Keys of Gold - Opera Plus

Bendigo’s Keys of Gold Classical Music Festival is so called as the festival not only features keyboard instruments at every concert, but also features the rich heritage of glorious buildings, grand public spaces and elegant streetscapes all made possible through the discovery of gold in 1851. 

Inspired by the vision of the great Victorian architect William Vahland to make Bendigo the ‘Vienna of the South’, the festival will bring Bendigo and surrounds’ multi-million dollar unique heritage of spectacular pipe organs to life, together with the Steinway concert grand piano selected by Vladimir Ashkenazy himself for the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall and much more. There are 16 concerts across Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays in July 2025 - in 11 venues in Bendigo, Castlemaine, Inglewood and Maldon, with 27 instruments and 45 performers.

PROGRAM

Opera Plus! 

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), transcribed by Edwin H. Lemare (1865-1934)

Grand March from the Opera Aïda, Organ solo

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Concert Aria: Alma grande e nobil core [One whose spirit is true and noble], K. 578

Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Dido’s Lament: ‘When I am laid in earth’ from Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626

Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864), trans. W.T. Best (1826-1897)   

Coronation March from Le Prophète - Organ solo

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Pamina’s Aria: Ach, ich fühl’s, es ist verschwunden [Ah, I feel it, it is vanished] from Die Zauberflöte [The Magic Flute], K. 620

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901), trans. Thomas Heywood (b.1974)

Prelude to Act I from La Traviata, Organ solo

Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)

Vissi d’arte [I lived for my art] from Tosca

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Alleluja from Exsultate, jubilate [Exult, rejoice], K. 165

Edwin H. Lemare (1865-1934)

Waltz and Soldier’s Chorus from Paraphrase on Gounod’s ‘Faust’,  Organ solo

Richard Wagner (1813-1883)

Les adieux de Marie Stuart, WWV 61

MORE KEYS OF GOLD CONCERTS

MORE ABOUT TODAY'S ARTISTS

MERLYN QUAIFE AM

THOMAS HEYWOOD

Keys of Gold is presented by Bendigo Fine Music. BFM is a registered charity led by a team of people living in and around this beautiful city, aspiring to enrich lives for the good of the wider community through world-class fine music experiences in Bendigo’s unique performance spaces, unparalleled in regional Australia.