After a hiatus of two years, the new artistic director of the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, Jack Liebeck, finally was able to deliver his first program and the festival’s 32nd. The ten days kicked off with a concert that was the hallmark of all that is to come. It was an interesting program of all sorts of music styles and ensembles. Indeed it was a very classy variety concert.

Australian Festival of Chamber Music 2022 Opening © Andrew Rankin

There was a palpable air of excitement and anticipation as the capacity audience of more than 1,000 gathered for the festival’s opening night, and this concert certainly lived up to expectation. There was one disappointment, however. Soprano and composer Deborah Cheetham was to open the concert with the world premiere of her work Nginda Ngarrini Bi Ngya, in collaboration with the Goldner String Quartet, but she had fallen ill and was unable to attend.

So, it was on to Darius Milhaud’s ballet score La Création du monde, Op. 81b. Violinists Elizabeth Layton and Natsuko Yoshimoto, cellist Trish Dean, clarinettist Paul Dean and pianist Daniel de Borah took their audience on a...