Love and war

This is a theme that's around with the new film of The Odyssey but it's nothing new.  Two of our major classical music groups combined to do a program on this very topic, Guerrieri et Amorosi, Warriors and lovers, highlighting madrigals by Barbara Strozzi and Claudio Monteverdi, two major composers in mid/late-1600s Venice, Monteverdi older than Strozzi but both prolific and renowned, if Barbara is lesser so these days.  And a few instrumental pieces by Apeiron in respite by GB Vitali and Scarlatti.  Madrigals were written for solo voices, one for each part, and MD Dan Walker highlighted the challenge of this fluid music for a choir and Oriana did a wonderful presentation to my ears, capably accompanied by our renowned locals Apeiron Baroque as a quintet.  The themes suggest a more martial awareness by CM with an amorous sinfonia exploding into martial music, love portrayed as a literal disaster although later Cupid being praised rather than Mars.  Maybe because this Eighth Book of Madrigals is dedicated to the newly crowned Holy Roman Emperor.  Other the other hand, I note a sweetly sung song about an Athenian Maiden raped by the King of Thrace (lyrics by BS's father), a song on affections of the mind (Yearning, desire...) and an argument over sources of joy which resolved to a single kiss.  But this is just a sampler and my notes are just a borrowing from the program anyway.  But the song, the accompaniment, the vocals solos were a thing of great pleasure.  Again a warmly received concert and a full hose at Wesley for an imposing musical pairing.

Oriana Chorale was accompanied by Apeiron Baroque at Wesley with a program of madrigals by Claudio Monteverdi and Barbara Strozzi.  Oriana Chorale was conducted by Dan Walker (MD) with sometimes soloists Ali Hardy and Jade McFaul (sopranos), Oliver Bruhl, Cody Christopher and David Faraker (tenors) and Patrick Baker, Neil Bulleid and Joshua Dunne (basses).  Apeiron Baroque comprised John Ma and Brad Tham (violins), Marie Searles (harpsichord), Anton Baba (cello) and James Holland (theorbo).

Salut

Salut can mean both hi and bye in French and it's a greeting between family and friends so it's apt for Salut! Baroque, partly for the intriguing invitations to the musics of composers or places or purposes that S!B explore in their programming and explain in their programs.  This concert was Bohemian Rhapsody.  We read of the first rhapsodies for piano composed by a Bohemian Vaclav Tomasek; of the relevant geographic area; of the manufacturing and trade links that associated with movement of arts and music through Prague, Vienna, Krakow, Leipzig, Venice and more; of the Defenestration of Prague and the Thirty Years War; of the Hapsburg Empire and the Peace of Westphalia; of the relationships of Bohemian, Venetian, Veronese and Viennese composers and the nature of the musician's life in court.  All fascinating, leading to a program of Biber and Vivaldi, and Zelenka, Bertali, Fox, Caldara, Schelzer, Fischer, Jiranek and Brentner.  There are many new  or lesser known names: a concert by S!B is nothing if not inquisitive.  And pretty, ordered, danceable, dignified, even suggestive and so well played by strings, harpsichord, recorders, theorbo and the like.  This is music that was new at the time, now played from the past, but very much a part of our musical development and so often just delightful and courtly.

Salut! Baroque performed at Wesley.  S!B comprised Sally Melhuish and Anitra Blackburn (recorders), Rachael Beesley and Julia Russoniello (violins), Marianne Yeomans and Brad Tham (violas), Tim Blomfeld (bass violin), Jude Hill (bass), George Wills (guitar, theorbo) and Monika Kornel (harpsichord).

Let's dance

Just a room or so away was something very different and it started less than 20-minues after Ida finished.  Ida's theme was Introspections with composers into the C20th on a solo piano; Salut! Baroque's theme was dance and its instruments dating back into the baroque (obviously).  And, unusually, Salut! was accompanied by a ... dancer.  And this was not a solo performer but 11 players with that dancer making the dozen on instruments of the era, baroque all (flute, oboe, recorders, violins, viola, guitar, theorbo, bass violin) and percussion and the ever present harpsichord.  The tones were far more gentle that a Yamaha grand played with intensity, although there was intensity here too, sometimes.  Otherwise, bounce and motion and rhythms of dance, even if the rarefied, refined and inviting but discrete styles of the time.  The composers were variously known: Rebel, Graupner, Erlebach, Telemann, Purcell, Oswald, Lully, Roman and the prolific Anon and the tunes or movements were sometimes expressed as tempos but often as dance styles,  In fact, the Jean-Fery Rebel seemed to list them all: Prelude, Courante, Minuet, Bouree, Chaconne, Sarabande, Gigue, Riguadon, Passepied, Gavotte, Sonate, Loure, Musette, although I notice no waltz and I'm assuming they are all dance styles.  So lots of rhythmic pleasure and energy ending with Anon with a rousing Romani folk dance of great pleasure.  These were some lovely musical styles and also some excellent performances from several notable names of the Australian baroque scene.  Thus an fascinating and varied night at Wesley.  Much enjoyed.  And thanks to Aimee for her visual addition to the gig.

