Saturday afternoon saw the Sydney Town Hall packed with keen choral appreciators all the way to the back of the circle. In the risers were 120 voices from the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, impeccably dressed and keen to perform. Joining the choir were three soloists and a pared down instrumental ensemble. Not the usual orchestra but a fascinating collection of percussionists and two pianists Claire Howard Race and Catherine Davis, one on a grand piano, the other on a baby grand.

‘Carmina Burana’ is a striking work and highly popular, being featured in programs over the past couple of years in Perth, Canberra and coming up in July in Melbourne. Composed by Carl Orff in the 1930’s, he based the work around a collection of poems written almost 1000 years ago which were discovered in the 1800s hidden in the library of a Benedictine monastery.

You would think a collection such as this would be formal and classic in nature to be preserved for such a long time yet, it is surprising the poems are in fact very human in their interests including the bliss of beauty, changing seasons, lusty desires and satirical comedy. Reading the lyrics makes for great entertainment. Orff intended for the work to be an aural and visual feast with music accompanied by dances in the round and magical images. In this version however, we had to use our imagination for the dances.

‘Carmina Burana’ is so tuneful and emotionally varied. The program was opened in stark contrast to this with three contemporary Australian works. As acknowledgement to country, the first item was ‘Tarimi nulay – Long time living here’ by Deborah Cheetham and Matthew Doyle. The feel of the piece created a sense of wonder as if opening your eyes to the glare of a vast red desert moving in and out of focus. A tune or pattern might appear but then would dissolve in the mirage of the heat, lost in the blur again. It was a short work commissioned by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and premiered on the steps of the Opera House last year.

Following was a Peter Sculthorpe work from the 1960’s titled ‘Sun Music’. Originally commissioned for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra by Sir Bernard Heinze, he asked for something “without rhythm, harmony or melody” so the voices were mostly spoken, with sighs, staccato noises and squeals like flying seagulls. The percussion was subtle and well integrated. The musician appearing to have the most fun was a percussionist playing the metal strings inside the grand piano with soft headed timpani sticks and metal brushes that you might use on a snare drum playing jazz.

To close the first half was ‘The earth that fire touches’ by a student of Sculthorpe, John Peterson. The beginning of this piece was so very similar to Sculthorpe’s it might have been the following movement of the same work. Yet, it changed and developed further, adding the rhythm and melodies deliberately removed from Sculthorpe’s work. Soprano Penelope Mills joined the ensemble and choir adding a joyful tune to lift the mood. Rhythms started to get rather jaunty for a while with a light Caribbean feel, then darkened like an approaching storm and faded to a quiet close. The composer was on hand to take a bow though the audience were fairly lukewarm to this part of the program. Word in the foyers at interval gave the impression they were expecting something less abstract.

The second half was the full length ‘Carmina Burana’ taking around an hour to complete. The texts were a mix of Latin and Middle High German which is odd to switch between. The most well known piece ‘O Fortuna’ opened and closed the work immediately seizing the attention of the audience. The movement is always thrilling albeit this version was performed faster than usual leaving the great gong to be silenced early so it would fit to the tempo. It was well rehearsed and the choir did a wonderful job.

The poems following were broken into sections, the first being ‘Springtime’. Beautiful words creating very specific images of peace, love and blossoming flora, sometimes like the sweetest Gregorian chant and other times rambunctious. 

A dance opened the section ‘On the meadow’ with a Pastorale styled piece. Sopranos of the choir were beautifully unified in this section of German text. You could easily picture their medieval robes as they groomed each other with the goal of catching the attention of some keen young man in the summer sun.

Third section ‘In the Tavern’ offered a variety of fun texts from different characters including a very detailed verse about all the many types of people who enter the tavern for an ale.

‘The Court of Love’ was opened by a children’s chorus sung in Latin – not who you’d expect to be singing about men and girls getting together – not men with women, not boys with girls. The NSW Public Schools Junior Singers joined the performance here with fine, clear voices supported by soprano Mills. The texts in this section moved on to be the most erotic without being too specific yet, Orff’s composition added a genius layer of desirous emotion to create a full blooded image, sometimes sighing and overwhelmed, other times dark and lusty.

There was a grand chorus hailing the two medieval women Blanziflor and Helena. Although the identity of these two is now lost in time, Blanziflor may have been Blancheflor, the mother of Tristan (from Tristan and Isolde) whilst Helena may simply have been the Helen of Troy from ancient times. The text hails the beautiful one. Then a reprise of ‘O Fortuna’ completed the work.

The choir seemed to enjoy the work as much as the audience. A couple of parts where the tempo increased more than usual left the choir struggling to keep up, but this was only for a short time. Conductor Brett Weymark led in a clear, concise manner throughout. The soloists featured were well cast. Soprano Mills was not given a wide variety of emotion to portray but did a stellar job offering a sweet, clear tone over the ensemble, leading the way with a polished performance. 

Last minute replacement for the tenor role was Kanen Breen who is listed to perform the same with the Melbourne Symphony in the upcoming July concert. Only one song is set aside for the tenor. It is that of a sorrowful ode sung by a Roasting Swan who once lived in the lakes and now turns black on the roasting spit. Breen’s sense of theatrics and cabaret style were put into play limping down the centre aisle in ripped lace tights, vinyl corset, top hat and one platform shoe gaffa taped to his foot. The audience loved this strange sight to match an equally strange song as he clumsily dragged himself onto the stage for a while, then slid down in the splits in the next auditorium aisle and withered to a dying swan pose as the song completed. The comedy was not distracting enough to outshine his excellent singing. He left a memory that will be hard for any straight suited tenor to try to shake in future performances.

All performers did a great job but without a doubt, the star of the concert was baritone José Carbó. With the majority of solo music to perform, he took the audience on a journey from the sweetest pure falsetto, to a bitter regretful traveller trying to escape his past, a rosy cheeked Abbot keen for a bit of maidenly fun through to the dark domineering predator whose sights are set on popping a cherry. Carbó’s extensive theatrical experience was put to great use. His storytelling is clear and mesmerising, his voice was absolutely stunning. It must be said, it is a wonder that our national Opera company continues to go to such great expense bringing overseas baritones in through quarantine to fulfil opera roles whilst leaving an artist such as this on the shelf. Let’s hope we get to see him in more of their major roles in the near future. This is an opinion noted a number of times in the foyers of Sydney theatres since their doors reopened after lockdown. Hopefully, this sentiment to support locals will be eventually heard and acted upon.

Huge applause filled the hall at the close of the performance with the beginnings of a standing ovation. We love our Philharmonia Choir and are so grateful to see them enjoying themselves and vibrating the walls and ceiling with their music. It was an outstanding performance by all.

The Sydney Philharmonia Choirs presentation of Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana’ was performed for one concert only at the Sydney Town Hall on Saturday May 22, 2021.

PROGRAM

Deborah CHEETHAM & Matthew DOYLE Tarimi nulay – Long time living here
Peter SCULTHORPE Sun Music
John PETERSON The earth that fire touches
Carl ORFF arr. Wilhelm KILLMAYER Carmina Burana 

ARTISTS

Brett Weymark conductor
Penelope Mills soprano
Kanen Breen Tenor (replacing Andrew Goodwin)
José Carbó baritone
Symphony Chorus

Claire Howard Race piano
Catherine Davis piano

NSW Public Schools Junior Singers
Sydney Philharmonia Percussion Ensemble

Look out for more performances by the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs: 

https://sydneyphilharmonia.com.au/

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ROBERT CATTO