the 16th to 19th centuries. In 2009 he graduated his Bachelor of Music (specialising in vocal performance) with Honours, from the University of Melbourne. In 2018 Daniel completed a Master in Advanced Vocal Ensemble Studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland.

Released in early 2018 – Daniel’s debut solo album Secret Fires of Love, has been featured on BBC Radio 3 programme In Tune with Daniel as a BBC Introducing Artist. It was reviewed by MusicWeb International listing it as a disc “of the utmost importance … This disc is the result of much research of historical sources and deserves the attention of every performer … Monteverdi’s Si dolce è’l tormento is one of his most popular pieces, and has been recorded many times … I am pretty sure that you will have never heard it the way it is sung here by Daniel Thomson.” Johan van Veen, www.musicweb-international.com – February 2019

In 2019 Daniel also made his debut performance in Wigmore Hall as a soloist and chamber singer alongside Dame Emma Kirkby for her 70th birthday celebration concert. In 2022 Daniel won the Salvat Beca Bach tenor prize in Barcelona, where he made his debut solo performance in the Palau de la Música Catalana.

Daniel is a core member of several groups including Dowland Works (dir. Dame Emma Kirkby), Dowland’s Foundry, Lux Musicae London, InVocare, Sidonia Ensemble, Rūn and the priory choir of St Bartholomew-the-Great and has sung chorus with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Early Opera Company, Gabrieli Consort and La Cetra. He has performed in various well-known festivals worldwide including the London Festival of Baroque Music, Utrecht Festival Oude Muziek, Brighton Early Music Festival, Meer Stemmig Gent and the MA Festival Bruges.

Back in Melbourne, Daniel regularly performs as a soloist with various choral and instrumental groups including the Consort of Melbourne, Ensemble Gombert, Ensemble 642 and La Compañia – with whom Daniel features as a guest vocal soloist on their critically acclaimed 2013 CD release “Destino Mexicano”.

John O’Donnell

Monash University Organist, Founder/Director of Ensemble Gombert, and Director of Music at All Saints’, East St Kilda—was born in Sydney and educated at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where he was appointed Lecturer in Academic Studies at the age of eighteen. In 1974 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Music at the Victorian College of the Arts, where he subsequently served a term as Dean. In 1990 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the University of Melbourne. In 1995 he became a freelance performer, combining this with the position of Choir Director at Ormond College from 2007 to 2010.

He performs regularly as conductor, organist, harpsichordist and pianist and is also active in music research and editing. He has undertaken 21 concert tours of Europe and 12 of North America, principally as organist and choral conductor. He is the first person ever to perform Bach’s complete keyboard works (organ and harpsichord) in public, a total of 29 recitals in all. His recordings of the complete keyboard works of Johann Caspar Kerll (which he had previously edited for the Viennese publisher Doblinger) and organ works of Bach have met with international acclaim, an album of the latter named “Best Recording of the Year” (2000) in the London International Record Review. During 2009 he conducted a highly-acclaimed season of Handel’s opera Xerxes with Victorian Opera, for which he was nominated for a Green Room Award, and in 2014 he directed four performances of the oldest extant opera, Peri’s Euridice, newly edited from the original print, at the Woodend Winter Arts Festival.

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