Choir rises to a great challenge

ODT reviewer of the Nature's Bounty concert, Elizabeth Bouman,  says: "Choir rises to a great challenge" and "...compliments to all musicians and singers called upon to negotiate the endless rhythmic intricacies, and such fast-paced verbosity on growing all manner of fruit...". 

Yes, Verdi's Requiem will definitely be a piece of cake after this! The singers and musicians enjoyed performing all the music in the concert to a very appreciative audience. It was quite a thrill seeing all the smiling faces and hearing the thundering applause! Hats off and many thanks to Christopher Marshall for a beautiful composition: For What Can Be More Beautiful?.

What the audience said:

"I very much enjoyed the concert, especially the Marshall work -- a very exciting piece; the composer made deft use of his resources."

"The Southern Sinfonia did a marvellous job with the music and the choir's singing was a pleasure to listen to."

"Why did you put a seed catalogue to music?"

"Your words were very clear - often I didn't need to read the programme to know what you were singing about."

"Loved the Hiawatha - wanted to get up and dance around with a tomahawk in my hand"

“I found Saturday night's performance by Dunedin's choir, especially the pieces before and after the interval (Marshalls and Hiawatha) were my favourites:^) Just lovely:^ Transformative! I did not want the music to end.”

"I thought the concert at Knox was splendid - it came across very well indeed, full of energy and vitality."

Do you have any audience quotes to share? Please leave a comment here, or email us to info@citychoirdunedin.org.nz
Thank you!

Wonderful evening of singing at Knox

"Wonderful evening of singing at Knox... splendid choral delivery... unrestrained top Gs soared with exhilirating supremacy..." and the Hallelujah chorus was the highlight of the evening, with the entire audience standing and joining their voices to those of the choir and 60 guest singers. These guest singers also joined City Choir Dunedin in the rehearsals leading up to the concert. What a wonderful experience for singers and audience alike!

Messiah Sing-along, Knox Church, Tuesday 11 December 2012

Follow this link to an album of beautiful pictures of the Messiah Sing-along concert, taken by Ian Thomson.

Were you there? Let us know what you thought of the "sing-along"!

Bravissimo!

"Bravissimo - tutti soprani e alti e tenori e bassi! 

It’s over 40 years since I sang the “little solemn mass” and this evening I (silently) sang along with you. 

The choir positively danced the fugue – what a delight to see and hear. Many thanks for a memorable performance." 

Russell (a friend of Lynn Dowsett, soprano)


And via text message from a keen supporter and friend, to Deborah: “Great performance, thank you so much!”.

Wow!!! That sounded good from where we stood. And the audience applauded with enthusiasm. If you were there, what did you think of the Petite Messe Solennelle performance?

And here is Marian's review for the ODT, published on Monday 1 October:

"...the clamour of "Cum Sancto Spiritu" in which all voices vie for prominence, the energy in "Credo", the triumph in "Et Resurrexit"and the exuberance of "Sanctus" were all successfully infectuous."

Congratulations and thank you to our brilliant soloists, accompanist and conductor!

Chilling story brilliantly told

'Chilling story brilliantly told' - the heading of the review in the Otago Daily Times (ODT, 10 Sep 2012). Congratulations to all involved! The journey was completed...special mention to John Drummond (composer), Simon Over (conductor), Jeremy Commons (narrative text), Claire Beynon (poet), our soloists, City of Dunedin Choir and Southern Sinfonia. Well done to all...

A good sized audience gave a prolonged and profound applause for the world première of John Drummond's The Journey Home directed by Simon Over with guests - soprano Jenny Wollerman, tenor James Rodgers, baritone Robert Tucker (Scott) and the City of Dunedin Choir.

Drummond's oratorio is an extremely effective tale of Scott's ill-fated voyage home which starts with Scott's utter despair at finding Amundsen had beaten him to the Pole. The opening bars clearly define the dreadful chill of the Antarctic and the trudging trek homewards of the defeated explorers.
Overall the work is brilliant - encouraging great performances from all. Jeremy Commons' libretto uses Scott's own diary, poems by Claire Beynon, Bill Manhire and Chris Orsman and excerpts from the Common Book of Prayer.

Drummond's alternation of full orchestra, solo instruments and unaccompanied singing dramatize the story beautifully. Though there were some weaknesses, they are far outweighed by the work's strengths. Special mention goes to Rodgers and Wollerman's "As If", the staggered lines of choir and Turner in "There is Always a Blizzard", the icy strings counterbalancing Scott's acceptance of ultimate defeat in "The Ice is Cruel" and Wollerman and Choir in "In this Place" where the muttering of the Lord's Prayer in Latin provided an excellent voice to the encroaching fates.

