Canberra International Music Festival Concert 24 – Mozart’s “Forgotten Oratorio”, Albert Hall, May 19.

Review by Clinton White

IT’S not often a 21^st century audience would get to hear a premiere performance of an 18^th century piece, especially by a composer such as Mozart.  But, being in Australia, tucked as we are at the bottom of the world, it may not be quite so unusual.

Mozart’s “Davide Penitente” was commissioned in February 1785 for a concert to be given just one month later.  Accepting the commission put him under a lot of pressure, for he had an extremely busy performance schedule and his father, Leopold, had just arrived for a 10-week visit.  So recycling some previous writing was the answer.  Even so, how intensely must he have worked to create this 45-minute work and leave enough time for rehearsal.

For this concert we had the Wallfisch Band, the Oriana Chorale and soloists tenor Andrew Goodwin and sopranos Susannah Lawergren and Anna Fraser.  Roland Peelman conducted the work in his usual lively, flamboyant but highly expressive style.

Peelman achieved a rare and perfect balance  of choir over the orchestra, giving each group the space they needed at just the right times.

The soloists were brilliant, giving a bright, beautiful and expressive lift to the work.  How their voices soared.

The Mozart was the second item on the program.  The other offering is no stranger to any fine music audience: Beethoven’s “Violin Concerto in D Major”, Op 61.

The Wallfisch Band was led by celebrated cellist and conductor Jaap Ter Linden with soloist Elizabeth Wallfisch.

Despite a slightly hesitant start to this piece, the  performance was friends playing together for friends.

There was no pretence, even with a brief, funny musical inside joke between soloist and conductor towards the end of the work.  The musicians were relaxed without being careless, light-hearted without being frivolous, familiar without being complacent.

And an assured Wallfisch played some masterly cadenza work that would leave any other top flight violinist with their mouths open.