Auckland Choral Society at Holy Trinity Cathedral

By WILLIAM DART

The Auckland Choral Society's enterprising concert gave us the opportunity to hear three important works from the French repertoire, ranging from the hushed reverence of Faure's Cantique de Jean Racine to the full-scale drama of Honegger's King David.

After the opening Faure, Peter Watts was taken skywards on an electronic hoist to conduct Vierne's Messe Solenelle for choir and two organs. Alas, the work is a tame one. A few more spices were needed in this musical mix, despite the occasionally thrilling juxtapositions of forces, with John Wells producing massive waves of sound from the great organ, while James Tibbles' smaller instrument subtly underscored the choristers.

The suave Raymond Hawthorne was master of ceremonies in King David, handling the connecting commentary with authority and managing, in one chilling sentence, to evoke the spirit of the dead Samuel.

Elizabeth McRae offered another star turn, although her Witch of Endor seemed more Marj of Shortland Street than cauldron-stirring, marrow-piercing crone.

Once I had recovered from the jolt of hearing the first number sung by a mezzo rather than a treble, Jenny Wollerman, Virginia Rawlinson and Richard Phillips proved a solid trio of soloists.

Too often, though, words remained elusive, which meant that Wollerman's fine soprano proved most effective when vocalising the "Lament of Gilboa". Phillips, whose intelligent interpretations occasionally wanted in heroic sturdiness, suffered from being placed behind the instrumental ensemble.

Honegger's score is a test for any choir, and although there were some stirring unisons in the psalm settings, there were also moments when more power was needed.

To some extent this is a stylistic issue, and it must be said that all the singers were struggling with a particularly leaden English translation which took terrible licence with Rene Morax's original text, some of which even affected the context of the musical numbers.

But these are quibbles. As the musicians threw themselves into those final pealing Alleluias, one realised that this had been a special evening.