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CLASSICAL - Freiburg Baroque Orchestra Adelaide Town Hall


DIANA CARROLL - Reviewer
INDAILY - 5.3.12

What is a Festival for if not to introduce local audiences to works and performers they may otherwise have no opportunity to experience?

Thanks to the Adelaide Festival, the Adelaide Town Hall is home to the premiere Australian performances of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, hailed as one of the world's leading exponents of period music performance.

Last night's performance had the audience spellbound throughout the complete Orchestral Suites by Johann Sebastian Bach. These four pieces are all well-known, but to hear them played together, and on instruments that are old as the music itself, is a rare treat.

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra performs without a conductor, led by concert-master and first violin Gottfried von der Goltz. Most of the musicians play standing rather than sitting, adding to the feeling of immediacy in the music. It also gives an engaging physicality to the musical expression that echoes the dance form.

This performance might be the closest you will ever get to understanding how Bach's music sounded when it was first played in the 1730s – contemporary Baroque, if you like. And 'like' the audience did, being more than generous in their applause.

Tonight's audience will hear a program featuring four Baroque composers, including two Bachs, Handel and Telemann. Cancel your plans and head for the Town Hall.

Presented by the Adelaide Festival, Freiburg Baroque Orchestra plays its last show tonight at the Adelaide Town Hall.

ENDS.