Salut! Baroque performed an introduction to the dance at Wesley.  Performers were Aimme Brown (baroque dance), Sally Melhuish and Alana Blackburn (recorders), Sally Walker (flute), Jane Downer (oboe), John Ma and Jared Adams (violins), Brad Tham (viola), Tim Blomfeld (bass violin), George Wills (guitar, theorbo), William Naayan (percussion) and Monika Kornel (harpsichord).

Good Friday

It's Good Friday and thanks to a request from the venue, there is no applause after these Holy Week concerts.  Absolutely apt, although the music was delicious.  This was a larger order than the Lamentations: SATB vocals with 6 instruments, although we only heard 5 given absence due to sickness.  The composer was Christoph Graupner, prolific and a contemporary of JS Bach.  Apparently, his cantatas (1,400+) are well preserved and his reputation has grown through recent decades.  We heard "Where is Jesus going?" (GWV1119/39) on Christ's departure and faith and trust in divine guidance, and "We know that tribulation brings patience" (GWV1121/44) on suffering as a pathway to spiritual endurance, character and hope.  I quote from the program, of course, given the German was not obvious to my ears.  But lovely four part singing, occasional solos from all parts, enticing counterpoint and harmony and effective interplay of vocals and instrumental parts.  The instruments were two violins, viola, bass and harpsichord.  The missing instrument was cello, which certainly would have added  considerable embellishments in the mid-range, but the solo bass took on a clear, effective presence which also responded with and to vocals.  Fascinating to the ears of this bassist.  Then the quiet and pleasure after the two cantatas and perhaps some dissonance with the Easter story.  Thus is history and modernity.

Singers Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Will Millard (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass) performed two Graupner cantatas at Wesley with accompaniment from John Ma and Lauren Davis (violins), Brad Tham (viola), Isabella Brown (bass) and Marie Searles (harpsichord).

Something else that evening

Our Ornette-enacting duo was in the afternoon and the evening was something completely different, although playful and rhythmic as before, if from another era.  This was four harpsichords playing Bach and more at Wesley with a string quintet accompaniment.  The promise of John Ma the Wednesday before.  The main work of the day was the final piece, Concerto for four harpsichords Amin BWV1065. This was not nearly so well known as BWV1060 and BWV1062, played by two harpichord pairs earlier.  Thees had us just beating and beaming with grins in our seats.  They are hugely popular, played with gusto and many smiles, and a joy to all.  Other pieces were an overture-suite La Bizarre Gmaj by Telemann and a Sonfonia no.4 Amaj by Solnitz.  This second was somewhat obscure and to add to confusion was played attacca into BWV1065 which ended the peformance.  We'd heard so much, with so much joy, so much attention and screeds of notes and love that I was surprised to see my watch showed only a one hour concert at the end. But with Bach one hour can be eternity (in a good way).  All that intricate and playful interaction between parts, those falling sequences and quaver to semiquaver accelerations are such joy.

Harpsichord divas was a performance at Wesley by Arianna Odermatt, Callum Tolhurst-Close, Marie Searles and Marko Sever (harpsichords) with string accompaniment comprising John Ma and Lauren Davis (violins), Brad Tham (viola), Clara Teniswood (cello) and Hayley Manning (bass).

