Saturday, 13 September 2003, 8pm
Xavier College Chapel, Kew
Subscription Concert 3
PROGRAM
Cristóbal de Morales Gaude et laetare ferrariensis civitas
Cristóbal de Morales Lamentabatur Jacob
Francisco Guerrero Ave virgo sanctissima
Francisco Guerrero Salve regina
Tomás Luis de Victoria Ecce sacerdos magnus
Tomás Luis de Victoria O lux et decus Hispaniae
Tomás Luis de Victoria Surrexit pastor bonus
Tomás Luis de Victoria Missa pro defunctis
Note: Morales ‘Christus resurgens’ and ‘Officium defunctorum’ were advertised in subscription brochure but not performed. They were replaced by the Victoria ‘Missa pro defunctis’.
| SOPRANO | ALTO | TENOR | BASS |
| Deborah Summerbell | Jenny George | Peter Campbell | Jonathan Wallis |
| Carol Veldhoven | Jennifer Mathers | Tim Van Nooten | James Scott |
| Margaret Pearce | Niki Ebacioni | Vaughan McAlley | Tom Reid |
| Claerwen Jones | Susie Furphy | Stuart Tennant | Andrew Fysh |
| Maria Pisani | |||
| Fiona Seers |
–
REVIEW
Wednesdsay, 17 September 2003, The Age [Melbourne], page 14, A3.
Gomberts excellent; Rowell impressive in attack
Clive O’Connell
The Ensemble Gombert did a side-step at their latest subscription recital, Spanish Renaissance Gems. In the
program of works by Morales, Guerrero and Victoria, the scheduled motet Christus resurgens by Morales
disappeared; more importantly, so did the same composer’s Office of the Dead, in place of which the
organisation offered Victoria’s Requiem Mass. The liturgical intentions might have been similar, but the Mass
is well-known, the Office rarely heard live.
Nevertheless, the night involved the expected professional display from this body, which now has an
unusually solid tenor rank. There are new faces in the alto section, but the line remains well-founded; bass
Andrew Fysh has found reinforcements for his dark colour in some fresh colleagues.
The sopranos now number six, the largest group in the ensemble. There is an odd practice among the
top-most voices of one of the singers making a slight swoop on to high phrase-starting notes, which grated.
The performances were thoroughly enjoyable, reaching a captivating climax in the final Agnus Dei of the
sombre Victoria Mass, but preceded by a interplay in the same composer’s O lux et decus Hispaniae, a superb
example of how to extol a mediocre character; and the sombre ruefulness of Morales’s plaintive motet
Lamentabatur Jacob. Another excellent exhibition from the ensemble.
Clive O’Connell/Courtesy of The Age