★★★★☆ Vocal splendours from England, bringing an eclectic musical “tasting menu” Down Under. Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

★★★★☆ Gold from the new world was not the only glittering commodity of Philip II’s Spain. Now at the height of its colonial power, the country also boasted spectacular music and art. Here Harry Christophers has harvested the choicest fruits of Francisco Guerrero and Alonso Lobo. These composers, master and disciple, were both in turn maestro di capilla of Seville Cathedral, then one of the grandest Christian structures in Europe. Amongst the highlights is Lobo’s monumental motet Versa est in luctum, written for the funeral rites of King Philip himself. The singers reveal the plangent glories, singing with a wonderful mixture of imposing calm and expertly focused dissonance. Another funeral setting, Libera me, a Kyrie and two Marian motets attest to Lobo’s polyphonic mastery. Guerrero, Lobo’s teacher and himself a student of Cristóbal de Morales, was an intrepid character, having made a Holy Land pilgrimage during which he was twice captured by pirates! He was later briefly in debtors’ prison having spent too much publishing his music and memoirs. A 12-voice Duo seraphim,… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

★★★★☆ Editor’s Choice: Vocal & Chroal, June 2015 So obsessed were the white anglo-saxon protestant citizens of late Victorian England with the “punishment of wickedness and vice, and the maintenance of true religion and virtue” (to use Thomas Cranmer’s phrase) that they were content even for a talented Roman Catholic like Edward Elgar to feed them stories that reinforced the prevailing ‘muscular Christianity’. St George and the dragon was an obvious subject, not least when Queen Victoria celebrated her diamond jubilee in 1897. For The Banner of Saint George Elgar was provided with poetry that was far from accomplished, but he used his considerable skill in orchestration to create evocative soundscapes, especially as he depicts the slaying of the dragon. On the other hand, there are times (as in the epilogue) when I can’t help wondering whether Elgar has his tongue firmly planted in his cheek. In any event, Sir Andrew Davis and his forces give a rousing and fully committed account of a work that was to become immensely popular… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already a subscriber? Log in

While commemorations of the Word War I centenary continue, James O’Donnell and his Westminster Abbey forces perform music associated mainly with other conflicts to remind us of the horror and folly of war. Taking up the lion’s share of this disc is Maurice Duruflé’s Requiem in its medium-sized incarnation for choir, orchestra, organ and soloists. Hyperion’s engineers have done a splendid job in balancing the relatively small choir against the orchestra in the abbey’s cavernous acoustics. Duruflé’s sincerity shines through his heartfelt score and O’Donnell elicits a very moving performance from all concerned, including soloists Christine Rice and Roderick Williams. English composers feature in the rest of the program. Vaughan Williams’s Lord, thou hast been our refuge is a poignant reaction to his first-hand experience of the so-called Great War, while Howells’s Take him, earth, for cherishing evokes the tragedy of President Kennedy’s assassination. Philip Moore’s Three Prayers of Dietrich Bonhoeffer are thoughtful and effective settings of the German pacifist pastor who was executed by the Nazis. John Tavener’s The peace that surpasseth all understanding forms the powerful conclusion to the program. Commissioned by the Abbey to commemorate the… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe…

This wide-ranging survey of Pärt’s choral music is the third disc of his music performed by Stephen Layton’s Polyphony. As with the other two recordings, the singers’ clarity and unanimity of tone confirm them as ideal interpreters of this music. An added attraction is that this program takes us to back to some of Pärt’s earliest choral writing: the austere Solfeggio of 1963. The haunting musical stasis of this piece belies its unswerving adherence to the rules of serialism. Seven years later Pärt’s setting of the Nicean Creed, Summa shows the composer emerging into his “tintinnabulist” period and embracing the so-called “holy minimalism” that has become a hallmark of his music. Another movement charted by this disc is Pärt’s journey from the confines of Soviet-era Estonia into the freedom of the wider, multicultural world of the last quarter-century. The works recorded here demonstrate that Pärt’s style both transcends time and place, but is also influenced by people and history. Virgencita, a 2012 work receiving its first recording, celebrates the story of the apparition of the Virgin Mary at Guadalupe, Mexico and reflects both the tenderness and passion of… Continue reading Get unlimited digital access from $4 per month Subscribe Already…

One of the delights of this disc is the way Argentinian mezzo Bernarda Fink puts her deeply expressive instrument at the service of the text.

Set up less than a decade ago, the choir of Merton College is a relative newcomer to Oxford’s choral life, but in its short existence it has punched well above its weight. Unsurprising perhaps, given that one of its directors is Peter Phillips. The Tallis Scholars which Phillips also directs have been recording in Merton chapel for years, taking advantage of its splendid acoustic. To celebrate its 750th year the college has undertaken two visionary projects to support the choral foundation. The first is the installation of a superb new pipe organ. The second is the creation of the Merton Choirbook, a collection of music commissioned from composers from around the globe including a work by Melbourne composer, Christopher Willcock, whose Missa Brevis will be premiered later this year. This program of mainly a cappella music is mostly traditional Anglican fare enlivened with more recent works, including some from the Choirbook. All of the music is beautifully sung, whether it be favourites such as This is the record of John (Gibbons), Hear my prayer, O Lord (Purcell) or Valiant for Truth (Vaughan Williams). Amongst the new music, the Nunc dimittis from Eriks Ešenvalds’s evening canticles, James Lavino’s Beati quorum via…