Inventiveness

I had the inside goss as tenor Jack Jordan was staying with us for a few days to prepare and perform the first Living Collection session at the National Library, this one for the music of Aussie/Brit composer Luke Styles.  Luke was in house for the event; it was his archive that had been accessioned into the collection of the NLA and we were here to hear of it and to sample some of his music.  The event opened with a children's choir in the Library foyer, then a move to the NLA Theatre and several further performances and discussions.  Marie-Louise Ayres, NLA DG, opened the session.  We saw images of hand-written manuscripts on screen.  We heard discussion back and forth between Luke and Toby on Luke's history at Glyndebourne, the Foundling Museum, Covent Garden and more; his donation, his music and how he thinks on creation and composition; his first instruments (flute> e-bass>double bass); the joy both Luke and Tobias have in working on music with kids; the importance and implications of vocals; Shakespearean sonnets and the work we were to hear, Vanity, setting Sonnets 2,18,137,138.  The music in the theatre was some young-themed songs from the children's choir (out of Vocal Fry and Canberra Children's Choir) under Tobias, vln/vla duo and vln solo (Slogan 1 and Bound) from Brad and Pippa, and those 4 sonnets (Vanity) from Canberra Singers, tenor Jack and bass Andrew with accompaniment from violin Brad with Tobias conducting.  The youth pieces were amusing and playful and not at all rollovers.  The other pieces were hugely challenging to learn, to hear, to understand, at least at first hearing, but fascinating for a prepared, informed audience.  Suffice to say, part of the event was playfully child-centred and influenced, part was a difficult adult listen and a demanding performance, part was a fascinating discussion around this significant addition to the NLA collection.  And you can see all this: it was streamed live and is on YouTube with the title "Living collection: The music of Luke Styles".

Luke Styles (composer) and Tobias Cole discussed Luke's donation and history. Tobias Cole (conductor) led several groups in performance of some music of Luke Styles.  Performers were Canberra Children's Choir, Vocal Fry (choir), Kimberley Steele (piano), Canberra Singers (choir), Brad Tham (violin), Pippa Newmann (viola), Jack Jordan (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass).

Living collection : The music of Luke Styles

Delights

In so many ways, this concert by Salut! Baroque was delightful.  It's a throwaway description but worthy and apt in this case.  The music was glorious early baroque music from Telemann and mostly contemporaries and the music often featured lines "stolen" from those contemporaries.  As Picasso said, "Good artists copy; great artists steal".  I thought Miles said that, but so be it.  Certainly Telemann did steal some lines, but it's also the development and more that's relevant and anyway, they get lost amongst his other 3,000 compositions.  Colin Milner appeared as Telemann himself, introducing tunes and some stories of Telemann and singing one piece and generally also being delightful.  Not least in the bird and cat scene.  And John Ma was there as orchestra leader and it was clear to see the respect for his interpretations and leadership amongst the performers.  John is MD for the next Musica da Camera concert and I'm learning tons of the baroque spirit and instrumental interpretation as we speak.  We are lucky to have John and such Euro-experienced musicians in our midst when they quite often return.  And the pieces were short and often essentially danceable, so again delightful, and that's a common aspect of music of this period, the waltzes and bourées and gavottes although often just expressed as Andante or Vivace of Allegro non molto or the like.  It was only one hour, but we heard some great bottom end from bass and cello and that remarkable theorbo, a delightful, quiet harpsichord solo, those lovely strings, 2 violins and a viola, and the winds, two recorders and a flute, often playing off against each other, and Telemann singing of the cat.  And a most unexpected gypsy number to end.  It was just one hour but a work of collection and performance that delighted.  Do I need to say I loved it and got a good few chuckles along the way.

Salut! Baroque performed the music of Telemann and contemporaries at Wesley.  Performers were Sally Melhuish and Alana Blackburn (recorders), Sally Walker (baroque flute), John Ma and Sarah Papadopoulos (baroque violins), Brad Tham (baroque viola), Tim Blomfield (baroque cello), Jude Hill (baroque double bass), George Wills (theorbo, guitar), Monika Kornel (harpsichord) and Colin Milner (historian, vocals) as Georg Philipp Telemann.

