BRISBANE BAROQUE

2016

8 - 16 APRIL

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

HOBART

BRISBANE BAROQUE

“...that sprawling, ungainly but glorious era that spawned some of the world’s greatest art, architecture and music... the Baroque.” Waldemar Januszczak Art critic, broadcaster, journalist and BBC TV presenter

Welcome to.....

B A C H MUSIC IN THE CA ST LE OF HEAVEN*

Bach was an ordinary man who wrote extraordinary music. Asked for the secret of his musical success, he replied: “I was obliged to be industrious; whoever is equally industrious will succeed equally well.” Modesty probably forbade him to mention that one also needed genius.

For this Gala Bach Celebration, The Australian Voices under the inspired direction of Gordon Hamilton, and a group of exciting young vocal and instrumental soloists including star soprano Greta Bradman, British tenor Nicholas Scott, virtuoso violinists Ioana Tache and Kristian Winther and organist Christopher Wrench join forces with members of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra directed by rising star Australian conductor Jessica Cottis to celebrate the marvel of Bach’s music, both sacred and secular. Three centuries after the composer’s birth, his imperishable compositions remain as powerful, inspiring and beautiful as when first heard, fresh and new-minted.

*The title of this concert is a salute to Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s magisterial study of Bach’s music, of the same name.

A GALA CELEBRATIONOF THE MUSIC OF

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH

SATURDAY 9 APRIL 7:30PMCONCERT HALL, QPAC

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678. In 1703, aged 25, he was ordained and was nicknamed il Prete Rosso, The Red Priest, on account of his red hair. Within a year of his ordination, he was given a dispensation from celebrating

Mass because of his ill health and he gradually abandoned priestly duties.

In September 1703, Vivaldi became maestro di violino at the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for the illegitimate daughters of the Venetian aristocracy.

The girls received a musical education and the most talented stayed and became members of the Ospedale’s renowned orchestra and choir.

Over the next thirty years, while working at the Pietà, Vivaldi composed most of his major works. His output was staggering – five hundred concertos, fifty

operas, numerous liturgical works and scores of sonatas for various combinations of instruments.

Brisbane Baroque celebrates the three major facets of this protean talent in a recital of opera arias and concertos, a selection of his church music, and a special evening of music composed for the women of the Ospedale and

performed by an all-female choir and orchestra.

THERED

PRIEST

IMAG

E: A

NTON

IO C

ANAL

, CAL

LED

CANA

LETT

OTH

E RE

TURN

OF

THE

DOGE

’S B

ARGE

TO

THE

MOL

O ON

ASC

ENSI

ON D

AY

‘Her voice is as striking as her looks: less striking, even, for the light, free upper notes or rich chocolaty lower ones than for the runs of coloratura that she releases with jackhammer speed, gunfire precision and the limpid continuity of spring raindrops.’ New York Times

THE RED PRIEST AT QPAC VIVA!

Our tripartite celebration of the music of Antonio Vivaldi begins with a GALA CONCERT featuring Brisbane’s Camerata of St John’s and the first Australian concert appearance of the magnificent American mezzo soprano Vivica Genaux.

Famed not only for the beauty of her voice and extraordinary technique but also for her vibrant character portrayals, Genaux is consistently lauded as one of the pre-eminent interpreters of baroque and bel canto music. She has appeared with some of the most famous early music ensembles in the world including Europa Galante under Fabio Biondi, Le Concert Spirituel with Herve Niquet, with Christophe Rousset’s famed Les Talens Lyriques and Rene Jacob’s Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin.

Alaska-born, Genaux now lives near Venice, and music by Antonio Vivaldi, the city’s emblematic composer, figures prominently in her repertoire.

Making a welcome return to the QPAC Concert Hall after their sensational major debut there last year, is Brisbane’s youthful Camerata of St John’s under the direction of Brendan Joyce, and with the acclaimed Erin Helyard on harpsichord. Their appearance in the QPAC Concert Hall in the inaugural Brisbane Baroque last year caused a sensation.

