Carla Blackwood performed a 6 concert tour as soloist with Australian Haydn Ensemble, performing music by Mozart and his contemporaries on historical or period instruments. Carla performed on a natural horn as was used in Mozart's time. The program featured Mozart's Horn Quintet in E flat major K.407, a Romance by Michael Haydn and the Australian premiere of Welhelm Hauff's Horn Quintet in Eb Major. The performances were given in the following venues/mediums: Orange Civic Theatre; Utzon Room, Sydney Opera House; Wesley Music Centre, Canberra; Berry Uniting Church; Australian Digital Concert Hall (online); Bowral Memorial Hall; Rathmines Theatre.
NTRO Output Type
- Live Performance of Creative Work
NTRO Output Category
- Live Performance of Creative Work : Music
Place
Multiple venues and onlineVenue
Multiple venuesNTRO Publisher
Australian Haydn Ensemble; Australian Digital Concert Hall https://australiandigitalconcerthall.com/#/item/116382Start Date
2024-09-21End Date
2024-09-29Medium
Music PerformanceResearch Statement
The field of research is music performance. The concert tour featured a program of quintets for horn and strings performed on historical instruments. The research focused on the question of how performers in the 21st century can apply historically informed performance practices in performing music from the late eighteenth century on replicas of instruments from that time, whilst simultaneously bring their own artistic interpretation and personality to the music. How can modern performers use historical instruments and performance practices to connect with modern audiences?
It is very rare that an entire program and a six concert tour features the natural horn, and even more rare for this to happen in Australia. It is a significant contribution to Australian musical culture for the Mozart horn quintet to be performed to such diverse audiences on the natural horn, as it was performed in Mozart's time. The Hauff quintet received its Australian premiere through this concert tour, and as it has not been yet recorded on natural horn, it was a signifant contribution to perform and live-stream this work on period instruments. The research revealed how historical instruments can be used to connect audiences more deeply to the historical music we regularly perform today, and how HIPP practices can bring early music to life for informed and less-informed audiences alike. The work also raised the profile, understand, and perceptions of the horn as a solo instrument.
The concerts received high critical claim in the Sydney Morning Herald, Limelight Magazine, and Canberra City News. "Blackwood demonstrated what the natural horn... can do with full-throated ease." "Blackwood played with nimble elegance and a wonderfully open sound against." "Blackwood showed masterly control of both troublesome and trouble-free notes, shaping and tapering phrases with refinement." SMHSize or Duration of Work
6 events, each 1 hour 50 minutes duration and one live streamed concertAffiliation
Carla Blackwood, University of Melbourne
