Soirées Musicales Quintette
"...the ensemble demonstrated their skillful combined musicality and professional presence...". (Simon Hertzel, ClassikON) Click here to read the rest of this glowing review of our recent concert.
ABOUT
This enterprising Brisbane-based chamber ensemble performs delightful vocal works by composers
from the nineteenth century, including Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, Massenet and Rossini.
Performed in sumptuous heritage venues such as Old Government House, the music of Soirées
Musicales Quintette evokes a magical nostalgia, while also bringing fresh life to rarely-heard
repertoire.
E V E N T S 2025
March
16
Sunday 16 March 2025, 4pm
Love's Questions Unanswered
St Paul's Anglican Church,
554 Vulture Street E, East Brisbane
Sunday 03 August 2025, 4pm
With and Without Strings Attached - A Celebration of English Artsong
St Paul's Anglican Church,
554 Vulture Street E, East Brisbane
Further 2025 events coming soon...
N E W S
2025:
New Venue and bringing back post-show refreshments!
Soirées Musicales Quintette has, over its first decade of presenting vocal chamber music, explored the fine acoustics and ambience of various heritage venues in Brisbane and beyond. We are excited to be performing our next program in what is for us a new venue, St Paul’s Anglican Church East Brisbane. In addition to celebrating its centenary during 2024, in recent years this wonderful setting has hosted some fine chamber music recitals. This is one of the first times the venue has been used for solo and ensemble vocal music, for which the warm and clear acoustics will be ideal.
July/August, 2024:
To celebrate our tenth season of presenting vocal chamber recitals in heritage venues, Soirées Musicales
Quintette will perform a special work in collaboration with several associate artists, ten singers in all! Read more here about 'The Pilgrimage of the Rose'.
May/June, 2024:
Our Queensland heritage music recording project is now live!
Many of you attended our concert of Queensland heritage music at the State Library of Queensland in August 2023. This was a selection of highlights from our large recording project commissioned by the State Library of Queensland. It comprises locally composed songs, piano and violin pieces from the first half of the twentieth century, most of which have not been recorded until now. We are thrilled to announce that these recordings are now available on the SLQ website accessible through this link:
January, 2024:
We're delighted to announce the first concert in our 2024 series: Hugo Wolf's Italian Songbook. This work
is a pinnacle of solo vocal repertoire. Composed not as a song-cycle but as a diverse collection of miniatures, it is replete with masterful word-setting, vivid characterisations and brilliant keyboard writing. The anthology of poems, in German translations of short Italian folk lyrics, was compiled by Paul Heyse. Their brevity inspired a highly concentrated approach, with many delightful touches of humour as well as deep emotional insights.
Published in two books in 1891 and 1896, Wolf composed the 46 songs during three intensive bursts of creativity. The work is usually performed as a collaboration between two singers and a pianist, but on this occasion Soirées Musicales Quintette extends this approach to showcase the talents of each of its members. The Italian Songbook is rarely presented in its entirety, so this concert is a very special opportunity. It will be performed in German, with English surtitles.
Another highlight is our choice of instrument - the 1843 piano built by JB Streicher in Vienna, similar to one owned by Brahms, is ideal for this late romantic repertoire.
October, 2023:
Check out this article by Gillian Wills discussing our October concert, including an interview with soprano Rachael Griffin.
May, 2023:
We've had a busy time in the recording studio! SMQ have been commissioned by the State Library of Queensland to record 40 previously unrecorded songs, piano and violin pieces by Queensland composers from the early-to-mid 20th century. We've had a wonderful time documenting these charming Aussie melodies, assisted by Geoff McGahan at Mark McDuff's stunning 'Farmhouse Studio' in Chandler.