The program comprises some of Vivaldi’s most exuberant virtuoso arias and a selection from his set of twelve concertos known as La Stravaganza, works that some connoisseurs prefer to his better known Four Seasons.

VIVICA + VIVALDI

Brisbane Baroque is honoured to present

the exclusive Australian concert debut of the

internationally renowned American virtuoso mezzo

soprano Vivica Genaux.

IN CONCERT WITH CAMERATA OF ST JOHN’S

EXCLUSIVE TO BRISBANE

PHOT

O: C

HRIS

TIAN

STE

INER

EXCLUSIVE TO BRISBANE

SUNDAY 10 APRIL 7:30PMCONCERT HALL, QPAC

‘The indisputable hits of the evening were local heroes the Camerata of St John’s... Watch this space. This ensemble is going places.’ The Australian

Visible from all directions, St. Brigid’s Church, perched triumphantly atop Red Hill, is one of the finest heritage buildings in Brisbane, a splendid example of the Arts and Crafts style, which emerged in the UK and America in the late 19th century and was much favoured in Australia’s Federation era.

Its architect, Robin Dods, was born in New Zealand but he was educated at Brisbane Grammar and is regarded as a Queenslander. Were he to have left no building other than this magnificent church, he would still have that distinction, just as Joern Utzon will be forever associated with the great building on Bennelong Point.

Architecture has been described as frozen music, so it is fitting that during Brisbane Baroque, St. Brigid’s will resonate to the glorious church music of Antonio Vivaldi, brought to you by one of the current glories of Brisbane, the superb Camerata of St John’s.

For the first time ever, the Red Priest comes to Red Hill.

WITH CAMERATA OF ST JOHN’S

Brisbane’s iconic architectural landmark

plays host to the city’s dazzling

chamber music orchestra.

EXCLUSIVE TO BRISBANE

THE RED PRIEST AT THE RED BRICK CHURCH AT RED HILL

WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL 7:00PMST BRIGID’S CHURCH, RED HILL

WOMENAntonio Vivaldi was born and brought up near the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for the care of illegitimate daughters of Venetian noblemen and generously funded (mostly anonymously) by them. In 1703 Vivaldi was engaged as a violin teacher at the Pietà and he worked there on an off for thirty-six years, until 1740, the year before he died. The young girls who grew up at the Ospedale received a thorough education and superb musical training and their performances were famed throughout Europe and beyond. Francisco Guardi’s lively painting shows an elegant assembly at a reception for the Tsarevich of Russia in the Grand Salon of the Pietà with the women, in their distinctive black dresses and white fichus, ranged in three tiers overlooking the guests. During 1739 and 1740, the celebrated French writer Count Charles Brosses travelled widely in Italy and corresponded enthusiastically with friends in his home city of Dijon. In one letter, written in Venice, he noted that “the Ospedale has the best music here… the girls are brought up at the State’s expense and trained exclusively in music. Indeed they sing like angels, play the violin, flute, organ, oboe, cello …. bassoon. The performances are entirely their own and each concert is composed of about forty girls.” In the atmospheric surroundings of St. John’s Cathedral celebrated chorus director Emily Cox directs the women of Brisbane’s admired Canticum Chamber Choir and the musicians of Alchemy in a program evocative of the atmosphere of the Pietá.

OF THE PIETÀA concert of music composed

by Antonio Vivaldi for the women of the Ospedale by

Antonio Vivaldi performed by a choir and orchestra comprised

entirely of women and conducted by EMILY COX

With the women of CANTICUM CHAMBER CHOIR,

ensemble ALCHEMY and stage director ANATOLY FRUSIN

EXCLUSIVE TO BRISBANE

THE RED PRIEST AT THE OSPEDALE DI PIETÀ

EXCLUSIVE TO BRISBANE

FRIDAY 15 APRIL 7:30PMST JOHN’S CATHEDRAL, BRISBANE

MAHANESFAHANI15

EXCLUSIVE TO BRISBANE

‘HHHHHEsfahani has the ability

to breathe the lines so naturally that the

harpsichord seems to sing.’ The Guardian, UK

‘Dashingly eloquent, dizzyingly skilled,

Esfahani makes the harpsichord seem an

instrument reborn.’ The Times, London

‘His passionate engagement with the

music was totally captivating’

The Telegraph, London

‘Iranian-American harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani is a force of nature – a dazzlingly

persuasive advocate for his instrument.’

