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Haydn’s Dream & Bach\u2019s Goldberg<\/em><\/p>\n Australian Haydn Ensemble\/Melbourne Digital Concert Hall<\/em><\/p>\n 8 October, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n The Australian Haydn Ensemble pitted slumber against insomnia in its programme Haydn’s Dream & Bach\u2019s Goldberg <\/em>for Melbourne Digital Concert Hall. Led by artistic director and violinist Skye McIntosh, who was joined by violinist Matthew Greco, viola player Karina Schmitz and violoncellist Daniel Yeadon, the ensemble delivered a delightful, historically informed performance of neatly themed music, on period instruments.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is old is new again,\u201d crooned Peter Allen, and the AHE reached back to the Baroque to open their programme with selections from Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>BWV 988<\/em>, arranged by French musicologist Fran\u00e7ois Me\u00efmoun (b 1979) for string quartet. As the story goes, the monumental Aria and 30 variations was first performed on the harpsichord by Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a precocious 14-year-old, to soothe the insomnia of his employer, Count Hermann Karl von Keyserling. The piece has been reincarnated and reinvented in so many different ways and for so many different instruments and combinations, it has surely entered Nirvana and evokes an idyllic state in eternity.<\/p>\n Bach\u2019s own strategy of underpinning the variations on harmony rather than melody, has allowed infinitely more opportunities for reinterpretation. Me\u00efmoun observes \u2018\u2019total respect for the original text. No change of notes or rhythms.\u201d The choice of string quartet by Fran\u00e7ois Me\u00efmoun\u2019s for his arrangement, is a stroke of genius.\u00a0 The harpsichord, beauteous as it is, does not sustain sound. In the hands of the AHE we were given a fresh and individual experience of the Aria and selected variations. Using the power of the string ensemble to sustain the tone and vary the dynamics, the AHE deftly navigated a fine balance between cleanly illustrating themes and counter-themes, without losing definition in an indistinct wash of sound.\u00a0 They teased out the comparisons and contrasts in Bach\u2019s polyphony. The Aria, so exquisitely simple was gracefully played with its ornaments and phrasing; the variations were coloured with nuances not possible on the Baroque keyboard, in a careful mix of intellect with\u00a0 emotion.<\/p>\n The second movement of Beethoven\u2019s String Quartet No. 1 Op 18<\/em> aptly marked Adagio<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>affettuoso ed appassionato<\/em>\u00a0<\/em>was Beethoven\u2019s response to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet whose dream of love resulted in tragedy. Calling for a far greater serving of emotion and drama, the AHE responded with Skye McIntosh\u2019s achingly beautiful expression of the opening theme. Whilst the lower strings participated in some degree of imitation, this movements is almost a concertino for violin, in which McIntosh took centre-stage with empathetic support from the ensemble, exceptionally cohesive in the extended pauses and declamations of the last bars of the movement.<\/p>\n Finally, Franz Josef Haydn\u2019s String Quartet No. 40 in F major Op. 50 No. 5\u00a0<\/em>The Dream, <\/em>so called, for the mood evoked by the Poco adagio <\/em>second movement. The first movement however, (Allegro moderato), <\/em>was given its characteristic jollity with the ensemble engaging in roguish banter, before lapsing into the other-worldly reverie that is the second movement. With the broad arpeggios of the fourth movement and its portamenti guffaws,\u00a0 the AHE expressed the best of Haydn\u2019s gaiety building up the simple thematic material with style and substance.<\/p>\n This might have left me wide awake and ready to party if not for the very welcome, unprogrammed inclusion of Schumann\u2019s Tr\u00e4umerei, no.7 <\/em>from his Kinderszenen opus 15, <\/em>a radiantly beautiful, exquisitely crafted piece, like the \u2018Goldberg\u2019, first written for keyboard and given a sweepingly sublime rendition by the AHE.<\/p>\n Charles MacInnes\u2019 erudite programme notes were entertaining and informative. Peter Allen\u2019s lyrics continue with special relevance to dreams and existential dread \u201cLet’s go backwards when forward fails\u2026 Don’t throw the past away\u2026Dreams can come true again, When everything old is new again.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Shamistha de Soysa for SoundsLikeSydney\u00a9<\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Haydn’s Dream & Bach\u2019s Goldberg Australian Haydn Ensemble\/Melbourne Digital Concert Hall 8 October, 2020 The Australian Haydn Ensemble pitted slumber against insomnia…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28145,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"sls_format":[],"class_list":["post-28144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews"],"acf":{"deck":"","is_featured":false,"media_type":"standard","audio_embed":"","video_url":""},"yoast_head":"\n