The Journey Home is a seriously excellent work and a powerful piece of drama which the nation can be proud of.

Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien" was suitably exuberant and excellently performed by the Southern Sinfonia. It served to diffuse the doom contained in The Journey Home.

Stravinsky's "Firebird" is also a strongly evocative work excellently performed and directed with precision and inspiration to the clear enjoyment of all.

The evening highlighted all aspects of the art involved with orchestral works and their performance and marks a significant achievement. Bravo to one and all.

Reviewed by Marian Poole for the Otago Daily Times, Monday, 10 September 2012.

Accomplished performance by orchestra, choir

The Dunedin Youth Orchestra and City of Dunedin Choir with conductor David Burchell gave a concert on Saturday evening, in a very well-filled Knox Church.

Dunedin Youth Orchestra and City of Dunedin Choir
Knox Church
Saturday, May 26
 
A youth orchestra it may be, with the youngest member still a 12-year-old, but Burchell drew the best from these musicians (apart from a few bars of wayward brass) and there was certainly nothing timid about their rousing overture, Rossini's The Thieving Magpie.
 
Melodic prominence of the well-known themes taken at a cracking pace, compelled the listener to sing along in their musical conscience throughout.

The orchestra's principal clarinet, Nicole Batchelar, soloed for two movements of Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet K622 with fluency, generally good resonance and impressive full-toned ornamentation.The more lyrical Adagio was well interpreted.

Karelia Suite (Sibelius) opened with a rather ponderous Intermezzo but the Ballade captured the beauty of melody with suitable passion and nuance, and the final Alla Marcia produced plenty of contrasts and attitude.

The 80-voice choir joined the orchestra after the interval. Schicksalslied (Song of Destiny) by Brahms opens in sombre mood, traversing beautiful passages of harmony and meaningful text, culminating in a final stanza of life and vibrancy.

An accomplished performance came from all, but Germanic diction was appalling resulting in a very beautiful harmonic sound-scape. (I'm sorry, but where were all the consonants?)

The final Polovetsian Dances (Borodin) was bright, forward moving and most enjoyable. Special mention must go to excellent woodwind passages, strong dynamics and good choral intonation, but again it took some time to discern the origin of the language being sung.

During the evening Alex Campbell-Hunt was awarded the Audrey Reid Composition Prize for 2012.

(Review by Elizabeth Bouman, Otago Daily Times, Monday 28 May 2012.)

Baroque celebration enjoyable

Beauty of Baroque, Knox Church, Friday, March 30

Knox Church in Dunedin was packed on Friday evening for "Beauty of Baroque", presented by City of Dunedin Choir, Southern Sinfonia, David Burchell, guest organist Simon Mace and six soloists - sopranos Pepe Becker and Grace Park, mezzo-soprano Amanda Cole, counter-tenor Christopher John Clifford, tenor Stephen Chambers and bass Julien van Mellaerts.

Handel filled the first half of the programme, beginning with Utrecht Te Deum (1713), a grand work with sacred text for choir, soloists and baroque orchestra. From the very intro of this work, I felt the orchestra set a good performing standard for the entire evening, bright toned with well-judged subtle trumpet gilding.

The choir too, was in excellent form, generally well-balanced, despite the 23 to 7 ratio of basses to tenors, but I had mixed feelings about some of the solo work.

Soprano duet To Thee Cherubin and Seraphin, achieved a fine blend, but some of Becker's later work, although well-intoned, showed disappointing technical support at climactic exposures. Cole's lower register lacked fullness of tone, with lower melodic phrases regularly falling short in projection. Her When thou tookest upon thee ... was totally overshadowed by glorious woodwind counter melodies.

Commendable counter-tenor tone quality was regularly lost through "head in the book" syndrome, consequently undermining vocal ensemble balance.

Tenor and bass delivered with beautiful tone, intelligent phrasing, and prudent strength. Laetatus Sum (Charpentier) and J S Bach's Magnificat showed similar vein, though a highlight was a tenor solo sung by Chambers with realistic fortitude and conviction.

A brilliant performance of Concerto in B Flat for Organ Op 4 no.2 by Handel showed Burchell as master of the pipe organ. Supreme dexterity ensured clarity and unblemished co-ordination throughout four short movements of contrapuntal texture. Nicholas Cornish conducted the ensemble from his position at 1st oboe.

Review in the ODT, 2 April 2012, by Elizabeth Bouman

Were you there? What did you think of this performance? We welcome feedback from the audience! 

Standing ovation for 'Messiah'

What is it I wonder, that makes people sit for two and a-half hours, listening so intently to Handel's most famous oratorio Messiah, written in just three weeks in 1741.