GramophoneTHURSDAY 14 APRIL 7:30PMCONCERT HALL, QPAC

MAHAN ESFAHANI

17

Brisbane Baroque is honoured to host the first appearance in Australia of this astonishing young harpsichord virtuoso. Born in Tehran in 1984, Mahan studied in the United States and Milan before completing his studies in Prague.

He made his BBC Proms debut in 2011 with the first ever solo harpsichord recital in Proms history, and returned in 2012 directing his own orchestration of Bach’s The Art of Fugue for the Academy of Ancient Music. The latter performance was one of The Observer’s ‘Top Ten of Classical Music 2012’.

Other highlights include recitals in the concert halls of Vienna, Tokyo, Nagoya, Cologne, New York, Washington DC, Vancouver, Bruges, Zürich, Copenhagen, Leeds, Bristol,The Maltings at Snape and Edinburgh, as well as several recitals at Wigmore Hall. A frequent commentator on BBC radio and television and a contributor to various music magazines and publications, Mahan works to take the harpsichord beyond the realm of early music into mainstream halls and series.

Mahan was shortlisted in the instrumentalist category at the 2014 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards and was nominated Gramophone ‘Artist of the Year’. His recording of CPE Bach’s Württemberg Sonatas (1744)

received wide critical acclaim, winning a Diapason d’Or, and was ‘Recording of the Month’ in BBC Music Magazine.

He is the first harpsichordist to be made a BBC New Generation Artist (2008–2010) and to win a prize from the Borletti-Buitoni Trust, a charitable trust established in 2002 to assist classical instrumentalists, ensembles and singers in their early 20s and 30s to further develop their international careers.

‘Megalomania, sadism, incest and matricide in

ancient Rome.’READ ON >

IMAG

E: A

GRIP

PINA

CRO

WNI

NG H

ER S

ON, N

ERO,

EM

PERO

R RO

MAN

CIR

CA A

D 54

-59

BRISBANE BAROQUE 2016

AN OPERA IN THREE ACTS BY GEORGE FRIDERIC HAN DEL TO A LIBRETTO BY CARDINAL VINCENZO GRIMANI

A G R I P P I N A

FRIDAY 8 APRIL, THURSDAY 14 APRIL, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 7:00PM SUNDAY 10 APRIL 1:00PMCONSERVATORIUM THEATRE

Brisbane Baroque presents the Australian premiere of the Handel Festspiele, Göttingen production of

ULRIKE SCHNEIDER AS AGRIPPINAHANDEL FESTSPIELE, GÖTTINGEN 2015

‘Laurence Dale’s staging of Handel’s salacious opera is constantly engaging and consistently well made …it succeeds not least because of its simplicity.’ Financial Times, London

Following the phenomenal success of 2015’s multiple Helpmann Award-winning production of Faramondo, Brisbane Baroque is proud to present another stunning international production from the famous Göttingen Handel Festival.

Composed in 1709 when Handel was just 24 years of age, Agrippina was one of his earliest operas and one of his biggest successes.

The opera premiered in Venice and enjoyed twenty-seven successive performances, an extraordinarily long run at that time. Though not one of Handel’s better-known works, Agrippina is a telling example of the maestro’s openly dramatic and realistic style.

Italian audience of the 17th and 18th centuries were fascinated by tales of ancient Rome which, in many cases, paralleled contemporary political intrigues, and the history of Julia Agrippina the Younger is a prime example.

Scheming, manipulative wife of one emperor, sister of another, mother of a third and (if rumours are true) the incestuous lover of the latter two, Agrippina dominated Roman imperial politics as no other woman before her had dared to attempt.

Here was a tale ripe with audience appeal. Some ten composers, including Porpora, Graun and Telemann, set operas on the Agrippina theme but the finest of these was that of the young Handel. It won for him fame not only in Italy, where he became known as il caro Sassone, the dear Saxon, but also in England, whence, in the following year, he was lured to become one that country’s greatest and most revered composers.

