For its twenty fifth birthday celebrations the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra have chosen Bach. The festal mood was established with two of Bach’s most joyful occasional pieces, his glorious ‘Magnificat’ and the last of his rousing Orchestral Suites, all under the extremely energetic, passionate direction of Paul Dyer who jumped between the keyboard and music stands and set the explosive pace of the concert at a cracking, breathless pitch and tempo exultantly from beginning to the very end.
The first half of the concert was the weighty Bach ‘Magnificat’ .The work is divided into twelve movements which can be grouped into three sections, each beginning with an aria and completed by the choir in a fugal chorus. It was gloriously sung by the excellent 30-strong Australian Brandenburg Choir who at times soared and sparkled, at other points was spiky, turbulent and tempestuous where appropriate, dealing deftly with the very difficult complex contrapuntal textures and vocal demands of the upbeat sections. Their ‘ Omnes generationes’ movement enthralled , the final Gloria was exuberantly rejoicing in an explosively sunny rich cascade of sound.
This ‘ Magnificat’ isn’t really a showcase for soloists as such , but the four listed in the program (Jane Sheldon, Maximilian Riebl, Richard Butler and Nick Gilbert), plus a lovely extra uncredited soprano from the choir, were always excellent , Riebl in particular with his amazing rich and radiant counter tenor. .
The playing throughout of the Bach Suite no.4 that came after interval was terrific, with a luminous feel .There were scurrying strings and dramatic, rolling drums .The second movement had a swirling dialogue between string and woodwind sections. The overture was crisply and precisely played the bourées very briskly performed .The elegant and courtly menuets with their enfolding repeated rhythms brought us to the final ‘Réjouissance’.Trumpets were featured under the extremely capable leadership of Leanne Sullivan .Soprano Jane Sheldon’s voice again soared deliciously above the orchestra .
Played in the presence of the composer and greeted with a rapturous reception the final piece was Kats-Chernin’s ‘Prelude and Cube’ specifically commissioned by and written for the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and inspired by Bach .Chernin’s work has basically the same instrumentation as the Bach Magnificat ,with the contemporary and very effective additions of a soprano saxophone and chimes , and some of the same text. But there the similarities end.
Some of Bach’s chord progressions can be heard but this is stylistically distilled, ravishing , Kats-Chernin with the delightful harmonies and melodies ,multi layered and textured sound and the interesting rhythms we have come to expect. The work builds its themes gradually from a series of Bachian ostinatos, leading to the first entrance of Christina Leonard on the shiny gold soprano saxophone, which generally soared over the rest of the band. The choir then adds some weird nonsense lyrics in syncopated scatting before the second climax and the singing of the ‘Magnificat’ opening, this time in German. The second part of the work was perhaps more overtly minimalist in style .It has many delightfully quirky touches, including ‘ cool’ chamber organ riffs and slap-bass solos .
Rolf Lovland’s ‘Raise Your Voices!’ was presented as a delightful encore.
Very Happy Birthday Australian Brandenburg Orchestra!
Running time 2 hours (approx) including interval.
This concert, running time 2 hours including interval, will be repeated at the City Recital Hall Angel Place on Wednesday, February 26; Friday, February 28, and Saturday, March 1, at 7pm, and Saturday, March 1 at 2pm. Book now !!