It was a night to remember with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra opening its 2024 season like rockstars to yells, screams and whoops from the audience.

Among the packed house was an eclectic mix of guests, ranging from Dr Jeannette Young, Governor of Queensland, to Camerata supporters and young chamber music fans drawn from eight Brisbane state high schools. It created a buzz that P!nk, performing nearby, would have envied.

Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra, Concert Hall, QPAC. Photo © Alex Jamieson

The 34-strong orchestra launched into Beethoven’s Coriolan with energetic passion. Fiery orange lighting and dry ice enhanced the dance of the clarinets and flutes while bassoon lines tumbled with Tom O’Kelly’s rumbling timpani. Frantic strings mimicked the vengeance of the banished Roman patrician until the music ominously faded out. It was a spirited beginning to a night of vivacious virtuosity.

Wagner’s tender symphonic birthday poem, Siegfried Idyll, was a romantic gift played by secreted musicians to his beloved Cosmina on Christmas Day in 1870. He named it after his recently born third child Siegfried and later incorporated it into his opera. It is a tender musical portrait immortalising his emotions in a tapestry...