Bach Akademie Australia | The Art of Violin
26 September 2025, Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House, NSW
PROGRAM
A. Vivaldi Violin Concerto RV 208 in D major, ‘Il grosso mogul’
J.M. Leclair Violin Concerto No.1 Op.7 in D minor
G.F. Handel Violin Concerto in B flat major HWV 288
G. Telemann Violin Concerto in A minor TWV 51:A1
J.S. Bach Violin Concerto in E major BWV 1042
VIOLIN SOLOISTS:
Madeleine Easton (Artistic Director)
Rafael Font
Simone Slattery
What an extraordinary concert this was in so many ways. Firstly the program; five violin concertos by five different master composers of the baroque period, from three different countries, made for a wonderful point of comparison. Secondly, three soloists were presented, all from the ranks of the Bach Akademie. Each played brilliantly, but with their own unique style. Again another opportunity for comparison. Thirdly, the program notes. Often classical programs are written by marketing departments listing the impressive achievements of the performers. Here Easton’s program notes were all about the music and about the sonic characteristics and history of each of the instruments that the soloists played; a refreshing musicological delight. And finally; to experience this performance in the intimacy and beauty of the Utzon Room was a privilege.
Of course the music of Bach is the raison d’être of this group and in many senses the final concerto was the culmination of all that had come before. But each of the concertos is a masterpiece in its own right.
The Vivaldi and Bach concertos are appropriate as bookends to the program. The young Bach transcribed many of Vivaldi’s concertos for organ (although not RV 208) in order to study them. He owes much of the harmonic drive so characteristic of his music, the use of diminished chords, dominant 7ths and modulations using cycles of fifths, to his study of Vivaldi.
The Vivaldi concerto was played by Easton. This work is a tour de force with its dazzlingly high and fast passage work and its huge melodic leaps. Easton approached it with her characteristic energy. The phrase-level small rhythmic and dynamic intensifications propelled the piece forward with a thrilling momentum. Her cadenzas were refined and sophisticated, showing off the warmth of her 1682 Grancino instrument. Her slow movement recitativo had all the ornamental fireworks of a virtuosic Italian counter tenor aria. The cadenza in the last movement started with short melodic fragments, gradually lengthening and broadening out so that the return of the tutti was an inevitable and satisfying culmination.
The Leclair concerto had a different air altogether, unfolding as a series of highly structured formal court dances in the French style. A very different experience to Vivaldi. The bass line played a more prominent melodic part and the rhythms were more structured. Rafael Font, the soloist in this work, played alternately with strength and then lyrical delicacy. He showed technical brilliance in the Italianate passages, but also subtlety, as in for example in the acute sharpening of leading notes to increase the harmonic tension and its resolution.
After the Italian and French, the remaining three concertos were all German.
Handel’s concerto is an early one, dating from around 1707 and we can again see the Italian influence; this time that of the concerti grossi of Corelli. The soloist, Simone Slattery, played this work in the sonorous key of B flat major with infectious joy. She shaped long notes and more intricate passages alike with an ease and a lightness of touch, yet brought out the dance-like character of the work. The soloist’s attentive and natural dialogue with the orchestra lent the work an air of elegant sophistication.
Slattery also played the Telemann concerto, this time in the more sober key of A minor, with the same stylish confidence. There are many rhythmic and harmonic twists in this music and Slattery gave space for these surprises to manifest themselves. There was a transparency and a lightness about the texture. In the Adagio movement she showed great emotional depth and contrasted wonderfully with the liveliness of the final Allegro. Again a performance of sophistication and ease.
The final Bach concerto felt like a culmination. JS varies the ritornello theme each time it returns creating a sense of inevitability. The upper strings in the orchestra weave around the soloist, again harking back to the Italian concerto grosso. Easton was utterly at home here; she probably plays this concerto in her sleep! Her elegant long phrases and ornamentation in the Adagio felt as natural as breathing, and the gigue-like sparkle of the final movement made for a buoyant end to the concert.
The BAA appears to be going from strength to strength. The audience loved this concert; the Akademie’s first performance in the Sydney Opera House, and it was a resounding success.
