[usr 4]

In their fourth collaboration, this jaw- dropping work combines the magnificent talents of the illustrious Australian Brandenburg Orchestra with their period instruments as led by Paul Dyer and the death defying, seemingly impossible acrobatics of Brisbane based company Circa.

Musically we visit Florence, Naples, Rome and Venice in a pasticcio featuring works by Brescianello, Caccini, Corelli, Falconieri, Vivaldi and others.

Filmed at the City Recital Hall, in the online version we see how two Circa performers breathlessly arrive just after the doors have closed, argue about their tickets and seating, end up on stage – and then the curtain rises . 

Globally renowned state-of the art circus company, Circa, dynamically directed by Yaron Lifschitz,  interpret Dante’s burgeoning Florence, radiant with poetry, while Naples is represented by Anonymous’ rustic Tarantella del Gargagno, Rome looms with disintegrating architecture, and Venice is portrayed as a whimsical pleasure ground. We also discover that the other Anonymous’ Pizzica di San Vito was a dance conventionally performed by two men, one taking the female part.

Musically, The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra concert-master control was divided between four violinists: Shaun Lee-Chen, Matt Bruce, Ben Dollman and Matt Greco .

In each principality, with different costumes, Circa’s ensemble as a court entourage pick a passeggiata in all its delicate splendour, acting out an amusing presentation. Circa’s thirteen strong ensemble perform amazing acrobatic feats, twisting, jumping, tumbling, toss -and – catching, standing on another’s shoulders forming human pyramids, freezing briefly to pose and hold a sculptural tableaux … also included is swooping aerialist work and high flying trapeze stunts, and a spinning visual black and white striped pattern created at one point by the skirt of a Circa trapezist. Milanese baritone Renato Dolcini and the Orchestra match Circa’s dazzling prowess with their own display of musical mastery .

Dolcini was striking in Vivaldi’s Gelida di ogna vena from Farnace, with its borrowings from the composer’s L’Inverno, He also wonderfully sang Ombre oscure by Porpora, and not forgetting Sparga il sense by Caldera, as a complement to an astonishing  hula-hoop piece by a Circa member.

More musical and theatrical occasions feature Circa members juggling blocks at the same time as Dolcini’s singing of Landi’s Passacaglia della vita while reading the newspaper. And not forgetting the huge amount of billowing blue fabric, which rippled like a theatrical version of a river in a storm and was then crafted so that a Circa member, visually spectacularly rises from inside it and confetti scattered . 

Paul O’Keeffe’s deft, cheeky clowning routines must be mentioned, as he attempts to ‘‘conduct’ the Orchestra with a baton that at times is broken and too small,  or way too large. The Orchestra remained silent until Paul Dyer resumed control.  

The finale was a joyous slide and slip to hurtling Vivaldi.  ITALIAN BAROQUE WITH CIRCA is an engrossing examination and discussion regarding what constitutes performance, art, music, and celebration and if they can be blended.

CAST

Photography by Keith Saunders

https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/digital/italian-baroque-with-circa