11 July 2016
Bogoróditse Djévo (Pärt)
O Lord, make thy servant (Byrd)
Salvator mundi (Tallis)
Remember not, Lord, our offences (Purcell)
O sacrum convivium (Stucky)
The Heavens' Flock (Ešenvalds)
Evening Hymn (Rautavaara)
Ekteniya of the Litany (Rautavaara)
The Wings of the Wing (Park)
Give unto the Lord (Elgar)
Hymn of Ancient Lands (Twist)
Mass (Martin)
Te Deum 'Collegium Regale' (Howells)
Encore: It don’t mean a thing (if it ain’t got that swing) (Ellington arr. Parry)
Sumer is icumen in (Anon)
Now is the month of Maying (Morley)
The silver swan (Gibbons)
Pastime with good company (Henry VIII arr. Shaw)
Hark all ye lovely saints (Weelkes)
Draw on, sweet night (Wilbye)
Irish folk tune from County Derry (arr. Grainger)
Australian up country song (arr. Grainger)
What shall we do with the drunken sailor (Traditional arr. Rathbone)
Joshua fought the battle of Jericho (Spiritual arr. Rathbone)
Way over in Beulah-lan’ (Spiritual arr. Jennings)
Ain’t that a kick in the head? (Heusen arr. Park)
Long ago (and far away) (Kern arr. Naylor)
Cheek to cheek (Berlin arr. Naylor)
Once upon a dream (Shaw)
Teddy bears’ picnic (Bratton arr. Roberts)
Michelle (Lennon and McCartney arr. Gritton)
Silence is golden (Crewe & Gaudio arr. Park)
It don’t mean a thing (if it ain’t got that swing) (Ellington arr. Parry)
My funny valentine (Rogers arr. Park)
All the things you are (Kern arr. Rice)
The carnival is over (Springfield arr. Bussey)
Spiderman (Harris arr. Friedman)
The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge
Stephen Layton (Conductor)
The city finally had one of the world's finest choirs to grace the stage with two distinctive programmes on consecutive evenings. The Trinity choir lived up to the reputation and made a bold start by singing from memory in the first performance, considering all these challenging repertoire in different languages and without conductor during the first four pieces. Despite a rather vertical reading of Bogoróditse Djévo and needed to sustain the line longer, intonation and vowels uniformity were impeccable throughout rest of the performance. Even at the quietest moment in Howells Te Deum, one could hear every word clearly and the music rang throughout the hall. My friend accurately commented it was also a display of ensembleship of strong responsiveness to phrasing, vocalisation and tone quality. Clarity in diction and rhythmic precision were demonstrated brilliantly in Stucky's O scarum convivium and Park's The Wings of the Wind.
The choir also did justice to Frank Martin's Mass that being sung accurately and beautifully phrased. The music itself was dramatic, sometimes surreal and even enigmatic to reflect the mood of the text. Gloria was more inward looking and not always straight forward in music language, even so, the interpretation was convincing and attracted by the sound landscape. Credo was most confidently sung, focused and sustained. It was thrilling to experience the fanfare like passage of 'Et resurrexit', and the climatic build up towards the end that at forte brought out the best of the voice. A strong sense of direction and momentum in the repetitive patterned of 'hosanna in excelsis' for the ultimate fortissimo round of in Benedictus. Agnus Dei was more dreamy alike gentle waves hitting a boat, and being the only movement with an addition of four soloists. Sopranos' intonation were not that secure in the Kyrie and only rectified as the body of sound gradually built up.
I could not agree more when Stephen Layton commented the hall acoustic being dry, judging from where I sat in the balcony. Works by Rautavaara and Ešenvalds would need a more vibrating space with few seconds of echo to allow singers sustain the line longer, also to create a richer sound. Local cathedral churches would probably be a better venue and also atmospheric. The cultural centre pipe organ sounded more convincing in Howells Te Deum than Elgar's Give unto the Lord, whether to do with the stops registration or the music colour more suited to that instrument than the other. The latter also needed a bigger impact in vocal projection and energy in voice so to convey the emotion and drama of the text. Twist's Hymn of Ancient Lands could be a spellbinding piece if the alto soloist was more secured in her singing, who seems not in the best vocal condition, and the choral singing needed a bit more urgency for direction.
Rarely would I regard a concert being highly 'entertaining' but the second performance was definitely one of the most enjoyable choral experience. Arrangements of madrigals, blues, jazz and pops marked a light affair in contrast to the intellectual evening before, but still sophisticated and intelligently executed. The city hall concert hall acoustics was also more ideal and allowed the choir with space flexibility to indulge the singing a bit more. English madrigals up to the early 17th century showcased how technically superb the choir could be. 'Sumer is icumen in' made a bold opening to display richness of the voice, followed by the whispering like 'Now is the month of Maying' with dynamic contrast, crystal clear diction and wonderful sense of phrasing. The choir switched to an interesting accent to imitate the way of saying old English in 'Pastime with good company' effectively. Though 'Draw on, sweet night' was slightly steady in tempo as a matter of taste and did not always produce the intimate atmosphere. I was moved by Percy Grainger's arrangement of Londonderry air, one of my favourite tunes, and it was sung beautifully. A display of group communication and ensembleship again in 'Hark all ye lovely saints' and 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor', which produced the dynamic differentiation and wonderfully conveyed the drama of the text.
