Unforeseen public transport delays on the afternoon of the \u2018Arvo P\u00e4rt and JS Bach\u2019 concert saw us running across the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House in 30 degree heat, up the sweeping staircase to the very top of the Concert Hall to find our seats before the doors were. Hearts pounding, minds racing, we were greeted with P\u00e4rt\u2019s Da Pacem Domine and, instantly, we knew that the world we had come from, so busy, so hot, was a world away from the experience that was about to envelope us. We knew to expect vocal mastery from the world-renowned, multiple Grammy award-winning Estonian Philharmonic Chamber choir. Their use throughout the performance of iPads, driven by \u2018Scoremusic.me\u2019 software developed by an Estonian start-up company, confirmed their place at the technological forefront of modern choral music. We knew too that the music of Arvo P\u00e3rt, the most-performed living composer has been described as prayerful and meditative but we weren\u2019t prepared for the synergistic interpretative brilliance this choir brought to the music to create a powerful sense of soothing, reverent peace.<\/p>\n
The message from the conductor of the renowned Australian Chamber Orchestra, Richard Tognetti, with arms raised between the works in each half was clear: the performance was to be played without a break. We were there to witness an integrated performance of the works of two great composers, separated in time by three centuries. The change in style of J.S. Bach\u2019s Komm Jesu Komm BWV229, characterised by soaring melodies from both choir and orchestra that filled every moment with glorious sound, made it clear that the arrangement of the program would give us much to think about.<\/p>\n
The program moved to the orchestra\u2019s interpretation of P\u00e4rt\u2019s orchestral adaptation of his work Summa, haunting and soulful, evoking a deceptive sense of simplicity of form that stilled the heart. The hall was then filled with Bach\u2019s Singet den Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV22 motets, broad sweeping orchestra and clear voices culminating in energetic joyous song of praise. The contrast was palpable and exciting. The unrestrained applause at the end of the first half seemed a natural response to this energy as the interval brought us abruptly back to our modern world, enjoying conversations with friends in the backdrop of expansive views of a bustling Sydney harbour in the foyer of the Opera House.<\/p>\n
The history of Estonia\u2019s struggle for independence is painfully well known in the Estonian diaspora and the environment in which much of P\u00e4rt\u2019s early music was written has had far-reaching impact on our lives. P\u00e4rt\u2019s courage in developing his own style of music, so heavily steeped in Christian orthodox chant, is particularly moving and often perhaps not fully appreciated by those outside the diaspora. Yet the minimalist style of the opening piece in the second half of the concert, P\u00e4rt\u2019s Toccata from Collage on B-A-C-H, evident in the simplicity of the soaring melodies combined with the unmistakable rhythms that identify Bach\u2019s music, seemed to create a bridge between these two worlds, a way for us all to be touched by the P\u00e4rt experience. A short period of silence was heralded by two more Bach motets, again evoking feelings of joy in the music, even though the text spoke of death, once more filling every moment with sound, majestic and brilliant. The juxtaposition of these P\u00e4rt and Bach compositions provided an opportunity to think more deeply about the timeless relationship between suffering and one\u2019s experience of the sublime.<\/p>\n
The theme of sacred music and honouring of the dead was continued in the performance of In Paradisum written by the Ukranian-born Estonian composer Galina Grigorjeva. The apparent tension in the music resolved to create a feeling of spiritual homecoming, heavenly paradise. The ensuing period of silence was filled by Peter Sculthorpe\u2019s work \u201cDjilile\u201d, extending the theme of the spiritual power of chant to the Australian context as this work, arranged by the composer specifically for the Australian Chamber Orchestra, was inspired by an aboriginal chant from Arnhem land. This piece evoked the harsh and haunting landscape of the Australian outback, the source of a deep spiritual relationship between its people and the land, not unlike that between Estonia and its people.<\/p>\n
Then it was time for the climax of the afternoon\u2019s program, P\u00e4rt\u2019s \u201cBerliner Messe\u201d. The gravitas of the opening plea for mercy echoed the depth of spirituality of the preceding Djilile. As the mass progressed, there seemed to be an openness in the music, space to contemplate and reflect on P\u00e4rt\u2019s unique treatment of the centuries-old structure of the Roman Catholic Mass. The credo rose to great heights, emphasising to us the possibility that expressions of faith, without certainty, may be a source of strength in uncertain times. But the crowning achievement of this program of music was not evident until the last few phrases of the performance. The essence of the afternoon\u2019s experience was captured by the Agnus Dei: the returning theme from where P\u00e4rt\u2019s Mass for a plea for mercy began, framed within engaging music that began with supplication but ended with a vision of tranquility and peace in our world, a possibility of redemption so ebulliently celebrated by the motets of Bach and aptly concluded with the open spaces, tranquility and calm of Arvo P\u00e4rt. This was a triumph for one of the great choirs of our time, the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and for Tognetti\u2019s Australian Chamber Orchestra.<\/p>\n
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3 February 2019.
\nThe Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, conductor Richard Tognetti.
\nSydneny Opera House<\/p>\n
PROGRAM:
\nP\u00c4RT. Da Pacem Domine
\nBACH Komm Jesu Komm, BWV229
\nP\u00c4RT Summa (violin piece)
\nBACH Singet den Herrn ein neues Lied, BWV225
\nSinget dern Herrn ein neues Lied
\nWiesichein Vater erbarmet
\nLobrt den Herrn, in seinen Taten<\/p>\n
INTERVAL<\/p>\n
P\u00c4RT Toccata from Collage on B-A-C-H
\nBACH Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden
\nBACH Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf, BWV226
\nGalina GRIGORJEVA In Paradisum
\nSCULTHORPE Djilile
\nP\u00c4RT Berliner Messe<\/p>\n
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