"Christmas just wouldn't be the same without attending a performance of Messiah," one patron told me.
City of Dunedin Choir and Southern Sinfonia shifted their two-yearly performance of Messiah to the Regent Theatre this year, and the very well-filled venue created a different view and atmosphere, but the familiar choruses and arias certainly rang out loud and true last evening, as Christ's life on earth was outlined in music, and the final Amens were followed by tumultuous applause and standing ovation.

David Burchell conducted magnificently from the harpsichord, with a wise choice of tempi. The 29-member baroque orchestra excelled in their response. The choir's performance, with several choruses from memory, was very impressive and disciplined, despite a little under-weight in the tenor section.

Strong soprano tone reached their pinnacle in the Hallelujah Chorus, and exciting strength and verve from all sections was accorded the big choruses such as Lift Up Your Head.

The three choruses in the "Agony of the Cross" section were delivered with clarity and particularly fine nuance.
Soprano Anna Leese, now well entrenched in a successful international career, was home to perform. The voice is noticeably maturing and rich and all her arias were exquisite with the finest legato tone. Come Unto Him was stunningly performed - so liquid and pure through subtly embellished phrases.

Mezzo Wendy Doyle (Wellington) was successful in a convincing delivery from a particularly low timbre register, and young tenor Cameron Barclay (Auckland) brought clear diction and sincerity to his solos.
Bass Chalium Poppy (Tauranga) performed with confidence and strength although was not always technically secure.

-  By Elizabeth Bouman, Otago Daily Times 14 December 2011

Stunning performance of Odes to Joy

City of Dunedin Choir, Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir and soloists joined the NZSO and conductor Pietari Inkinen last night, 28 September 2011, for the performance of the decade! The Dunedin Town Hall was packed and the audience spell-bound from the first to the last notes of Gareth Farr's new work Kaitiaki and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

The soloists were:
Madeleine Pierard soprano
Sarah Castle mezzo-soprano
Simon O’Neill tenor
Jonathan Lemalu bass-baritone

During the pre-concert talk Gareth Farr said that the afternoon rehearsal he attended had been the best performance of Kaitiaki so far, but you can bet we gave much more during the evening performance.

Here are some comments from the audience:

"Stunning!"

"You guys were just great" - from members of the NZSO to a City of Dunedin Choir member on the aeroplane flying back to Wellington

"Goosebumpy"

"The best Beethoven's 9th I've heard..."

"What a great concert!"

"Congratulations! What a spine tingling night from start to finish. I thought the Kaitiaki was fantastic and could have listened to it over again."

"The choir in both works was stupendous."

"Congratulations to the City of Dunedin Choir on a job well done! That was great...we've enjoyed every moment of the Odes to Joy!"  - from Southern Sinfonia

"Wonderful concert, the boys all loved it. Farr marvelous!" - from Waitaki Boys High

"I really enjoyed the Odes to Joy concert....especially the Gareth Farr.........what a wonderul work."

Where you there? What did you think of this performance?

Thank you to New Zealand Symphony Orchestra for bringing this opportunity to Dunedin - wow! what an experience!

'Feast' takes ears by storm

Belshazzar's Feast
Dunedin Town Hall
Saturday, July 16

Belshazzar's Feast, the rather unique oratorio composed by English composer William Walton in 1930-31, was performed on Saturday evening in the town hall by Southern Sinfonia with City of Dunedin Choir, conducted by Dane Lam.

Lam has said that Belshazzar's Feast is "big and noisy" and he certainly pulled out all the stops to get the very best from his musicians, interpreting the pagan rituals, worship of false gods and triumphant partying that is all part of this work. The music's unpredictability surprises the listener throughout, with its underlying traces of jazz, heinous irregularity of beat and sudden eruptions of outrageous sound.

Certainly a rare experience to hear this work live. Well done to all, though at many times I longed for an extra 100 voices to "conquer" the Sinfonia, revelling in their rich jagged orchestration and strident outbursts.

Internationally acclaimed New Zealand bass/baritone Paul Whelan, in the role of narrator, advanced the sectional plots. His unaccompanied Babylon Was a Great City was a stupendous delivery, with fervent tone and pristine diction.

The concert's opening works were hugely contrasting.

There's nothing quite like a good strong overture to open an orchestral event, but instead we were given Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, a string work of peace and serenity, somewhat loosely presented, with many soft entries tentative rather than gentle.

Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring (1944) with its strains of American melodies and Shaker tunes, particularly Lord of the Dance, was well defined and an enjoyable lead-up to the main work, but it would have been such a bonus to have heard Whelan (1993 Cardiff Singer of the World) perform in the first half of the concert.

