Elena Kats-Chernin channels Bach and beyond for the ABO’s 25th birthday bash.

City Recital Hall, Angel Place, Sydney

February 19, 2014

It was 25 years ago that Paul Dyer lead the first Australian Brandenburg Orchestra concert at the Sydney Opera House – a gig that was so overwhelming, he recounted, that he fainted in the wings before the curtain call and had to be revived with a handful of sugar. Last night’s anniversary concert at Angel Place was happily ‘sweet’ enough for Mr Dyer to get through it all without the need for artificial stimulants.

The celebratory mood was set with two of Bach’s most joyful occasional pieces, his magnificent Magnificat and the last of his rousing Orchestral Suites. The icing on the cake however was a commission from Dyer’s contemporary and friend, Russian-Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin, who channelled her inner Bach in a work intriguingly entitled Prelude and Cube, written for the exact same forces as Bach’s choral masterpiece – plus soprano saxophone!

The Magnificat was superbly sung by the excellent 30-strong Australian Brandenburg Choir who produced a warm, sophisticated blend throughout and were unfazed by Bach’s ‘take-no-prisoners’ approach to the complex contrapuntal textures and catlike...