A rite that endures for good reason

Photo: Ian Thomson 25 November 2023

Messiah, City Choir Dunedin and Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, Dunedin TownHall, Saturday, November 25, 2023. 

The Southland Times review of the premier of the entire Messiah by the Invercargill Philharmonic Society in 1878 noted the "indefatigable" conductor (Hautrie West) and that the "ordeal" of the rehearsals had met a "very successful performance", before an enthusiastic but sparse audience. 

Then as now, the effort required to bring such a vast and long work to fruition still requires its leader to be indefatigable, the choir to be committed to many rehearsals, and the instrumentalists to be ever present. City Choir Dunedin, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and soloists Elizabeth Mandeno (soprano), Maaike Christie-Beekman (mezzo-soprano), Lachlan Craig (tenor) and Wade Kernot (bass) under David Burchell produced a highly successful performance. 

The less than capacity audience included those who knew to stand up for, and sing along to the Hallelujah Chorus. It also included those new to this rite who grew fidgety over the work’s duration. They rewarded the performers with a prolonged standing ovation. 

As in 1878 the Messiah presents its soloists with something of a rite of passage. The demands of the work are heavy. If the voice is not sufficiently agile or powerful the result can be turgid; every repetition requires renewal; performance stamina should endure long intervals of inactivity. Each had their highlights — Mandeno’s clarity in There Were Shepherds and Rejoice Greatly, Beekman’s dramatic portrayal of He was Despised and Rejected, Craig’s pleading in Behold and See if There be Any Sorrow and Kernot’s triumphant The Trumpet Shall Sound. Each is also culpable of being tongue-tied in the more convoluted melodic lines. The choir’s devotion to task overcame similar shortfalls, but shone in those choruses sung from memory.

Handel’s stalwart Messiah is a rite that endures via its devotees’ devotions.

Review by Marian Poole, Otago Daily Times 27 November 2023.

Choir rises to the occasion for concert

Alleluia! Music for Eastertide
Dunedin City Choir Saturday, 22 April 2023, Knox Church

In "Alleluia! Music for Eastertide", City Choir Dunedin rose to the occasion on Saturday evening, presenting a programme of music from the 16th to the 21st century.

Staged in a well-filled Knox Church, the concert, under the baton of David Burchell, opened with a nicely balanced, unaccompanied rendition of Samuel Scheidt’s Easter carol Surrexit Christus Hodie.

An early cantata, J.S. Bach’s Christ lag in Todes Banden, followed.

The gloomy introduction from Dunedin Symphony Orchestra players led into a more joyous mood from the choir, then soprano Caroline Burchell and mezzo Erin Connelly-Whyte sang the duet, each voice perfectly complementing the other.

Tenor Brendon Shanks and bass Edward Smith were soloists, the latter impressing with a powerful voice, while in Shanks’ duet with Burchell, the tenor seemed more confident than in his solo.

One of the evening’s greatest challenges for the choir was Josef Rheinberger’s Osterhymne.

The 19th-century German composer wrote this for two choirs, so the City Choir was divided in half, singing unaccompanied in Latin. The result was a pleasure to listen to, as the two groups portrayed the battle between life and death.

Conductor Burchell’s own new work, O Sons and Daughters, opened the second half and was even more challenging for the choir.

Unaccompanied, the hymn – based on a medieval text – had complex interwoven elements and the many hours of rehearsal paid off in delivering the irregular metres with an aplomb a professional choir would have envied.

From its rich introduction, Georg Philipp Telemann’s Zwei Junger gehn nach Emmaus delighted the audience.

In his solo, Shanks was at his best, clearly enunciating the story of Christ’s two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Then Smith and Connelly-Whyte provided the sermon central to the work, leading into the choir’s joyful conclusion.

For a crowd pleaser, the final work had it all. Mozart was only 16 when he wrote Regina Coeli in B flat, yet it showed great maturity.

The first movement, with its extended orchestral introduction, gave the choir another opportunity to shine, while the second and third movements were dominated by the splendid voice of Burchell.

Completely in control and most ably supported by the choir and Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, she delighted throughout.

"Alleluia! Music for Eastertide" was a triumph for City Choir Dunedin, musical director Burchell, the four soloists, Dunedin Symphony Orchestra, and organist Micah Xiang.

Reviewed by GILLIAN VINE for The Star, 27 April 2023

Highlights shine

 

Alleluia! Music for Eastertide

Saturday 22 April 2023, Knox Church

A full house turned out for the Easter celebration staged by City Choir Dunedin with members of the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra and guest soloists led by David Burchell at Knox Church on Saturday night.

Despite their numbers being depleted somewhat by a fourth wave of Covid-19, the choir put in a sturdy performance of a technically very challenging programme. The twists, turns and vocal agility demanded by baroque music was designed to be challenging even for professional voices.

Part of the excitement of antiphonal music is the inherent risk of becoming a confused and turgid noise. This risk was sadly realised on several occasions. However, there were enough highlights to win the performers and the performance enthusiastic applause.

Soloist soprano Caroline Burchell has a growing creditable repertoire and shows great agility particularly in the solo parts of Mozart’s Regina Coeli. While minced words were all too frequently the cost of this agility, Burchell’s voice and her ease of presentation should take her far.

Mezzo-soprano Erin Connelly-Whyte has a beautiful, warm voice. Her duet with Burchell in Bach’s Christ lag in Todes Banden showed her power in harmonising. Connelly-Whyte’s solo in Telemann’s Zwei Junger highlighted her lyric strength.

Tenor Brendan Shanks showed some uncertainty but a capacity for a powerful presentation particularly in his aria from Bach’s Christ lag.

Bass Edward Smith also showed the weaknesses of a new performer facing a difficult work but overall put up a powerful performance.

David Burchell’s composition O Sons and Daughters proved to be one of those moments in which the choir was severely stretched. The work displays some allegiance to Finzi’s rhythmic contrivances and is, overall, a very accessible work. Vocal articulation and momentum suffered but both were reprieved by a strong finish.

Review by Marian Poole, Otago Daily Times, 24 April 2023