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Review: Chorale struggles to deliver

MUSIC

UC Chorale

St Paul’s Anglican Church, Manuka, June 11.

Reviewed by Clinton White

 

 

FOR an audience, JS Bach’s music is magnificent and intellectual. For performers it is complex and demanding. It is music that requires as much perfection as it allows free interpretation.

This concert of two cantatas (BWV 105 and BWV 39) and the Mass in G Major (BWV 236), given by the UC Chorale and directed by Andrew Koll, did not fully deliver.

The accompaniment was by a small instrumental ensemble of 12 players, but the tuning was not true, a necessity when the players are so few in number and giving the foundation for the singing. It was particularly noticeable when they played in unison.

Each of the works started and finished with choruses, with solo pieces in between. The choir had good expression, tone and balance. There were a few tentative entries and the overall sound could have been crisper, particularly in the faster passages when, at times, the singing was too legato. The final chorus in the Mass was lovely though, delivering the crispness that baroque music evokes.

Six soloists were featured during the concert, but for most the demands of the works simply were beyond their capabilities. Bass Rohan Thatcher delivered strong and confident recitatives and arias and tenor Mark Popplewell gave a commendable rendition of his quite difficult aria in BWV 105.

It would be good to hear the UC Chorale performing works that are a little less demanding, particularly ones that feature more chorus work; choir singing is such an uplifting art form.

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