BY KATIE MILLER-CRISPE
Where can you go to hear thrilling Spanish and Catalan Baroque music as acrobats fly overhead?
New Zealand soprano Natasha Wilson, 23, makes her debut with the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra for their collaboration with Circa called Spanish Baroque. This innovative concert offers audiences a fusion of virtuosic Baroque music and contemporary circus performance, making it a thrilling opportunity for the young soprano.
Natasha says she is grateful to have been invited to take part in something unique and exciting, adding that when she auditioned for the orchestra she “had no idea of the scale of the production, or the fact that I would be in amongst acrobats whilst singing!”.
With an impressive list of credits to her name, including making her professional debut with New Zealand Opera earlier this year, Natasha is confident Spanish Baroque will be a career highlight.
This comes after the soprano won last year’s 2016 Dame Malvina Major Foundation’s Dunedin Aria competition, and was a finalist the year before in the Becroft Aria Competition at the North Shore Performing Arts Competitions. She has also been supported by New Zealand’s Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation’s mentoring program as a young artist.
When asked about her favourite pieces from the concert, Natasha says: “There is a fantastic aria, Su la cetra amorosa (‘On the amorous lyre’), which is driven by the emotions we experience throughout our tumultuous relationship with love”.
“This is probably one of my favourites in the repertoire, of which there are many! The work ebbs and flows through some unexpected harmonic changes, which constantly add new ideas to the piece,” she says.
“The Spanish and Catalan songs provide a wonderful correlation to this, with very lyrical, soulful melodies, which convey the beauty of the languages and their meaning.”
Natasha reckons audiences will be on the edge of their seats.
“If you love music, movement, with a lot of passion bringing it all together, then this is the show for you. This is a unique production that is not to be missed!”
See Spanish Baroque: Brandenburg and Circa from May 10-16 across Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane. For more information, visit the ABO website.
Image supplied.
