The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic website and Facebook page announced that “Mozart Requiem by Candlelight” was sold out well before the doors of St Paul’s Cathedral opened for this performance. Undeterred by Melbourne’s weather, a queue stretched into the distance along Flinders Street, people keen to celebrate Easter Saturday by joining outstanding musicians as they performed a work of deep religious and cultural significance in a venue designed for such an occasion.
Candles glowed around the Cathedral – on the floor, on pew ledges and in candelabra – as wintry evening light faded behind the stained glass windows. Two other works by Mozart bookended his Requiem in D minor, the first being his Symphony No. 25 in G minor, composed 250 years ago when he was a mere 17 years old. As soon as it began, audience members who had not read the program with its comprehensive notes might have been wondering why the music seemed so familiar. The first movement was, in fact, used as the opening music for Miloš Forman’s controversial film Amadeus. Composed in a “Sturm und Drang” (Storm and Stress) style, the first movement Allegro con brio in particular is characterised by emotional extremes and sudden changes in tempo and dynamics. The urgent drama of the opening passages is in stark contrast to the featured oboe solos that seem almost to amount to a mini concerto. Rachel Bullen’s plangent oboe playing was superb – a distant lamenting voice made more poignant against robust larger forces. While the basset horns added tremendous excitement and depth to the full orchestral sound, they were not completely stable in this performance. Some fine bassoon playing in conversation with sighing strings was heard in the Andante while the third movement Menuetto and Trio continued with some lively, precise playing as oboes and bassoons were contrasted with full orchestra. Replete with contrasting dynamics, the final movement Allegro brought this most appealing symphony to an energetic close.
Under Andrew Wailes’ exceptionally clear, attentive direction, Mozart’s Requiem was immensely satisfying. The Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Choir may be lacking in male numbers, but every attempt was made to ensure clarity within and between parts. The degree to which all singers watched the conductor was very noticeable, and ensured unity of musical purpose and a high degree of precision. The sopranos were exceptionally impressive in their beauty of tone within a wide dynamic range and in their ability to maintain pitch and a gleaming tone on soft high passages – the “voca me cum benedictus” being a case in point. After strong entries by the men for the Confutatis, to hear floating sopranos against a soft but distinct alto line was spine tingling. The following Lacrimosa with its leaning, weeping rhythm was notable for well controlled dynamic pacing.
Seated two rows from the front within a couple of metres from the tenor and bass soloists, it was difficult to tell whether there was a good balance between the four soloists or just how well their voices carried; however, when speaking to people who sat towards the back of the cathedral, I was told that everything could be heard. From my position, it was sometimes difficult to hear mezzo-soprano Syrah Torii, but in solo passages her voice sounded warm, rounded and steady. When it comes to oratorio, Jacqueline Porter is your “go-to” soprano and she sang like an angel. Her voice has maturity and substance but she is able to float the tone with remarkable ease. Her singing of the Recordare was expressive, musical and assured, and her contribution to the quartet sections of the Tuba mirum and the Benedictus was pure joy. No awkward interval or high note seemed to pose the slightest problem; from her first entry towards the beginning of the work it was an outpouring of glorious, reverential singing.
Christopher Richardson is an assured performer, his rich bass baritone a secure anchor within ensembles while being strong and sonorous for solos such as the Tuba mirum. Whether singing sustained low notes or negotiating wide interval leaps, he gave a commanding performance. Tenor Benjamin Glover provided an appropriate contrast, his voice vibrant and always pleasing.
There was a change in orchestral personnel for the Requiem, including additional lower wind instruments, and brass instruments replacing the basset horns. Cian Malkalidis deserves special mention for his opening of the Tuba mirum and some virtuosic playing in the final section of the Communion. The RMP Orchestra played with commendable energy and skill throughout, responding readily to Wailes’ insistence on forward momentum.
For many, the most magical part of the evening came at the end with a stunning performance of Mozart’s final completed work, “Ave Verum Corpus”. Singing without scores, watching and listening intently and accompanied only by strings, the RMP Choir gave us as finely blended and expressively shaped rendition of this well-known choral gem as you could ever hope to hear.
Image supplied.
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Heather Leviston reviewed “Mozart Requiem by Candlelight”, presented by the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic at St Paul’s Cathedral on April 15, 2023.
