Above: SSO, accompanied the Sydney Philharmonia Choir in a electric performance of Duruflé s Requiem, led by Sir Donald Runnicles. Featured image: The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and SSO in Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Photo credit: Jay Patel.
Guest conductor Sir Donald Runnicles has been a welcome regular for Sydney audiences and Sydney Symphony Orchestra over recent years. It was a thrill to see him lead SSO musicians, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs members and three vocal soloists (Camilla Tilling, Anna Dowsley and David Greco) in showcasing the craftsmanship and expressive excellence of Claude Debussy and Maurice Duruflé.
The chance to hear Debussy’s vocal music is always a treat. This concert reinforced the composer’s position as an adept creator of musical atmosphere, and neat, perfect architecture regardless of genre. David Garrett’s excellent programme notes combined with this event’s performances to illustrate that Debussy drew on many more artistic trends, influences and compositional resources than a mere link to impressionist painters which pre-dated his peak creative periods by many years.
This programme opened with a showcase for SSO’ versatility. Their seamless blend and capable following of a measured interpretation from Runnicles promoted the skills of both our local orchestral band and their popular guest conductor. SSO’s well-honed collaborative skills and suitability as a sympathetic, dynamic vocal accompanist were once more highlighted here when performing with members of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs plus soloists from Australia and overseas.
The orchestral triptych, Nocturnes gave us some clean and gentle moving clouds in the initial piece, Nuages. A robust shift in character provided a full-bodied celebration of the second movement, Fêtes. This featured much colour, with an exciting transfer of the gestural baton across the large-format orchestra.
To augment this opening focus on Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s dynamic display of the subtle control the work needs, the final movement, Sirènes, shone with the glistening additional timbre of voices from the guest choir.
Above: (l-r) Anna Dowsley and Camilla Tilling perfomed the roles of Narrator and Demozel in Debussy’s cantata.
The sopranos and altos of Sydney Philharmonia Choirs added to this already layered performance with gentle and building waves of sonority. The controlled singing as one smooth choral layer was exemplary and the nautical, mythological theatre of these nocturnes was greatly enhanced by this collaboration.
From the clear, effective trajectory and atmosphere set so immediately and so well in the orchestral prélude to Debussy’s cantata La Damoiselle élue, it was clear we were in for a wonderful performance of cantata music from Debussy’s presque-fin-de siècle pen.
As in the Sirènes movement before this work, SSO’s sympathetic accompaniment full of colour and smooth shapes was nicely gilded from the upper voices of the visiting choir. The storytelling was in fine hands and the stellar voices of Anna Dowsley (Narrator) plus Swedish superstar Camilla Tilling, whose emergence on this stage was a paramount, well-paced performance.
Tilling’s emotional pathway was full of the onging needed in this tale of death-defying reunion with the damozel’s love. Its beautiful vocal arrow shot through the centre of the textures. Her brief, scintillating scena of her starring part, so cleverly forged by Debussy, was thrillingly delivered.
Tilling’s control and scope of performance within the ensemble was admirable. So too was the narrative descriptions provided by local star Anna Dowsley. These two nicely placed layers of sound were gently comforted by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs performing in part.
Above: Baritone soloist, David Greco, performs in Duruflé’s Requiem. Photo credit: Jay Patel.
The contribution from this choral voice showed similar fine control above the orchestral atmospheres. Surrounding well-tailored, transportative emotional imagery from the soloists, this demi-choir brought the drama of an unfulfilled demozel to us with maximum theatrical impact at all times. Its closing ’Ah,ah’ spoke volumes to end this effective work pre- interval.
Following interval, the heavenly drama continued on a large scale. Sydney Philharmonia Choirs extended to all four voice types as the Maurice Duruflé Requiem was heard in its original format, for choir and orchestra.
Soloists David Greco (baritone) and Anna Dowsley (soprano) proceeded to deliver portions of the funeral mass text in effectively articulate, nuance and focussed extension from the exhilarating massed choir moments. Both of the local soloists demonstrated why we are spoiled for choice in this country when recruiting single voices for mass, oratorio or operatic music in concert performance
Their short moments of drama given by Duruflé had smooth transitions from full choral canvases to their intimate sharing of solo lines. All vulnerabilities or urgent hopeful pleas from a well-sung, believably characterised single Christian’s perspective were finely traced, no matter what the size or shaped of each entry in the narrative.
Especially excellent in this way was Greco’s rendering of the brief but very anxious ‘Tremens factus sum ego et timeo’ from the urgent Libera Me movement. Dowsley’s Pie Jesu shimmered in the space when we had the chance to hear her tone for the second time at this event.
This was a twentieth century Requiem for our 21st century sensibilities on a pleasing scope with which to conclude a vivid and theatrical programme, quite the jewel in SSO’s already weighty crown of successes for 2024.
