Bach Musica NZ at St-Matthew-in-the-City, Auckland

By WILLIAM DART

For any concert group, 25 years of survival are certainly worth celebrating, and Bach Musica NZ marked its quarter-century with gusto, performing the first three parts of that most celebratory of seasonal works, Bach's Christmas Oratorio.

From the opening chorus, "Jauchzet, frohlocket!", Rita Paczian inspired her choir, orchestra and soloists to deliver their best.

The generous acoustics of St-Matthew-in-the City, and the tangible excitement of sitting so close to the musicians, made this a very special occasion.

The choral weave was, on the whole, well maintained. In the glorious "Ehre sei Gott in der Hohe" it was a pleasure to hear the tenor line holding its own so confidently, and throughout the score resonant chorales were the musical pillars that Bach intended them to be.

Although the intonation of the strings was sometimes a cause for concern, the orchestra acquitted itself well, its playing showcased in the affecting Siciliana of the Symphony, with its telling contrast of limpid flute and pungent oboes.

David Hamilton's was a superb Evangelist, bringing grace and sometimes edge-of-the-seat immediacy to his recitatives. His clear tenor floated in heavenly counterpoint with Rachel Spurr's flute in "Frohe Hirten, eilt, ach eilet". Apart from one moment when the momentum threatened to get the better of them, this was perfection itself.

Soprano Pepe Becker offered the most delightfully judged ornamentation, and duetted in style with a full-voiced David Griffiths in "Herr, dein Mitleid, dein Erbarmen".

Griffiths, magnificently stirring in his big aria "Grosser Herr, o starker Konig", excelled in "Er ist auf Erden kommen arm" - one of Bach's most brilliant conceptions, setting the bass narrative in between the sopranos' chorale lines.

Anne Lamont-Low balanced mellow beauty and emotional zeal in her arias, although the long, sustained notes in "Schlafe, main Leibster" proved testing to the singer's lower register.

The short concert ended with a reprise of the joyous "Herrscher des Himmel" chorus, pepped up to Vivace, with Philip Lloyd and his trumpeter colleagues adding their considerable heft. I, for one, after a short interval to recover from the sardine-can pews, would have welcomed Parts 4 to 6.