This year’s 3MBS fundraising marathon – Transfigured – plays with the notion of transformation: ‘an exalting, glorifying, or spiritual change’ according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The title concert – one of five in the all-day series held at the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Primrose Potter Salon  – began with Latitude 37 adding its own take on Biber’s Rosary Sonata No. 4. This trio of fine baroque musicians – Julia Fredersdorff (violin), Laura Vaughan (viola da gamba) and Donald Nicolson (harpsichord) – produced a historically-informed set of variations that transfigured the baseline, adding complexity to an already challenging piece and carrying it off with their usual aplomb.

Latitude 37 at the 2024 3MBS Marathon. Photo © Laura Manariti

They followed with a pair of English melodies from the 16th and 17th centuries, starting with a rendition of Greensleeves in a series of mainly string variations. It demonstrated how far you can take a well-known tune –  turning it into something altogether unrecognisable to the little ears of the Mr. Whippy fanbase–  before bringing...