| Handel’s Fire & Water the world’s most famous party musik |
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Guest director Alfredo Bernardini (Italy)
"No one likes a party more than Alfredo – behind the unassuming façade lies a mischievous man with a zest for life and celebrations! He is the perfect person to lead the Orchestra on this merry romp."
Paul Dyer
Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks and Water Music stopped London in its tracks when they were first played. Rarely performed in the same concert, here is your chance to hear these two great works together.
So popular was Alfredo Bernardini in 2006, with his cheeky sense of humour and tremendous energy, we had to have him back for this celebration of the most famous party music. Fired by Bernardini’s consummate skill and Italian exuberance, the Orchestra will relish the challenge of this grand tribute to Handel and his masterpieces.
Fit for a king, the Water Music was first performed in 1717 for George I by fifty musicians floating down the Thames on a barge – the river teeming with boats, including the royal flotilla. The King loved it so much, he had the musicians play it three times over!
The festival continues with the rousing Music for the Royal Fireworks, written in celebration of victory in the Austro–Spanish war in 1749. An all-time Handel favourite, the rehearsal alone was attended by 12 000 people and caused London’s first ever traffic jam. Joyous and highly-charged with the glorious trumpet calls and swell of horns, oboes and bassoons, this work will get your blood pumping!
Program
| Handel | Water Music, Suite in D major, HWV 349 | |
| Handel | Water Music, Suite in G major and minor, HWV 348 | |
| Handel | Water Music, Suite in F, HWV 348 | |
| Handel | Music for the Royal Fireworks |
| Orchestral Treasures from the Brandenburg's secret collection |
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Guest soloist, period bassoon Jane Gower (Australia)
"[The Brandenburg delivered] an exhilarating, perceptive and thoroughly compelling performance"
The Australian
Hear the Brandenburg at its finest as this extraordinary Orchestra takes centre stage and reveals a program of its favourite baroque treasures.
Like entering a bazaar teeming with exotic jewels of unrivalled brilliance, this concert will be a feast for the senses, offering a menu of amazing works, including three enthralling premieres by Mondonville, Schieferdecker and Corbett, never before heard on an Australian stage.
On the trail of the more elusive baroque gems, Paul Dyer and the Orchestra take great delight in polishing up some of Vivaldi’s lesser-known works, including a remarkable bassoon concerto contrasting lyrical passages with virtuosic leaps and runs. It is the perfect piece for the world’s leading period bassoonist and former Brandenburg musician, Jane Gower, to highlight the velvety and alluring sound of this incredible instrument. BBC Magazine said of Jane, "Gower is a star in her own right."
Not to be outdone, the strings will absolutely shine in the magnificent Concerto grosso by Locatelli – a virtuoso violinist whose compositions expanded the boundaries of violin technique.
This concert, full of the secret favourites of the Brandenburg musicians, will fill you with such joy, you won’t want the night to end!
Program
| Vivaldi | Overture to the opera Giustino, RV 717 | |
| Vivaldi | Concerto for bassoon in C major, RV 472 | |
| Locatelli | Concerto grosso in C minor, Op 1 | |
| Mondonville | Sonata en Symphony, Op 3 No 4 | |
| Schieferdecker | Concerto No 1 from Musikalische Concerte | |
| Fasch | Concerto for oboes, bassoon, strings and continuo in C minor | |
| Corbett | Le Bizzarie Universali, from All’Irelandese, Op 8 | |
| Vivaldi | Concerto à 10 stromenti in D major, RV 562a |
| The Brandenburg Choir with 50 boy trebles |
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Conductor, Paul Dyer
"[The Brandenburg Choir is] one of the finest choruses one could put together in this town"
The Sydney Morning Herald
Following sold-out performances in 2006, the Brandenburg Choir joins with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and 50 boy trebles to bring you another choral and instrumental spectacular on an even grander scale.
Biber's tour de force Battalia evokes the madness and mayhem of the battlefield, all recreated on string instruments, including cannon shots!
As the smoke clears, imagine an army of young angels appearing on stage when 50 trebles, accompanied by the Orchestra, transport you to another world with their soaring voices in Bach's sublime cantata.
Rousing trumpets and drums will then stir your soul as the Choir and Orchestra perform Buxtehude’s magnificent celebratory work Heut’ triumphieret Gottes Sohn. Bach was so inspired by Buxtehude’s music, he once walked 400 km to hear his choir perform.
The magical finale will hold you transfixed as the superb voices of the sopranos rise up in the glorious and much loved Dixit Dominus. This magnificent work of driving energy and vocal virtuosity conveys all the power and passion of a triumphant Handel!
Program
| Biber | Battalia | |
| Purcell | Now that the Sun Hath Veil’d His Light (An Evening Hymn) | |
| JS Bach | Schafe Können sicher weiden from Cantata BWV 208 | |
| Buxtehude | Cantata Heut triumphieret Gottes Sohn, Bux WV 43 | |
| Handel | Concerto grosso in F major, Op 6 No 9 | |
| Handel | Dixit Dominus, HWV 232 |
| Andreas Scholl diary of a superstar |
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Guest soloist, countertenor Andreas Scholl (Germany)
"Scholl's voice rushes through the bloodstream, so tender and gravely beautiful that time seems to stand still."
The Times
Andreas Scholl is an international superstar, selling out every concert he performs. Now the world's greatest countertenor returns to the Brandenburg for this unforgettable program.
Be caressed by the voice of the masterful Scholl as he brings to life the diary of Senesino – the world's greatest castrati, more famous in his day than Farinelli.
Senesino's divine voice had audiences swooning and inspired Handel to write twenty operatic roles. Only a legend could do justice to his music, and in the modern era that legend is Andreas Scholl. As Scholl's voice reveals the soul of Senesino, the Brandenburg's own Alan Maddox will narrate the story of this great man, delving deep into his diary.
You'll also see the world premiere live performance of Marco Rosano's Stabat Mater – a mesmerising work written especially for Scholl and his hauntingly beautiful voice.
Throughout the program the Orchestra will unleash its own dynamic voice with works by Brescianello and Heinichen, full of melodic elegance and rhythmic vitality. The Brandenburg also continues its series of Handel's Concerti grossi, Opus 6, hailed as masterpieces of the late Baroque.
Program
| Brescianello Rosano Heinichen Handel Porpora Handel |
Sinfonie No 5 in F major Stabat Mater Concerto in F major, Dresden Concerto, Seibel 234 Concerto grosso in B minor, Op 6 No 12 Va per le vane il sangue from Il trionfo di Camilla Bel Contento from the Opera Flavio Al Lampo dell’armi and Va Tacito from Julius Caesar |