Exuberant Night Of Spanish Carols Is Very Moorish

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday December 14, 2007

Review by Harriet Cunningham

THE SONG COMPANY

City Recital Hall, December 12

TRUST the Song Company to come up with an original take on the Christmas concert. Not that I have anything against traditional carols, especially when they are sung well, but a seasonal side trip into Spain, with all its Moorish, European and New World riches, was a welcome treat.

The concert opened with the guest artist Slava Grigoryan, whose lively guitar solo was magically interrupted by voices floating from backstage. The singers made their entrance proper with a rousing processional, before embarking on a string of folk songs, carols, madrigals and arrangements telling of kings and stars, virgins and babies. There was the festive Esta nit gloriosa, a lugubrious 18th-century Basque carol, Birjina gaztettobat, and a 20th-century offering from Manuel de Falla, delicately accompanied by Grigoryan.

What set all of this variously joyous, lilting and devotional fare apart was the detail with which every number was performed. Even the director, Roland Peelman, played a guiro with the same, rapt attention as he might a Scarlatti sonata.

Two cantigas, medieval monophonic songs, in praise of the Virgin Mary illustrate the point: the first, Cantiga 40, was sung by a male trio, with dour fifths underpinning the chant-like melody. But as the verse unfolded, the women of the Song Company, ranged at the front of the stage, began to fidget, with rosary, fan and feet, creating a soft but insistent rhythm section to kick along the contemplative song.

Cantiga 210 was a showcase of the ensemble's range. Every singer had their moment in the spotlight, with Nicole Thomson in particular switching between a solid chest voice and soaring soprano over the top of a chorus of tongue clicks, foot stomps and finger snaps. By the end, the audience was cheering for more, earning an encore of an Aztec-Christian stomp, Tleycantimo choquiliya.

© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald

Back to News Index | Back to Home