While the libretto plays fast and loose with history, it is better than most Handel had to work with. It sustains the drama and helps move the show along at a cracking pace. And the music is marvellous.

BRISBANE BAROQUE 2016

_____ Handel’s music, with its vibrant colour, extraordinary beauty and emotional depth, speaks to our innermost selves. Period and place have no stranglehold on it. Its inherent qualities have transcended the audience for which it was written and leap the boundaries of time, a continuing legacy to future generations.

AGRIPPINA–WHO’S WHO?

Ulrike SchneiderMezzo Soprano, Agrippina

Carlo VistoliCountertenor, Ottone

Russell HarcourtCountertenor, Nerone

João FernandesBass Baritone, Claudio

Owen WillettsCountertenor, Narcisco

Ross RamgobinBaritone,Pallante

Ronaldo SteinerBaritone,Lesbo

Erin HelyardConductor

Laurence DaleDirector

Tom SchenkSet Designer

Robby DuivemanCostume Designer

BRISBANE BAROQUE 2015

UNDER THE ROTUNDA ALL-DAY MUSIC IN BRISBANE CITY HALL

5x5x5@5QUEENSLAND’S GOT TALENT......and to prove it, Brisbane Baroque’s wildly popular 5 x 5 x 5 @ 5 series for 2016 is dedicated solely to showcasing the talents of an impressive group of young Queensland artists.

Five recitals of Baroque musicFive Queensland soloists and ensemblesFive PM Sunday to ThursdayFive dollars admission at the door*

* THIS IS A NON-TICKETED EVENT AND NUMBERS ARE STRICTLY LIMITED. ADMISSION IS ON A FIRST-COME BASIS AND CASH ONLY. DOORS OPEN AT 4:30PM.

ENSEMBLE B

1.SUNDAY 10 APRIL @ 5PM

Currently with the Melbourne Conservatorium, violinist and musicologist David Irving grew up on the Gold Coast, studied at the Queensland Conservatorium. He has made a special study of the baroque music of France and Spain.

Ensemble B will perform music by Jean-Philippe Rameau, Francois Couperin and Joseph Boismortier.

A BRIDGE FROM THE BAROQUE

2.MONDAY 11 APRIL @ 5PM

The Orava Quartet was the revelation of the 2015 Australian Chamber Music Festival in Townsville. As the music critic for The Australian newspaper wrote, “barely whelped… in their sharp suits and designer mop-tops the four look like a boy band but play with the intensity of their mentors, the Takács Quartet. Deadly serious in artistic purpose, their jaw-dropping take on Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in F minor, Op 80, had audience members four times their age hooting and hollering at what is, in terms of the future of Australian chamber music, the real deal.”

Currently Quartet in Residence with the Camerata of St John’s, these remarkable musicians make their Brisbane Baroque debut in a program that marks the genesis of the string quartet in the late baroque period and heralds its progress to full-blown classicism. The program includes works by the 14 year old Mozart, by Boccherini and by that genius of the sting quartet, Josef Haydn.

BAROQUE REEDS

3.TUESDAY 12 APRIL @ 5PM

Brisbane-born oboist Stephanie Dixon and her fellow wind players from the Australian National Music Academy perform music that might have been heard in the gilded salons of any of dozens of princely courts throughout Germany’s during the 18th century.

The composers are three whose work was greatly favoured by musically inclined emperors, electors and cultivated courtiers, the great Johan Sebastian Bach, his contemporary Georg Philipp Telemann, and the somewhat less well-known Czech, Jan Dismas Zelenka, whose elegant compositions are enjoying a long-overdue revival.

BACH VIA BUSONI

4.WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL @ 5PM

2016 marks the sesquicentenary of the birth of the great Italian musician Ferruccio Busoni. Composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher, few musicians have been as prodigiously gifted as he.

