Pianist Simon Tedeschi is back on tour with Australian theatre legend John Bell AO OBE once again, as the prolific pair present not one but two new shows this year. Feeling inspired by the interplay and energy-exchange of language with music, and celebrating decades of performances between them, in these two new productions, Tedeschi and Bell explore the fine lines between poetry, letters, music and the piano.
Premiering in March 2022, Words and Music grew from hours spent together in the rehearsal room and on-the-road touring, revealing a sneak-peek into life ‘behind the curtain’ and memorable moments of showbiz. With notes (both literary and musical) from Mozart and Beethoven, Schubert, Keats, and Scott Fitzgerald, topped off with some sizzling jazz.
- Friday 18 March Warrnambool Lighthouse Theatre, VIC
- Sunday 20 March Blue Mountains theatre and Hub, Springwood NSW
- Friday 25 March Theatre Royal, Hobart TAS
- Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 April Glen Street Theatres, Belrose, Sydney NSW
Hot on the heels will be the pair’s fifth show together, With Love, Amadeus – tracing the life and career of one of classical music’s most prodigious and enduring heroes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It peers into his personal letters and airs his inner thoughts, alongside renditions of his private musical doodling and performances of some of his most famous compositions.
- Sunday 26 June UKARIA Cultural Centre, Mt Barker SA
- Saturday 24 September Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nowra NSW
- More dates to come.
These new productions follow past Tedeschi-Bell collaborations; Enoch Arden, Lord Alfred Tennyson’s classic 1864 poem set to music by German Romantic composer Richard Strauss; Bright Star, a feast of Romantic poetry and music featuring the works of Keats and Schubert; and Echoes of the Jazz Age, Scott Fitzgerald’s famous essay entwined with the music of George Gershwin, Fats Waller and Jelly Roll Morton.
John says: “I love working with musicians; I love being up close and watching their technique and feeling the visceral presence of the instruments… I’ve admired Simon for a long time; he’s a bit of an entertainer and showman as well as being a great pianist.”
Both new productions are touring in 2022-2023 and open for further bookings. Contact Cinque Artist Management for details.