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Intimate Bach

Intimate Bach

Intimate Bach
19 - 30 October 2019
A chamber highlight. Tickets from $49
Bach holds a special place in the heart of every ACO musician. In this program we explore his genius with an impressive line-up featuring Richard Tognetti, Erin Helyard, Brett Dean and ACO Principal Cello, Timo-Veikko Valve. 

Richard Tognetti’s solo violin opens the program. Its pure, captivating tone sets the scene before giving way to the vibrant lyricism of the Sonata in A major for violin and harpsichord. A favourite of Richard’s and audiences alike, his recording of the complete Bach Sonatas for violin and harpsichord won an ARIA Award for Best Classical Album.

Brett Dean features as both composer and performer in this program. Commissioned by the ACO and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, his Approach (Prelude to a Canon), was written as a prologue to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.6, leading directly into what he calls the “close, contrapuntal companionship” of the voices in Bach.

Bach’s inventive Brandenburg Concertos are one of his many crowning achievements. The Sixth Concerto is the most intimate of all and a striking and elegant finale to the famous suite.

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Program Detail

BACH – Andante from Sonata for Solo Violin No.2 in A minor
6:00
BACH – Sonata for Violin and Harpsichord No.2 in A major
15:00
BACH – Sinfonia No.2 in C minor
2:00
KURTÁG – Hommage à J.S.B.
1:00
BACH – Sinfonia No.10 in G
1:00
KURTÁG – Ligatura Y
3:00
BACH – Sinfonia No.9 in F minor
4:00
KURTÁG – Zank-Kromatisch
1:00
BACH – Sinfonia No.6 in E
1:00
KURTÁG – Perpetuum Mobile B
1:00
BACH – Sinfonia No.11 in G minor
2:00
MARAIS – Sonnerie de Sainte-Geneviève du Mont de Paris
8:00
BRETT DEAN – Approach (Prelude to a Canon) - Australian Premiere*
12:00
BACH – Brandenburg Concerto No.6 in B-flat major
14:00
CONCERT duration
90 mins (incl interval)
Concert program
Download Concert Program
Playlist by the ACO
Intimate Bach
Join us 45 minutes before the performance to learn about the concert from a music expert.

Guest Speaker:  Toby Chadd

Sat 19 Oct, 6:15pm


Guest Speaker:  Toby Chadd

Tue 22 Oct, 7:15pm


Guest Speaker:  Toby Chadd

Wed 23 Oct, 6:15pm


Guest Speaker:  Toby Chadd

Fri 25 Oct, 12:45pm


Guest Speaker:  Lucas Burns

Mon 21 Oct, 6:15pm


Guest Speaker:  Toby Chadd

Thu 24 Oct, 6:45pm


Guest Speaker:  Toby Chadd

Sun 27 Oct, 1:15pm


Guest Speaker:  John Weretka

Mon 28 Oct, 6:45pm


Guest Speaker:  Celia Craig

Tue 29 Oct, 6:45pm


Guest Speaker:  Cassandra Lake

Wed 30 Oct, 6:45pm


Artists

ACO Artistic Director Richard Tognetti

Richard Tognetti AO

Director & Violin

Richard Tognetti is Artistic Director and Lead Violin of the ACO. He has established an international reputation for his compelling performances and artistic individualism.

Richard has appeared as director or soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras. He was Artistic Director of Slovenia’s Festival Maribor from 2008 to 2015 and the first Artist-in-Residence at the Barbican Centre’s Milton Court in 2016. In addition, he has curated and co-composed film scores including the ACO’s Mountain.

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Violist and composer Brett Dean

Brett Dean

Violist & Composer

Brett Dean is an Australian composer, violist and conductor who was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1985-99. One of the most internationally performed composers of his generation, much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by paintings of his partner Heather Betts.
Harpsichordist Erin Helyard

Erin Helyard

Harpsichord

Erin Helyard is one of Australia’s foremost early music specialists, both as a conductor and a performer on harpsichord, organ and fortepiano. A Helpmann Award winner, he is Artistic Director and co-founder of Pinchgut Opera and the Orchestra of the Antipodes, and has performed with orchestras Australia wide.
Tipi

Timo-Veikko Valve

Cello

Timo-Veikko ‘Tipi’ Valve was appointed Principal Cello of the ACO in 2006. He is regarded as one of the most versatile musicians of his generation performing as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral leader on both modern and period instruments, and regularly performs as a soloist with the ACO.

Composers

Composer JS Bach

JS Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer who enriched and perfected the Baroque style. A prolific composer of instrumental music and sacred vocal music, his works have had an enduring impact on western culture. In his time, Bach was renowned as an organist, able to improvise fugues with ease. To many, Bach is the greatest composer to have ever lived.
Composer György Kurtág

György Kurtág

György Kurtág is a Hungarian composer and pianist. He has won numerous awards and has been composer in residence at the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Konzerthaus and Ensemble Intercontemporain. György is best known as a composer of supercharged miniature pieces, with individual movements lasting no more than a few minutes.
Composer Marin Marais

Marin Marais

Marin Marais was a French composer and viol player who was a musician in he Royal Court at Versailles. A prolific composer of viol music, he is remembered as the composer who “founded and firmly established the empire of the viol.” Marais is also remembered as one of the earliest composers of program music – where music is used to paint a story.
Violist and composer Brett Dean

Brett Dean

Violist & Composer

Brett Dean is an Australian composer, violist and conductor who was a member of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1985-99. One of the most internationally performed composers of his generation, much of Dean’s work draws from literary, political or visual stimuli, including a number of compositions inspired by paintings of his partner Heather Betts.

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Erin Helyard turning a page during performance
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Dive in: Intimate Bach

Preview the music and composers featured in the program.