World premieres are always full of excitement, anticipation and nervousness – for composer, performers and audience alike. This one, Passio, by the young Australian composer John Rotar, who also conducts The Australian Voices, was no different.

There was a palpable air of all three as Rotar, welcomed by the audience with cheers and enthusiastic applause, took to the stage to introduce his work.

And there surely must be no better place than The Cathedral of St Stephen, with its modern-gothic architecture, punctuated by its soaring, lofty spaces and incredible acoustic, to introduce this piece to the world.

Another thing about world premieres, is that there really is nothing else to which they can be compared; they can be considered absolutely on their own merits. Even though there are several Easter passions in the catalogue, Passio is so different from the others that any comparisons would be purely moot.

John Rotar’s Passio is an extraordinarily compelling work – one which surely will stand the test of centuries in the repertoires of the greatest choral ensembles on earth.

It is a work full of mystery, drama and emotion. It is one that pulls all those qualities ever more so ahead of those that have come before.

Even more...