Bass and beyond

Pippa Macmillan was coming to play with John and Marie in Apeiron Baroque and I was in.  Pippa is now in Australia but is quite and international, with degrees for the Royal Academy of Music and Juilliard and appointed Professor of baroque double bass at the RSM, that school next to that other Albert Hall, and performing with Tapfelmusik, Florilegium, Austn Brandenburg Orch, Austn Haydn Ens and the rest.  She was playing violone with the gut strings and those gut frets and a big Dragonetti period bow.  But how lithe and quick and unrelenting in her drive.  No slowing down with this rhythm section!  Otherwise, this was a joy of baroque historical overview with a program called Something old, something new.  Thirteen composers, mostly C15th, some C16th and just two contemporaries.  Ariosti and Albinoni and a string of lesser known names, seldom encountered.  All held together with backgrounds and stories from the ever-engaging John Ma, himself of considerable European history, and Marie Searles on harpsichord, again of Euro-connections.  The group would move through tunes, with Matt Greco, again a Euro-aligned and Aussie-busy concertmaster and soprano Susannah Lawergren up front for a series of tunes, not least a fabulous modern work but Michael Bakrncev who was in the audience, and if I remember right, was listening to the world premiere of this composition, a touching song of a mother laying in bed with her new child while her partner rings updates downstairs.  The text was by Cate Kennedy and the work was called Thank You.  Just glorious music.  Otherwise, the modern works were Allemande from the Jorn Borsen Harpsichord sonata and Spring from Dominick Argento Elizabethan songs.  And several Canberra advanced students invited by John and Marie, Brad Tham, Alex Monro and Dante Costa, all well known in local circles.  Just wonderful playing with that stellar bottom end, a varied and intriguing program from the ages and some delightful, welcoming patter.  Another great outing.

Apeiron Baroque performed at Wesley Church.  AB was led by John Ma (violin, MD) and Marie Searles (harpsichord, MD) with Susannah Lawergren (soprano), Matt Greco (violin), Pippa Macmillan (violone), Michael Bakrncev (composer), Dante Costa (flute), Brad Tham (violin) and Alex Munro (viola).

Old and new

 

I was pleased to record Salut! Baroque.  S!B is a baroque ensemble, with gut and recorders and harpsichord and theorbo so I was surprised that the first tune was dated 1995 by Karl Jenkins.  He is around these days!  Then into the more expected dates, 1693, 1749, a later one at 1805 but that sounded quite modern being a lament that could be a current ballad to my ears.  And finally to JS Bach but he's a common feature in such company, and the final work, Concerto Dmin BWV1043.  I knew this one but from the first notes I was flustered.  Then I noticed "arr. Terry Bor" with movements Allegro brisko, Lager mit schmalz and Alla mode.  Wow, short and unexpected!  The first movement was swung, then schmaltzy as promised, and a final 12-bar with jazzy 2-feel.  But it was Bach, no doubt, as never heard before.  Otherwise, there were recorders with their period presence, gut strings, the theorbo and a period-looking guitar with, how many ... 10 tuners?  Wikipedia says 5 string pairs.  As for the theorbo...  But some capable  and convincing playing, certainly not least by John with his lengthy history in European and other ensembles.   But it's not just the tones of historical instruments.  This concert was entitled Baroque spirit and the 15 works investigated all manner of styles, dances, cultures, approaches through the era to dispel the interpretation of Baroque as bizarre.  The composers were Erlebach, de Murcia, Rameau, Gow, O'Carolan, Playford, Telemann, Cantemir, Orme, Anon, Pla, mostly somewhat lesser known than Bach, so this was a widespread investigation and even educational.  So, a deserving and fascinating and sometimes confounding musical outing.  Well done by both the musical directors and the performers.

Salut! Baroque performed Baroque spirit at Wesley Church.  The musicians were Sally Melhuish and Alana Blackburn (recorders), John Ma and Julia Russoniello (baroque violins), Brad Tham (baroque viola), Tim Blomfield (bass violin, cello piccolo), Jude Hill (baroque double bass), George Wills (baroque guitar, theorbo), Jack Peggie (percussion) and Monika Kornel (harpsichord).  Artistic directors are Sally Melhuish and Tim Blomfield.

Tchaiks does hooks

My first up concert for the weekend. Busy.  This was Musica da Camera under Brad Tham, who returned after playing with us a year before.  He's quiet and respectful and a talented musician and recent ANU graduate.  His choice started with a relatively straightforward Brook green suite which was written for a schoolgirls' orchestra.  It's shortish despite its three movements and not difficult despite some tricky, malleable counting and some speed in the last dance movement.  Then Lonely Angel by Peteris Vasks, another modern meditation featuring Brad on violin out front.  Slow but can be difficult to manage without a conductor, given offbeat changes and lines.  But the feature was Tchaikovsky Serenade for strings.  Lovely and inviting and challenging enough.  Again it has speed and occasional tricky lines, a delightful waltz as movement 2, a stirring elegie as movement 3, and some fairly straightforward if fast lines and scales in movement 3.  But it's something everyone knows and is immediately pleasurable.  How well does Tchaikovsky do melody, often with the simplest of lines.  Nicely played by our MdCC led by our quietly talented Brad.

