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| In-round staging - Turkish Embassy - Lamentations for a soldier. Photo: Peter Hislop |
Turkish
Embassy: Monday 4th May.
Reviewed by
Bill Stephens
By happy
circumstance the title of the first solo on the program, “No Cloud in the Sky”,
also perfectly described the glorious Canberra autumn day on which this
brilliantly conceived and superbly staged concert was performed.
The spacious,
airy Turkish Embassy formal reception room with its high vaulted ceilings and
warm acoustic, with its walls hung with
evocative archival photos of Gallipoli scenes depicting both the Turkish and
Anzac involvements , provided the perfect environment for a mostly solemn
program of 16th Century and contemporary lamentations.
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| Turkish Ambassador - Reha Keskintepe Photo: Peter Hislop |
After a brief welcome to the capacity audience by the Turkish Ambassador, Reha Keskintepe, the plaintive tones of Oguz Mulayim’s ney (or Turkish flute) heralded the entrance of the six members of The Song Company, who filed into a circular performance space, while performing the first section of the world premiere of Sydney composer, Ekrem Mulayim’s extraordinary setting of “some echo still”, a 13th Century poem by Persian mystic and poet, Rumi, for which Mulayim has attempted to re-create the effect of the ritual of whirling dervishes by having each singer vocally create a spinning sphere of cyclical rhythmic and melodic motion. The effect was compelling, unnerving and fascinating, as the singers skilfully negotiated the five movements of this remarkable work, which were interwoven through the program.
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| Ney player - Oguz Mulayim Photo: Peter Hislop |
Indeed the
construction of the program itself, presented in a seamless stream, without any
break for applause or announcements, was noteworthy, creating as it did,
exactly the correct atmosphere for quiet contemplation, necessary to savour the
complexities of the various compositions. Performing in a circle allowed the
audience to share the almost imperceptive signals passed between the singers as
they negotiated with unfailingly accurate intonation and stunning tonal
control, the complexities of Robert White’s
“Lamentations for six voices”, Thomas
Weelkes extraordinary “When David heard”’ or , in another world premiere
performance, Kim Cunio’s glorious “Psalm 57”. Occasionally the singers
would move quietly to the perimeters of the room, leaving the space to Mulayim
for his atmospheric solos, then gently reclaim the space and surround the flute
player for the following item. By the
time Mulayim accompanied the singers into the adjoining ante-room to perform the
final piece in the program, Arvo Part’s prayer for peace “Da pacem Domine”,
composed for victims of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, no one in the capacity
audience was in any doubt that they had participated in an extraordinarily
moving and memorable performance.
This review first published in the digital edition of "City News" on 4th May 2015
