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Canberra Today 15°/17° | Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Review: Music of valour and memories

“The Qualities of Valour”

Canberra International Music Festival, Australian War Memorial Hall of Memory, noon Friday, May 18.

Reviewed by Ian McLean

WHAT a glorious concert!  Sixteen contrasting but beautiful and moving pieces had been selected to represent and respond to the 15 Qualities contained in the stained-glass windows and the Dome of the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial.   From the moment mezzo soprano Christina Wilson, accompanied by harpist Tegan Peemoeller, sang Bach’s “Bist Du Bei Mir” to pay tribute to the quality of Comradeship all assembled in the peace and tranquillity of the hall were treated to stunning music performed at the highest levels of expertise.

In a concert of never-ending highlights, the sound of the bass voices of the Song Company and the ANU School of Music Chamber Choir resonated long after conductor Roland Peelman had signalled his cut off  and will long live in my memory.

Those two choirs were outstanding in presenting the Australian premiere of “Pater Noster”, a homage to Ancestry by Peteris Vasks, the composer in residence for the Festival. The work was stunning.

Equally wonderful was “Finlandia”, the Sibelius hymn chosen to represent Chivalry. Louise Page demonstrated tonal quality of brilliance as she sang to Curiosity in Samuel Barber’s “Sure on the Shining Night” and the NZ String Quartet suitably exuded “Control” in Beethoven’s Cavatina. Renowned Turkish musician Omar Faruk Tekbilek sang with great passion and emotion as he stood close to the tomb of the unknown Australian soldier and pride was obvious as a fantastic arrangement of our national anthem represented Patriotism.

There are no doors to the Hall of Memory. All enter the space uninhibited, and that includes birds, which flutter in as they please. Numerous birds (they may or may not have been doves, the bird of peace) flew in and settled above a stained glass window just as Louise Page and Christina Wilson sang “We Will Overcome” to represent Resourcefulness.

In that serene moment it just seemed that peace in the world was possible.

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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