Adelaide’s Festival of classical music

As always the Adelaide Festival offers a feast of theatre, music and visual arts – and the classical music offered is fresh, vital and contrasting.
Central to this year’s program – and exclusive to Adelaide – is the Australian premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s Mass, a work that the great composer reputedly saw as his defining achievement.
Commissioned for the opening of the Kennedy Center in 1971, the Mass certainly has all the elements of greatness, with what the Festival describes as “a small village” of performers and a supremely charismatic lead in the celebrant, the superbly named American singer Jubilant Sykes. For backing there’s a symphony orchestra, a rock band, a choir and opera singers.
Canadian ensemble Tafelmusik offers greatness on a different kind of scale with The Galileo Project: Music of the Spheres. It combines music, science and storytelling inspired by great astronomers such as Galileo and Isaac Newton stunning large-scale images from the Hubble telescope is combined with music by Vivaldi, Monteverdi, Bach and others, and words read by leading Canadian actor Shaun Smyth.
There’s more early music as the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, one of the world’s finest exponents of this genre offers a choice of two programs. The first is all about Bach. It includes the popular Air on the G string as part of the full Suite in D major – and a complete performance of Bach’s four orchestral suites.
The second program, exclusive to Adelaide, celebrates works of the giants of the German baroque and includes an overture by J.S. Bach’s cousin Johann Bernhard Bach, a composer the master held in high esteem.
Adelaide Chamber Singers and Sydney Chamber Choir further satisfy audience passion for the Baroque with a performance of Bach’s monumental St John Passion, featuring some of Australia’s best young emerging soloists. The work vividly retells the story of Christ’s final hours and crucifixion.
And there’s more fine singing from visitors The Hilliard Ensemble, touring exclusively to the Adelaide Festival. Hear music from medieval to the modern mysticism of Arvo Part, with a compelling program
song list in between.
Finally, an inspired event, The festival @ lunch, serves up a truly varied feast of music daily, all in the hands of fine musicians.
Adelaide Festival 2-18 March. For details of events go to www.adelaidefestival.com.au.