Octagon Ensemble maintains high standard in recital
A VARIETY of beautiful music in a very professional performance entitled ‘‘A Rose Sprung Forth’’ was enjoyed by a large audience yesterday in St Paul’s Cathedral.
Octagon Ensemble with guest international performers Kemp English (chamber organ) and violinist Yuka Eguchi, local soloists and pianist Sharon McLennan are certainly maintaining the high bar set less than a year ago.
Yesterday’s ensemble of 17 singers and four string players was directed by John Buchanan, with artistic director and vocal coach Tessa Romano.
Their opening number Phos Hilaron filled the cathedral with glorious soft harmony beneath melody lines followed by strong full throttle for Bogoroditse Djevo (Arvo Part).
Further ecclesiastic works with ‘‘Maryana’’ texts included double choir pieces by Britten — A Hymn to the Virgin and A Hymn to the Mother of God, by John Tavener, whose short piece climaxed loud and strong.
With English conquering endless scalic runs at the chamber organ, and Eguchi leading a string quartet, Haydn’s Keyboard Concerto in D Major was an absolute highlight.
A short Haydn Mass — Missa Brevis in F was indeed ‘‘brief’’, the composer cramming traditional text into a generally fast and hurried Mass, with a particularly joyful fast florid ‘‘Amen’’ section(soloists Michelle Walker and Olivia Pike).
Walker and Pike opened the second half with Johannes Brahms lieder O Schone Nacht and Abendlied , then pianist Sharon McLennan followed with Intermezzo Op118 No 2 for piano. Excellent dynamics and interpretation but solo grande pianoforte in the cathedral acoustics never manages to jell with me.
Contemporary works were Es ist ein Ros entsprungen, a Christmas carol arranged by Anthony Ritchie, and David Hamilton’s arrangement of Hine e Hine (soprano Rhiannon Cooper). A clearly enunciated choral arrangement of a Scottish soldier’s thoughts Caledonia (D. Maclean (1954) ended an excellent recital.