The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra has opened their 2018 season with “Thomas Tallis’ England”, and Brandenburg’s Artistic Director, Paul Dyer AO, has not disappointed with his programme featuring English works by Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Matthew Locke, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Henry Purcell.
Music by the German composer Handel, who took on British citizenship and was a major celebrity in his adopted home of London, is also included
To enhance these musical masterpieces, the orchestra has an expanded strings section, along with the magnificent voices of the Brandenburg Choir singing Tallis & Byrd. Topping off this whole experience is the return of countertenor Max Riebl, whose voice adds an extra dimension to this uplifting concert. Max commented “I’ll be singing two beautiful songs by Gibbons, from the late Tudor/early Jacobean period and an aria from Handel’s opera Orlando with lots of vocal fireworks. I’m probably most looking forward to singing Cold Song from Purcell’s King Arthur, a gut-wrenching masterpiece that is simultaneously epic and minimalist.”
Artistic Director, Paul Dyer AO, said “I urge everyone not to miss hearing the Brandenburg Strings perform the epic and cinematic Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. It is an amazing concert experience, regularly voted in radio station polls as one of the favourites of all classical music works for good reason – it’s beautiful and emotional and just soars! I’ve always wanted us to play it. The breathtaking and sublime music Thomas Tallis wrote 450 years ago that inspired the Fantasia is absolutely ‘to die for’ and will be sung by the Brandenburg Choir.”
Being able to enjoy the beautiful singing of the Brandenburg Choir, with the music of the Brandenburg Orchestra, was an added bonus that made for an unforgettable evening.
Performances at Sydney City Recital Hall, 2 Angel Place until 3 March 2018.
Sandra Tiltman Photo: John Pond
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