Richard Tognetti Artistic Director and Lead Violin
Sara Macliver Soprano
Fiona Campbell Mezzo Soprano
Andrew Staples Tenor
Matthew Brook Bass
SHOSTAKOVICH Elegy and Polka
JS BACH Missa Brevis in G minor, BWV235
PÄRT Summa
SCHOENBERG Litany from String Quartet No.2
JS BACH Motet: Lobet den Herrn, BWV230
BURRELL Das Meer, das so gross und weit ist, da wimmelt's ohne Zahl, grosse und kleine Tiere
JS BACH Cantata: Wo gehest du hin? BWV166
Read the concert program PDF.
Listen to Radio National's program about the Bach performed in this concert.
Richard Tognetti, much awarded for his performances of Bach, has selected one mass, one motet and one cantata from Bach’s vast catalogue for this Easter tour. Two of Australia’s leading Baroque singers, Sara Macliver and Fiona Campbell, and two of the most exciting singers from the British vocal scene, Andrew Staples and Matthew Brook, sing one voice per part. Expect deeply affecting, fearsomely virtuosic music-making.
Centuries later, Bach’s influence remains pervasive. Schoenberg, Pärt, Burrell and Shostakovich speak from different places and experiences, yet each grapple with Bach. Burrell conjures the sounds and atmosphere of the sea in a prelude and fugue with a title from the Lutheran Bible. Hypnotic and mystical, Pärt’s Summa sets the Credo and Schoenberg’s soprano soloist sings a heart-breaking Litany. First though, quirky music from Shostakovich.
"Climbing the musical equivalent of Mt Everest, JS Bach, it’s often in the nooks and crannies that one finds his most astonishingly imaginative output. We have found synergy between works that create a great arc from Bach’s Lutheran Mass to Schoenberg’s Second String Quartet. Once the jigsaw fell into place, this program has been on constant rotation on my CD player." Richard Tognetti
"I could hardly live without Bach in my life. Singing this exquisite, passionate and divinely inspired music is always hugely challenging and immensely inspiring. One voice per part will allow us to deliver an incredible degree of clarity in the sound and detail in the phrasing and articulation, similar in concept to that of a string quartet as opposed to a full string ensemble. And of course, the thrill of actually singing all of those magnificent choruses in full voice (rather than humming them under my breath onstage) will be a complete joy for me." Fiona Campbell
