City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney
February 24, 2015

Back in 2012, Toronto-based early music ensemble Tafelmusik deservedly won a Helpmann Award for their innovative Galileo Project, a production that combined baroque music with stunning images from the Hubble Space Telescope and readings from the letters of Galileo Galilei. Well, they’re back – and this time it’s art that is at the heart of their captivating, informative and toe tapping House of Dreams.

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Taking its cue from five ‘musical’ houses in London, Venice, Delft, Paris and Leipzig, violone and bass player Alison Mackay has woven an intricate tapestry of historical, musical and mercantile connections that will make you ooh and ah as it uncovers a web of coincidences as intriguing as the Da Vinci Code. Illustrated with appropriate projected artworks on a framed screen above the action, and narrated in style by engaging actor Blair Williams, the 17 musicians of Tafelmusik strut their stuff on a stage uncluttered by music stands. Yes, they have memorised the entire program, a rather spectacular feat that results in a special sense of musical communion...