| Glory of Bach | Royal Melbourne Philharmonic |
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JS Bach: Easter Oratorio; Magnificat in D; Cantata Ich Hab Genug BWV 82
On June 21 Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra present two rarely performed Bach works together with the famous Magnificat in D from the Baroque composer, in Melbourne Town Hall.
Melbourne bass Adrian Tamburini will perform Bach’s Cantata Ich Hab Genug (It is enough). The poignant and emotionally charged cantata was written for bass solo voice and orchestra and contains three arias. Tamburini is winner of the 2007 RMP Aria award and this performance is part of his prize. Tamburini also won Melbourne Welsh Male Choir’s 2007 Singer of the Year. An operatic bass baritone, Melbourne-born Adrian was a 2005 Green Room Awards nominee and in 2008 Adrian continues his work with Opera Australia, Victorian Opera, & Melbourne Opera.
Andrew Wailes, RMP Music Director, comments: “We are excited about hearing Adrian Tamburini – one of Melbourne’s up-and-coming singers - perform the cantata. Since the 1950s Bach has had a steady renaissance. It can be argued that we are living in the golden age of Bach performances.”
The counter-tenor voice of highly experienced Tobias Cole (NSW) will be heard in Bach’s Easter Oratorio. Cole is one of Australia’s most successful counter-tenors, having performed with Opera Australia, as well as in the UK and US. His engagements this year include This Show is About People for Sydney Festival; a Handel Gala and Bach’s B Minor Mass with Sydney Philharmonia; and Medoro (Orlando) with OA in both Sydney and Melbourne seasons.
Bach’s Easter Oratorio celebrates the resurrection of Christ. In this rarely heard work, dazzling high trumpets and drums launch into triumphant procession music, followed by contrasting movements of immense beauty and intimacy. The chorus continues the jubilant mood of the opening, followed by recitatives and arias for Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of James, Peter, and John. Bach's endlessly inventive scoring, melodic lines, and changing orchestral textures take audiences on a rich, 40-minute musical journey towards peace. Andrew Wailes says the Easter Oratorio represents the height of Baroque music: ‘Bach’s sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the varied strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity. Bach is revered today as one of history’s greatest composers.’
Bach’s Magnificat in D is one of his most celebrated works. It was composed during his first Christmas as Kantor at St Thomas's Church in Leipzig, and performed on Christmas Day 1723. The setting for orchestra and a choir of five parts - with an unusual choice of two soprano parts - possibly suggests that the piece was originally intended just for soloists and not for a choral performance. It is a virtuosic rather than an epic piece, performed with very small orchestra. It is one of two large works Bach composed in Latin, the other being his Mass in B minor, which also uses a virtuosic five-voice choir. Bach composed for the Christmas Vespers in Leipzig in 1723, an initial version in E flat major containing Christmas texts, but these were later removed to make it suitable for year-round performance. The new version in D major, which is the one now usually performed, had its premiere at the Thomaskirche on 2 July 1733, the Feast of the Visitation.
Emily Uhlrich and Louisa Hunter Bradley will also perform as soloists. They will sing the two soprano roles in the Magnificat, as well as performing in the Easter Oratorio.
Royal Melbourne Philharmonic
Glory of Bach
Melbourne Town Hall
Saturday 21 June 2008, 8.00 pm
$45 Adult, (or $60 for a Premium seat), $35 Concession (including students) or $20 Junior (under 16)
Ticketmaster 136 100, agencies or online at ticketmaster.com.au .
You can also purchase directly through RMP on 03 9419 1582, or at rmp.org.au .
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Thursday, 08 January 2009
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