THE St Matthew Passion of J.S. Bach stands at the pinnacle of western music and its glorious performance at the opening concert of the 2015 Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields festival added to the special occasion of the festival’s 20th year.
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At St Patrick’s Cathedral, Gary Ekkel brought together and directed a large group of musicians and singers, many of whom are household names.
The result was a performance which was virtuosic and historically informed, giving great clarity to the work.
The many soloists were superb, particularly Daniel Thomson as evangelist, while the instrumentalists maintained precision of rhythm and intonation throughout.
The vocal texture of the chorales was poised and perfectly balanced.
The festival moved from the 18th to the 17th century at the Neil Street Uniting Church with a varied concert presented by Camerata Antica.
Soprano Anna Sandstrom, cornettist Matthew Manchester and organist David Drury displayed outstanding refinement in a program of Italian and English music.
The blending and interchanging of voice and cornetto was seamless. Regular festival organist Anthony Halliday gave a solid performance of Buxtehude and J.S.Bach at the Ballarat Central Uniting Church, programming a couple of chorale preludes in between the grand, extrovert pieces that seem to define the instrument.
The impressively high standard of the music continued at the Loreto Chapel where Genevieve Lacey (recorder) and James Crabb (accordion) delivered a fascinating and unusual program of music covering four centuries.
Musicianship and technique were matched by the sheer enthusiasm for exploring musical ideas and challenges, be it a J.S.Bach sonata or Andrea Keller’s Where is Everybody ?.
The rapport between the musicians contributed to the sense that these seemingly unrelated instruments sit together comfortably.
FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Monday
Recital 7, 10.30am and 12.30pm
Carngham Uniting Church, Snake Valley
Sublime delights of the French Baroque
Recital 8, 8pm
Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute, Sturt Street
Trio Sine Nomine – J.S Bach Trio Sonatas Part 1
Tuesday
Recital 9, 10.30am and 12pm
Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Maldon
J.S Bach Organ Recital – Dr Calvin Bowman
Recital 10, 2.30pm
St Brigid’s Catholic Church, Maldon
Timothy Nankervic – Recital for Solo Cello
Recital 11, 8pm
St Paul’s Anglican Church, Humffray Street South
Organ Recital – David Drury
Wednesday
Recital 12, 11am
St Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church, Buninyong
Hidden Treasures for Baroque Winds
Recital 13, 4pm
Art Gallery of Ballarat, Lydiard Street
Beethoven for flute and piano
Recital 14, 8pm
St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat
Marek Kudlicki – organ recital
