<<  -- 4 --  Malcolm Tattersall    SEA AND SKY

The string orchestra was the AFCM Winterschool Orchestra which is composed of advanced students and emerging professionals and is an element of the Festival's education programme. The musicians are mostly tertiary students; their ensemble and intonation did not quite have professional sharpness but they achieved excellent results under the leadership of John Harding and Theodore Kuchar. They returned after interval for a solidly pop-baroque programme backing Kirsti Harms in Ombra ma fui, Dido's Lament and Lascia ch'io pianga, and James Buswell in all four of Vivaldi's seasons. The near-capacity audience loved every minute, and quite rightly so.

Wednesday was a rest day apart from a trip to Charters Towers, an old (by local standards only -- it was established in the 1860s) gold-mining town an hour and a half's drive inland. The evening concert there, Goldners in the Goldfields, comprised Mozart, Vine and the Weber Clarinet Quintet with Catherine McCorkill. I'm sorry I missed it, but at least there are four more days of great music to enjoy before life returns to normal.