Thomas Tallis was destined, as the old Chinese curse puts it, to live in interesting times. Luckily, for him and for us, he defied fate and kept his head joined to the rest of his body through many of England’s religious troubles. Andrew Carwood and his expert singers have produced an engaging program of works that reflect both the liturgical and musical diversity of the period. At the centre of this disc is the imposing seven-voice Missa Puer natus est, which seems to have been written in the reign of Mary Tudor. While being based on the cantus firmus of the plainsong introit for Christmas, its lack of a high treble part and solo sections attest to the composer’s ability to adapt his craft to available forces (in this case, Philip II’s Chapel Royal). On the other side of the ecclesiastical ledger, we are given a sonorous setting for lower voices of the Benedictus (Blessed be the Lord God of Israel) to be sung at Mattins according to Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer. A Latin Magnificat (probably Tallis’s earliest surviving work) makes a fascinating contrast not only with the plainer English setting but with his later Catholic works. Two well…

It was a strange prospect to say the least; the whole of Debussy’s La mer (not to mention various Ravel orchestral works) on the organ. Even as an organist, I wondered whether there could be a transcriber, a player and an instrument to do due honour to such richly detailed and subtly orchestrated scores. Gunnar Idenstam, a Swedish concert organist and composer certainly gives it his best shot. The organ of St Martin’s, Dudelange, Luxembourg is an excellent choice with its synthesis of the best of the French, German and English schools of organbuilding. The spatial disposition of the four-manuals in the clear but reverberant acoustic allows the all-important sense of orchestral background and foreground to be recreated. Idenstam brings an excellent technique and a generous sense of drama to the task at hand. While the Debussy has many exciting moments, I couldn’t help feeling that in attempting to reflect the changing orchestration of the original somehow the transcription lacked cohesion and instead of a unified musical tableau I was listening to a succession of colourful moments. The shorter Ravel works fared better. Pavane pour une infante défunte is particularly effective and La valse along with two of the Valses…

How good it is to have such excellent accounts of two major works for voice and orchestra by Holst. The first, dating from 1904 (and revised eight years later) is The Mystic Trumpeter, a setting of Walt Whitman featuring a soprano solo, and the second is the First Choral Symphony, a four-movement work with texts by Keats for soprano, chorus and orchestra. This recording might have come to light some years ago were it not for the untimely death of Richard Hickox in 2008, who passed away just as the project was beginning. Andrew Davis has more than ably assumed Hickox’s mantle and with Susan Gritton (who had begun work with the late conductor) he invests these works with all the colour and drama they demand. In The Mystic Trumpeter the overtly musical references of Whitman’s text help give shape and coherence to Holst’s musical language, allowing the composer to distance himself further from the Wagnerian idioms of which he was overly fond and edge closer to a unique personal style. The varied and often delicate nature of the orchestration allows a clear and effective presentation of Whitman’s paean to love, freedom and joy. Lasting just under 20 minutes, the…

French producer, Alain Lanceron’s decision to bring together Julia Lezhneva and Philippe Jaroussky in a recording of Pergolesi seems like a match made in heaven. Both singers have wowed Australian audiences in recent times: Jaroussky with his voice of velvet and dashing good looks, and Lezhneva with her range, technical prowess and elegance. The pair work particularly well together in the Stabat Mater where there are frequent opportunities to match vocal colour and intensity. They are well supported by Diego Fasolis and his band who reinforce the varying moods of the plangent text without taking away from the distinguished vocal contributions. Grander in scale are the two psalm settings, Laudate pueri and Confitebor. These festive works with their writing for chorus and larger orchestra allow the soloists to present their more operatic credentials. The Laudate is a well chosen vehicle for Lezhneva’s talents, allowing her to display her skill in coloratura runs and ornamentation over a fairly wide vocal range. Her delicate but expressive instrument is still in an early stage of development, and I look forward to hearing her in these works as her career progresses and her voice matures. The Confitebor provides a jolly conclusion to this enjoyable…

The voice and artistry of Iestyn Davies has always been one of the treats I look forward to when another recording by the King’s Consort comes my way. Here, in a well-deserved accolade we have a disc where we can savour his music making at length – and it does not disappoint. Apart from being a conspectus of Handel’s astonishing dramatic range and technical prowess in the realm of the oratorio, it is also a treasure trove of delights for the alto voice. Whether in the sober piety of O sacred oracles of truth from Belshazzar or the more bellicose Mighty love now calls to arm from Alexander Balus, Davies is totally in command of his material, spinning out beautifully formed musical phrases and displaying his deep love of the English language at every turn. This very well chosen program shows his honeyed tones in a variety of contrasted contexts. Amongst some of the highlights are the uplifting How can I stay when love invites from Esther, and the tender Mortals think that Time is sleeping from The Triumph of Time and Truth. A few well-chosen duets with Carolyn Sampson add to the pleasure. As much as this disc is…