The theme of the Sydney Chamber Choir’s latest concert was ‘The Human Spirit’, and in a night of expressive choral work, the choir invited the audience to engage with a mix of contemporary works that run the gamut of human emotion, bringing to life the spiritual and sacred that lies within us all. The Concern was performed in the Verbrugghen Hall of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where both the audience and the performers seemed enveloped by the large, open space (and, frankly, many empty seats) of the hall.
Not to compare this too much with the Sydney Chamber Choir’s previous offering, the exquisitely toasty Winter Nights, but it seemed that in the attempt to indulge in a much larger scope (in terms of cast, subject matter and vocal complexity) something had been lost along the way. Winter Nights was a joyous evening, punctuated by interludes in which conductor Sam Allchurch explained and guided the audience through the works as they were performed.
In comparison, The Human Spirit took a colder approach, with each piece performed out of context and with little acknowledgement from the audience. Some direction throughout the performance might have helped bring all these pieces together.
The theme of the Sydney Chamber Choir’s latest concert was ‘The Human Spirit’, and in a night of expressive choral work, the choir invited the audience to engage with a mix of contemporary works that run the gamut of human emotion, bringing to life the spiritual and sacred that lies within us all. The Concern was performed in the Verbrugghen Hall of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, where both the audience and the performers seemed enveloped by the large, open space (and, frankly, many empty seats) of the hall.
Not to compare this too unfavourably with the Sydney Chamber Choir’s previous offering, the exquisitely cosy Winter Nights, but it did seem that something had been lost in the attempt to indulge in a much larger scope (in terms of cast, subject matter and vocal complexity). Winter Nights was a joyous evening, punctuated by interludes in which conductor Sam Allchurch explained and guided the audience through the works as they were performed.
In comparison, The Human Spirit took a colder approach, with each piece performed out of context and with little acknowledgement from the audience. Some direction throughout the performance might have helped to bring all these pieces together.
