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).

Audio indulgences

The weekend was one of audio indulgences. One was the overwhelming sounds of a pipe organ (or at least its digital equivalent) playing Bach and the repertoire. Mark Sever played the Allen Organ at Llewellyn Hall for its first solo performance. The School of Music has had this organ for several months, and I’d heard it in performance, but obviously not as a solo instrument. This is a fully digital instrument. I found the sounds very authentic, although perhaps not as thunderous or reverberantly complex as organs I’ve heard in smaller European churches. This is a big space and not busy like many old churches. Every instrument has its unique characteristics, of course, and organs are delightful for those soft-edged tones and smaller pipe sounds and those deep and pure fundamentals.

Marko played an interesting repertoire. Firstly, JS Bachs’ Toccata & Fugue in F major. Not explosive like the D minor, but obviously Bach, and interestingly with passages of solo bass melodies played with feet. Then three Bach preludes and Fantasia a gusto Italiano by Krebs. Gusto Italiano obviously means lively temperament for Krebs because this had big, ebullient chords. Then one that sounded closed with crumhorn-type sounds: Introduction and Passacaglia by Reger. Another Italianate work, Sicilienne by Duruflé which occasionally sounded to me of male choirs. Then a few more modern pieces. Moto ostinato by Eben that sounded of damsels frollicking in the woods but with the lurking dangers inherent in clear and true bass fundamentals. Then a disjointed, filmic sounding piece by Brumby and an encore of Widor’s Toccata from Symphony no.5 with big and unexpected dynamics. Great music and a very informative repertoire. And special thanks to Bob Compton who has been instrumental in this instrument getting to the Llewellyn. BTW, the Mandela signature is from the signature wall of the Green Room at the ANU School of Music.

The other audio indulgence was to listen to a string of CDs and LPs on a 5-way hi-fi system of about 1,000 watts. This is hi-fi as few of us experience it. Suddenly you understand why audiophiles prefer analogue vinyl: it’s just sweeter, although I hear the best A-D converters can improve CDs. Quite an experience. Thanks to Paul.