Well, bah humbug, I say, bah humbug! Perhaps this critic is a bit of a Scrooge, but the Sydney Philharmonia Choir’s latest concert wasn’t anywhere near as festive as one would have liked it to be. Not that one should be judging a concert by one’s preconceived notion of what it should be, but what this concert lacked in festivity it didn’t make up for with much else. There were plenty of good moments, but overall it was a bit of a disappointment, like not quite getting the presents you wanted on Christmas Day. (‘No, really, mother, the socks are wonderful. You know how much of a connoisseur I am when it comes to foot-coverings.’) Most of my disillusionment, I suspect, stems from the second half, which promised to be something magnificent, but ended up being a bit of a fizzer. But more on that later.
The first half had all the ups and downs that comes with any group of small pieces. The first piece, Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite, was purely orchestral, and while rather pleasant to listen to, also served a double function, namely as filler for the times when the various choirs were coming on and going off stage throughout the afternoon. That is, the six movements were interspersed through the other songs. There was a great sense of efficiency about proceedings, which was very nice to see and listen to, in much the same way that the first violins of the NCPA Orchestra of China moving their own chairs warmed the cockles of my cold, dead heart.
Soprano Amy Corkery and baritone Alexander Knight were the two soloists for the various pieces in which they were required, with the main highlight being Holst’s Four Old English Carols, split into two sections. Both soloists proved to have powerful voices, with Corkery’s upper register as radiant as one could have wanted it to be, while Knight showed a mixture of seriousness and boisterousness well suited to the occasion. The lowlight would have to be William Byrd’s Lullaby My Sweet Baby, a piece one wishes would have stayed in the 16th century (one isn’t averse to pieces of slow beauty, but this wasn’t one of them). While it was ably sung by a smaller choir at the front of the stage, it sustained one’s interest very little, with its terminally long refrain and lengthy verse. Indeed, one was sick of it after the first verse, and looked on the text in the program with horror to discover another three to go (promising at least 10 to 15 minutes more), though thankfully – and conductor Brett Weymark is to be much praised for this – the rest were cut out. Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on Christmas Carols ended the first half on a high, however, with its moving and swelling emotions, both enlivening and engaging.
Then the second half. Benjamin Britten’s Saint Nicolas, A Cantata, Op.42, was the work programmed to be played, but beforehand the audience was taken through a quick rehearsal by Weymark, in preparation for those words which are anathema to critics such as I – audience participation. Each patron had received an A4 handout with two songs printed on it – ‘All people that on earth do dwell’, and ‘God moves in a mysterious way’. Each patron was expected to stand and deliver their voice in one communal orgy of musical splendour. Each patron did (including myself).
We were informed by Weymark that Britten was always interested in music-playing as a communal activity, and so had written two moments of audience involvement into Saint Nicolas. We were also informed that the concert was being recorded by the ABC for international broadcast, and thus everyone would be making their international Sydney Opera House debut. And all this was, much as one hates to admit it, somewhat uplifting, somewhat Scrooge-cracking, even if this critic wasn’t singing at anywhere near full voice, but merely moving his mouth half the time, much like at a school assembly or church service.
The problem with the whole thing was that Nicolas himself (played by tenor Andrew Goodwin) didn’t quite have as powerful voice as one would have liked (drowned out by the relatively small orchestra), and this reduced the enjoyment considerably. There were, however, moments of high drama, such as in the fourth part, He journeys to Palestine, where Nicolas encounters a storm. A small contingent of female choristers were in the middle of the circle to provide a stormy commentary on events, and the interplay between the two choirs was quite exciting. Also novel were the boy sopranos, dressed in Christmas red smocks and used twice by Britten during the work, both times standing in front of organist David Drury high up in the Hall.
But overall, as these long and non-staged works often are, it was a bit limp. (Which is not to say that it was terrible, by any stretch of the imagination, but that it didn’t live up to the glories of other SPC concerts.) Still, one looks forward to the Sydney Philharmonia Choir’s 2013 season, which looks to be filled with the promise of many an exciting concert, including the welcome return (after a year’s hiatus) of Handel’s Messiah.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
An English Christmas
Sydney Philharmonia Choirs
Conductors: Brett Weymark, Elizabeth Scott, Anthony Pasquill
Soloists: Soprano Amy Corkery Tenor Andrew Goodwin, Baritone Alexander Knight
Choir: Sydney Philharmonia Chamber Singers, Symphony Chorus, VOX, Festival Chorus & the Sydney Philharmonia Orchestra
Peter Warlock – Capriol Suite: Basse-Danse
Peter Warlock – Bethlehem Down
John Rutter – Nativity Carol
Peter Warlock – Capriol Suite: Pavane
Benjamin Britten – Hymn to the Virgin
Michael Head – The Little Road to Bethlehem
Peter Warlock – Capriol Suite: Tordion
William Byrd – Lullaby My Sweet Baby
Gustav Holst – Four Old English Carols (1. A Babe is Born, 2. Now Let us Sing)
Peter Warlock – Capriol Suite: Bransles
Arnold Bax – A Christmas Carol
Gustav Holst – Four Old English Carols (3. Jesu, Thou the Virgin Born, 4. The Saviour of the World is Born)
Peter Warlock – Capriol Suite: Pieds-en-l’air
Harold Darke – In the Bleak Mid Winter
Peter Warlock – Capriol Suite: Mattachins
Ralph Vaughan Williams – Fantasia on Christmas Carols
Benjamin Britten – St Nicolas, a cantata Op 42 for tenor solo, mixed chorus, piano duet, organ, strings, and percussion
Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
9 December
