Investing in choral still safer than bank
Incisive baton, timeless song, new technology prove excellent mix
Auckland Choral’s Messiah is a highlight of the city’s musical calendar. Two performances of the oratorio invariably bring in sizeable audiences, with many enjoying their only concert-hall outing of the year.
Uwe Grodd’s congenial welcome always places the performance in a topical context. In 2018 the conductor made a brief Brexit quip; this night was described as a much-appreciated level 1 Messiah (he had been concerned that it might have been cancelled as happened during the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic).
But traditions must go on, he stressed: “Auckland Choral was founded in 1856, before the BNZ and, while banks are closing branches, we’re still singing.”
And sing they did, magnificently in a buoyant And the glory, bolstered by Philip Smith’s town-hall organ.
Grodd’s incisive baton unleashed an almost frightening power in Surely he hath borne our griefs while Handel’s monumental final chorus, sung without scores and with the support of Pipers Sinfonia, was stirring.
The conductor had suggested we feel free to bring cameras out during the Hallelujah Chorus and share our joy on social media. It was an invitation taken up with some enthusiasm, off and on stage, soprano soloist Joanna Foote, smartphone in hand, streaming the performance as she waved to us.
Alas, there have been better years for soloists. From his opening Comfort ye, Jared Holt’s tenor revealed a diffuse vocal bloom that persisted. Bass Wade Kernot, audibly uncomfortable in the lower register and flustered by the fiery passagework of Why do the nations, made his strongest impression in duet with Rainer Saville for The trumpet shall sound.
Foote’s lyrical soprano was at its best in I know that my Redeemer liveth,
while the operatic heft of mezzo Kristin Darragh made for some compulsive coloratura and an effectively underplayed He was despised.