3 concerts over 3 days, April 7-9, 2023
JS Bach St John Passion
Good Friday, 7 April at 2.30 pm, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
Melbourne Bach Chamber Choir & Orchestra (concertmaster Rachel Beesley), conducted by Rick Prakhoff, with Andrew Goodwin, tenor (Evangelist); Christopher Hillier, baritone (Jesus); Lorina Gore, soprano; Sally-Anne Russell, mezzo- soprano; Henry Choo, tenor; and Jeremy Kleeman, bass-baritone
This performance of the earliest of Bach’s two great surviving Passions will be the first by the Melbourne Bach Chamber Choir (founded in 2016).
Solo Violin Recital by Rachel Beesley: Sonata, Partita & Passacaglia
Easter Saturday, 8 April at 5 pm, Primrose Potter Salon
JS Bach: Partita no.2 in D Minor, BWV 1004
Heinrich Biber: Passacaglia in G minor
JS Bach: Partita no.2 in A Minor, BWV 1003
GF Handel Messiah
Easter Sunday Saturday, 9 April at 7 pm, Elisabeth Murdoch Hall
Melbourne Bach Choir & Orchestra, conducted by Rick Prakhoff, with Lorina Gore (soprano), Belinda Paterson (mezzo-soprano), Andrew Goodwin (tenor) and Simon Meadows (baritone)
Handel’s great oratorio is generally performed now at Christmas time. But until as recently as the 1950s, it was usually staged at Easter, as it was at its premiere in Dublin in 1742.
This performance reverts to the original idea of the work as an outpouring of joy and meditation at Easter-tide, thus complementing Melbourne Bach Choir’s tradition of performing JS Bach’s Passions on Good Friday (first in 2006, and since 2015 at the MRC).