- Elizabeth Bouman

Source: ODT Mon, 18 Jul 2011

Feedback from the audience

The highlight, although not the best piece of music, came after the interval, and everyone ended the performance covered in glory. I've heard the choir sing ff, but last night you got to ffff with nary a trace of distortion. Everyone near where I was sitting was wrung out at the end of the concert. It was a wonderful evening. My only regret is that I shall never again be able to listen to several cherished CDs of "Belshazzar's Feast".

- a Friend

I heard from some in the audience not all related to me) and also orchestra members. They all said how much they enjoyed the performance and that the choir 'pulled it off'. The orchestra had been worried that we wouldn't put enough energy into it but they said we certainly did on the night. The audience also commented on the energy in the choir and that the Walton was the highlight of the concert.

I haven't done any singing for about 17-18 years but I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the choir and realised how much I missed it! I'm sorry, but I'll be back.

- Mary Jane Sneyd

My friend - who used my Sinfonia subscriber's pass as he thought the tickets were too expensive (cheapest upstairs was $52) was so thrilled, he said he was going home to listen to a recording of the piece again. Apparently once was not enough.

Another friend, a fellow chorister from another choir, and long-time CoDC watcher, said it was the best and most vigorous performance he could remember seeing from the City Choir in 10 years.

Several orchestra members commented that the choir seemed to improve with every one of the week's rehearsals so that, by the performance night, the choir was totally focussed and "amazing".

- Scott Blackwell

I was in the audience and felt that the choir sang very well. I was so excited and wanted to burst in with you several times. Your faces were very expressive and it was obvious that everyone really was fully engaged with both the conductor and the orchestra for the whole of the performance. Well done everyone.

- Judy Tucker

I was so glad to be in the audience on Saturday and not have to concentrate on finding the right notes! I had found the music very difficult to get used to and wasn’t able to be at enough practices. I fully expected to dislike Belshazzar’s Feast – noisy and full of discords, and was amazed to be bowled over by the exhuberance and electrifying effect of the live performance.

Where the orchestra was not in full throttle, the words came over very well, especially the men’s entry and practically everyone actually watched the conductor for the whole work. A larger soprano section would have been good. Well done, everyone, especially David.

- Stella Cullington

As I edged through the crowded Town Hall foyer after the concert, I heard a lady in front of me say to her neighbour: "That was magnificent."

- Helen Edwards

We love feedback

The Choir would love to hear from you if you were in the audience on Saturday. Please leave a comment here or email us at info@cityofdunedinchoir.org.nz

Thank you for your support!

Prolonged ovation for triumphant performance

Review of the performance of Bach's Mass in B minor, Dunedin Town Hall, Saturday 16 April 2011, by Elizabeth Bouman (Otago Daily Times, Monday 18 April 2011).

Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor was completed in 1749, and to this day remains a behemoth in large choral repertoire.

On Saturday evening in the Dunedin Town Hall the Mass was presented by 90-member City of Dunedin Choir with Southern Sinfonia and guest soloists soprano Lois Johnston, mezzo-soprano Sarah Court, tenor John Murray and baritone Daniel O'Connor, and conducted by David Burchell.

The choir has been rehearsing since late last year. Like long-distance runners, all were on a high after the experience of training for and completing their marathon, and it is indeed highly exhilarating to negotiate thousands and thousands of notes to reach the final page in triumph.

The audience rewarded with prolonged ovation, having experienced varied satisfaction along the way. Particularly memorable for the bystander were many passages where solo wood-wind, string or brass featured, such as oboe and bassoon highlights in the bass aria Et in Spiritum sanctum and flute obligato in the tenor aria Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.

The opening Kyrie eleison was slow to settle, initially presenting rather light and under-defined. The intense melismatic style of this work demands very slick scalic vocal ability, and the clarity of many phrases was slurred and rather blurry, resulting in approximation rather than precision. Consequently, the overall effect often lacked pulse and spritely forward drive, but as the work progressed the big textured choruses were generally exciting, despite accurately intoned soprano top register appearing under-strength.

The best aria for me was the deep rich tone and pleasing legato lines of the mezzo Agnus Dei. The soprano's quality was beautiful, but decidedly lacking in rapport through seldom looking away from the score. The young emerging baritone gave a very creditable performance throughout and the tenor also delivered well.

All thanks and credit should go to the organisers for presenting Bach's famous Mass, giving opportunity for followers of the genre to experience a live performance.