Musica da Camera Canberra played Holst, Vasks and Tchaikovsky at Cook under Brad Tham (MD, violin) with Tanya Jenkin (concertmaster).

History and today

The first Wesley Wednesday lunchtime concert for the year was a doozy, starting with Hildegard von Bingen and ending with modern Americana by composer Caroline Shaw.  And the performers were apt.  Rachel Mink sang and she told that her parents live near a property sung of, and the youthful and exploratory and very capable Ellery String Quartet provided accompaniment, with a range of noises and techniques, not least picks/plectrums on strings.  Both Rachel and Ellery were stunning and apt in performance, but I was somewhat befuddled by the modern music.  This comprised two works, each of several parts/movements.  First was Plan and Elevation: the grounds of Dumbarton Oaks, picturing the Cutting garden, Herbaceous border, Orangery and the like; second was By & By, comprising several parts putting ~century old lyrics on death and related themes from various authors to music: Will there be any stars in my crown?; Angel Band; O Death; I'll fly away.  But it did get me thinking as I followed the lyrics.  And also it had me intrigued by a range of tones and techniques used: bowings; slow harmonic movements; tapping instruments; most unexpectedly, plectra including a big blue one for cello.  Odd and unexpected and a very different aural space from Bach and the like.  I think of voice as more established and Rachel's was lovely and nicely controlled.  Voice remains the greatest instrument to my ears, but then it is us, not just our invention, so not unexpected.  And it speaks ideas not just impressions.  So, a concert that was challenging in techniques and heavy in themes so probably an apt start to a new year of music at Wesley.

Rachel Mink (soprano) and Ellery String Quartet presented America Voices at Wesley.  ESQ comprised Brad Tham and Anika Chan (violins), Pippa Newman (viola) and Chloe Law (cello).

Run down to Christmas

The final concert of the year in the Wesley Wednesday lunchtime series is always the Wesley Scholars.  I'm not sure how it's run, but it's obviously an opportunity for some talented performers to get some extra training.  It's quite common to see these faces performing in various other groups around town.  I once saw Ellery String Quartet at Government House, no less, and they are comprised of scholars from this year's bunch.  First and last up was a vocal quartet comprising members of Kompactus and others.  They sang two carols in Swedish or other and later a few in English.  Amusingly, I'll be home for Christmas as in Dean Martin, jazz with classical awareness - very lithe and beautifully done - and Deck the halls in 7/8, no less.  I liked, too, that they took some lines as pairings of voices making the sources of pitches much easier to catch.  The Soprano is easy to identify but the other parts can be more lost in the mix.  Then Ellery Quartet with a very lively arrangement of three tunes by the Danish String Quartet and a few carols including one with cello pizz all the world like a jazz walk.  The tinges in my ears of other countries' folk music suggested connections and maybe migrations around the world.  Then a duo of violin and cello playing three movements from a Boccherini sonata, older and frequently joyous and danceable in the styles of that era.  A lively, lovely, carol-heavy last concert of the year from Evie, Pippa, Martin, Jesse, Brad, Anika, Chloe, Tanya and Gabriel.

The Wesley Scholars performed the final Wednesday lunchtime concert of the year at Wesley.  The Vocal quartet comprised Evie Osbourne, Pippa Newman, Martin Magill and Jesse Hill.  The Ellery String Quartet comprised Brad Tham and Anika Chan (violins), Pippa Newman (viola) and Chloe Law (cello).  The duo comprised Tanya Boag (violin) and Gabriel Fromyhr (cello).

Accademics

Brad Tham led our latest Musica da Camera outing.  It was his first outing as a conductor and he did a great job, as conductor and also as an inspirational soloist in a Vaughan Williams concerto.  It's his Concerto Accademico.  I've been thinking it's an etude for students, given the odd twists and timings throughout, but apparently it's a homage to a Bach concerto.  I don't hear that at all, but so be it.  Suffice to say it's tricky.  The other works were a lovely pavane by John Dowland , all drenched melancholy and obvious renaissance origins, and two other longer works for string orchestra by Dag Wirren and John Rutter.  Neither looked particularly challenging, at least in the bass scores, but they too proved tricky at speed.  Fast counts do that.  But the outcome was capable and satisfying given some late concentration on my part.  It's such a pleasure to play with this group.  I will miss it given a break for a few months.  Thanks and cheers to all.  Impressive.

