Antique Shards Saturday 11 October 11.30am
Nicholas Pollock, Theorbo
In the lovely acoustic of St John’s Anglican Church, Pollock presented a program of exquisite theorbo music, an instrument he described as “the great-auntie of the guitar”, and which Curro in her introduction neatly likened to the “portable harpsichord” of its day. In his program notes Pollock notes how strange it would have been for “a room full of strangers to listen to an hour of solo instrumental music played only for the sake of appreciating its beauty”, and told us in the course of an informative commentary that the various sections of the program were “imagined moments of the musician sitting in the loungeroom of his house in Brunswick” playing for himself. We were interested to learn of the need to “compress” harpsichord pieces into the relatively small and low range of the instrument. It was a real bonus to leave the concert feeling we knew so much more than we did before about a rarely heard instrument.
Pollock gave us a delicious introduction to the rare and small world of solo theorbo, from the simplicity of gentle plucking to virtuosic runs and double, even triple stopping. With so little of its own repertoire, and a limited dynamic and tonal range, the instrument can tend to “sameness” so the odd quicker tempos and decorative flourishes kept the listener alert.
Along with two pieces composed by him for this occasion, Pollock took us on a journey across the 17th and 18th centuries with the program divided into five sections, some music written for theorbo, some arranged by him from pieces scored for harpsichord or cello. His approach within each section was to play continuously without breaks between individual pieces; this provided a satisfying sense of continuity, even in the first section comprising two of his own new works framing an 18th century Johann Caspar Ferdinand Fischer sonata whose “Allemande is a perfect example of a movement tailored to the harpsichord, and therefore perfectly antagonistic to the theorbo”! (program notes).
The Robert de Visée Suite in E minor was an extraordinary toccata-like piece that made the most of the instrument’s baritone intensity. A real treat was hearing Bach’s well-known and loved Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1 in G major in a highly effective transcription by Pollock for the plucked sonorities of his theorbo. The closing work, his arrangement of Carl Friedrich Abel’s Allegro in D major, originally written for viola da gamba, was fiendishly difficult with constant arpeggiation and surely the longest final cadence ever heard in Port Fairy! At the start of his program, Pollock had asked for a show of hands from the audience – and fewer than 50% had ever seen a theorbo; despite this unfamiliarity, they were wildly enthusiastic and clearly shared the delight we had taken in this concert.
Ancestral Echoes Saturday 11 October 2pm
Suzanne Brimacomb, Director; Stefan Cassomenos, Co-arranger; Ring of Bells; Louis Hurley, Tenor; Vox Plexus; Eclective (Lachlan MacLaren, Violin; Rollin Zhao, Violin; Eunise Cheng,Viola; Daniel Smith, Cello; Douglas Rutherford, Double Bass)
A bright rainbow mosaic of a single bell glowed magnificently over the stage as we entered for this concert. In a wide semicircle twelve players of the Ring of Bells had set in order their three-octave set of gleaming handbells. We knew from the program notes to expect traditional songs specially arranged by Cassomenos and Brimacombe. The ancient sounds of bells and monastic voices that began the program (Julian of Norwich’s All will be well) were immediately transfixing, but the joy in the remainder of the program was to hear the bells confidently rung out, variously with string accompaniment (the excellent Eclective) and the added voices of Vox Plexus. The combinations were delightful, varied in texture and instrumentation, with echoes of past lives and melodies always present. The string introduction to the well-known Simple Gifts instantly transported us to lapping waves and the landing of Pilgrims in the New Land. Two interludes from the strings allowed for some distinguished playing from Smith in Dvorak’s “American” String Quartet, and for the spacious antiquity of Arvo Pärt’s Da Pacem Domine. The latter, based on a ninth-century Gregorian antiphon, was commissioned by Jordi Savall in response to the 2004 Madrid train bombings – nicely complementing the program’s theme of “Peace”. A group of bells is an unwieldy accompanying force, and the final item, an arrangement of the well-known round Dona nobis pacem and a “partner song” called Song of Peace faltered occasionally with enthusiastic ringers temporarily separating themselves from the ensemble as new phrases began. A minor quibble, as the overall effect was one of great pleasure to the listener, deep comfort in the golden sonorities, and delight in hearing a local group shine joyfully as music-makers.
