Verdi's Requiem

High quality flyers: front and back.

Featuring:
Rosamund Illing: Soprano
Fiona Janes: Mezzo Soprano
Patrick Power: Tenor
Joshua Bloom: Bass Baritone

Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra
Melbourne University Choral Society
The Australian Catholic University Choir

Conducted by Andrew Wailes

Saturday, 2 October 2010 at 8 PM, Melbourne Town Hall

Tickets are now available! You can get them by contacting bookings@mucs.org.au, or any MUCS choristers. Alternatively, you can book your tickets through Royal Melbourne Philharmonic or via ticketmaster.

Book early to avoid disappointment!

“Choir outsings soloists”, The Age, p 17, Tuesday 5th October

Singing to a packed Town hall, the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic was joined by the Melbourne University Choral Society and the Australian Catholic University Choir in a firm assault on Verdi’s multi-faceted Requiem, as packed with problems for its executants as any of the composer’s greater operas. To their credit, the combined body took clear honours for the night with a commitment and accuracy of pitching that on two occasions seemed to desert some of the four soloists. But the only problem area for the choirs came early with some strained work from the tenor ranks during the opening Requiem/Kyrie movement.

Still, the final pages came as something of a relief, even after lightly administered fugal complex in the concluding Libera me. Not that the interpretation headed by conductor Andrew Wailes dragged, but the dynamic range of the work operated at extremes: very loud and powerful in the expected moments such as the Dies irae explosion, alternating with reverently soft. The expanded RMP Orchestra woodwind and trombones particularly, produced a hefty sound but the strings occupied a monochromatic sound-world with plenty of blurred detail.

Mezzo-soprano Fiona Janes stood out for her noble Liber scriptus proferetur, its interrogative phrase-endings well placed, and her contributions to soloist ensembles finely judged and consistently audible. Tenor Patrick Power began with ringing energy but experienced stressful moments later, while bass Joshua Bloom’s production worked most successfully in well-supported passages. IN all, a worthy performance but one that lacked the anticipated spark.”

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Visit our official tour website for an archive of our unforgettable 3 weeks trip in Europe (15 Jan - 4 Feb).

Video clips from our past performances:

• Rachmaninov's Bogoroditse Devo
• 'Dona nobis pacem' from Haydn's Nelson Mass
• The final moments of Karl Jenkin's The Armed Man

Enjoy!