4 1/2 stars
There is a myth surrounding the world famous piece of sacred music, Allegri’s Miserere. According to the myth, Pope Urban VIII issued a decree in the mid 1600’s that it would be an offensive excommunication if anyone copied the Miserere outside of the Sistine Chapel. It was meant to be their great secret. Every Holy Week, it would draw a massive crowd from all over the world flocking to the Vatican to hear it in the Chapel. 14 year old Mozart was said to have copied it from memory and it was published in 1770 by English Musicologist Charles Burney who obviously did not care about being excommunicated from Rome.
According to Ancient Music Publisher and Musicologist Ben Byram-Wigfield from London, none of this is correct as no decree by Pope Urban relating to music has been found and Miserere had been performed at least twice in London before 1770.
Miserere uses the Latin texts of Psalm 51 set in a cappella format with melodious verses plus a Renaissance period Gregorian styled chant in between the versus. The oldest version of the Miserere so far found was written by Costanzo Festa in the mid 1500s. Festa was in the Papal Choir and wrote much sacred music. His original version inspired many other versions from composers around Europe, including Gregorio Allegri, which are all preserved in the Sistine Chapel archives.
Allegri’s piece was originally written very simply. There was no need to add anything extra as the Sistine Chapel choir already had their own set method of ornamenting phrases which they added to all their music. In the 18th Century, away from the church, the score was altered to have some of the ornamentation written in plus the second tenor part was given to a soprano. The magnificent Top C, which Miserere is famous for, was added literally by mistake.
In the 1880s, Scholar W.S. Roxrow (happy to be corrected on the spelling of his name) was writing an article for the Grove’s Dictionary of Music about the ornamentation used in the Sistine Chapel Choir. Whilst preparing the article, he wrote out the notes based on Mendelssohn’s transcribed version which had been taken up a 4th from G minor into C minor. Roxrow also wrote the wrong notes placing the highest part up an octave further. What a mistake! This is what gives us our current version which has us all flying to the heavens in bliss.
Pinchgut Opera performed “Eternal Light” at City Recital Hall featuring the old and the new versions of Miserere. It was a wonderful way to appreciate the development of this much loved work. Before the performance began, a voice over asked the audience to refrain from applauding till the end of the concert. This made it a little tricky to decipher when each item in the program began and ended but, afforded the audience a seamless meditation for the afternoon, occasionally heightened with a happy mood and then relaxing back into the meditation once more. We felt cocooned in a silk cloud, gently waking and sleeping.
Artistic Director Erin Helyard’s choice of music was impeccable, all pieces melding together beautifully with no abruptness nor interruption.
Originally, in the Sistine Chapel, Miserere was performed in a darkened church so the congregation could be fully enveloped in the music without visual distraction. Pinchgut opened their concert with stage smoke (sandalwood?) and dim lighting to replicate the experience. If it weren’t for the lower necklines of the female singer’s black tops, it would have been easy to mistake the singers for wearing monk’s robes in the dimness.
The first version of Miserere was a mix of two original manuscripts, arranged by the very talented Pinchgut singer Jacob Lawrence. He set the Gregorian chant at a suitable pitch for Bass singer Andrew O’Connor who performed impeccably.
Throughout the concert, the singers made use of all 3 levels (stage plus two balconies) to great effect. Starting the Miserere verses very simply, they gradually added embellishment, perhaps a little too much but it was not too distracting. The quality of the voices was wonderful, clear and concise.
It was a smaller version of the regular Orchestra of the Antipodes orchestra including strings, organ and adding three sackbuts in the latter half of the concert. Without interval, the program contained Sonatas by 17th century composer Schmelzer, a heavenly Requiem with soaring chords by Biber, a deligthful Ciacona by Pachelbel and finishing with the more modern version of Allegri Miserere with which we are more familiar.
Overall, the program was sublime! Articulation from some singers disappeared mid program and the lighting seemed puzzling starting dim red (not hell, surely?), becoming more light and clear with the smoke disappearing; then descending into red again which did not feel very visually “eternal” as the program title suggested. The smoke itself seemed to emit different fragrances along the way which was distracting and concerning for the health of the singers. It would be nice to have some assurance in the program that the smoke contains nothing artificial.
The audience were very enthusiastic in their applause and happily chatted with each other all the way out of the venue about the magnificence of the performance.
Advice would be to definitely book Pinchgut next time they have a similar recital concert. Opera is not the only offering from this superbly talented company lead by Erin Helyard. You can always be assured of a quality and high class performance.
Bravo, Pinchgut!
Artists
Erin Helyard – Artistic Director, Conductor, Organ
Soloists – Lana Kains, Bonnie de la Hunty, Olivia Payne, Louis Hurley, Andrew O’Connor
Chorus – Ariana Ricci, William Varga, Liam Green, Gabriel Desiderio
Orchestra of the Antipodes
Music Program
Gregorio Allegri – Miserere 1661 (after Sistine Chapel Manuscripts 205 and 206, arr. Jacob Lawrence from Pinchgut Opera)
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer – Sonata No. 4 from sacro-profanus concentus musicus 1662
Johann Pachelbel – Ciacona in F minor P43
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer – Sonata No. 7 from Sacro-profanus concentus musicus 1662
(Traditionally attributed to Allegri) – Miserere, excerpt from traditional hybrid version after Haas 1932 and Atkins 1951.
Related Links
Learn more about Pinchgut Opera: https://www.pinchgutopera.com.au/
More Classical music performances at City Recital hall: https://www.cityrecitalhall.com/whats-on/?genres=classical-music&range=upcoming
More detailed break down of the history of Allegri Miserere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6hD8YtO5HI
Ben Byrom-Wigfield’s Ancient Groove Music: https://www.ancientgroove.co.uk/
The modern version of Miserere conducted by Nigel Short performed in St Bartholomew the Great, London.
