Adelaide Cantata Band

Chamber Concert
Sunday 25 September
St John’s Anglican Church, Halifax St, Adelaide

Jessica Dean – soprano
Jane Downer – Baroque oboe, oboe d’amore and oboe da caccia
Brendan O’Donnell – recorder and voice flute
Catherine Finnis – Baroque cello
Glenys March – harpsichord

The Adelaide Cantata Band gave a varied yet well-balanced program of works featuring various instrumental works and cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann, Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastien Bach. Jane Downer’s informative program notes gave an excellent introduction to the music.

The small ensemble gave a sense of intimacy to the concert, and the various instruments’ sound colours could be heard clearly. Of particular interest was the variety of oboes played by Jane Downer, each with its own characteristic sound. The performers made the most of the interplay between the instruments, or instrument and voice. Jessica Dean clearly enjoyed the drama of the works she performed, most notably in Vivaldi’s Cantata “All’ombre di sospetto” (In the shadow of suspicion) which she sang superbly.

The program allowed for different instrumental combinations both with and without the voice – the variety of character and sound thus produced held the audience’s attention and the engagement of the audience with the music was palpable.

The calibre of all the musicians ensured an outstanding afternoon of music.