Richard Egarr to Lead the Australian Chamber Orchestra on Tour, 13-28 June

The reigning king of historically informed performance, Richard Egarr is one of the world's finest keyboardists, conducts his own band, is a noted historian and educator, an accomplished entertainer and anecdotalist, and an enthusiast of all things musical. If the musical world has polymaths, then Richard Egarr surely is one. NPR radio calls Egarr "the Bernstein of early music".

A musical giant

Egarr is Music Director of the famously ground-breaking period-instrument ensemble, the Academy of Ancient Music, a small outfit he's packed to the gills with luminaries of the 'historically informed style of playing'. Egarr is also regularly sought after to conduct non-period chamber and symphony orchestras. In addition, he manages to sneak in a busy touring life as a soloist - his chosen weapons are the harpsichord, the fortepiano, the organ and the modern piano. He has, understandably, amassed an impressive collection of award-winning recordings.

Egarr directs from the keyboard

When Egarr toured with the ACO in 2012, we fell in love with his irreverent style of music-making and bristling energy. For his return to the ACO in 2015, the program he's specially devised for us displays all the invention and innovation that abounded in the 17th and 18th centuries. From his own homeland, Egarr brings Henry Purcell, a titan of English music with one of his finest theatrical works, and the lavishly gifted William Lawes, admired for his daring, both in music and in life. Joseph Haydn was known as 'the father of the symphony', and Egarr directs his Symphony No.44 (the 'Mourning Symphony') from the fortepiano. He will also take on the solo role in Haydn's Keyboard Concerto in D major, which he has made all his own.

Egarr the educator

A passionate advocate of music education, Egarr believes it goes hand in hand with great music-making: "It should be an engaging experience and, in a good way, challenging the audience to think a bit". A big husky Yorkshireman with genial accent to match, Egarr is quite the seductive speaker, and audiences might be surprised with some mid-performance banter telling them why he loves this music so much.

Satu Vänskä, plays Bach on Australia's only Stradivarius violin

ACO Principal Violin, Satu Vänskä, plays Bach's Violin Concerto in A minor - the first time in nearly 20 years that the ACO has played this magnificent concerto in a main stage season.

Vänskä says "Bach's violin concertos are among the staples for the violinist, particularly younger players learning the instrument. I have never performed the A minor Concerto as an adult and I cannot remember my first attempt to play it as a child, which is perhaps a good thing!" said Satu.

Ever the inventor, Bach enjoyed the endless possibilities of instrumentation, often rearranging works to suit his own needs. Vänskä notes that "Bach himself rearranged this work as the Harpsichord Concerto in G minor. Many others have followed his lead and played it on a variety of instruments. I remember hearing a particularly interesting performance on a bandoneon, which is a kind of concertina!"

We are lucky to be hearing this concerto, one of only two Bach wrote for solo violin, on Australia's only Stradivarius violin. "It is always a transcendent experience for a musician to translate the mind-boggling writing from Bach to sounds in a concert hall, making it our own" commented Vänskä.

REPERTOIRE

PURCELL Suite from The Fairy Queen

LAWES Consort Set à 6, No. VII in C major

JS BACH Violin Concerto in A minor

HAYDN Keyboard Concerto in D major

HAYDN Symphony No.44 in E minor, 'The Mourning'

PERFORMANCES

Canberra - Llewellyn Hall Saturday 13 June, 8pm

Melbourne - Hamer Hall Sunday 14 June, 2.30pm

Monday 15 June, 8pm

Adelaide Town Hall Tuesday 16 June, 8pm

Perth Concert Hall Wednesday 17 June, 7.30pm

Brisbane - QPAC Monday 22 June, 8pm

Wollongong Town Hall Saturday 20 June, 7.30pm

Sydney - City Recital Hall Tuesday 23 June, 8pm

Wednesday 24 June, 7pm

Friday 26 June, 1.30pm

Saturday 27 June, 7pm

Sydney Opera House - Concert Hall Sunday 28 June, 2pm

Photo: Richard Egarr © Marco Borggreve

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