“Mozart Requiem” Reviews, April 2024
This performance was recorded live.
Available to enjoy online via Australian Digital Concert Hall.
Reviews
Limelight
Mozart’s Requiem (Sydney Chamber Choir & The Muffat Collective Orchestra)
Steve Moffatt, 4.5 stars | 30 April, 2024
“Exuberance, power and raw energy marked the start of Sydney Chamber Choir’s 2024 season with Artistic Director Sam Allchurch conducting a tightly-performed program culminating in a triumphant assault on the Himalayan heights of Mozart’s Requiem.
The Requiem is one of the most picked over masterpieces in classical music. So many legends true and false have grown around it …But all of that gets blown away when you hear a first-class live performance of the work, and this was one of them.”
classikON
Mozart’s Requiem (Sydney Chamber Choir & The Muffat Collective Orchestra)
Tony Burke | 29 April 2024
“Sydney Chamber Choir … has progressed in leaps and bounds. Sam Allchurch … combined with the choir, the Muffat Collective orchestra and the four soloists gave a riveting account of the Requiem with not a beat or note out of place, and accented by the great acoustics of the City Recital Hall. The audience was spellbound.”
State of the Art
Review: Mozart Requiem, Sydney Chamber Choir.
Aryan Mohseni, 4.5 stars | 29 April 2024
In this concert, the Sydney Chamber Choir put Bach and Mozart in dialogue with one another, and with contemporary Australian music in between.
“…But the great shock [of the Kyrie] is the dissonant false ending, which the choir executed with great force. This all prepared the audience for the Dies irae that followed, which was performed with unrelenting force by both choir and orchestra. It was one of the highlights of this piece.”
Sounds Like Sydney
Concert Review: Mozart’s Requiem/ Sydney Chamber Choir/ Muffat Collective
Shamistha de Soysa | 30 April 2024
“The Sydney Chamber Choir, an augmented Muffat Collective led by Matthew Greco, and four vocal soloists, all under Artistic Director Sam Allchurch are simply magnificent in their concert entitled Mozart’s Requiem.
Performed live and on Australian Digital Concert Hall, the choir was in exceptional form, clear-toned and cohesive in this demanding program.”
City Hub
Sydney Chamber Choir: Mozart Requiem – REVIEW
Rita Bratovich | 30 April 2024
“Mozart’s iconic Requiem KV626 (1791), which he was still writing up to his own death, is an awe-inspiring work. It was performed by the choir, the full orchestra, the four soloists and organ, but it felt like a thousand-strong ensemble.
It is a piece with exquisite melody and harmonies that reverberate through every nerve and sinew. The room was spellbound until the final note…and then some. After a stunned silence the auditorium erupted in elongated, rapturous applause. “
Sydney Arts Guide
Annabelle Drumm, 4.5 stars | 29 April 2024
“Next was an Australian contemporary work by composer Iain Grandage titled “Why do we exist?”… The work featured The Muffat Collective string section with organ and the choir, beginning with birdsong subtly provided by both singers and musicians … The moment allowed the viewer to close their eyes and imagine themselves in the garden as well. It was a precious treat which so many city dwellers usually deny themselves and it felt delicious.”
“Limelight: You’ve spoken before of the choir as an instrument. What kind of instrument is Sydney Chamber Choir?
SA: I like to think it brings together two sometimes contradictory ideas: one is richness and depth; the other is flexibility and lightness, the ability to turn on a dime or dance in the wind, if you like. I think this choir is right in that sweet spot.
”
Artists
Sydney Chamber Choir
Sam Allchurch
Conductor
The Muffat Collective Orchestra
Celeste Lazarenko
Soprano
Helen Sherman
Mezzo-soprano
Richard Butler
Tenor
David Greco
Bass
Program
Bach
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
Iain Grandage
Why Do We Exist?
Mozart
Ave verum corpus
Mozart
Requiem
