Brisbane Baroque 2016 Goes On Sale
Following its huge success and its swag of five Helpmann Awards in 2015, Brisbane Baroque has unveiled its 2016 program, an expanded season in its second year showcasing international stars and a host of emerging Australian musicians, set to run from Friday April 8 until Saturday April 16.
Following the triumphant production of Faramondo in 2015, next year there is another rarity from Göttingen, Handel’s first operatic masterpiece, Agrippina.
A three-part celebration of the music of Antonio Vivaldi will also be part of the festival titled The Red Priest, with the Australian debut of the renowned American mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux, performing with Brisbane’s Camerata of St John’s, who will also be featured in the second concert, The Red Priest at the Red Brick Church at Red Hill. The third concert of the series, Women of the Pieta, will feature the music composed by Vivaldi for the women of the Ospedale performed at St John’s Cathedral by a choir and orchestra composed entirely of women .
The Queensland Symphony Orchestra celebrates Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven, featuring soprano Greta Bradman, British tenor Nicholas Scott, and violinists Ioana Tache and Kristian Winther.
Brisbane Baroque 2016 will also be the Australian debut of the astonishing young harpsichord virtuoso Mahan Esfahani.
A specially commissioned edition of King Arthur by Henry Purcell will feature at Brisbane City Hall, along with The Art of the Countertenor featuring three internationally acclaimed young countertenors, Carlo Vistoli from Italy, Owen Willets from the UK and Australia’s Russell Harcourt. The Australian early music group Latitude 37 will return with a larger ensemble in 2016 for Royal Consort.
The popular 5x5x5@5 concert series will return to Brisbane City Hall along with All Stops Out, four free lunchtime recitals featuring Brisbane’s finest organists, and free talks to aid audience appreciation and enjoyment of all things Baroque.