Moonlite Saturday 11 October 3.30pm
Miranda Hill, Co-Director; Steven Hodgson, Co-Director; The Consort of Melbourne (Katherine Norman, Soprano; Kristy Biber, Soprano; Elspeth Bawden,Soprano; Timothy Reynolds, Tenor; Jack Jordan, Tenor; Steven Hodgson, Baritone); Louise Devenish, Percussion; Kaylie Melville, Percussion; Zela Papageorgiou, Percussion; Hamish Upton, Percussion; Phoebe Green, Viola
How fortunate we were to hear this award-winning oratorio performed at the Festival. The eponymous “true-crime queer love story” Moonlite scored for the unlikely combination of voices, percussion and solo viola tells of the bushranger Captain Moonlite, aka Andrew George Scott, and his love for his fellow bushranger James Nesbitt. The six singers of the Consort of Melbourne (with Steven Hodgson a late replacement for Lachlan McDonald who had been seconded into the Tallis Scholars’ Melbourne performance) acquitted themselves admirably, providing moments both dramatic and moving. As well as some top-notch singing, especially Norman’s quiet and moving hymn solo on the death of James Nesbitt in Act 2, their onomatopoeic birdsong, bagpipes and other sounds were impressive, although the spoken dialogue occasionally needed more projection over the percussion. Phoebe Green’s expressive viola, with considerable use of harmonics, was joined by excitingly rhythmic and insistent percussion from four splendid players. Sights we’ve never seen and sounds we’d never heard – muted bowed cymbals, a percussion toccata with players drumsticking their thighs, a wild ride on a percussion machine leading us into nightfall as Captain Moonlite and his beloved sidekick lie wet on the hillside. Act Two was musically astonishing, rhythmically complex with singers and players perfectly in unison, with the percussionists also chanting at times in whispers. The oratorio concluded with a most moving epilogue, “As ever man did”, as performers stood, heads bowed. The performance was outstanding, the ensemble singing superb, percussion and viola first class. Five stars.
Dreamcrafters Saturday 11 October 5.30pm
Emerging Artists of Southwest Victoria
As in previous years, Curro and Cassomenos extended their regional engagement by including in the Festival program a public recital by young local students preparing for VCE performance music exams. The students were under the supervision of Ben Hiscock, Director of Music at Hamilton College, and Andrew Philpot, Head of Music at King’s College Warrnambool. It was an invaluable opportunity for them to try out their programs in public a week or two before facing their assessors. Josiah Woodhouse was the only solo instrumentalist, on piano, with a very competent reading of A little Music for Jasmine by Tony Gould. The other five artists were singers; they chose their works mainly from musical theatre, with Ben Hiscock providing the reliable piano accompaniment. Amelie Hiscock gave us No One is Alone from Sondheim’s Into the Woods supported by piano, and Stormy Monday by T-Bone Walker, the latter piece accompanied by Austin Sobey on electric guitar. Hiscock sang in a tuneful clear voice with some nice high notes and showed that she was capable of being quite expressive, especially in the Walker, a blues piece, which I think suited her voice better. Isaac Shaw sang Love Me Sweet by Carl Vine and Stars from Les Miserables. The Vine was originally scored for soprano, but Shaw’s light voice was a very suitable match for the song’s emotion, and he gave a soft and tender rendition with good diction and breath control. His choice of Stars provided a good contrast, with more depth of sound.
Olive Jackson sang Any Day Now by Missy Higgins and Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy by Freddy Mercury and Queen. Jackson has quite a powerful mid-range voice (although with an occasional wobble in intonation) and her last phrase of Any Day Now recapitulating the title was well done. She showed a good sense of rhythm and more expression in the Mercury song and was nicely in sync with Hiscock’s piano accompaniment. Dan Duffy was accompanied by Lachlan Ciccocioppio on acoustic guitar, singing If I Could Tell Her from Dear Evan Hansen in a light tenor voice that made occasional use of falsetto. Despite showing signs of nervousness, Duffy made a good attempt to be expressive. Finally we had Mae Fraser with My House from Matilda, accompanied by Hiscock, and Rhiannon by Stevie Nicks, the latter accompanied by Sobey’s electric guitar. Though very pleasant, Fraser’s soft voice sometimes struggled to be heard over her accompanists, and she had a tendency to breathe in the middle of phrases, perhaps due to nerves. She warmed up in Rhiannon and sang with good rhythmic sense.
It was rewarding to spend an hour with these young people who are learning their performance skills with some interesting repertoire. A respectably sized audience supported the artists with warm applause. If we were to offer any gratuitous advice, it would be to remind the singers not to forget the “theatre” in musical theatre. We hope that this public appearance helps improve their confidence in showing more theatricality in their performances and wish them the very best in their forthcoming assessments.
