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“Immersing myself in original manuscripts makes me feel as if I’m floating in music,” says Paul Dyer, Brandenburg Artistic Director. “I think the real joy of a Brandenburg concert comes from our ability to bring to life and reveal the inherent beauty of these original ink markings in a way that speaks to audiences of today.”

“The beauty of the manuscripts from which we work was my starting point in putting together the Brandenburg program for 2009.”

The year gets under way with a concert Paul has been waiting all his life to give – Mozart’s Requiem, which the great master wrote on his death bed. It has never before been played in Australia by a full period instrument Orchestra. “This concert will again allow the Brandenburg Choir to unleash its full force.”

The Brandenburg will reunite with a great musical friend, recorder virtuoso Genevieve Lacey. She has taken Vivaldi’s violin masterworks The Four Seasons and reinvented them as sublime recorder concertos. The last Brandenburg/Lacey/Vivaldi ‘re-mix’ project led to an ARIA Award and a sell out national tour.

2009’s national tour program features North American baroque violin dynamo Ingrid Matthews. The concerts will be a Vivaldi-fest, showing three sides to his musical personality. “We’ll also perform music by the composer Weichlein that was only recently discovered in a monastery in printing plate form – a rollicking baroque tribute to the postman,” says Paul.

Also appearing in 2009 are the charismatic German baritone Hans-Georg Wimmer singing music from Bach to Rossini, and someone dear to the hearts of Brandenburg musicians and audiences, Japanese cellist, maestro Hidemi Suzuki. “Hidemi was one of the founding members of the Brandenburg and will conduct the Orchestra in our tribute to the great Haydn in the 200 year anniversary of his death.”

“With showstoppers from Mozart and Vivaldi, to rarities little known to modern audiences, in 2009 we are thrilled again to bring the language of divine flourishes, from page to the stage,” says Paul.


MOZART REQUIEM Feb 27, 28 & Mar 4, 6, 7
“I sang in the Mozart Requiem as a child and once performed it with the legendary conductor Stuart Challender. I now feel that I know Mozart well enough to direct this amazing work – something I’ve waited all my life to do. This will be its first performance in Australia using the instruments for which Mozart wrote it. And Mozart’s choral writing is nothing short of glorious, so this is a concert for the Brandenburg Choir to truly shine.”

FOUR SEASONS May 15, 16, 20, 22, 23 plus a matinee May 23
“The Four Seasons is always a massive crowd pleaser but this will be full of surprises - Genevieve Lacey has reinvented it into a showcase for the recorder. The Brandenburg has a long and dynamic relationship with Genevieve especially playing this composer. We’ve won an ARIA Award together with a Vivaldi disc and we’ve played him together across Europe. The Brandenburg Choir will also sing his inspirational blockbuster Gloria.”

BACH AND THE BARBER July 31 & Aug 1, 5, 7, 8
“I love finding people who can match my energy and enthusiasm for putting on a good show. Hans-Georg Wimmer came to sing for me and I knew straight away that I’d met a performer with whom I would really spark – so expect a bit of on-stage dueling and fun. He is a consummate artist whose superb luxurious baritone voice is matched by a commanding sense of theatre. He’ll be pulling out the big guns – Bach, Mozart, Handel and Rossini.”

THREE FACES OF VIVALDI Sept 11, 12, 16, 18, 19 plus a matinee Sept 19 – followed by NATIONAL TOUR
“Ingrid Matthews is director at the Seattle Baroque Orchestra and one of the hottest baroque violinists in the world today. She has all the mastery and confidence to thrill an audience one minute and melt them the next. She plays with incredible confidence and great bravery. This concert shows three very different personalities of Vivaldi.”

HAYDN AND THE DEVIL Oct 30, 31 & Nov 4, 6, 7 plus a matinee Nov 7
“Hidemi Suzuki is one of the great period instrument musicians of our age. He has the calm exterior of a Samurai with a musical fire in his belly. He was one of the founding members of the Brandenburg and in fact, he brought the gut strings to the very our first rehearsal 20 years ago. He’ll conduct Boccherini’s unpredictable House of the Devil, as well as honour the master Haydn. Our own Darryl Poulsen will take centre stage for a Mozart Horn Concerto, which is rarely ever heard on a natural horn.”


Further information: www.brandenburg.com.au