Bach Musica New Zealand at St Matthew-in-the-City

By WILLIAM DART

On a squally Sunday, St Matthew-in-the-City was a welcome refuge from glistening streets and glowering traffic.

The musicians of Bach Musica New Zealand, in the second concert of their 25th-anniversary season, attracted a sizeable audience for an ambitious programme, ranging from Torelli to Rachmaninov.

A real feeling of community was afoot, as we were all coaxed to fill out a form that might help the group to gain some commercial sponsorship. The interval treat turned out to be the drawing of a raffle that would reward a couple of loyal concert-goers with CD vouchers.

The first offering, Torelli's D major Trumpet Concerto, featured soloist Philip Lloyd who, playing on an authentic instrument, gave a performance that was neat and conscientious rather than spirited.

Behind him, the indefatigable Rita Paczian marshalled her strings through a few worrying tremors, and I was taken with admiration for the precision with which conductor and players navigated the numerous changes of tempo and metre.

Four extracts from Rachmaninov's magnificent Vespers showcased the Russian tenor Dmitri Roussakov. While this young soloist had just the required sound and sense of style, the valiant choir did not always manage the surging dynamics the work demands.

There were inspirational moments, such as the Slavic sheen of altos and tenors in the opening bars of Blazhen muzh, although one did miss those deep, rich and quintessentially Russian bass voices.

Bach did not fare so well. A lacklustre read-through of the D minor Concerto for Two Violins proved, as has been proved before with bigger and better orchestras, that able orchestral players do not necessarily make soloists.

In truth, the night belonged to Mozart. The concert ended with a fervent reading of the delightful Coronation Mass, bringing together orchestra, choir and four soloists (Joanna Heslop, Shelagh Molyneux, Richard Phillips and Edward Scorgie).

There was fierce drama when choir and orchestra threw themselves into the Crucifixus, while the more contemplative Benedictus was just one of many passages where the finely blended quartet of soloists excelled.