The Children's Bach

The Children's Bach is a chamber opera by the Australian composer Andrew Schultz to a libretto by Glenn Perry, based on the 1984 novella of the same name by Helen Garner. The Children’s Bach was Garner’s third published book and second novel and was received critically both in Australia and internationally.

It tells the story of Athena and Dexter, who lead a tight- knit family life in Melbourne, innocent of fashion and bound by duty towards their autistic child, Billy. Their comfortable rut is disrupted by the arrival of Elizabeth, a colourful figure from Dexter’s past. With her sister (Vicki), fickle boyfriend (Philip) and his smart teenage daughter (Poppy), the couple are drawn into a world of casual egotism and sexuality they had barely dreamed of. As the two worlds crash together, there is substantial fallout and collateral damage. Can they get home again, can they heal, and will they ever be the same again?

The opera was commissioned and premiered in 2008 by Chamber Made. “The title of the work is taken from a primer of keyboard music, edited by E. Harold Davies, in whose opening pages we read: ‘Polyphony: which is the combining together of many melodies – requires first and foremost, a sure instinct for each individual part.’ Through short vignettes Garner simultaneously provides access to each character’s thoughts and voice. As Don Anderson has suggested, Garner ‘weaves her characters’ loves and lives together … in a way that Papa Bach would have recognised as contrapuntal’.”(Bernadette Brennan)

This will be a brand new production and the third under the Artistic Direction of Patrick Burns at Lyric Opera. Lyric Opera has focused on bringing high quality productions of Australian Chamber Operas to Melbourne audiences with the highly acclaimed production of Biographica in 2023, and the Green Room Award Winning Iphis in 2022. Featuring a cast of some of Victoria’s finest established and emerging opera artists, along with some of Victoria’s finest creatives, this will be a production that is very close to home. It is a very moving piece and ask questions about the domestic lives that we lead.