BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
In 2013, self-proclaimed HIPster Meg Cohen founded the Sydney Baroque Music Festival. Now heading into its fourth event, this celebration of historic music will take place in the Glebe Town Hall.
A student-driven initiative, the festival brings together young musicians from across the nation who will spend January 16-20 undertaking mentorship with Baroque ensemble The Muffat Collective.
Ahead of the performance, the group’s violinist Matthew Greco settles in for a chat with us about the importance of running your own festival, and what you can learn from playing this centuries-old music. At 7.30pm this January 20, we’ll hear the festival musicians perform Muffat, Telemann, and Geminiani.
All CutCommon subscribers will receive a 20% discount to this festival event.
Hi Matthew! Looking forward to the Sydney Baroque Music Festival?
I’m really looking forward to this festival! There’ll be great music, a chance to really work hard and challenge ourselves. I think the results are going to be fantastic and result in a really enjoyable concert.
Tell us about how you came to love Baroque music.
I came to love music from the 17th and 18th centuries largely due to listening to CD recordings. When I was in high school, I’d sneak up to the classical room at Grace Brothers and listen to different CDs. Eventually, I bought myself a copy of The Four Seasons, not knowing that the ensemble was playing on period Baroque instruments. I listened to the recording over and over, not really knowing exactly why I liked it so much. When I finally worked out what Baroque instruments were, I was hooked.
I was also lucky enough to have seen some wonderful playing on the Baroque violin by the violinist Anna MacDonald, which really inspired me to start learning how to play this instrument. The more I listened to incredible recordings and live concerts, the more addicted I became to this incredible style of music-making.
What does it mean to you to be performing this style of music today? Are you a HIP practitioner? Do you prefer to take your own interpretation and modernise the works?
To be performing in this style or, let’s say, any style of playing from the 17th and 18th centuries (as there were many!) means that we have to try to understand how musicians made music in that period of time. We do this by researching: reading old scores, essays and treatises about how to compose and perform music; and then experimenting based on what we know by trying things out in rehearsals and concerts. We also attempt this recreation by using instruments made in the old style – using gut strings, a variety of different shaped early model bows, using the harpsichord and small Baroque chamber organ.
The point is not to recreate how this music sounded for a purely archaeological purpose. But rather, the hope is that by understanding how composers wanted their music to be played and putting it into our practice, we can make music sound more convincing, more beautiful and ultimately move audiences.
What advice would you give other young musicians looking to break into Baroque performance in a historically informed way?
Three things: listen, read, and play! Listen to live concerts, good performers and different recordings from all around the world. The best thing is to start developing a taste for this music by immersion. Taking this listening to the next level by doing your own research and practice is essential. It sounds daunting sometimes, but it is so easy and liberating to read documents from the 18th Century and learn a few basic principles about how they made music. You can become your own teacher. And of course, play, experiment, read through music with colleagues and friends with the aim of trying out things that you’ve learned through reading and listening.
This festival is a student-driven initiative. Why do you think it’s important for young musicians to curate events like this, working to build them from the ground up early in their careers?
Starting up a festival like this is actually intrinsic to the way early music is practised. Creating a festival like this on your own terms means that you can have the freedom to experiment with playing music in different ways, without having to conform to the set agenda of any particular conductor or director who might traditionally make all the decisions. In other words, it’s a great, independent way for young students to learn. By taking ownership of their music-making at an early stage, students learn to develop their own ideas about how to play music rather than conform to the traditional classical music model of surrendering to the dictums of conductors and teachers.
You’ll also be mentoring as part of the festival – what are you looking forward to bringing to musicians eager to learn?
Hopefully a really great sense of how enjoyable and fun making this music can be. I want musicians to feel confident, like they can commit to and own every note that they play. When this happens, it makes for a great concert experience and it’s also really fun!
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Images of Matthew Greco and The Muffat Collective supplied.
