The concert on Sunday the 27^th of June in the Church of St George and St John, Whakatane, was the first I have attended for some time. The change in seating direction for the choir and audience has been a big improvement for the audience. The choir, now seated in the sanctuary of the church, accords much better acoustics, easier viewing and a more logical position for the audience.

The programme started with the Mozart “Twelfth Mass”. This very much unknown piece of work was an instant success with the audience.  I suspect its immediate appeal was the well crafted blend of the four soloists and the choir. The bass Jarvis Dams started straight in to the Kyrie with full control and the texture of a performer much more advanced than his 20 years.  Throughout the evening this young singer showed he has a career to watch – his Gloria was poised, rousing and beautifully punctuated by the lively staccato of the organ. And the Benedictus showed just what his range is as he descended to the lower reaches of his voice. I do hope the Choir can engage his services on a regular basis in the future.

One can’t speak highly enough of all the soloists. They were in essence a perfect blend. Tenor John Murray displayed lovely control, his phrasing was alluring and crystal clear. Catherine MacDonald’s voice was just stunning and she was in fine form despite earlier worries about a pending cold and sore throat. She was captivating, lyrical, with a bell like quality and power that one can see why she has sung the role of the “Queen of the Night” from Mozart’s “The Magic flute”. Patricia Wackrow is a veteran of the Contralto repertoire and once again showed why she continues to be invited to sing with the Edgecumbe Choir. Her powerful voice and register were well suited to the two pieces and to compliment her fellow soloists. Patricia is a seasoned performer with the Edgecumbe Choir and once again didn’t disappoint the audience.

We heard Catherine and Patricia sing with the choir two years ago in Solomon and I hope we can see these two experienced performers perform together again in the future.

The choir rose to the demands of the “Twelfth” and really found their feet in “Cum sancto spiritu in gloria dei patris” from the Gloria. Throughout both masses they sung with enthusiasm and vigour.

The Twelfth Mass is not an easy undertaking as there are no recordings of the full mass available. Since it was discovered that it was probably not written by Mozart himself, but mostly by Wenzell Muller, the mass has vanished from mainstream choral music.  For a community choir this means that rehearsals are probably the first time members hear the music and there are no opportunities to listen to recordings between practices. I’m glad they persevered; the Twelfth is a lovely Mass, well worth the effort and rewarding for both choir and audience.

The Coronation Mass is a very popular Mozart mass. Despite being a short mass it features all the spectacle and musical pageantry of the day.  Any Choir that performs this mass has their performance marked by the many dozens of recording and live concerts. It is a busy piece of music. This performance of the Coronation Mass did not disappoint. Heads nodding in unison to the music gave testimony to the audience’s appreciation of the choir and their rendition to this well known and loved piece of music.

Both performances were led with great feeling by organist Michael Bell. His accompaniment was marvellous. It was a true performance where the conductor, choir and organist were very much in touch with each other.

Credit must go to the commitment of the members of the choir, to Tony Hogg, their musical director, and the Soloists. This was community music and enterprise at its finest, and all who attended left well satisfied with the afternoons performance.

Gemini