Brad Tham (conductor, violin) directed and soloed for Musica da Camera at Cook.

Surveying the future

The pic is of the current batch of Wesley Music Scholars performing Mozart Ave verum corpus and it was deeply satisfying but it was just the final number for this concert and it wasn't really indicative at all.  In fact, there were all manner of combinations playing all manner of musics, from Gaelic and classical, contemporary to jazz and even one original. Impressive.  But the Mozart was lovely.  Otherwise Brad and Anika played a lovely chaconne as a violin duo.  Phoebe sang time-free and unaccompanied Gaelic song, then a Handel aria.  The Ellery String quartet (Brad and Anika with Pippa and James) played two fascinating contemporary pieces: one a groove-strong country-like piece that had me think of the Ozarks and a Holly Harrison number called Swoop that just must have been about Magpies.  Then James alone playing a Kodalj cello concerto in non-standard tuning (C and G strings tuned down a semitone for an open Bmin).  Then an as yet unnamed unaccompanied vocal quintet singing that original by Jesse, Peace offering, and another Irish traditional song.  Then some jazz: Evangeline singing From the start and Autumn leaves to Martin's piano, and then the  ending with the lovely, delicate Mozart.  Quite a ride and some great playing.  The quartet is nicely established and comfortable and impressive.  The other groupings were less settled, perhaps, but plenty of promise.  So just lovely.

Wesley Music Scholars performed at a Wesley Wednesday lunchtime concert. The scholars were Evangeline Osborne (soprano), Phoebe Bourke (mezzo-soprano), Pippa Newman (alto), Martin Magill (tenor, piano), Jesse Hill (baritone) and the Ellery String Quartet comprising Brad Tham (violin), Anika Chan (violin), Pippa Newman (viola) and James Munro (cello).

Coming Christmas

It's the end of the calendar year and Christmas is around the corner and the final Wednesday lunchtime concert at Wesley is always the Wesley Music Scholars.  It's a worthy thing that Wesley does, some sort of training-cum-scholarship for worthy students and Liz was suggesting they are about to expand it with four singers to cover SATB and provide the base for classical singing in the church.  BTW, in case you didn't notice, I record these concerts so attend virtually all, and it's a short weekly duty that I enjoy, but that explains these concerts on CJ.  The scholars this day were a string trio of Brad, Anika and Pippa, a solo trumpet Jess and a pianist-cum-tenor Martin.  The trio played a lovely Dvorak with admirable playful interaction.  The Martin performed a Debussy but more interestingly, Praetorius Es ist ein Ros entrspringen (=It's a rose) sung while played on piano.  Now this piano man routine is common enough in pop, folk and the like, but I was quite bewildered to see it in a classical context but of course why not.  I realised after that he also plays jazz, so again, why not.  Then Jess on solo trumpet playing Goedicke and Charlier, two etudes, and Martin and the trio returned for a sung Kodaly and an encore on a lovely arrangement Holy night in three choruses.  Given the call from the audience and the easy response, I guess this was set up but why not.  So lovely and a joyous end to the Wesley Wednesdays for the year.

 Wesley scholars Brad Tham and Anika Chan (violins), Pippa Newman (viola), Martin Magill (piano, voice) and Jess Hill (trumpet) performed at Wesley.

Dunera and other losses

They entitled this concert Heartfelt Storytelling and I can see the reasons.  First up was one movement of a composition by one of the Dunera boys, a ship of Europeans deported to Australia by the Brits in early WW2, comprising a few hundred each of Italian and German POWS and ~2,000 German and Italian civilians, mostly Jewish refugees.  Plenty of others went to Canada.  Max-Peter Meyer was one and the group played mvt.2 of his Piano Quartet.  Nice one.  But the highlight was Faure Piano Quartet no.1.  Again, a work of heartfelt loss, in this case, by Faure of his bride-to-be, Marianne Viardot, who left sometime during their engagement.  This was a fabulously powerful and emotive piece and played with both passion and musical precision by this group.  I'd seen them, or at least most of them, at Government house and was impressed, but these works were more demanding and involving and the concert hall setting allowed it.  Suffice to say there were whoops and standing ovations at the end of this one.  I was particularly taken by the ensemble nature of the group, often with eyes up, frequently by Brad and often enough by James.  And the accuracy in expression and intonation that just spelt impressive listening.  What a fabulous concert.  As I heard later, "the future of classical music is in good hands".  Yep, this was a seriously satisfying outing.

