Spanish Baroque: Brandenburg and Circa

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Posted 2017-05-05 by An epicurean and a plebian ⇒ follow

Wed 03 May 2017 - Fri 12 May 2017

The Brandenburg Orchestra and Circa present Spanish Baroque.

Paul Dyer and Yaron Lifshitz are reunited to bring Sydney a daring night of music and thrills. This season's staging is a rekindling of the creative partnership

that netted the Helpmann Award for the Brandenburg and Circa in 2015.Brisbane's acrobatic talents, Circa, take centre stage in this stunning program. The performers are daring, spellbinding and will leave you breathless throughout their performance. From bullfights to sighing lovers, to bitter rivalries – the passion and romance of Spain is alive in Circa's staging of feats of strength, coordination and balance. Dyer's arrangement of Spanish Baroque pieces serve as a backdrop to Circa - bringing to life the rhythms, sounds, and energy of Iberia.Joining the headliners on stage is Kiwi Soprano, Natasha Wilson, making her debut in Australia, along with Italian baroque guitarist, Stefano Maiorana. Together, this collaboration oozes sophistication – from the lighting, to the costuming, to the arranging – both musical and acrobatic. Each performers' contribution seems simple and effortless, whether it's in the execution of a complicated syncopation or balancing on a stick.

The evening is arranged into four parts with the ensemble forming Circa's centre ring. Each part is a tribute to the myriad forms and origins of Spanish Baroque music. The musical programme transverses folk songs to stately sacred music to lively dances. Yet in arrangement, they flow almost seamlessly into one another creating a very fluid, but fast, 90-minute performance.

From the moment Circa traipsed onto the stage, your reviewers were overwhelmed. Appreciating the music with so much flipping, flying and frolicking in front of you is impossible! But as challenging as it is to listen in, we encourage you to do so. Especially to Wilson whose voice (especially her Su la cetra amoroso) was so sweet and clear but also, haunting and captivating. It was a shame for it to be overcome by bouts of applause in response to simultaneous acrobatic feats. Although the tenor of the music didn't always match with the staging, the orchestra played with energy and awareness of the antics on stage – certainly a feat of their own.

In short, this show is a fantastic introduction to an evening of Baroque for the non-initiated. Dyer continues to bring energy and intrigue to classical music in Sydney through his creative partnerships and adventurous ideas.