Feedback from the audience

"I really thought the choir and orchestra were amazing last weekend."
- Lois Johnston (Soprano solist)

"Hi, I think David should be well pleased particularly with the choir. A few little issues with timing but you sounded rich and full for many of the choruses. Some excellent solos from some of the orchestra."
- a Friend

"It (the performance) was good enough for the audience to feel the monumental nature of the work."
- a Friend

"We attended the concert on Saturday.  Were unable to hear the Tenor and the Baritone. Second half the Baritone came across more strongly, but alas the Tenor was lost to us. We were not the only ones to comment on this. Four people in our row said the same and during the interval we heard the same. We were sitting front row upstairs."
- Jennifer Hopkinson

David Burchell responds to Jennifer Hopkinson's feedback:
"The hall is problematic for the lower solo voices, though I think they balance better downstairs. It seemed OK in rehearsal - but then the presence of audience and choir changes the acoustic! I am surprised that John was inaudible, though in the duet he had to take care not to overbalance Lois, so it was a tricky issue. The strings were already playing right down..."

"As a member of the choir for many years, it was a pleasure, and an enjoyable experience to be in the audience for the Bach concert, as I had been unable to attend an adequate number of rehearsals. There was a real buzz among the audience who did appreciate what a 'big sing' the work was, everyone I spoke to thought it was a very good performance, and so did I! I thought it was a confident performance, the diction was excellent, and I did enjoy watching everyone's animated faces, mostly eyes were out of music scores, and you did 'sing your hearts out' - bravo!
- Maggie Peake

"I was certainly interested in hearing the Bach B minor Mass again, but last night's performance rekindled an old enthusiasm for the piece. The soloists were good and the orchestra was very fine, but the Dunedin Choir carried the night.

"This won't come as a surprise to you, but David Burchell has had a remarkable influence on your group. The sound is more homogeneous now than it was five years ago, with groups of singers evident more by timbre than volume when their voices have to dominate the sound. That quality really showed in the final part of the Mass, and was a highlight for me. Another highlight was the beautiful blend between the vocal soloists and the instrumentalists who accompanied them. The long, winding, woodwind accompaniments -- which must be the very devil to play -- sounded wonderful."
- a Friend

"It was a fantastic concert and a splendid introduction to the B Minor Mass which I had not heard before."
- a Friend

"It was tremendous. The fugal writing was beautifully clear."
- a Friend

"Brilliant. We loved it."
- a Friend

"Thank you for a marvellous concert. Thoroughly enjoyed it."
- a Friend

"Everyone I have spoken to really enjoyed it. Several hadn't heard it before: "moving" and "beautiful". One commented on David's obvious attempts to slow us down at one point! For the hard of hearing the soprano soloist was hard to make out above the orchestra, was another comment."
- Tree Cocks

"Last Saturday evening, April 16th, the Dunedin audience was treated to one of the world’s most celebrated choral masterpieces, Mass in B minor by JS Bach. Elizabeth Bouman was quite right when she said in the ODT the following Monday that "all thanks and credit should go to the organizers for giving us such an opportunity".

"And what an opportunity it was! The opening Kyrie, with its heartrending plea for mercy, was so beautifully done that it brought tears to my eyes. The more outgoing movements such as the Gloria, Sanctus and the Osanna, stirred the emotions. The soloist instrumentals were exceptionally captivating and blended well with the vocal parts. The entire performance communicated the inspirational nature of this contemplative feast.

"This was truly an exhilarating performance and the audience, including myself, showed their appreciation with prolonged applause. That said it all!"
- Janice Royds

"I was in the audience and really enjoyed the performance. I was speaking with a couple of people around me who were just so grateful to be able to hear this work live. They really appreciated the effort that the choir had gone to to stage this performance. I found it really hard to sit there and not sing. You were all great."
- Heather Brown

We love feedback

The Choir would love to hear from you if you were in the audience on Saturday. Please leave a comment here or email us at info@cityofdunedinchoir.org.nz

Thank you for your support!

Choir sang it beautifully

The performance on Saturday evening - well done everybody, that was great! Here is what the reviewer, Marian Poole, had to say (ODT, Monday 22 November 2010):

A capacity house to St Paul's on Saturday evening applauded an all-British twentieth-century programme directed by David Burchell, very enthusiastically.

There is a problem, however, with presenting wordy liturgical works as pieces of performance art. Musical cohesion in Burchell's setting of "Te Deum Laudamus" was, as the programme notes predicted, mired by words. Presented with obvious pride by City of Dunedin Choir and Southern Sinfonia Ensemble under the composer's baton, it becomes, as work of art, happily innocuous.

