Music / Magnificat, Luminescence Chamber Singers and Children’s Choir with Apeiron Baroque. At Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, August 4. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

Joining forces with Apeiron Baroque, the Luminescence Singers and Children’s Choir presented works from the Italian Renaissance and Baroque era, paying homage to the composers of the Ospedali Schools of Venice, where young singers studied under the tutelage of Italy’s finest musicians.

Commencing with Claudio Monteverdi’s 1641 composition, Beatus Vir, the singers and instrumentalists impressed with their haunting performance of this beautiful work.

It was followed by another Monteverdi piece from 1610, Duo Seraphim. It was sung by Lucien Fischer, baritone; Dan Walker, tenor, and Tom Hallworth, tenor. The pleasing blend of their voices made this one of the highlights of the concert.

Apeiron Baroque then played Giovanni Reali’s Folia from 1709. This work was given a fine performance, especially the very lively finale.

From Francesco Cavalli’s collection of sacred works, Musiche Sacre, from 1656, the singers and instrumentalists performed his Lauda Jerusalem. Their voices brought out all the sensitivity in this work, filling the church with glorious sound.

After an interval, the Children’s Choir joined the singers and Apeiron Baroque for a performance of Nicola Porpora’s Magnificat, written in 1745. The children sang with accuracy and warmth, making this another highlight of the concert.

Heinrich Biber’s quirky Sonata Representativa was then presented by Apeiron Baroque. This work imitates various birds and even a frog at one point. John Ma on violin gave an amusing commentary between sections of the work, making this a delightful change of pace for the concert.

The final work was Christoph Fehre’s 1751 Comic Cantata: The Schoolmaster in the Singing School. It was performed by the Luminescence Children’s Choir Holiday Program participants, with Alasdair Stretch, bass-baritone, as the pompous schoolmaster. This work, full of humour and irony, was given a nicely controlled and amusing performance by the children. Stretch was a delight as the harried schoolmaster.