Music / Cloudburst, Coro. At All Saints Anglican Church, Ainslie, September 26. Reviewed by MICHAEL WILSON.

Twenty singers, a set of handbells, some percussion and a piano set the scene for this diverse program of choral works in the former Rookwood cemetery railway station. 

Under guest conductor Roland Peelman, the choir tackled some of the most daunting composers of modern choral music interspersed with reminders of ancient traditions.

The choir began the concert from the organ loft with Carlo Gesualdo’s O vos omnes, before moving to the sanctuary to perform the rest of the program. A slightly scrappy beginning gave way to full and confident choral sound, with a particularly bright and blended quality from the sopranos.

Coro had commissioned Beijing-based British composer Nicholas Michael Smith to write a piece set to Emily Dickinson’s poem There’s a Certain Slant of Light, with the stipulation that it would be the first bookend in a concert that would finish with Eric Whitacre’s Cloudburst.

Commencing with the bell choir, which has become a particularly well-known capability of The Music Academy at Canberra Girls Grammar School, a mystical and magical atmosphere was conjured, further echoed by a permanently damped piano played by Alicia Cheng.  It is a charming piece, with a distinctly medieval feel, and some challenging intervals and chords for the choir to navigate.

Two motets from Thomas Tallis’ Lamentations of Jeremiah featured good diction from the choir, and good blend and balance, although more eyes on the conductor would have produced a more synchronous account.

Benjamin Britten’s Hymn to St Cecilia anchored the middle of the program. With its tricky chords, tempo changes and vocal parts singing against each other, this is a challenging work. Peelman took an unusually delicate approach, bringing out dynamic contrasts but ensuring the loud parts were not over-sung. High and exposed soprano notes tended to drop slightly, which made it very difficult for the basses to sound their low Es at the end of the piece. Parts were not always perfectly together, especially in quick passages.

That said, it was a spirited performance, and the soloists all did a proficient job – especially tenor Ian Mills.

Kate Rusby’s Underneath the Stars, with its gentle swung character and relative structural simplicity is beguiling. Phrasing is everything, and getting the breathing right is difficult. It was here that Coro’s tonal blend was not quite perfect: not a tuning issue, but more about the characters of individual voices not quite in agreement.

The choir performed the Whitacre finale without scores, and this made a real difference to the coherence of the sound. Again featuring the extremely competent bell choir and percussion, the opening long-held dissonant chord was held resolutely, and once the percussion entered (bass drum, chimes and body percussion rendered by the choristers), the dramatic effect was stunning, finishing in what can best be described as an arresting soundscape.

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