Likewise, Finzi's "Dies Natalis" sung excellently by David Hamilton, gets itself bogged down with words. Finzi's ethereal music transports the ear to celebrate that everyday miracle - the birth of new life - and again speaks more effectively than the words.

By way of admittedly unfair contrast, Vaughan Williams' "Valiant for Truth" successfully conveys a similar message - that of hope in adversity or wishful thinking - weaving musical airs with poetically economical words. The Choir sang it beautifully without accompaniment and with confidence.

Britten's "Saint Nicolas" gave David Hamilton another opportunity to display his devotion to opera-like drama. The work explores many musical languages from Royal Schools' tonality to something close to serialism, while remaining less than dissonant, thus overcoming some of the verbal shortcomings - for example "And leaping from his mother's womb [St Nicolas] cried: God be Glorified"  (- yeah, right!).  The work is chilling at the start and ends with auspicious lines from the choir. St Nicolas's birth becomes a street carnival sung by St Paul's Choristers. James Burchell cries God's glory with knowing eyes. While overall the work is uneven, the word painting in the sea storm, the prison scene and Nicolas' ascent to heaven was most successful. Special commendation goes to pianists John van Buskirk and Sandra Crawshaw, the organist Rachel Swindells, the percussion ensemble and, of course, the pickled boys.

Zimbe! review in the Listener

Zimbe! Come sing the songs of Africa! a new work by Alexander L’Estrange was given its New Zealand première under the direction of David Burchell. The combined forces of City of Dunedin Choir, St Paul’s Cathedral Choristers, Southern Children’s Choir and dancer Ojeya Cruz Banks accompanied by jazz ensemble of Graeme Perkins (piano), Nick Cornish (alto saxophone), Sam Healey (bass), Robert Craigie (drum kit) and Justine Pierre (percussion) packed out the stage. This infectiously joyful and energetic community show had the audience clapping along and won all performers a standing ovation.

L’Estrange, known for his creative versatility and for the music he wrote for the TV adaptation of McCall Smith’s book The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, describes Zimbe! as “coming from the seeds of my affinity with African music and the gospel tradition”. The Oxford graduate has collected 15 traditional songs, backed them with jazz. The collection reflects the role of music in everyday life in Africa - from sun rise to sun set, or as the song “Ilanga libuya, ilanga liyaphuma” more optimistically puts it “the sun sets… the sun rises”.

The collection is in two halves, bracketed with slightly altered versions of the refrain “Njooni!, Zimbe!” (Come sing the songs of Africa!). Two children’s games “Sansa Kroma” (Sansa the Hawk),  “Pete, Pete!” (Vulture vulture!) and two wedding songs “Wai Bamba “ (You’ve got her!) and “Hamba Lulu” (Go Lulu)  highlight the lighter side of the African experience while “Thula Mama, Thula” (a lullaby for mothers of imprisoned sons) and “Vamudara” (in which a drunken man dances himself to death) highlight the everyday pain. The second section opens with the funeral song “Aleluya/Thuma Mîna” accompanied by a section of the choir offstage and danced to most lyrically and sensuously by Banks. Anthems and prayers make up the remaining collection, reflecting the importance of maintaining hope in dire circumstances. “We shall not give up the fight”, “Siyahamba”, “Freedom is coming/ Hamba vangeli” were sung with vigour and joy.

The combined choirs gained momentum as they warmed to the music and warmed the music as they gained momentum. While individual members were obviously not natural-born sing-and-dance people, or at ease without their scores, they were aided by the majority who did enter the spirit of the songs, albeit with elbows firmly wedged to their sides. The overall performance lifted markedly when the scores were put aside and the choir projected the life in the music, imperfections and all, out to the audience.

Zimbe! could be successfully performed by smaller groups less inhibited by a lack of space to move, but a huge crowd singing at full throttle is tremendously exhilarating and a sight to gladden the world-weary.

By Marian Poole, New Zealand Listener, 18 September 2010

Faure and Friends Review

City of Dunedin Choir and Friends at St Paul’s Sunday 13 June

City of Dunedin Choir and guests - organist Rachel Swindells, soprano Catherine Daly-Reeve and baritone Benjamin Caukwell - directed alternately by David Burchell and Michael Dawson warmed a capacity audience at St Paul’s this Sunday with a charming selection of works by Fauré, Dupré, Saint-Saëns, Poulenc and Alain.

The subdued programme steeped its audience in the mood of the early twentieth-century as experienced and expressed by the French. The only brusque tonality here was Poulenc’s difficult “Four Small Prayers” which suffered through an initial lack of confidence, but managed to retain a sense of pitch despite the work’s harmonic convolutions. The last two prayers - “Seigneur, je vous en prie” and “O mes très chers frères” – were particularly nicely done. Unfortunately the intriguing melodic twists in Dupré’s “Laudate Dominum” were lost behind an over zealous organ accompaniment.

