Uncle Jason Tweedy’s Welcome to Country noted music’s power to forge much-needed connections. And Genevieve Lacey and the Latvian Radio Choir made a swag of novel connections with an innovative program focused on the avian world.

The Choir, conducted by Artistic Director, Kaspars Putniņš, opened with a wispy, evocative interpretation of And the Swallow, a setting of Psalm 84 by Caroline Shaw. Lacey, who had been perched at the side of the stage, then took flight with a riveting account of the virtuosic Engles Nachtegaeltje (English Nightingale) by Jacob van Eyck.

Kaspars Putniņš and the Latvian Radio Choir. Photo © Alex Jamieson

Two choral works by Arvo Pärt – Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis – established a serene, meditative mood, piqued by fleeting dissonances. By contrast, Mendelssohn’s setting of ‘Mein Gott, warum hast du mich verlassen’ (My God, why hast thou forsaken me) involved turbulence, revealing the Choir’s expressive depth.

Bird on Byrd was Genevieve Lacey’s brainchild and this was its premiere. The multi-layered work by Hollis Taylor and Jon Rose blended recordings of pied butcherbird songs with music distilled from a manuscript by Renaissance composer, William Byrd. While renaissance music and birdsong may seem to be worlds apart, this performance revealed commonalities, as Lacey variously ‘conversed’ with the bird(s) and the choir.

After interval, Lacey joined the Choir for an exquisite performance Palestrina’s Pulchra es anima mea, in which she played a recorder part rendered by Palestrina’s contemporary, Francesco Rognoni.

This seemed to connect quite naturally with the homage expressed in Mūsu māšu vārdi (Our mothers’ names) by the contemporary Latvian composer Pēteris Vasks. The lyrics play on bird-names used as terms of endearment for women.

The Choir’s skilful interpretation of Vasks’ vivid score presented a vast array of unusual sounds, including sharply contoured dynamics, bird-like hoots and trills, and a spine-tingling choral glissando.

The closing words “Leave the treetop to the birds, to settle themselves upon… ” made the perfect segue into Etheridge River, a duet for recorder and butcher bird by Taylor and Rose.

Genevieve Lacey and the Latvian Radio Choir. Photo © Alex Jamieson

As in Byrd on Bird, Lacey’s part in this extraordinary musical conversation involved engaging with birdsong played out on a soundtrack. The effect was magical. The recorder part complemented the birdsong, and Lacey’s formidable technique enabled her to mimic the bird’s fluttering trills and warbles with uncanny accuracy.

Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds was commissioned to set a text drawn from Alexis Wright’s 2006 dystopian novel, The Swan Book and this was its Australian premiere. Ešenvalds’ Ceremony of Swans, scored for multiple recorders and choir, captured the liminal moment when the protagonist, a mute girl, flies with the swans.

Ešenvalds’ music exploited the performers’ musical gifts to create a vivid and constantly evolving soundscape with rich harmonies and voice and recorder solos that evoked the sense of liberation that comes with flight. The composer was present to acknowledge the heartfelt applause for this premiere performance.

This was indeed a bonding event, bringing together: Latvians, choristers, pied butcher birds, recorders, contemporary musicians and four hundred years of music from diverse lands.

Musica Viva Australia presents Latvian Radio Choir & Genevieve Lacey at Adelaide Town Hall (12 November); Llewellyn Hall, ANU Canberra (14 November) and City Recital Hall, Sydney on 16 November. Bookings and information here.