The Callistemon Quartet performed Meyer and Faure at a Wesley lunchtime concert.  CQ comprised Anika Chan (violin), Brad Tham (viola), James Munro (cello) and Rhys Butterworth (piano).

CIMF starters

It was a big day with two major pre-CIMF events.  First up was a session with Tim Lamble to help setup for recording in the Fitters Workshop.  No easy task, this, with long cables from front to back and mics to hang from lighting trusses.  Setting up the trusses alone was the work of 10-or-so people plus those outside setting up temporary entrance rooms and a few for other things.  It's surprising how much is involved.  No wonder people question that I can take my double bass, bass amp, PA and lighting in my Golf.  My gear is nothing like this!  And then session 2 for the CIMF day, a reception at Government House, no less, for CIMF volunteers.  Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley, the GG's wife, is patron of CIMF thus the invitation.  It was not my first visit to Govt House (that dated back to Ninian Stevens ' days) but my first formal reception.  We were ushered in after showing photo ID, heard a short concert by the young but wonderfully capable Meyer piano quartet playing some very challenging Mahler (featuring echoed lines) and Brahms (with rabidly fast unison lines), chatted in the dining room and explored the public rooms and the art (on loan from NGA).  Some big names in Australian art hanging there.  The reception was pleasant, the company was chatty, the hosts, His Excellency the GG and Ma'am, were friendly.  We dressed to the nines, of course, and that also was fun.  Amusingly we were to attend a session on effective protest/activism immediately thereafter.  Oh, the bewilderment of life for this republican.  But more on the talking cure later.

CIMF 2023 started for me with Fitters Workshop setup and a Government House reception for CIMF volunteers.  The Meyer Piano Quartet performed at the reception.  The Meyer Quartet are David Cavenagh (piano), Brad Tham (violin), Pippa Newman (viola), James Monro (cello)

End meets beginnings

It was the last Wednesday lunchtime concert of the year at Wesley and the Scholars were out.  I hadn't realised how large is the group.  This concert featured 10 players of various instruments (including one voice).  They played in various combinations, Bach, Holst, Rachmaninoff and Halvorsen but also Jimmy van Heusen and even an original by one of the performers.  Pianist Ronan had written a rhythmically exploratory piece called Cogs as a study of machinery to be played by him on piano with flautist Emma.  That was impressive and quite unusual in the classical field.  As for the jazz, it was still done in a classical style, but I noticed a change of presence for that number after a Schubert-like song from vocalist Elsa.  Maybe to be expected; she was singing in English about love.  And plenty of long arpeggiated flourishes in accompaniment.  I spoke to pianist Martin after and it turns out he's a jazz student; so was trumpeter Jess.  Interesting crossovers here but no longer at all unusual.  Jess had also played some Bach cantatas with oboist Zoe.  Who had also played with... And so it went on.  They were an impressive and capable bunch.  I noticed specially on a rendition of Holst St Pauls suite mvt 1, which I am sure I've played slower.  This take was lively and rollicking and quick.  Then there's the violinist pair of Anika and Brad who displayed  wonderful communication on the Halvorsen, then joining with cellist James and violist Yona for that Holst then again Zoe and Elsa for another Bach.  And then at least one performer doubled up, violinist Brad taking to piano to accompany James.  Sound confusing?  Lots of names and lots of changes but also lots of very capable playing.  I was mightily impressed.  Not sure what their training is, or what they get from the Wesley Scholars program, but our music future is looking to be in very able hands.  At year's end we hear our future.

This year's Wesley Music Scholars performed a Wednesday lunchtime concert at the Music Centre.  The scholars were Anika Chan (violin), Brad Tham (violin), James Munro (cello), Yona Su (viola), Zoe Loxley Slump (oboe), Elsa Huber (voice), Jess Hill (trumpet), Martin Magill (piano), Emma Warburton (flute, piccolo), Ronan Apcar (piano, composition).