In an excellent line-up, the highlight goes to Fauré’s beautiful “Requiem”. Accompanied by Swindells on the organ, the choir and soloists successfully rendered its quiet menace, its awe-full melodies and teasingly short-lived climaxes to achieve ethereal excellence. Daly-Reeve’s “Pie Jesu” revealed a voice of boyish clarity and fittingly celestial quality. Caukwell’s “Libera Me” and “Offertorium” revealed a rich voice with dramatic strengths particularly in keeping the chant-like sections alive.

Alain’s delightful set of variations for organ, well played by Burchell, insinuates Janequin’s sixteenth century simplicity into the cynicism of the twentieth century. Saint-Saëns’ “Calme des Nuits”, “Les Fleurs” and “Ave Maria” revealed his other pictorial strengths away from “Danse Macabre”. The small choir in Fauré’s dulcette “Tantum Ergo” is commended, as is the unaccompanied singing throughout the programme.

Fauré’s “Cantique de Jean Racine” was sung with sweet intensity, its lyricism providing a welcome comparatively spirited interlude.

This was a programme which demanded quiet strength and was for the most part a convincing portrayal of the still and small French voice.

Bravo.

Marian Poole (Review published in the Otago Daily Times, Monday 14 June 2010)

Accolades for St John Passion

This letter from Dr David Galloway (Dr Patricia Payne, the opera singer’s husband) was published in the ODT this morning:

Monday 29 March, 2010

Editor Otago Daily Times

Yesterday I attended Bach’s St John Passion by the City of Dunedin Choir and the Southern Sinfonia in the Town Hall. To hear this wonderfully dramatic work sung with such warmth and conviction (and dare I say passion) in German, the language of its composition, was a treat indeed. The performance easily bears comparison with any British or European live performances of the work that I have heard. Besides the splendid contributions of conductor, soloists, choir and orchestra, the continuo players (organ, cello and flute) sensitively and deftly provided accompaniments to the several solo arias, adding a further dimension of great subtlety and beauty to the whole work. It was a glorious start to Holy Week. Warmest congratulations to the City of Dunedin Choir and their supporters, for allowing us to share in this outstanding musical event. More please!

David Galloway (Opoho)

Messiah worthwhile effort

As a member of the audience, instead of the choir, for the first time for this event, I would like to say how much I agreed with the sentiments of the reviewer. However I knew of course that the performance would be world class. I think the performance was better than ever and the choral work without music was very effective and the effort put into this by members of the choir very worthwhile.

I am back in Dunedin now, as you know, and I would like to catch up with old friends and also to sing in the proms 2010.

[Janice Royds responding to the review of the Messiah performance on 8 December, by Glenn Linde on dunedinmusic.com]

Magnificent performance

I have been singing the Messiah since 1967, and just wanted to report that my husband of 37 years, who has been to every Messiah I have sung over the duration of our marriage (what staying power!!) found the performance magnificent - he even used the word 'riveting'!!!

Cheers Loraine

Praise for Messiah

Overheard in the audience: "This is the best performance of Messiah I've heard in 40 years!"

Seen on dunedinmusic.com: http://dunedinmusic.com/reviews/136


Tuesday 8 December 2009: Concert Review: Messiah
Mighty work gets mighty rendition

Last evening in the Dunedin Town Hall, the City of Dunedin Choir and Southern Sinfonia with four guest soloists presented the full work, with all the magnitude and passion this work deserves.

In his fifth time presenting Messiah in Dunedin, David Burchell conducted from the harpsichord, and the orchestra and choir responded with expressive shaping and shading.

From the audience, I followed from my family's 100-year-old well-worn score, pondering over the freshness in interpretation at each hearing.

This performance featured a lightness and brilliance overall, while never losing substance.

(Extract from the review by Elizabeth Bouman in the Otago Daily Times of 9 December 2009.)

Review of Nelson Mass

Elizabeth Bouman wrote a very favourable review of the Nelson Mass performance, in the Dunedin Town Hall on Saturday 12 September, by City of Dunedin Choir, Southern Sinfonia, soloists and conductor Simon Over. (See ODT, Monday 14 September 2009). Marian Poole reviewed the same concert for the Listener.

The Glory of Haydn, Otago Daily Times Saturday 12 September 2009, reviewed by Elizabeth Bouman:

Southern Sinfonia and City of Dunedin Choir, British conductor Simon Over and four of New Zealand's top young soloists celebrated the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death in a Glory of Haydn Concert in the Dunedin Town Hall last Saturday evening. The concert was well supported and the audience was full of praise for the Haydn work.

