Rossini Petite Messe

Interesting to see the proposed programme for next year, including the Rossini Petite Messe. I was in a performance in 2002, and it is one of the most entertaining settings of the Mass. It was written to be performed in a private house, and the original version is accompanied by a piano duet and a squeeze box organ - the sort that you would find in a larger private house in Paris. To be authentic, our performance should have a non electrically powered organ - foot powered bellows only. If there was anywhere with enough room in Dunedin it would be nice to use a large public room in somewhere like Olveston or Larnachs Castle, though space would be limited there.

In our performance we used an electronic organ, which broke down after the first movement. We called an urgent interval while we carried out repairs. I had visions of Rossini looking down from Heaven and laughing at us. Rossini did have a wicked sense of humour.

The work starts with very impressive settings of the Kyrie and the Gloria. Then most of the Gloria movements are for soloists, but the final fugue is a very big moment. Very exciting to sing. There is another big fugue at the end of the Credo.

Did you know that Rossini thought his most important creation was a sauce for steak? I made it once, and it is certainly a better than average sauce - a tomato base. You can find some versions by looking on Google, though my recipe was on the back of pack of Maggi mix.

Bach, Handel and their eyesight

It is well known that Bach and Handel both went blind late in life. I knew that they had operations by the same English surgeon which had been failures and left them blind. I looked up the wikipedia articles last week.

It turns out that both Bach and Handel suffered cataracts which are very easily treated now. It seems that in the 18th century all that could be done was that a hole was made in the cataract, and hope for the best, but many people were made blind by this operation.

It seems that Bach's operation may have left him with a stroke, which killed him shortly after.

Handel lived for some time after his operation, and had to dictate some of his final compositions to a copyist.

Review of Nelson Mass

Elizabeth Bouman wrote a very favourable review of the Nelson Mass performance, in the Dunedin Town Hall on Saturday 12 September, by City of Dunedin Choir, Southern Sinfonia, soloists and conductor Simon Over. (See ODT, Monday 14 September 2009). Marian Poole reviewed the same concert for the Listener.

The Glory of Haydn, Otago Daily Times Saturday 12 September 2009, reviewed by Elizabeth Bouman:

Southern Sinfonia and City of Dunedin Choir, British conductor Simon Over and four of New Zealand's top young soloists celebrated the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death in a Glory of Haydn Concert in the Dunedin Town Hall last Saturday evening. The concert was well supported and the audience was full of praise for the Haydn work.

...Missa in Angustii (Lord Nelson Mass) is one of Haydn's grandest works, and Over certainly had the orchestra and particularly the hundred-voice choir fired up to deliver a magnificently vibrant 45-minute performance.

The choir, under musical director David Burchell, was on a decidedly homogeneous high.

The performance was gilded by clear top soprano intonation and excellent attention to dynamic shaping, with vowels which swell noticeably, not just occasionally but throughout.

Soprano Rebecca Ryan, an Otago graduate, has returned from working as a singer in Europe.

The beauty in her voice was particularly apparent in the Benedictus, and intelligence and passion in text interpretation shone throughout, with exquisitely refined shaping in long phrases

Baritone Jared Holt, although lacking weight at his lowest register, displayed extraordinary breath capacity in negotiating the long melismatic phrases which challenge soloists in this work.

Mezzo-soprano soloist Claire Barton and tenor James Rodgers also delivered with well-defined phrasing and articulation.

Equal balance of soloists also contributed to the outstanding success of this Haydn celebration.

Glory be, New Zealand Listener September 26-October 2 2009 Vol 220 No 3620, reviewed by Marian Poole:

Missa in Angustii roused the house at Dunedin Town Hall in Glory of Haydn, the Southern Sinfonia's final performance of the season. Otherwise known as the Lord Nelson and the Imperial, Haydn's mass, written in the same year Nelson routed Napoleon's fleet, is a call to "bring it on". Right from the stirring rendition of Kyrie Eleison, the City of Dunedin Choir, under the baton of Simon Over, were well on their way to winning. Fugues and offset entries in Quoniam tu Solis, the wordy Credo and Dona nobis pacem were executed with clarity and conviction, notably in the upper registers. Choir director David Burchell can be commended for their well-honed performance.

New Zealand-born soloists Rebecca Ryan (soprano), Claire Barton (alto), James Rodgers (tenor) and Jared Holt (bass) were equally well-versed, but their performance was marred by an imbalance between them and the Sinfonia. Most disadvantaged were Barton and Holt, whereas the higher voices of Ryan and Rodgers cut through successfully.

However, the glorious blend of female voices in Agnus Dei, male voices in Gloria and the brief but significantly catchy melodies and harmonies of Domine Deus overcame these shortcomings...

A quick spruik...

I promise I'll do a write-up of our fantastic concert as soon as I can manage it.

But in the meanwhile, if you're interested, you can read my own experience of last night's Haydn Concert over at my blog, The Chorister:

The art of screwing up in concerts

Enjoy!

Nearly There

Only an hour to go! The dress rehearsal for our Nelson Mass by Haydn was really good! Do hope the audience enjoy the performance, I know we'll enjoy singing it.

Of course the fabulous spring sunshine that we've been having in Dunedin this week has broken, and it's now blustery and rainy. But I'm sure that won't deter Dunedinites - it is not cold (unlike our previous concert in August).

Hear our sound

Here's a taste of the City of Dunedin Choir performing the opening chorus from Mendelssohn's Psalm 42: As the Hart Pants.

And, the final chorus from My Heart is Inditing, by Handel.

The Southern Sinfonia provided the orchestral support and the conductor for the Mendelssohn was David Burchell, and Michael Dawson conducted the Handel. The recording was made at the recent Anniversary Accolades concert (4 July 2009).

Don't we sound just too grand?!

Spring Baking

Wow what a roaring success that idea for last night's Sales Table was. Brilliant, the table was groaning. I had to stack biccies in piles as there wasn't room to spread them individually. The marmalades, the jam and the lemon curd thing (sorry it went so quickly I didn't even get chance to see what the jars actually contained, but it looked like lemon curd, so that's what I'll call it)all went really quickly. There was plenty of choice, yummy looking moist brownies, shortbread for the not-quite-such-a-sweet-tooth brigade, biccies with or without raisins, and heaps of cakes (including a huge one, which I bought and will bring on Saturday with knife, so we can have an interesting break in rehearsal).

Brilliant! Thanks everyone - we broke all previous records.

Oh and the singing was good too!!