Music / Requiem, Coro. At Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, July 14. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

Coro’s latest program featured composers’ works that have more under the surface than might be immediately apparent. The program of individual items worked very well together.

Founded in 2011 by composer and conductor David Mackay and singer Paul Eldon, Coro is an award-winning chamber choir that has built a reputation for its innovative approach to performance and repertoire.

Conducted by Mackay, the choir began with Maurice Duruflé’s Motets, composed in 1960. Their singing was beautifully clear and accurate. The second motet, performed by women only, was sensitively and memorably sung. There was great depth in the singing throughout and the finale was sombre and reflective.

Next, Nicholas Michael Smith’s recent choral work, Salve Regina, was an Australian premiere performance and the choir sang it with strength and conviction, the words making it a strong plea for mercy.

The third item, The Country of Marriage, was a world-premiere performance. Composed in 2014 as a wedding gift by this concert’s conductor, David Mackay, the text was from a few lines of the poem, The Country of Marriage by Wendell Berry. It was a beautiful work with sensitive singing by the choir. 

Tenor Paul Eldon and baritone Daniel Sanderson were featured and sang their parts with great feeling.

There was also a rich, colourful arrangement by John Aue of James Yorkston’s 1883 work Molly Malone as well as Oliver Messaien’s O Sacrum Convivium, haunting and beautiful in its complexity. The choir gave a fine performance of both works.

In a change of pace, one of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies was sensitively performed by the string orchestra with Barbara Jane Gilby, who also wrote the arrangement, playing violin.

The final work was the Requiem by Gabriel Fauré, performed by choir and orchestra. In seven parts, its focus is on eternal rest and consolation. 

The work has dramatic as well as quiet moments, all of it achingly memorable. The soloists were Jang Hee Han, bass; Hannah Bleby, soprano, and Andrew Fysh, bass. They, the choir and the orchestra gave this work the sensitivity it needs. It was a highly satisfying performance to end this excellent concert.