BY GABRIELLE RUTTICO
Melismatica: Queen Of Heaven
Callaway Music Auditorium, UWA, 2 August 2014
Perth choral ensemble Melismatica last Saturday night presented Queen of Heaven, their second concert since their debut. It was a performance that the lady herself would have been proud of.
Rather than take his usual place in the octet, Lucian Watkins made his first public appearance as a conductor. But from his clear beating and his infectious confidence, you would not have guessed this at all. He never gave the impression of looking down on his ensemble at all. Rather, he was just as much a part of the music-making as they were.
The concert was the perfect length; enough to lift your Saturday evening without becoming monotonous in any way. During the first half, Melismatica infused new energy into Victoria’s Missa Alma Redemptoris Mater and Motet until the very end. While the bigger picture was always kept in mind, each section was given a new personality, ensuring that the audience was captivated for the entire piece.
After the interval, the choir rearranged themselves for the five and six part motets. What was most impressive about this was that the height difference between members (about three and a half feet thanks to bass Greg Bannan) was still not noticeable. It was also remarkable that even though some parts were doubled, the balance remained perfect.
From the program notes it was clear that the choir was just as fond of Gesualdo’s entertaining biography as they were of his music. The four motets were very engaging, despite the absence of assassins, adulterers or lunatics. If possible, Lobo’s four motets were even more exquisite. Particularly striking was Versa est in luctum as Melismatica proved exactly why it is Lobo’s most recognised motet. The choir had also prepared an encore of Manchicourt’s ‘Dulcis mater Dulcignato’. It was a pleasant surprise, and of course, prepared to just as high a standard as the rest of the pieces.
Most of the members hold prominent positions in the St. George’s Cathedral Choir, one of Perth’s most prestigious ensembles. With such experience behind them it came as no surprise that Melismatica handled the programme with such ease. What was surprising, though, was how fresh the choir made this music sound when there was such a great risk of it being otherwise.
The acoustics of the Callaway Auditorium strongly favours larger ensembles over smaller ones like Melismatica. On this night, it didn’t quite do justice to Melismatica. The native habitat of most of this repertoire is a church and the intimacy and atmosphere of such a venue would have been icing on the cake. Given the quality of Melismatica’s singing in Callaway, however, this was easily overlooked.
In Watkin’s words, it was great to see the familiar faces in the crowd as well as some fresh ones. If Melismatica continues to be passionate about early music and presenting concerts to such an excellent standard, then the both the familiar and the fresh will keep coming on in.
Image supplied.