Busoni won early fame as a piano virtuoso, enrapturing crowds with his cool brilliance but today he is celebrated as the arranger for piano of many of the better-known organ works by Johann Sebastian Bach. Known as the Bach- Busoni transcriptions, these keyboard masterpieces are played by the fine young Brisbane-born pianist Adam McMillan who is currently studying at the Australian National Academy of Music. Adam began playing when he was four, and by age 16, he had performed the Bach Concerto in D minor in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, as well as in China and Estonia. During his school years he received 1st prize in the Queensland Piano Competition.

TELEMANN AND LECLAIR

5.THURSDAY 11 APRIL @ 5PM

Glenn Christensen was born in Mackay and studied at the Queensland Conservatorium. At age 22 he led the Queensland Symphony Orchestra for the Bolshoi Ballet season at QPAC under the direction of Russian Maestro Pavel Sorokin.

Glenn has toured regional Queensland with the QSO and currently plays with the Australian Chamber Orchestra throughout Australia and on their overseas tours. In this recital he plays solo works for violin by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Caroline Hopson is also a graduate of Queensland Conservatorium where she is completing her Master’s degree. She has performed as concertmaster of the Conservatorium Symphony, Chamber and Opera Orchestra. During her time at university, she became a member of the Latrobe String Quartet and travelled with them to the Australian Festival of Chamber Music.

She joins Glenn in duets by baroque composers Georg Philipp Telemann and Jean-Marie Leclair.

CITY HALL SERIES

Purcell described this work, part masque, part historic drama, part music theatre, as a ‘semi-opera’. As such, it presents a challenge to a modern director as the narrative is fragmented, action halting and at times confusing.

The composer endowed Dryden’s wayward libretto with some of his most sublime music, and in this semi-staged version for Brisbane Baroque, music has primacy, the narrative edited to a simple linking text descriptive of the action.

Ostensibly a chronicle of conflict between Britons and Saxons, it is essentially a shameless hymn to England’s greatness and to one of its legendary historical figures.

Stirring choruses, sparkling solos and delicious incidental music combine to make King Arthur a memorable musical epic with the widest possible appeal.

or THE BRITISH WORTHY

Semi-opera by HENRY PURCELL to an original text by JOHN DRYDEN Adapted by TERENCE CLARKE Directed by MARK GAAL with chorus, soloists and members of Orchestra of the Antipodes conducted by BRETT WEYMARK

or The Brit ish WorthyKing Arthur

KING

ART

HUR,

PEN

CIL

AND

WAT

ERCO

LOUR

DRA

WIN

G BY

MAR

K W

AY

In this specially commissioned edition with words by Terence Clarke and staging by Mark Gaal, distinguished international and local soloists including Greta Bradman, Jacqueline Porter, Nicholas Scott, Brenton Spiteri, David Greco and Samuel Piper, the Brisbane Baroque Chorus and members of the Orchestra of the Antipodes are directed by one of Australia’s foremost conductors and chorus masters, Brett Weymark, Music Director of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

MONDAY 11 APRIL 7:30PMBRISBANE CITY HALL

EVENING RECITALSTHE ART OF THE COUNTERTENOR One of the most remarkable – and least predictable! - developments in classical music during the late 20th century was the emergence of a fresh new voice type – the countertenor. At the forefront of the countertenor revival in the late 1950’s was Alfred Deller whose eponymous Consort did much to fuel interest in rarely-heard 17th and 18th century repertoire. In spearheading what might be called the Countertenor Revolution, Deller also served as a role model for aspiring young singers so that today, countertenors are much in demand in many forms of classical music especially, but not exclusively, baroque opera where many roles originally written for castrati are now performed by countertenors. Brisbane Baroque is privileged to host three internationally acclaimed young countertenors – Carlo Vistoli from Italy, Owen Willets from the UK and Australian Russell Harcourt. In this exclusive recital they highlight music of composers who wrote for the castrati at the height of their popularity. Arias from operas by Porpora, Leo, Vinci, Hasse, Vivaldi and others will showcase the unique and thrilling qualities of the high baroque male voice.

