Calm and storm

It's coming close to Canberra Bach Ensemble attending the Leipzig Bach Festival mid-year.  But this is Easter so a Bach passion was in store, this time St John.  But the program referenced Leipzig and advised that the CBE program will be three cantatas, BWV 9,107, 178 and interestingly that they were assigned.  I checked with Andrew afterwards and, yes, they are assigned, partly for some consistency in performances at any one festival.  I also asked who was going.  About 50-75% of the group will be attending and the others will be replaced by local players.  Given the Gevanthaus and students, that should be easy enough.  So again St John Passion, again the glorious big choral sounds and the pensive recitatives and the varied solo voices and the period instrumentation.  Also again the infectious opening that keeps reappearing thoughout.  Dave was on bass and playing beautifully on a 5-string gut strung instrument.  I noted the twisty lines and odd intervals and unexpected harmonies and sometimes followed the bass line on IMSLP and I think I found the opening theme recurring through all manner of rhythms and accompaniments, not just in the obvious recurrences in obvious form.  If I am right, it just extremely extends my understanding of Bach and his brilliance, to pass through these quite unexpected harmonic movements and to hide them throughout in all manner of forms.  Am I right?  Dunno yet but I am intrigued.  As for voices, I must highlight the Evangelist, Richard Butler, who had the most wonderfully expressed, wide ranging voice for some complex lines.  Just a stunner.  And maybe mention the lute which I don't remember hearing in Bach before but here it was (literally) central.  But again this was a huge and successful endeavour by a large group of capable musicians and singers.  And very sensible of them to stage a long interval just when Canberra's recovered Skyfire to  light the local sky and add to the noise of Canberra Ave just outside St Christopher's.

The Canberra Bach Ensemble presented Bach St John Passion BWV245 at St Christopher's Manuka.  Key performers were Andrew Koll (MD, conductor), Bianca Porcheddu (concertmaster), Richard Butler (Evangelist), Sitiveni Talei (Jesus), Grata Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Christopher Warren (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass).  David Flynn (bass) held up the bottom end.

Back to Bach

My little wedding gig meant I was late for Canberra Bach Ensemble with their latest string of Advent cantatas.  It's obviously a nostalgic return for me to the cantatas at home in Leipzig and this group will be playing at next year's BachFest so it's virtually the same thing.  I just caught the second half and some lovely song, notably several appearances from a visiting Sydney tenor Thomas Hallworth and a duet from Greta and Maartje and some bass recitative from Andrew as well as a few features from Bianca and friends in the instrumental  section and a feature on the curved oboe da caccia.  And always Dave's very unrelenting bass part played on a gut 5-string with baroque bow.  Also noteworthy and parallelling the common role of organ in Leipzig was the final, thundering organ piece to finish the show, played by James Porteous on an instrument sequestered in the adjacent chapel.  I was not the only one looking for the source of that sometimes big sound.  Organ had a prominent role in the cantata services that I saw in Leipzig so it fitted wonderfully.  I was taken, too, but the voluminous strength of the SATB chorales when they took flight.   Loud and boisterous and not at all delicate, even if perfectly correctly performed.   This felt to me like the visiting Australian cousins with their outspoken ways, and it worked a powerful treat.  So I caught some, not all, and enjoyed it and look forward to our Canberra presence next year in Bach's town.

Canberra Bach Ensemble performed advent cantatas (BWV61,62,36,1) at St Christopher's Cathedral in Manuka.  CBE was directed by Andrew Koll (conductor) with Bianca Porcheddu (violin) as concert master and solo singers Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Thomas Hallworth (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass).

Early prep for Thomaskirche

I rushed off from one practice (Mendelssohn, Bruch, Tchaikovsky) to feed the dogs and then assist Tim to set up his recording of Canberra Bach Ensemble in St Christopher's.  It was quite a change of scene and musics.  CBE was playing three cantatas and a mass by Bach and a few smaller pieces by Schein and Schutz who had influenced JS.  So this was gut string intimacy and choral exuberance and vocal passion with early, even curved winds of all styles.  Something period and truly lovely.  I watched the various instruments and the frequent soloists and the milling of the choir entering and leaving for not too many choral movements.  The inherent sound of Bach was evident against Schein and Schutz, but they were worthy none-the-less and indicative of musics of the time, I guess.  There was not a lot of patter.  Andrew writes generous notes for his programs but remains fairly quiet on stage.  I particularly watched Dave on bass, as I am wont to do, and mostly it was easy reading other than a few quick and unrelenting and richly varied passages.  I could appreciate his concentration there.  So CBE is on track once again to visit Leipzig and its Bach Festival next June 2024.  Covid prevented the last expedition.  Let's hope they make it this time.  And good on them.  So wonderful to hear Bach with authenticity, and it can only grow in Bach's own venue, Thomaskirche.

Canberra Bach Ensemble performed at St Christopher's, Manuka.  Andrew Koll (musical director) led a choir of 25 and an orchestra of 18 with concertmaster Bianca Porcheddu (violin) and vocal soloists Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Richard Butler (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass).

