Nothing can be more satisfying on an evening out than a sublime piece of music. When all the notes, melody, harmony, tone and chords line up in a way that “rings” out in high resonance, it is guaranteed to heal the body, mind and spirit. Music from the Classical and Baroque periods seem to have been constructed with this in mind. Compared to the Romantic and Contemporary eras there is so much more high frequency music and, when coupled with world class musicians, these golden oldies (the music, not the musicians) never fail to uplift.
Bach Akademie Australia usually base all their repertoire around Johann Sebastian Bach and there’s always plenty to choose between as he produced literally hundreds of works. This concert however, deviated away from their usual agenda by focussing on the composers orbiting around Bach. They provided inspiration and guidance for him as he developed his compositional career. It was fascinating to sample pieces from these master composers, recognising their signature styles and then observing it influence the final work in the program written by Bach himself.
Beginning with a piece by Johann Christoff Bach (cousin to JS Bach’s father) was a lament ‘Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte’. This outpouring of grief was appropriate to a program which had been delayed a number of times over these last couple of years due to the pandemic. Originally booked as guest soloist had been Max Riebl, a young singer who tragically lost his life to cancer earlier this year. It was a touching tribute performed in the most sensitive, delicate way by the orchestra and counter tenor Russell Harcourt.
Moving most naturally through the grieving process came an organ work by Dieterich Buxtehude who was a great influence on the young Johann Sebastian Bach. It was said Bach walked 280 miles to Lübeck and back again to visit Buxtehude, such was his admiration for the older composer. Buxtehude’s Praeludium was performed by Sydney keyboardist Nathan Cox on a small organ brought into the theatre for the purpose and connected to the sound system. His interpretation of the work was like a natural monologue, sometimes free flowing and tumbling out with an idea, sometimes pausing for contemplation and other times laughing at his own jokes. There were parts which felt they could have been played with more weight and steadiness but over all, the diversity was a refreshing way to hear a story told.
Closing the first half of the concert was the marvellous Nisi Dominus (Psalm 126), a sacred work by Vivaldi which is only rarely performed and even more rarely recorded. Several movements were typical Vivaldi bursting with joy whilst others were more sombre. Harcourt is a superb vocalist, easily coping with the difficult passages, topping the orchestra whenever strength was needed and so so delicate with the more refined parts. The audience was spell bound by the performance. All musicians on stage were finely tuned to the direction of Artistic Director Madeleine Easton. Her choices in interpretation are always high class.
One movement was played with lead stops muting the strings. This provided a soft, intimate sound like a forte piano which was a high contrast to the ringing joy of the opening movement. Harcourt adjusted his own tone to match which was truly beautiful. His approach of seeing himself as a member of the team rather than a grand star with backing band is a welcome relief. In another movement, Easton pulled out a rarely seen viola d’amore, borrowed from Canberra. Looking larger than a regular viola, Easton explained the instrument features 14 strings, 7 wire playing strings on the top row and 7 sympathetic strings on the lower row which are not played but instead resonate in sympathy with the playing strings. The sound produced is rich in tone and variance.
The final movement from Vivaldi was a fabulous upbeat “Amen” drawing all the instruments together again and answered with great applause, well deserved, from the audience.
The second half of the concert featured two dear composer friends of the Bach family. Telemann was godfather to one of Bach’s sons and Pachelbel wrote wedding music for Johann Christoff Bach. The Telemann Concerto for 4 violins was absolutely sublime bewitching both audience and artists. We were all in heaven! The performance was immaculate with HIP (Historically Informed Performance) technique applied. Pachelbel’s suite was more down to earth, perhaps written for the salon or for home. It was easy to spot Pachelbel’s classic composing signatures found in his very well known Canon in this Suite while the cello held a sleepy basso continuo. The challenge is to keep basso continuo strong and steady and there can be no more steady a hand than Daniel Yeadon who held the foundation for the Suite to perfection. There was only one odd feature noticed here and in one other work in this program, that is the lack of an ending. The music just appears to stop as if the composer left for dinner and forgot to finish the work. The audience gets their clue that it’s all over when the musicians drop their instruments and smile at us. I only wish there was a different way to demonstrate an ending.
The final work was from JS Bach himself. Although it has an early opus number (BWV 35) the work was first performed when he was around 40 years of age. A magnificent Cantata ‘Geist und Seele wird verwirret’ with all performers back on stage and filling out the sound with a woodwind section. As mentioned earlier, Bach has an enormous list of works so the only challenge in making a divine program that will be a guaranteed hit with the crowds is choosing which masterpiece to use. This opus was the perfect choice filled with so many layers like the stunning garden of flowers – neither too many nor too little in decoration. The tempi was delightful and the positive frequency generated from the music raised the roof leaving everyone on a high.
Easton’s hard work and commitment over the years has truly paid off with this orchestra. Their list of sponsors and donors is the envy of many other Performing Arts Organisations. They have a solid, highly competent Board and the best musicians money can buy. Bach Akademie Australia continues to go from strength to strength and is a ‘must see’ for a truly balanced musical diet here in Australia.
Are we going to complain that this orchestra has failed to move on to more contemporary works? Not at all!! The works they choose to perform are timeless and you would be stretched to find any contemporary composer who has consistently produced music which brings such joy to the audience and artists.
So, Bach Akademie Australia, play on! We love what you do.
Orchestra website: https://www.bachakademieaustralia.com.au/
Program
BACH J.C. – ‘Ach, dass ich Wassers gnug hätte’
BUXTEHUDE – Praeludium in G minor, BuxWV 163
VIVALDI – Nisi Dominus RV 608
TELEMANN – Concerto for 4 violins in G major TWV 40:201
PACHELBEL – Suite No. 4 in E minor from Musikalische Ergötzung P. 373
BACH J.S. – Cantata ‘Geist und Seele wird verwirret’ BWV 35
Artists
Director: Madeleine Easton.
Guest Counter Tenor: Russell Harcourt.
Strings: Simone Slattery, Rafael Font, James Armstrong, Marianne Yeomans, Daniel Yeadon, Chloe Ann Williamson, Tommie Andersson.
Woodwind: Adam Masters, Kailen Cresp, Fiona McMillan.
Keyboard: Nathan Cox.
Featured image : Bach Akademie Australia’s conductor, Madeleine Easton
Concert review by Annabelle Drumm