Illuminate | Bruch, Britten & Tchaikovsky. Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra

AUSTRALIAN ROMANTIC & CLASSICAL ORCHESTRA

Image by Nick Gilbert

In describing his own Les Illuminations, Benjamin Britten wrote, “The word ‘Illuminations’ suggests both the vision of a mystic and a brightly coloured picture”. It is this sense of a technicolour canvas that the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra invoke in Illuminate, their first concert of 2021, featuring pieces by Britten, Tchaikovsky and Bruch.

Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence begins in the tranquil air of the Mediterranean before taking us directly to the Motherland, its fourth and final movement intensely Russian and Romantic in its sound. Max Bruch’s Serenade for Strings after Swedish Melodies in C minor is a seldom-heard but beautiful example the life-long attraction to folk tunes and themes of which his Scottish Fantasy is the best-known (and most-performed) example. And Britten’s work couples some of his most remarkable string writing with the words of French poet Arthur Rimbaud to create something evocative and fantastical.

Directed by concertmaster Rachael Beesley and featuring soprano Jacqueline Porter, Illuminate invites you to join the Australian Romantic & Classical Orchestra on a European musical journey from the comfort of the concert hall.