Bach back

Great to see Bach back again.  Our local Canberra Bach Ensemble had a fairly short concert to reemerge after Covid and to start preparing for BachFest in Leipzig, now in 2024.  CBE is the first Australian group to be invited to BachFest.  We luxuriated in these great sounds, these fabulous baroque fugues and songs and instrumentals at that reduced pitch.  The orchestra was a bit smaller than previous outings, with 2 x violin, 2 x viola, 1 x cello, organ, 1 x flute and 2 x recorders although much was reduced to single seats and even just organ and cello for some pieces.  Bianca did a great job, but perhaps Clara was the defining instrument for the night, as the bass end (here cello) tends to be.  And she played for every piece, along with Anthony.  The choir could be blissful, especially in the Schutz with just organ and cello accompaniment, with the vocals were so, so clear and insistent.  The sopranos rang and soared and I was on the side of the stage with the tenors and basses and I heard them so clearly in their interplay.  The night started with a larger choral work with orchestral accompaniment, then through a series of arias variously for soprano, alto and/or bass, then a final three works by Bach antecedents, Heinrich Schutz and Andreas Hammerschmidt.  Then a drinks and nibbles in the local hall.  This was a fund-raiser and well attended and the musicians played for nix so not a full bore concert of cantatas.  Looking forward to the bigger outings in due course.  Bring it on!

Andrew Koll (conductor) directed the Canberra Bach Ensemble at St Christopher's in Manuka.  Instrumentalists were Bianca Porcheddu and Lauren Davis (violins), Lucy Carrigy-Ryan, John Ma and Elizabeth Chalker (violas), Clara Teniswood (cello), Anthony Smith (organ), Jennifer Bryan (flauto traverso), Robyn Mellor and Olivia Gossip (recorders).  Vocal soloists were Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maarte Seventer (alto) and Andrew Fysh (bass).  The choir was 24 (including Greta, Marrte and Andrew) comprising 6 for each SATB part.

Elation

Elation is an apt response to a Bach cantata in full flight so no surprise that I felt it at St Christopher's with Andrew Koll's Canberra Bach Ensemble. Andrew's been running these performances for a few years, each time with a chamber orchestra (23) and a decent choir (32) and some solo singers (4). This time it was Bach Magnificat and Meine Seelerhebt den Herren and Tonet ihr Pauken, Erschallet Trompeten. I know at least some of the last as a favourite, Christmas Oratorio. Bach repurposed this one. The works start and end with, and perhaps feature in the middle, a choral work of volume and exultation. In between, the soloists sing of Mary or Maria or other as the theme states. There was one solo organ passage with hidden organist that had the performers looking at a loss, but otherwise, it's an impressive sight. 50+ performers playing works of elation and depth and busy, sequenced familiarity. Bach is familiar to the modern ear even if one work isn't. The instruments are all baroque (so bassist Dave was on a 5-string with gut and baroque bow) and they got workouts. I heard the busy-ness for Dave and frequently cellist Clara so was not surprised to see Dave's part, but it was forboding none-the-less. And endless stream of a moving pattern, crochet-2 quavers, over the page with Da Capo to mark an end of sorts. They did great jobs with considerable concentration. The whole group sounded great, if just a little washed out in the reverberant environment. The winds were from Australian Baroque Brass with their odd trumpets and troms; the choir was lovely, nicely strong with preponderant sopranos; the featured soloists take a great load and did it with panache and I remember a particularly fascinating piece for massed females, three in concurrent, contrapuntal song; the orchestra just sat and spelt out the support with ease and sometimes features, several times from Aaron on Oboe d'amore; the continuo was delightful from Ariana; the leadership was joyful from Bianca, although I don't remember any solos. Too bad. I'd like to have heard her featuring again. The group is booked for the Bach Festival in Leipzig in June next year, so it's not just me who recognises they are doing something right. Just lovely.

The Canberra Bach Ensemble performed at St Christopher's, Manuka. Andrew Koll (musical director, conductor) convenes the group. The Australian Baroque Brass under John Foster (trumpet) assisted. Vocal soloists were Greta Claringbould and Karen Dalzell (sopranos), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Richard Butler (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass). Bianca Porcheddu (violin) was concertmaster, Ariana Odermatt (continuo) accompanied, Aaron Reichelt (oboe d'amore) soloed and some mates, Clara Teniswood (cello) and Dave Flynn (bass) worked hard down the bottom end.

Italians top and bottom

This one was exciting and a challenge. I'm filling in for Juliet in the bass seat in Musica da Camera and this was the first concert for the year. A program of Italian baroque led by a baroque specialist Bianca Porcheddu of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra. Musica da Camera is a string orchestra of about 25 players formed in 1979, so it has a history. It invites various conductors or leaders for a range of programs. Coming concerts are a mix of favourites, then ancient and modern, then classics and new-classics, so the repertoire is varied. MdC includes some professionals, from CSO or teachers, and some serious instrumentalists, so it's a worthy challenge. This concert featured famed names, like Handel, Vivaldi, Corelli, but also lesser knowns, Albinoni, Geminiani, Valentini and one I'd never heard of, Dall-Abaco, with a range of styles, ground bass with variations, a few concerti grossi, extra violin parts (4), canons. Bianca had us in fear ramping up the speeds in practice, but had some generosity on the day. The room was full, the group played with verve and life that a bit of performance nerves brings out in you and Bianca did some lovely little fills and led with professional litheness. What slips there were were covered well enough and we left feeling satisfied with the performance. Thanks to Bianca, of course, but also to a great group of musos with considerable application to an ambitious program. We're not releasing our CD yet, but we are preparing to take on a piece written by Elgar in 1905 to highlight the virtuosity of the new London Symphony Orchestra. Mmm. Thanks to all. BTW, I was too busy for pics so I feature some a few from our photoshoot.

Musica da Camera was led by Bianca Porcheddu (violin) in a program from the Italian baroque.

Thanks to Steven Godbee for the pic of Bianca and to Matt James and Steven Shaw for the pics of MdC