Featuring the Australian premiere of Telemann’s Thunder Ode and an opportunity to hear Bach’s all-too-rarely-performed Easter Oratorio, this concert was not only offering an attractive program, but a chance for Melbourne audiences to experience the phenomenon that is Pinchgut Opera. All aspects of this enterprise are to be applauded. Over the years since its inception, many Melburnians have travelled to Sydney to attend Pinchgut productions, so it is heartening to see the company making overtures in a southerly direction. (This is Pinchgut’s second Melbourne concert thus far.)

Alexandra Oomens, Anna Dowsley, Richard Butler, Erin Helyard, David Greco, Andrew O’Connor and the Orchestra of the Antipodes in Pinchgut Opera’s Bach and Telemann. Photo © Albert Comper

Erin Helyard and his musical co-conspirators did not disappoint. Telemann’s Thunder Ode was written in the wake of the massive earthquake that devastated Lisbon in 1755. Using paraphrases of various biblical texts (most notably Psalm 29) Telemann takes delight in evoking the glory of God as seen in the storm; with the shattering of the cedars of Lebanon and the voice of God thundering forth. To this end, Telemann provides a solo role for the timpani – an...