Twenty first century culture moves at a relentless pace. TV shows are binged in a weekend and forgotten about. Pop stars must release a new single every month lest their fans forget about them.

So it is extraordinary to think that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s performances of Bach’s Magnificat in D in March and April will be taking place 300 years after the piece was heard for the very first time.

Given the enormous differences between Leipzig in 1723 and Sydney in 2023, what is it about Bach’s music that remains relevant to our lives?

One person who might be able to answer that is Chloe Lankshear. The “golden-voiced” (Limelight) Canberra-born soprano will make her Sydney Symphony debut in these performances, alongside Amy Moore, Stephanie Dillon, Christopher Watson, David Greco, conductor Stephen Layton and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs together with the Orchestra – an awesome spectacle of more than 100 performers.

Chloe Lankshear. Photo © 1-2 Studio

For Lankshear, there is a timelessness to Bach that seems to transcend genre and history.

“As classical musicians, we’re always trying to figure out how to make our creative output relatable for the modern audience member,” she says. “But over the last few years I have come to realise that the recognition of beauty supersedes genre preference. We still listen to Bach 300 years later because his music expresses what it is to be human, and the inner struggle between joy and sorrow.”

“The Magnificat in particular is a special work, full of vivid joy, elation, anticipation, and strength – all of which is relatable for every human on the planet. It’s a wonderful and memorable work that inspires thought on every level, and that’s why we come back to it again and again. It moves us deeply.”

Even more remarkable than Bach’s influence since his death is the sheer amount of music that he composed while he was alive. Bach wrote more than 500 choral works, of an extraordinarily high standard: rich in texture, with tightly-woven vocal lines spinning around each other, and an astonishing ebb and flow between chorus, orchestra and singers. There is so much happening musically, but it also requires a wealth of precise vocal technique, diction and expressiveness.

“Every work of Bach I’ve come across has felt like a dare,” says Lankshear. “Bach is an incredible composer of melody, dissonance, and counterpoint, but as a singer you’re constantly treading the line between singing instrumental-like passages and trying to maintain expression of text. Perfectly executed Bach is a tall order, but it is so worth it. Once mastered, it’s incredibly satisfying to sing.”

That challenge is made significantly easier by the presence of the other soloists, friends and colleagues that Lankshear has known for years. “Amy, Stephanie, David and Chris are some of my absolute favourite people to sing with,” says Lankshear. “They are all so talented as well as being genuinely hilarious and kind people.”

“There are friendships spanning decades among us, and that sort of professional intimacy translates to the audience. I feel incredibly lucky to have landed such a stellar line up of people to work with.”

Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Photo © Jaimi Joy.

On top of that stellar quintet of soloists is an incredible number of musicians from Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and, of course, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Lankshear will be in a unique position both figuratively and literally, standing at the front of the stage with all this firepower at her back. It’s a phenomenal experience for the audience, but also for a soloist.

“When I’m working on a project that has so many musicians involved, I spend most of the rehearsal facing the wrong way so I can watch them all,” Lankshear says with a laugh. “It’s such a beautiful thing to witness and the sound is awe-inspiring.”

Standing out the front alongside Lankshear will be Stephen Layton, one of the world’s most-acclaimed and in-demand choral conductors, and Lankshear is excited at the prospect of working with such a significant figure in modern music.

“He is such a giant in the world of choral music, and his expertise will bring the program to life in a very special way,” says Lankshear. “When you listen to recordings that he’s directed there is a real tenderness in the delivery of the works. I think that sort of understanding of choral and liturgical music can only come from being ensconced in that world from a young age, which he has, having grown up in the choral traditions of the UK.”

Stephen Layton. Photo © Keith Saunders.

Among Layton’s many achievements – including two Gramophone Awards (and a further 10 nominations), five Grammy nominations, and Limelight’s Recording of the Year in 2016 – perhaps the most unlikely is his championing of choral music from the Baltics. A man at the very epicentre of the British choral music tradition could be excused for living off that storied catalogue for his entire life, but Layton has become an advocate and close collaborator with Estonian composer Arvo Pärt and Latvian composer Eriks Ešenvalds in particular.

Indeed, reflecting that breadth of expertise, this concert will feature Ešenvalds’ Passion and Resurrection alongside Bach’s Magnificat, a work that Layton recorded with Polyphony back in 2010 to breathless critical acclaim for both the work itself and Layton’s reading of it. And Lankshear is thrilled to get another opportunity to perform Ešenvalds again.

“Ešenvalds creates these ethereal soundscapes that pay homage to Gregorian-like chant,” says Lankshear, full of admiration “But then his harmony breaks out into these huge cluster-chords. It’s like listening to perfectly refracted light. I think his writing is an excellent contrast with the earnest writing of Bach in this concert.”


Chloe Lankshear performs in JS Bach’s Magnificat in D from 30 March – 1 April at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Visit the Sydney Symphony’s website for more information.

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