Nothing could hold back the emotion and vocal impact in 'Joshua fought the battle of Jericho' and 'Way over in Beulah-lah'. The music did swung in the big band music like 'Ain't that a kick in the head?' and danced excitedly in 'Cheek to Cheek'. The lush scoring 'Long ago and far away' and 'Silence is golden' were enchanting, but not quite so in 'Once upon a dream' and 'Michelle', which the music quality and arrangements seems not as convincing like the rest. The humorous named 'Teddy bears' picnic' and 'Spiderman' put smiles on the face by the interesting content and the singing able to produce the visual impression. The swing music in 'It don't mean a thing' was more effectively demonstrated as encore on the first night but slightly rigid in the second. 'My funny valentine' showcased solos from members of the choir but they could have indulged the music more for a better expression. The mood of the text in 'All the things you are' were wonderfully captured, and highly responsive to the textual contrast from long vocal lines to energetic rhythmical pulse. 'The carnival is over' reminded a sweet nostalgic favourite and the soloist had all the right timbre and accent. To see Stephen Layton dancing along the music while conducting on the podium, I am convinced that a future album should be made to remind us what a fantastic choral experience the past two evenings had been.
The city finally had one of the world's finest choirs to grace the stage with two distinctive programmes on consecutive evenings. The Trinity choir lived up to the reputation and made a bold start by singing from memory in the first performance, considering all these challenging repertoire in different languages and without conductor during the first four pieces. Despite a rather vertical reading of Bogoróditse Djévo and needed to sustain the line longer, intonation and vowels uniformity were impeccable throughout rest of the performance. Even at the quietest moment in Howells Te Deum, one could hear every word clearly and the music rang throughout the hall. My friend accurately commented it was also a display of ensembleship of strong responsiveness to phrasing, vocalisation and tone quality. Clarity in diction and rhythmic precision were demonstrated brilliantly in Stucky's O scarum convivium and Park's The Wings of the Wind.
The choir also did justice to Frank Martin's Mass that being sung accurately and beautifully phrased. The music itself was dramatic, sometimes surreal and even enigmatic to reflect the mood of the text. Gloria was more inward looking and not always straight forward in music language, even so, the interpretation was convincing and attracted by the sound landscape. Credo was most confidently sung, focused and sustained. It was thrilling to experience the fanfare like passage of 'Et resurrexit', and the climatic build up towards the end that at forte brought out the best of the voice. A strong sense of direction and momentum in the repetitive patterned of 'hosanna in excelsis' for the ultimate fortissimo round of in Benedictus. Agnus Dei was more dreamy alike gentle waves hitting a boat, and being the only movement with an addition of four soloists. Sopranos' intonation were not that secure in the Kyrie and only rectified as the body of sound gradually built up.
I could not agree more when Stephen Layton commented the hall acoustic being dry, judging from where I sat in the balcony. Works by Rautavaara and Ešenvalds would need a more vibrating space with few seconds of echo to allow singers sustain the line longer, also to create a richer sound. Local cathedral churches would probably be a better venue and also atmospheric. The cultural centre pipe organ sounded more convincing in Howells Te Deum than Elgar's Give unto the Lord, whether to do with the stops registration or the music colour more suited to that instrument than the other. The latter also needed a bigger impact in vocal projection and energy in voice so to convey the emotion and drama of the text. Twist's Hymn of Ancient Lands could be a spellbinding piece if the alto soloist was more secured in her singing, who seems not in the best vocal condition, and the choral singing needed a bit more urgency for direction.
Rarely would I regard a concert being highly 'entertaining' but the second performance was definitely one of the most enjoyable choral experience. Arrangements of madrigals, blues, jazz and pops marked a light affair in contrast to the intellectual evening before, but still sophisticated and intelligently executed. The city hall concert hall acoustics was also more ideal and allowed the choir with space flexibility to indulge the singing a bit more. English madrigals up to the early 17th century showcased how technically superb the choir could be. 'Sumer is icumen in' made a bold opening to display richness of the voice, followed by the whispering like 'Now is the month of Maying' with dynamic contrast, crystal clear diction and wonderful sense of phrasing. The choir switched to an interesting accent to imitate the way of saying old English in 'Pastime with good company' effectively. Though 'Draw on, sweet night' was slightly steady in tempo as a matter of taste and did not always produce the intimate atmosphere. I was moved by Percy Grainger's arrangement of Londonderry air, one of my favourite tunes, and it was sung beautifully. A display of group communication and ensembleship again in 'Hark all ye lovely saints' and 'What shall we do with the drunken sailor', which produced the dynamic differentiation and wonderfully conveyed the drama of the text.
Nothing could hold back the emotion and vocal impact in 'Joshua fought the battle of Jericho' and 'Way over in Beulah-lah'. The music did swung in the big band music like 'Ain't that a kick in the head?' and danced excitedly in 'Cheek to Cheek'. The lush scoring 'Long ago and far away' and 'Silence is golden' were enchanting, but not quite so in 'Once upon a dream' and 'Michelle', which the music quality and arrangements seems not as convincing like the rest. The humorous named 'Teddy bears' picnic' and 'Spiderman' put smiles on the face by the interesting content and the singing able to produce the visual impression. The swing music in 'It don't mean a thing' was more effectively demonstrated as encore on the first night but slightly rigid in the second. 'My funny valentine' showcased solos from members of the choir but they could have indulged the music more for a better expression. The mood of the text in 'All the things you are' were wonderfully captured, and highly responsive to the textual contrast from long vocal lines to energetic rhythmical pulse. 'The carnival is over' reminded a sweet nostalgic favourite and the soloist had all the right timbre and accent. To see Stephen Layton dancing along the music while conducting on the podium, I am convinced that a future album should be made to remind us what a fantastic choral experience the past two evenings had been.
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