Tuesday, 9 November 1999, 8 pm
Xavier College Chapel, Kew
Subscription Concert 4
Settings of the Requiem tend to be high points in composersÕ outputs. Often the setting has been written in memory of a particular person dear to the composer, which may explain the high level of inspiration. The three settings on this program are works that we have performed to acclaim over the past few years. It will be a very rich experience indeed to perform and hear them all in one concert.
PROGRAM
Johannes Ockeghem Missa pro defunctis
Pierre de la Rue Missa pro defunctis
Jean Richafort Missa pro defunctis
| SOPRANO | ALTO | TENOR | BASS |
| Deborah Summerbell | Jenny George | Peter Campbell | Andrew Fysh |
| Carol Veldhoven | Margaret Arnold | Peter Neustupny | Philip Nicholls |
| Margaret Pearce | Jennifer Mathers | Vaughan McAlley | Jerzy Kozlowski |
| Claerwen Jones | Barbara Tattam | Stuart Tennant | |
| Maria Pisani | |||
| Helen Gagliano |
–
REVIEW
Friday, 12 November 1999 – The Age [Melbourne], page 4
Food of love satisfies the mind and soul
Joel Crotty
[…] While the Gryphon Gallery has a vibrant acoustic and rowdy neighbors, the quiet exterior and airy interior of
Xavier College’s chapel makes it a perfect space for Ensemble Gombert’s choral concerts. As usual, the
Gombert’s music director and conductor, John O’Donnell, came up with a fascinating concept of comparing
of three requiems composed by three composers across three different generations, straddling the 15th and
16th centuries. It was a bewitching trip across the Renaissance frontier.
Ockeghem’s Missa pro defunctis demonstrated his propensity for dark-toned colors and his ability to allow
the counterpoint to majestically flow without being unduly hampered by cadential points. The 11 voices
(sopranos were omitted) blended well in the different configurations. Full credit must go to the three basses –
Andrew Fysh, Philip Nicholls and Jerzy Kozlowski – who were uniformly excellent during the event. Pierre de la Rue, from the middle generation, was represented by his Missa pro fidelibus defunctis . The
complexities of the work rarely seemed to faze the 16 choristers, and the Sanctus was rendered in such a
stunning fashion that it was the highlight of the evening. But by the time youngest member of the trio –
Richafort – was presented to the audience, the group was starting to show signs of fatigue.
Nonetheless, Ensemble Gombert nourished the soul and, on the previous night, the Southbank Contemporary
Music Ensemble invigorated the mind.
Joel Crotty/Courtesy of The Age