Captivating choral cycle 'Lullabies' debuts

City Choir Dunedin. Photo: Ian Thomson

Lullabies
Saturday 2 September 2017
Knox Church

Knox Church rang with the sound of choral music on Saturday evening, as many singers contributed to a programme entitled "Lullabies", presented by City Choir Dunedin, with choirs from Columba College and St Hilda’s Collegiate. David Burchell conducted, Tom Chatterton (Wellington) accompanied at the organ, and the venue was almost filled.

This was Dunedin’s first performance of Anthony Ritchie’s Lullabies (2015), a captivating choral cycle with text from six poems by Dunedin-based poet Elena Poletti.

The songs differ in mood, depicting children’s bedtime and sleep, and are astutely scored with contrasting timbres of youthful choirs and adult mixed-voice harmonies.

Shush-a-shush opened with organ obligato, whispered "Shushes" and calm entreaties of slumber. Little One featured soprano Sophie Morris, in very professional deliveries of long sweetly toned phrases. Penguins brought a change of style with "tiny blue penguins" scurrying about as children prepared for bed, and The Night Singers featured Morris soaring above impressive harmonic choral textures depicting sounds of the night. Beddington and Hope of My Heart completed the half-hour cycle, which was highlighted throughout with colourful organ accompaniment.

The school choirs each presented a bracket of three songs and City Choir two choral pieces — a rather mundane delivery of Cantique de Jean Racine (Faure) conducted by Mark Anderson, and Tavener’s Song for Athene where exciting crescendo passages exonerated earlier intonation deviancy.

The second big work, Maurice Durufle’s Requiem contained some impressive choral endeavour, particularly in Sanctus, but overall rather too many untidy moments and pitch insecurity in the male ranks. Alex Lee sang strong baritone solos, and cello obligato came from Elaine Wilden. Soprano Beth Goulstone (replacing an indisposed mezzo at very short notice) coped admirably in the higher solo passages, however her low register lines were valiant but weak. My player-of-the-day went to Chatterton for virtuosic precision, clarity and balance of colour at the organ.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Bouman for the Otago Daily Times, 4 September 2017.

More accolades for the Lullabies concert...

Stunning performance of contemporary work

The Armed Man. Photo credit Ian Thomson.

The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace
Saturday 1 April 2017, Dunedin Town Hall

A near-capacity crowd at Dunedin Town Hall on Saturday evening gave a prolonged standing ovation to a stunning performance by the City Choir Dunedin, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and soloists under the direction of David Burchell.

Jenkins' The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace (1999) is an important contemporary work with extraordinary public rapport. Audience response to, for example, the sudden explosive shock of bass drum and Hefin Owen's collection of edited newsreel images was palpable.

Jenkins repeats the structure of a Catholic Mass but makes a universal message by framing it with the 15th-century folk song The Armed Man and a Muslim Call to Prayer. The work also uses passages from Kipling, Tennyson and Toge Sankichi.

The soothing wrap of religiosity plays its part alongside the posturing war leaders, Jenkins' ''bloody men''.

Unfortunately, even Jenkins bookends war's traumas between nationalistic rallying of the fit and young and the outpouring of joy at the survivors' return. They are thereby inevitably justified and salved, at least for the victors.

 The performance, driven by Burchell, was rivetingly good; almost professional. Gorecki's a cappella Totus tuus successfully set the scene.

City Choir Dunedin gave its full commitment to very credible victims' screams and laments. Its Kyrie, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, and Benedictus were all beautifully articulated with fine sentiment, while its Charge! and Torches convincingly portrayed anguish. Mezzo soprano Claire Barton's Now the guns have stopped was most beautifully sung. Tenor Ben France-Hudson and treble Jesse Hanan both have fine, strong voices.

Muezzin Dhafir Moussa's Call to Prayer, Nigel Tucker (bass) and Sophie Gangl (soprano), comparatively unaccustomed to solo singing, are commended for their efforts.

The Dunedin Symphony Orchestra brass and percussion sections deserve special mention, as does Helen du Plessis' solo cello work.

Review by Marian Poole, Otago Daily Times, 3 April 2017.