TUESDAY 12 APRIL @ 7:30PMBRISBANE CITY HALL

LATITUDE 37 ROYAL CONSORT Admired Australian early music ensemble Latitude 37 has been an integral part of our baroque music festival since its founding. Known for adventurous and imaginative programming, the core ensemble of Julia Fredersdorff, Laura Vaughan and Donald Nicolson have expanded their numbers for this unique program of English music composed during the time of the Civil War that pitted Oliver Cromwell against King Charles I. Guest performers include violinist Matthew Greco, lutenist Josep Martí Duran, and tenor Brenton Spiteri. Works by the great Henry Purcell and John Dowland are coupled with compositions by lesser-known but equally skilled composers such as Matthew Locke, John Playford, John Jenkins and Christopher Gibbons.

WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL @ 7:30PMBRISBANE CITY HALL

Four FREE lunchtime recitals featuring Brisbane’s finest organists.On the final day of this series in Brisbane Baroque 2015, some twelve hundred and fifty people turned out to thrill to the apocalyptic rumble of the mighty City Hall organ at full throttle. Once again you can enjoy this inspiring experience when eminent Brisbane organist Christopher Wrench and three colleagues pull out all stops in our specially curated 2016 encore series of FREE CONCERTS. Joining Christopher are Dr. Phillip Gearing, Director of Music at St. Mary’s, Kangaroo Point, and Andrej Kouznetzov, organist at St John’s Cathedral, together with James Goldrick, Assistant Director of Music of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane.

ALL STOPSOUT

MONDAY 11 APRIL - THURSDAY 14 APRIL 1:00PMBRISBANE CITY HALL

Jess Maclean

Samuel Piper Georgina Roberts

From Day One, Brisbane Baroque has been committed to seeking, securing and showcasing some prodigiously talented young Australian performers. Herewith a ‘yearbook’ page of thirty artists, all under thirty, performing in Brisbane Baroque 2016.

Georg Handel

...and let’s not forget Georg Frideric Handel who was 24 when he wrote Agrippina.

Allana Wales

Elizabeth Lawrence John Myatt

Simone Slattery

Adam McMillan

Blake Petersen

Dani Settle

Dhanika Rubasinghe

Brenton Spiteri

Nathan Walton

30 UNDER 30Anthony Abouhamad

Glenn Christensen

Caroline Hopson

Peter Clark

Tiana Angus Jacob Ballard Martin Cardell

Thomas Chawner David Dalseno

Stephanie Dixon Matthew GrecoIsabella Gerometta Christopher Haycroft

Georgia Mae Hahn Daniel Kowalik Karol Kowalik

Nicholas Scott

NOT A TICKETED EVENT

TUESDAY 12 APRIL @ 11AM WEDNESDAY 13 APRIL @ 11AM THURSDAY 14 APRIL @ 11AM FRIDAY 15 APRIL @ 11AM

HANDEL FOR MODERN AUDIENCESFew opera singers move easily from the role of performer to that of director and conductor, but Laurence Dale is an exception.

He studied singing in London and Salzburg, sang leading lyric tenor roles at Glyndebourne, Vienna, Berlin and Paris and was the most admired Tamino of his day in Mozart’s Magic Flute. Another career highlight was his Don José in Peter Brook’s legendary production of La Tragédie de Carmen, first in Paris and later in New York.

Brook inspired him to turn to direction and later he embraced the role of conductor as well, working in France, Monte Carlo, South Africa and Switzerland.

Lauded by critics and audiences alike for his staging of Agrippina, Laurence speaks on the director’s role and the future of this centuries-old art form that Dr. Johnson called an ‘exotic and irrational entertainment’.

SPACES OF SPECTACLEMUSIC AND ARCHITECTURE OF THE BAROQUE Dr Sing d’Arcy is an architectural historian specialising in the relationship between music and the architectural spaces in which it is performed. He graduated from the University of Sydney, later returning to complete his doctoral studies on the architectural history of Spain and its realms during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 2009 he was a visiting scholar in the Art History Department of the University of Seville. He complements his research and teaching into the built environment with an active engagement in the world of early music, especially that of keyboard instruments. He has held organist positions both in Australia as well as in Spain. In this talk he describes the key performance spaces of the baroque – Cathedrals, Palaces and Opera Houses and public spaces such as squares, gardens and rivers.

