Vienna was beset with war at the beginning of the 19th century, when it was taken by the French twice during the Napoleonic Wars. By 1814, the Congress of Vienna took place, and the political map of Europe was redrawn. While all this drama was going on, musicians, artists and composers were starting a musical revolution, morphing the Classical era into the Romantic style with more dynamics, more emotion and, on a flute, more keys and more expectations.

Melissa Farrow is well known in Australian Baroque circles as a virtuoso on traverso period instruments. Principal flute of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, she has recorded extensively and performed around Australia. Joining forces with Erin Helyard, the esteemed pianist and artistic director of Pinchgut Opera, they celebrate this moment in Viennese history with music by Beethoven, Franz Xaver Mozart, Kuhlau and more.

Farrow performs these works on a nine-key flute, which was prized by composers of the day for its ability to coax a variety of timbres from the instrument thanks to the different fingerings available. This is such a diverse repertoire, Farrow has her work cut out for her. These works plumb the depths of lyricism in Beethoven’s sublime Last Rose of Summer (1819) and yet wow audiences with technical mastery on show during the Grande Sonate Op. 38 (1814) by August Eberhard Müller. If you haven’t heard any F.X. Mozart (son of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), then the Rondo in E Minor (1810) is a delight. It’s a piece that is strangely fiddly to play, and yet Farrow makes it sound effortless. Throughout it all Helyard is, as always, delightful on the fortepiano, taking off like a bird in flight when he’s given moments to shine.