Tag Archives: Paul McMahon

Requiem KV626; Ave Verum Corpus KV618; Sancta Maria, mater Dei KV273; Exultate, Jubilate KV165 (Mozart)

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Cantillation

 

 

Orchestra of the Antipodes

 

 

Anthony Walker, conductor

 

 

ABC Classics CD 476 4064

TPT: 68’35”

 

 

reviewed by Neville Cohn

 

Oceans of ink have been spilled – and will so continue – about which hand completed which section of Mozart’s Requiem. If these endless speculations  – and musings about which illness he might have been suffering from as he wrote this, that or the other episode – bring satisfaction to those who utter them, then good luck to this endless pageant of nitpickers.

 

For those whose prime satisfaction comes from listening to the work, here is yet another in a very long list of recordings of the Requiem.

 

Piety informs just about every moment of this performance which has about it an inner quietness that is often very moving. Gratifyingly, there’s not a hint here of that over-the-top approach favoured by some.

 

Cantillation is at its supple best in the Kyrie which is presented with gratifying clarity at speed. And there is splendid attack and follow-through., too, in the Dies Irae. I particularly liked the  quietly uttered, deeply felt measures of the Recordare sung, beautifully, by the vocal quartet of Sara Macliver (soprano), Sally-Anne Russell (mezzo soprano), Paul McMahon (tenor) and Teddy Tahu Rhodes (bass baritone). And buoyant momentum makes for gratifying listening in Domine Jesu Christe.

 

It is only in the Introitus that one senses a need for a more calmly fluent unfolding of some of the most profoundly poignant music in the repertoire.

 

 Soprano Sara Macliver is at her virtuosic best in the much-loved Exultate, Jubilate.

Carl Orff Carmina Burana

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Cantillation

Sara Macliver, soprano
Jonathan Summers, baritone
Paul McMahon, tenor
Synergy Percussion
Australian Virtuosi
Sydney Children’s Choir
Antony Walker, conductor

CD: ABC Classics
472 481-2

reviewed by Anne Hodgson

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation should make more of the fact that this is one of the rare recordings of the non-orchestral version of this notorious work. The arrangement which Orff made for two choruses, three soloists, percussion and two pianos loses absolutely nothing of the work’s fundamental spirit and direct appeal to the listeners’ emotional responses. Despite the absence of the familiar orchestral colour, this performance is vibrant, exciting and completely fascinating. Although in terms of numbers the ensemble on this recording ranks far below the massed forces of the better-known orchestral version, it is so accomplished a presentation that there is no need to make comparisons.

The members of the vocal group Cantillation meet the very heavy demands of the score with great facility and technical expertise and are unfailingly strong in their central part, calling on a wide range of expression from the most delicate to the heartily robust, while the essential lighter vocal colour is provided by the excellently controlled Sydney Children’s Choir, although their involvement in the soprano’s dilemma of choice is perhaps a little clinical.

Tenor Paul McMahon is a beautifully pathetic cooked swan, singing in the falsetto range with remarkable ease and clarity, and soprano Sara Macliver shows both technical excellence and a definite sense of character, despite her comparatively brief part in the work. If one is looking for a memorable Abbot of Cockaigne, one need look no further than baritone Jonathon Summers, who performs his more extensive role with great artistry, skill and a very appealing element of personification.

The instrumental parts of this performance of Carmina Burana are provided by Australian Virtuosi, a two-piano duo, and the percussion ensemble Synergy Percussion. Between them these musicians fulfil the huge demands of this arrangement with outstanding artistic flair and brilliance.



Working with this particular combination of exceptional Australian talent must have been a
conductor’s dream for Antony Walker; his interpretation of the work and his control of the forces have produced what is probably one of the best ABC recorded performances of 2002.