Australian Baroque dramatically captures Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with WA Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre

Australian Baroque’s dramatic rendition of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons enthralled an all-ages audience at His Majesty’s Theatre on Sunday, with vocal interludes from WA Opera stars Prudence Sanders and Brigitte Heuser. Violist Christian Read voiced the preface to each season in turn as artistic director and violinist Helen Kruger led musical excerpts to complement text attributed to Vivaldi himself. It was an educational nod to the many youngsters in the auditorium whose infectious enthusiasm answered Read’s invitation to applaud and cheer whenever, just as a Baroque audience would. A gentle rustling of authentic gut strings opened the first season, Autumn, with violins and violas stage-left and a rhythm section stage-right of harpsichord (James Huntingford), cello (Noeleen Wright), bass (Jacqueline Dossor) and theorbo (Nick Pollock, doubling on guitar with Alexis Chin). A soft segue to harpsichord carried the movement forward over silky strings before the main theme returned with gusto. Kruger was the prima donna of the dance, full of warmth, wit and virtuosic splendour as vigorous pizzicato took turns with fluid bowing in accompaniment, down to a stylish cadence. Sanders and flautist Andy Skinner held the spotlight for Quell’augillin che canto (That little bird who sings), duetting like a pair of fathered friends. Skinner’s agility on the simple Baroque flute was as dazzling as his sequined jacket while Sanders elucidated every note with crystal clarity, adding a few from a bird whistle for good measure. Skinner stayed on to prove his opening salvo was no fluke with Vivaldi’s Flute Concerto in G major, setting a scintillating pace. The slow second movement drew more sedate artistry and expression especially in duet with cello; their sparse pairing offering another view of the Baroque soundscape before pyrotechnics resumed in the finale; rivetting arpeggios, scales and trills over plangent rhythms exciting the ensemble to renewed revelry and a rousing conclusion. Read prefaced the next season, Winter, to intense atmospherics alternating with colour and dramatic release. Harsh bowing sketched the blast of northern winds, resolving to flashes of solo brilliance from Kruger, echoed across her cohort of strings. Clockwork pizzicato and lyrical violin suggested a scene of domestic comfort; a brief respite from the tempest that returned in dynamic bursts, furiously fulminating to finish. After the interval, Spring burgeoned in birdsong and flowing streams, a pastiche of shepherds, sunshine and celebration. Helen and Brian Kruger played a skittish violin call-and-response before folding back into the ensemble; each musical episode assuming its own character as if played by an actor. A bagpipe motif kicked in, toe-tapping with a gritty joie de vivre, while a swooning cadenza from Kruger added another diverting vignette to a rumbustious romp. Mezzo-soprano Heuser’s commanding presence set the scene for Sovvente il sole (Often the sun) from Andromeda Liberata, a solemn soliloquy sung with aplomb over luscious strings plucked, bowed and strummed. Operatic in concept, this was nonetheless intimate despite the grandiose setting of The Maj; the consonance between voice and violin especially effective, beautiful though brief. Summer came around as text and musical clips portrayed both plenty and pestilence, with yet more storms. Languid lines drew out the energy-sapping Mediterranean sun before exploding delicately in shards of climatic disruption. Timing and phrasing were tightly controlled, the 12-strong group focused on Kruger’s bowing and gestures, unleashing a storm of applause in conclusion. Finally, Sanders and Heuser combined in contrasting vocal colours for Ne’giorni tuoi felici (In your days of happiness) from L’Olimpiade, an operatic ornament from a distant era reaching across ages to cheers and hearty applause. Australian Baroque and WA Opera reunite at The Maj on October 26 with The Triumph of Love, a program of French theatre music directed by Nick Pollock, part of a busy August-December program. Established favourites include Space Music, narrated by planetary geologist Dr Antony Brian, on August 16 at Kwinana and August 29 at Thornlie; Music and Mindfulness on September 28 and November 16 at Burswood; and more Vivaldi at Faber Vineyard, Baskerville, on September 21, with a reprise of the Four Seasons on November 1 at Balingup. Strings by the Sea brings music of Handel, Vivaldi and Purcell to Curtin Heritage Cottesloe on September 14, November 9 and December 7. Mozart’s Triple Piano Concerto will grace Government House Ballroom on October 10 with Geoffrey Lancaster, James Huntingford and Jake Smith, while Pollock and Kruger meet again on October 22 for a French Night at Le Vivant restaurant, Highgate. Kruger and Lancaster play Truth, Goodness and Beauty — Mozart and CPE Bach — on November 28, and the season culminates in Christmas with Giovanni Consort at St Mary’s South Perth on December 17.