SCROLL DOWN TO SEE ALL REMAINING PERFORMANCES FOR 2012
- St John Passion
Sunday 25 March 3pm
Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
Melbourne Recital Centre, cnr. Southbank Blvd & Sturt St, Southbank
JS Bach didn’t compose any operas: his sacred works are vivid dramas and profoundly personal meditations on humanity and its relationship with God. Bach’s St John Passion is an intimate and searing depiction of Christ’s trial and death, at once a gripping and ferocious narrative and a moving reaction to Christ’s sacrifice, expressed in music that is by turns majestic, savage and radiant. JS Bach’s art continues to touch hearts and minds in ways that no other composers’ can and his St John Passion is an iconic and essential musical experience.
Continuing a Recital Centre Easter tradition, acclaimed conductor Stephen Layton, Director of Music of Trinity College Cambridge and Artistic Director of the London Sinfonia, marshals the forces of choir, soloists and period instrument orchestra Ludovico’s Band to bring to life Bach’s most powerful masterpiece in the pure acoustic of Elisabeth Murdoch Hall.
- St John Passion
Friday 30 March 8pm & Sunday 1 April 3pm
St Mary’s, Star of the Sea
Cnr Victoria St and Howard St, West Melbourne
Tickets $60 / $50 conc. / $30 student
Booking details & inquiries: 0477087593 or www.mbc.asn.au
Bach’s Easter masterpiece conducted by Rick Prakhoff with brilliant Australian soloists Lorina Gore, Belinda Paterson, Henry Choo, Shane Lowrencev, Paul McMahon and Joshua Bloom.
- La Bergamasca
Saturday 31 March, 7 pm,
James O Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place, Parkes, Canberra
Experience the music of late Renaissance Northern Italy with Latitude 37 in conjunction with the National Gallery of Australia’s Renaissance exhibition. From the austere yet passionate beauty of Rognoni and Castello to the cascading notes of Merulo and rowdy country dances, hear the silent music that’s behind every painting. This concert will be broadcast live on ABC Classic FM.
Enquiries (02) 6240 6411 or the NGA website
APRIL
- J. S. Bach Viola da Gamba Sonatas
Thursday 5 April, 1pm
Scot’s Church, Corner of Russell and Collins St, Melbourne
Free entry
A performance of works by J.S. Bach and Telemann for viola da gamba and harpsichord with Elizabeth Anderson (harpsichord) in the lovely acoustic of the Scot’s Church, Melbourne.
- Apotheosis
Monday April 23, 7pm
The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre
cnr. Southbank Blvd & Sturt St, Southbank.
Tickets $35/$25
The first of Latitude 37’s 2012 MRC Subscription Series. Composers of the French High Baroque couldn’t speak highly enough of their departed colleagues. Latitude 37 presents the ultimate ‘tribute’ concert with masterpieces of homage by the two Couperins, Marin Marais, and the aptly-named Rebel.
with guest artist Miranda Hutton (baroque violin)
Bookings (03) 9699 3333 or the MRC website
MAY
- Through the Sublime Porte – Ottoman Inspiration in Baroque Music
Saturday May 26, 7.30pm
Cowen Gallery, State Library of Victoria
328 Swanston St, Melbourne
An exploration of the figure of the Turk in Baroque music, including works by Marin Marais, Francois Couperin, Jean-Baptiste Lully and Jean-Philippe Rameau as well as dances from Ottoman Europe. A part of the “Love and Devotion: from Persia and beyond” exhibition of Persian manuscripts at the State Library of Victoria. With guest artist Jess Ciampa (percussion).
Free Entry
JULY
- In Foreign Taste
Monday 2 July 6 pm
The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre
cnr. Southbank Blvd & Sturt St, Southbank.
Tickets $35/$25 bookings at the MRC website
The Continuo Collective: Samantha Cohen (theorbo) & Laura Vaughan (viola da gamba)
Successor to the great Lully, Marin Marais was recognized in his lifetime as a brilliant composer and virtuoso performer, and held the prestigious post of “ordinaire de la chamber du roy pour la viole”. His most significant contribution is his five books of Piéces de Violes, of which book IV’s Suite d’un Goût Etranger (In Foreign Taste) contains some of the most striking examples of Marais’ technical skill, mastery of harmony, innovation and imagination. The viola da gamba (performed by Laura Vaughan) represents the height of refinement in French baroque chamber music. For this event it is paired with another favorite of the King – the theorbo (performed by Samantha Cohen). Experience the King’s exquisite taste in music in the intimate salon setting.
- July 22-29
I will be attending the American Viola da Gamba Society 2012 Conclave
University of Delaware, USA
AUGUST
- Pièces de Clavecin en Concert
Sunday 5 August 2.15pm
St Cuthbert’s Church
12 Wilson St, Brighton.
Latitude 37 presents a rare all-Rameau presentation of three of the sophisticated Pièces de Clavecin en Concert as part of the Music in the Very Round concert series.
- Exile
Wednesday 8 August, 7pm
The Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, cnr. Southbank Blvd & Sturt St, Southbank.
Tickets $35/$25
Latitude 37 Salon Subscription Series concert 2.
In the mid-seventeenth century, the Barbarini family was bad, dangerous to know – and one of the most powerful families in Europe. From its ranks came patricians, a pope, and a penchant for musical patronage that was on show both at home in Rome and in Parisian exile. In this program drawn from a world of luxury, excess and corruption, Exile is a seductive demonstration of the sort of music that can be bought when money is no object.
Bookings (03) 9699 3333 or the MRC website
- Bach @ Trinity
Sunday 19 August, 2pm
German Church, 22 Parliament Place, East Melbourne
A celebration of the magnificent music of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries Erlebach, Becker and Buxtehude as part of the 2012 celebration of Bach’s music at the beautiful German Trinity Church.
Tickets $35/$25, bookings www.trybooking.com
SEPTEMBER
- Monteverdi’s Orfeo
19-26 September
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Imagine music so beautiful, so powerful, that it could enchant even the King of the Underworld. In 1607, Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi brought this stirring idea to life in his opera L’Orfeo. Based on the ancient Greek myth, L’Orfeo is the story of the legendary poet Orpheus, whose power over music could charm even the most savage beast. Misfortune strikes Orpheus on his wedding day as his bride Eurydice succumbs to a poisonous snakebite. Orpheus, driven mad with grief, descends into the Underworld to rescue his lost love.
In one of the biggest undertakings in Brandenburg history, Artistic Director Paul Dyer fulfils his dream of bringing Monteverdi’s dramatic masterpiece to life. Mesmerising German tenor Markus Brutscherstars in the title role of this tragic love story performed in intimate concert mode. Discover this 17th century musical jewel with one of the most thrilling talents in Europe, an exciting Australian supporting cast, the earthy sounds of gut strings and the infernal fanfare of period brass. Experience one of the earliest operas ever written, like never before!
For more info visit the ABO website
OCTOBER
- A Phoenix for Ferdinand III
Monday 22 October 7pm
The Salonm Melbourne Recital Centre, cnr. Southbank Blvd & Sturt St, Southbank
Tickets $35/$25
Concert 3 in Latitude 37’s Salon Subscription Series
Latitude 37 finds musical beauty amid the political embers of the Holy Roman Empire at the end of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648 in some of the most haunting German music you may never have heard. The program features works by Buxtehude, Erlebach, Froberger and Schmelzer.