As the day’s rain cleared, Ballarat’s classical music fans poured into St Patrick’s Cathedral to hear the orchestral and operatic highlights of the last years of the Ancien Regime performed by a full orchestra and choir.

He may not be a household name in Ballarat, but in France Rameau is regarded as a leading light of that great outpouring of music that spilled from the Baroque era.

Almost 80 when he died – a great age for that time – his reputation as a composer today rests largely on his operatic output, but he also wrote for the harpsichord and was a theorist of music as well. He learned music before he could either read or write.

The OBG festival has an undeserved reputation of being somewhat sombre  – churches, organs, classical music – but it is one of Victoria’s great treasures. It’s a chance to hear rarely-played pieces by the great composers including Handel, Bach, and Telemann, as well as works by lesser-known composers such as Rameau and others not so commonly performed in this country. 

It is also a singular opportunity to see national and international performers playing in intimate venues, at prices that other concertgoers around the world would envy.

This year’s concert has such brilliant and well-known performers as the Slava and Leonard Grigoryan playing Tchaikovsky, Handel and their own work; Genevieve Lacey, Jane Gower and Lars Ulrik Mortensen playing trios of Bach, Handel and Telemann; and the virtuoso organist Giampolo di Rosa will give several recitals featuring the works of Bach, Franck, Schumann and Liszt. 

It’s also more than classical music.

The Babaganoush Gypsy Ensemble will perform their vivacious renditions of Balkan folkloric music at the town hall in Dunolly. Tony Fenelon will play the Compton Organ at Her Majesty’s Theatre, bringing to life Tom and Jerry cartoons and other silent film music.

Senior Lecturer in Musicology at the University of Melbourne Bill O’Donnell will deliver a musically-illustrated lecture on the developments that have led to the modern piano, and how those developments have influenced composers over the centuries.

Genevieve Lacey is one of Australia’s most respected artists, internationally recognised as a virtuoso on the recorder. She has worked in theatre, film and television; has collaborated with artists as diverse as Paul Kelly and the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

She is appearing at the festival with her regular collaborators Jane Gower (baroque bassoon) and Lars Ulrik Mortensen (harpsichord), playing selections of the German High Baroque.

Ms Lacey say the festival is a unique opportunity for the people of Ballarat to listen to and educate themselves about the intimate nature of chamber music.

“It’s incredibly lyrical,” Ms Lacey said.

“Each instrument has a very particular character. The thing about really great chamber music – and I’d like to say that my two colleagues are among the most distinguished musicians on their instruments in the world, so it’s amazing to have them in Ballarat – is that it’s a conversation between friends, and in this instance the characters of the instruments and the characters of the players are really quite varied.”

The Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields is a major logistical feat and it is conducted by a dedicated team of volunteers, led by the redoubtable Sergio de Pieri.

Mr de Pieri established the festival in 1996, and his post-performance suppers remain a highlight of each year’s program.

He says he thought the festival might last 10 years from its outset.

“But after 10 years, the people, they started coming more and more,” Mr de Pieri said.

“This year, we have many more bookings than last year. We have such a strong program this year, for everybody. For example, the Compton Organ in her Majesty’s Theatre. You would never have that in Italy. But here, - it is such a fantastic thing for that kind of music.”

For violinist Julia Fredersdorff, one of the beauties of being able to play different works by composers such as Bach, Handel, Telemann and Erlebach is the opportunity to counterpoint their works in the light of their personalities.

“In his day, Handel was more glamorous and he was a very savvy business man,” Ms Fredersdorff said.

“Bach – he was very much at the service of God. In a way, Handel was writing music for the public, and Bach was writing music for the church and for God. Bach’s focus was numerical perfection; a lot of his works are littered with hidden codes, and he hides Lutheran hymns in basslines, whether he was aware of it or not.”

Today Bach is regarded as the great master of western music.

Ms Fredersdorff will be playing with Latitude 37, a baroque trio that features violin, harpsichord and the wondrous viola da gamba.

“It’s like a bowed guitar,” Ms Fredersdorff said. “It has frets and a similar set-up with six or seven strings., but you play it like a cello. But it’s closer to a guitar.”

Internationally-recognised organist Anthony Halliday says the festival is a chance for the people of Ballarat to immerse themselves in the experience of hearing live music played in historically vibrant atmospheres.

Mr Halliday says his recital for organ and three trumpets will take advantage of the magnificent acoustics of the bluestone solidity of St Patrick’s Cathedral by placing the musicians around the interior the cathedral. 

“One of the pieces, Benjamin Britten’s Fanfare for St Edmundsbury, was written to be played in the precincts of St Edmundsbury’s Cathedral, and each trumpet will be in a different place in the building,” said Mr Halliday.

“The acoustics here are very lively and resonant, very good for organ and trumpet. I’m hoping that the effect will be something that reminds people of St Mark’s in Venice, where different groups of instrumentalists will play from different galleries.”

The festival continues until January 22.