OBSERVER: Handel and Bach


Internationally acclaimed harpsichordist and early music specialist Kristian Bezuidenhout joins the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for a Handel and Bach concert at Ringwood’s George Wood Performing Arts Centre, Ringwood on Friday, September 18.
Australian-born and now based in London, Bezuidenhout is one of the world’s leading period-instrument keyboard players, celebrated for his performances of Mozart, Bach and the great Baroque repertoire.
He joins the MSO in a miniature Baroque festival program of Handel and Bach, and his own harpsichord arrangement of Contrapunctus XIV from Bach’s The Art of Fugue.
The program culminates in Handel’s Water Music, famously written for King George I’s royal excursion on the River Thames in 1717.
The King reportedly enjoyed the music so much that he had the musicians repeat it during the evening. More than 300 years later, its fanfares, dances and brilliant orchestral colour remain some of Handel’s most instantly recognisable music.
Alongside Water Music, the program features Handel’s Concerto Grosso and overture to Admeto, together with Bach’s Orchestral Suite No.1 and Sinfonia from Cantata BWV 52.
Performance Details: Friday, September 18 at 7.30pm
Venue: George Wood Performing Arts Centre, Yarra Valley Grammar, 84-90 Kalinda Rd., Ringwood
Tickets: tickets@gwpac.com.au
Cheryl Threadgold

Pictured: Kristian Bezuidenhout
Photo: Marco Borggrevehr.