Canberra International Music Festival / Fantasia, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. At Snow Concert Hall, April 30. Reviewed by SARAH BYRNE.

The Melbourne Chamber Orchestra presented a packed program to herald the opening of the 2025 Canberra International Music Festival at the Snow Concert Hall on Wednesday night.

The orchestra, led by artistic director and soloist Sophie Rowell, opened with the familiar Egmont Overture by Beethoven. Arranged for strings by Srten Krstic, the piece brought a new delicacy to the work, and the power and conviction of the violas was a surprisingly convincing alternative to horns.

Next up was a short piece by the MCO’s resident composer Olivia Bettina Davies, aptly named Crystalline; a gleaming, hypnotic evocation of waves of light bouncing off prisms, beautifully performed, to the evident pleasure of the composer, who was present.

Also present was the storied composer Richard Mills  for the premiere of the next piece, his violin concerto Sinfonia Sacra, its four movements representing chapters in the life of Mary, mother of Christ.

Unfortunately, neither of these two new pieces was announced or described, and due to the CIMF’s decision only to provide programs by QR code (inaccessible in the black spot of the Snow), many audience members missed information crucial to understanding them. (Having fortunately done my homework, I found myself fielding questions from many around me at intermission). In particular, the remarkable third movement of the concerto, At The Via Crucis, jagged and intense, was an extraordinary expression of wild grief that in my view required the context of the title to be fully appreciated. The addition of the harp was, as might be expected, particularly effective in the first movement (At the Message of the Archangel Gabriel) and final (Queen of Heaven).

The pieces were, at least, back-announced following intermission, along with an explanation of the next piece, an extract from string quartet Dirrari Lament by Jalakbiya and Stanhope, rearranged for the string orchestra and with additional narration and solo yidaki introduction from renowned First Nations musician and composer Mark Atkins. I have written before of the sense of awe and stillness I find in the sound of a yidaki or didgeridoo, and I found it here again in Atkins’ wonderful modulations and internal rhythms. Picked up then by the orchestra, the melodies and harmonies of the piece are gorgeous, lyrical and sweeping.

The audience then settled back in to our comfort zone for the title piece, Vaughan William’s Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. For this the MCO was joined by the Flinders Quartet and Canberra (and CIMF resident quartet), the Ellery Quartet, bringing additional texture and depth to the familiar lush, undulating melodies.

The combined ensembles brought impressive dynamic range, and the solo violin rang pure and clear, as did the responding viola. This was a lovely performance met with rapturous applause.

Another lovely piece closed the program – Strum by Jessie Montgomery – was a thoroughly enjoyable bagatelle with an occasionally Khachaturian vibes, using every string technique in the repertoire (I even caught a hint of bouzouki). Again, the ensemble’s dynamics were top notch and the synchrony impressive.

The CIMF is off to a great start. Just pre-print your programs before you go.

Sensitive pianist a highly effective musical storyteller