COMING OF AGE IN ITALYHANDEL ON THE GRAND TOUR

In 1703, while performing as a violinist with the Hamburg Opera, Handel met the son and heir to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Prince Ferdinando de Medici, who invited him to travel to Italy, an invitation the 18-year old Handel accepted with alacrity.

At that time Italy was the preeminent hub of musical activity on the continent and Handel visited Florence, Rome, Naples and Venice, meeting many of the leading composers of the day, especially Arcangelo Corelli with whom he studied.

Handel also met Prince Ernst August of Hanover, whose brother later became King George I of England. An invitation to Hanover and to London followed and the rest is musical history.

Noted Australian musicologist Dr. Robert Gibson, DPhil (Oxon), follows Handel on his personal Grand Tour, a musical coming-of-age.

THE CASTRATIROCK STARS OF THE BAROQUE

The cult of celebrity is hardly a modern phenomenon. In the baroque period, centuries before recording, television and social media, an elite group of performers known as the castrati achieved international fame on the scale of today’s rock stars.

The history of this exotic group of performers, mostly Italian, has long fascinated Brisbane Baroque’s Music Director, Dr. Erin Helyard who, in addition to being an internationally respected performer and conductor is also an expert on the history of early music.

In this free talk he traces the dizzying rise of the popularity of the male soprano in the baroque period and the rise in popularity of the 20th century equivalent, the countertenor.

2. 3. 4. 5.

BRISBANE BAROQUE 2016

1.MONDAY 11 APRIL @ 11AM

VIVICA GENAUXIN CONVERSATION WITH CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCECelebrated for a host of critically acclaimed recordings and appearances world-wide with the most important early music ensembles, Vivica Genaux makes her Australian debut with Brisbane Baroque 2016.

In this special event she talks about her career and favourite repertoire with Christopher Lawrence, genial host of ABC Classic FM’s morning program and one of Australia’s favourite broadcasters.

PUBLICTALKS

A series of fascinating and informative lunchtime talks designed to enhance your enjoyment of our 2016 performances.

MONDAY 11 - FRIDAY 15 APRIL 11:00AMCREMORNE THEATRE, QPAC

CONSERVATORIUMTHEATRE

CONCERT HALL QPAC

BRISBANE CITYHALL

CREMORNE THEATRE ST BRIGID’S CHURCH ST JOHN’S CATHEDRAL

Friday 8 April 7:00pm Agrippina

Saturday 9 April 7:30pm BACH - Music in the Castle of Heaven

Sunday 10 April 1:00pm Agrippina

5:00pm Ensemble B

7:30pm Viva! Vivica & Vivaldi

Monday 11 April 11:00am Vivica Genaux in conversation with Christopher Lawrence

1:00pm All Stops Out

5:00pm A Bridge from the Baroque

7:30pm King Arthur

Tuesday 12 April 11:00am Free Publlic Talk: Handel for Modern Audiences

1:00pm All Stops Out

5:00pm Baroque Reeds

7:30pm The Art of the Countertenor

Wednesday 13 April 11:00am Free Public Talk: Spaces of Spectacle

1:00pm All Stops Out

5:00pm Bach via Busoni

7:00pm The Red Priest at The Red Church at Red Hill

7:30pm Latitude 37 Royal Consort

Thurday 14 April 11:00am Free Public Talk:Coming of Age in Italy

1:00pm All Stops Out

5:00pm Telemann and Leclair

7:00pm Agrippina

7:30pm Mahan Esfahani

Friday 15 April 11:00am Free Public Talk:The Castrati -Rock Stars of the Baroque

7:30pm Women Of The Pietá

Saturday 16 April 7:00pm Agrippina

BOOK TICKETS AT BRISBANEBAROQUE.COM.AU

F E S T I V A L P L A N N E R

Every effort has been made to ensure the contents of this brochure are correct at the time of printing. Brisbane Baroque reserves the right to alter the program, dates, times, and ticket prices where and when necessary and without notice. 35

BRISBANE BAROQUE.COM.AU