Italian Serenatas brings Baroque drama to Melbourne Recital Centre

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra will take audiences on a dramatic journey through Baroque Italy this June, joined by celebrated Italian baritone Renato Dolcini for Italian Serenatas.

Led by artistic director Paul Dyer, the concert will be performed at Melbourne Recital Centre from June 18 to 21 before touring to Sydney and Brisbane.

The program travels through the great cultural capitals of Naples, Rome, Venice and Florence, exploring the Italian gift for storytelling through music. It brings together works of passion, elegance and theatricality by composers including Vivaldi, Corelli, Falconieri, Gregori, Porpora and Caldara.

Highlights include Gregori’s Concerto Grosso in D major, Porpora’s Ombre oscure from Deianira, Iole ed Ercole, Caldara’s Sparga il senso lascivo veleno from La Castità al Cimento, and Vivaldi’s Gelido in ogni vena from Farnace. The program also features the anonymous Pizzica di San Vito.

Milan-born Dolcini is regarded as one of the leading interpreters of Italian Baroque repertoire performing internationally today.

Since winning the prestigious Le Jardin des Voix competition in 2015, he has performed at venues including La Philharmonie de Paris, Berliner Philharmonie, Lincoln Center and the Barbican.

Dyer said Dolcini brought “authenticity and dramatic intensity” to every performance.

Audiences can expect to be transported into the heart of Baroque Italy, where the music feels alive, spontaneous and emotionally charged, Dyer said.

“The combination of Renato’s voice with the colour and character of the Orchestra’s period instruments creates a sound world that is both intimate and electrifying.”

The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is known for reimagining early music on period instruments, bringing 16th, 17th and 18th-century works to contemporary audiences.

melbournerecital.com.au •