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HIP Company present Bach Together Again, first anniversary concert at St Andrew’s Church, Subiaco

Headshot of David Cusworth
David CusworthThe West Australian
Sarah Papadopoulos, Krista Low, James Huntingford and Bonnie de la Hunty with remote musicians on screen, clockwise from top left, Jonty Coy, Eliza McCracken, Michael Lukin and Katie Yap.
Camera IconSarah Papadopoulos, Krista Low, James Huntingford and Bonnie de la Hunty with remote musicians on screen, clockwise from top left, Jonty Coy, Eliza McCracken, Michael Lukin and Katie Yap. Credit: Daisy de la Hunty

All things old were new again in HIP Company’s first anniversary concert, Bach Together Again, at St Andrew’s, Subiaco, on Saturday.

The twilight of a darkened church contrasted with bright images from interstate and overseas as HIP founders Bonnie de la Hunty (soprano), Sarah Papadopoulos (violin) and Krista Low (cello) reconnected with founding members Jonty Coy (flute) and Michael Lukin (harpsichord) by video recording from the Netherlands and US.

Guest harpsichordist James Huntingford was at St Andrew’s, while Eliza McCracken (violin) and Katie Yap (viola) chimed in on screen from Victoria.

Their collaboration in Bach’s Cantata for the Purification of Mary, Ich habe genug (I am content), was the centrepiece of the “historically informed performance” of works by the Baroque master; its motif of satisfaction and acceptance an anthem for COVID-constrained times.

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HIP built the soundscape gradually, Papadoplouos opening the program solo in plaintive yet precise tones for the Largo from Sonata No.3 in C Major; familiar strains raw yet bell-like in the crisp night air.

HIP Company musicians Sarah Papadopoulos, James Huntingford, Bonnie de la Hunty and Krista Low at St Andrew’s, Subiaco.
Camera IconHIP Company musicians Sarah Papadopoulos, James Huntingford, Bonnie de la Hunty and Krista Low at St Andrew’s, Subiaco. Credit: Luke Donohoe

Cello and harpsichord next joined forces, laying an energetic base for De la Hunty to sail sonorously over the top in Mein glaubiges Herze (My faithful heart), the joy of trust and belief ringing through in what Lukin termed “marvellous moments of melodic beauty”.

Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (Awake, calls to us the voice) combined strings and harpsichord in rich counterpoint and harmony; warm tones and natural colours filling the space.

Ich habe genug followed, all eight voices uncannily co-ordinated in the first aria as dramatic contrapuntal swell balanced matching meditation in soprano and flute.

In the second, more confessional, movement, the group contracted to the four musicians in the room, before expanding again in the third to draw in the remote elements; prayerful in mood as parts engaged and disengaged as intimately as clockwork.

Remote players dropped out again for the fourth, fatalistic recitative, before rejoining in the finale; strings, flute then voice scurrying up the registers in earnest anticipation of release.

Despite the high tech, the solemn setting infused an elemental serenity, putting the focus on artistic quality.

Huntingford then cooled the mood with the aria from Goldberg Variations; its contemplative lines delicately embroidered with grace notes and trills, the artist a picture of studious endeavour, deftly conjuring the musical idiom of centuries past.

Papapoulos and Low next combined for Duetto in G Major, intricate in phrasing and technique; to be joined by De la Hunty and Huntingford for Wenn die Fruhlingslufte streichen (When spring breezes caress), spirited in violin and voice – perhaps reflecting the lyric, “one heart kisses another” – over steady cello and harpsichord.

Finally, Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, sung in English, had a sense of homecoming; crystalline soprano over silken strings in rising arpeggio figures underpinned by metronomic chords to the last.

Bonnie de la Hunty will present Illuminations, a selection of modern classical music for soprano and string quartet, including a premiere of a new song cycle by Cara Zydor Fesjian, at St Mary’s, South Perth, on Thursday, September 30. www.bonniedelahunty.com.

HIP Company combine with Noongar singer Lily Gogos for Meeting Place, a crossing of two cultures, at the Naval Store, Fremantle, on Friday, November 19. www.hip.company.

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