Conductor: Rowan
Harvey-Martin
Wesley Music Centre
19 December
Review by Len Power
It seemed a bit strange listening to Christmas music on a
hot 36 degree evening in the church at the Wesley Music Centre, but the Llewellyn
Choir under the masterful baton of Rowan Harvey-Martin soon took my mind off
the hot weather.
Starting with the traditional ‘Deo Gracias’, arranged by
Benjamin Britten, followed by the beautifully melodic ‘Angel’s Carol’ by John Rutter,
the choir sang with precision and great feeling. Canberra composer, Anthony Smith’s ‘Prologue
from the Coventry Nativity Play’ uses a rather turgid text but the music is
superb and was sung very well by the choir.
The first major piece of the program was Respighi’s ‘Laud To
The Nativity’. Soloists Greta
Claringbould, Christina Wilson and Michael Martin were in fine voice soaring
above the choir in this haunting work.
The choir sang the harmonies with great accuracy and a pleasing depth,
making it sound at times like it was a larger choir than it was.
Following the interval, the choir and soloists had great fun
singing Argentinian, Ariel Ramirez’ ‘Navidad Nuestra’. Soloist baritone, Dominic Harvey shone with
his fine singing and a touch of humour in his delivery and Rowan Harvey-Martin
gave us a nicely judged amusing moment as she made a big deal of playing a South
American percussive instrument as well as conducting. Marta Yebra on castanets, guitarist, Ariel Nurhadi
and Jes Chalmers on percussion added fine additional Argentinian colour.
Surprise guest, composer Calvin Bowman, accompanied the
choir on piano with his own short but beautiful piece, ‘Noёl’ and the choir
then gave us a magnificently sung ‘Coventry Carol’, arranged by Martin
Shaw. This lovely work conjures up
images of snowy Christmas cards and pretty European winters and was a perfect
choice for a Christmas-themed concert. The
final item was the carol, ‘Silent Night’ by Franz Grüber, arranged by John
Rutter. Often these well-known carols
can seem a bit over-familiar, but it was nicely sung by the choir and, when the
audience was invited to join in singing, the effect was quite moving.
Anthony Smith’s fine playing on the organ was especially notable
as was his sensitive and pleasing accompaniment for the whole concert.
The Llewellyn Choir’s choice of works was excellent, giving the
audience some old favourites as well as lesser known items. This was a perfect concert to finish the
year!
Len Power’s reviews
can also be heard on Artsound FM’s ‘Artcetera’ program from 9.00am Saturdays.