...Missa in Angustii (Lord Nelson Mass) is one of Haydn's grandest works, and Over certainly had the orchestra and particularly the hundred-voice choir fired up to deliver a magnificently vibrant 45-minute performance.

The choir, under musical director David Burchell, was on a decidedly homogeneous high.

The performance was gilded by clear top soprano intonation and excellent attention to dynamic shaping, with vowels which swell noticeably, not just occasionally but throughout.

Soprano Rebecca Ryan, an Otago graduate, has returned from working as a singer in Europe.

The beauty in her voice was particularly apparent in the Benedictus, and intelligence and passion in text interpretation shone throughout, with exquisitely refined shaping in long phrases

Baritone Jared Holt, although lacking weight at his lowest register, displayed extraordinary breath capacity in negotiating the long melismatic phrases which challenge soloists in this work.

Mezzo-soprano soloist Claire Barton and tenor James Rodgers also delivered with well-defined phrasing and articulation.

Equal balance of soloists also contributed to the outstanding success of this Haydn celebration.

Glory be, New Zealand Listener September 26-October 2 2009 Vol 220 No 3620, reviewed by Marian Poole:

Missa in Angustii roused the house at Dunedin Town Hall in Glory of Haydn, the Southern Sinfonia's final performance of the season. Otherwise known as the Lord Nelson and the Imperial, Haydn's mass, written in the same year Nelson routed Napoleon's fleet, is a call to "bring it on". Right from the stirring rendition of Kyrie Eleison, the City of Dunedin Choir, under the baton of Simon Over, were well on their way to winning. Fugues and offset entries in Quoniam tu Solis, the wordy Credo and Dona nobis pacem were executed with clarity and conviction, notably in the upper registers. Choir director David Burchell can be commended for their well-honed performance.

New Zealand-born soloists Rebecca Ryan (soprano), Claire Barton (alto), James Rodgers (tenor) and Jared Holt (bass) were equally well-versed, but their performance was marred by an imbalance between them and the Sinfonia. Most disadvantaged were Barton and Holt, whereas the higher voices of Ryan and Rodgers cut through successfully.

However, the glorious blend of female voices in Agnus Dei, male voices in Gloria and the brief but significantly catchy melodies and harmonies of Domine Deus overcame these shortcomings...

What the reviewer said

Anniversary Accolades - Celebrating Classic Choral Composers, Saturday 4 July, reviewed by Marian Poole for the Otago Daily Times:

Mellow sounds from the Southern Sinfonia and the City of Dunedin Choir, with excellent highlights from soprano Lois Johnston, alto Claire Barton, tenor Stephen Chambers and bass baritone Andreas Hirt, directed by David Burchell and Michael Dawson, warmed a medium-sized audience at St Paul's on Saturday.

The programme celebrated the anniversaries of Purcell, Handel, Haydn and Felix Mendelssohn. It covered two hundred years of choral music and, as the programme notes inform us, the foundations of of the English sound.

While this demanding programme occasionally taxed the stamina of the choir, and while Barton seemed to be at less than her best, Johnston's strong confidence on the heights, Hirt's and Chambers' rich musicality and the excellent blend of all voices, and some good highlights from the woodwinds, brass and cellos, delivered some real pleasure.

Purcell's joyous welcome Come ye sons of art has a sweetness which lingers in the ear, but was unfortunately marred by a lack of vigour. The languorous invitation diluted the sense of impending fun.

Haydn's Spring taken from The Seasons was, despite the sense of joy in the words, a musically ordered, balanced and mild change of season at times frustratingly poles apart from Vivaldi's exuberance.

Handel's My Heart is Inditing, introducing Michael Dawson as conductor, was performed with good lilt. Dawson is commended for the precise performance from the choir. However, the words of the concluding exultation "Kings shall be thy nursing fathers" are a bit hard to swallow. If sensored out, we would be left with the more palatable scenario of the "King shall have pleasure in thy beauty".

Mendelssohn's As the Hart Pants gave ample opportunity to celebrate the excellent balance of solo voices with the choir. The closing work, Handel's The King Shall Rejoice, though a little perfunctory and occasionally muddied, made a successfully triumphant close.

Solists, choir and Southern Sinfonia under the excellent direction of Burchell and Dawson contributed to a delightful, homogeneous evening. Bravo.

What the audience said

What they said of the Anniversary Accolades concert:

"Hugely enjoyed the concert yesterday afternoon - it really was wonderful. You all looked wonderful - and sounded so polished."

"The performance was excellent."