Angels & Devils Saturday 11 October 8pm
James Crabb, Classical Accordion; Stefan Cassomenos, Piano; Zoë Black, Violin; Jenny Khafagi, Violin; Caroline Henbest, Viola; Timo-Veikko Valve, Cello; Rohan Dasika, Double Bass; Monica Curro, Violin; Jonathan Békés, Cello; Francesco Celata, Clarinet
The program subtitled this as a “Tango Spectacular”, and it was this in spades! Crabb hobbled to his seat onstage with crutch and moonboot (he told us the next day he had broken a tibia playing hockey, tsk tsk) but they proved no impediment whatsoever to his exceptional mastery of his instrument. With smiles at each other all round, the first band (Crabb, Black, Khafagi, Henbest, Valve, Dasika and Cassomenos) headed straight into an exhilarating rendition of Crabb’s arrangement of Piazzolla’s Libertango. This was followed by Bach’s Concerto for Two Keyboards in C minor, arranged by Crabb for piano (Cassomenos) and classical accordion (Crabb) in lieu of two harpsichords, backed by the same quintet. Piazzolla was a great admirer of Bach’s “brilliant counterpoint … and virtuosic, quasi-improvisatory writing” (program notes) and I suspect both Bach and Piazzolla would have revelled in this interpretation. The pizzicato section from violins and viola over dreamy cello, bass and accordion in the slow 2nd movement was especially lovely, and the breathtakingly fast 3rd movement was hilarious – this was Bach on tango steroids. What a team!
Crabb and the quintet then left the stage to make way for Curro, Celata and Békés (in amazing electric blue socks), who joined Cassomenos for the Kats-Chernin Take Me Along. As the program noted, the six movements are “of various flavours and degrees of tango-ness … [and] the four instruments are treated equally”. This latter was most evident, with lines being thrown from one player to another amid constant and often intimate communication between them (with Curro and Békés sometimes exchanging rather dangerous looks!). In a terrific orchestration, the movements varied from slow and languorous to terrifyingly fast, and the playing was never less than expert. Békés’ cello was by turns sweet, heartfelt and exciting.
Crabb et al. returned for the last three works, the first a 1989 collaboration between Antonio Agri and José Carli in “a rhapsody that basks in the glow of nostalgia” (program notes). Crabb crept in after an evocative opening from Black (how can he play all those accordion buttons without looking?!), followed by moody piano from Cassomenos and then the quintet. Such a lovely romantic piece, reminiscent of a 1940s movie. Next was the Angels and Devils Suite that lent its name to the concert, a set of four separate Piazzolla pieces arranged by Crabb. These were classic tango, and the group leaned into the deep chords of the first slow movement singing to me of unrequited love, before jumping into an exciting fast second movement Vayamos al diablo (Let’s Go to the Devil) involving lots of scratching below the bridge of the violins and viola. The audience could not resist applauding this before the third lush romantic movement. The piece finished with such an energetic fourth movement that I felt exhausted! More scratching, tapping on the cello body, cheeky invitations to one another to join the sound.
But a fitting finish was the Piazzolla Oblivion, a melancholic and wistful serenade that captured the essence of musicality and musicianship of the group.
Overall, with both the Crabb and Curro groups, this was an outstanding performance that you would be lucky to hear on any concert stage.
Lior + Eclective Saturday 11 October 8pm
Lior, Voice/Guitar; Eclective (Lachlan MacLaren, Violin; Rollin Zhao, Violin; Eunise Cheng, Viola; Daniel Smith, Cello)
Lior gave us a program of his own songs at St John’s to a very friendly audience, the strings of Eclective providing classy and sophisticated accompaniments. Highly polished gems of song were performed in his inviting, lyrical style, interspersed with his amiable chat telling us the background to the songs. Daniel was an especially lovely arrangement, expressive of his old friend. Satisfied Mind was a highlight, featuring Lior’s own beautifully controlled bendy and tremulous guitar. He has a lovely legato line, with fine phrasing and clear unforced words. And a falsetto to die for! Lyrics are human and relatable, even referencing Melbourne suburbs we know. An audience favourite was his “one classical piece for the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival”, a piece from Compassion, his 2013 symphonic collaboration with Nigel Westlake. An enormously enjoyable, intimate evening with the very musical Lior and friends.
Jude Perl: Songs for Overthinkers Saturday 11 October 10pm
Jude Perl, Voice/Piano
On an otherwise empty stage was Perl, seated at the piano, singing, talking, communicating to us for an hour. With funny, clever lyrics in a terrific singing voice, she gave us songs about “memes that stick in your brain” – KFC, Mitre 10, Charlie Sheen, Miss Congeniality, Everyone Loves Raymond (according to Perl, better than Friends) – and drew on her own experiences to tell us why she always wanted to live in a one-bedroom apartment, and how she never succeeded in beating her brother at Monopoly. Brilliant. Her easy pop-culture references were familiar to the audience who laughed pretty much all the way through the performance, as she told us how you can make sense of the world through crappy TV and movies. It was a highly entertaining way of telling some truths about human nature, of which she is clearly an astute observer. “This is a very classy Festival, so I wore my classy pants!” She’s like a musical Ruby Wax, or a one-woman musical comedy – indefatigable, untiring, so much energy!
Image supplied.
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Kristina and Bruce Macrae reviewed concerts and events featured in the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival held at various Port Fairy venues from October 10-12, 2025.
