CzechMate: Meeting at the Crossroads

Before the likes of Vivaldi and Bach set the benchmark, baroque music was wild, temperamental, and emotionally charged. This program from CzechMate plunges into the rarely heard instrumental music of the 1600s, where composers like Castello, Fontana, and Schmelzer were inventing the language of Western music in real time.

Performing works without baroque’s formal architecture, the ensemble invites audiences into a conversation that evolves through continuous, unpredictable journeys. Here, short bursts pivot from melancholy to exuberance in a heartbeat, and virtuosic passages erupt without warning.

Australian dulcian specialist Jane Gower – performing on the bassoon's expressive Renaissance ancestor – joins Czech violinist Helena Zemanová, Australian violinist Julia Fredersdorff, and Danish harpsichord maestro Lars Ulrik Mortensen. Together, they share baroque music from before it was told how to behave.