One of the best things about the Royal Dunedin Male Choir's Sunday afternoon concert was the full-bodied sound from the choir, even when holding their own against David Burchall at top throttle on "Norma''.
Furthermore, the tenors had plenty of volume not only when combined with the rest of the choir, but also when singing alone, as in Craig Courtney's There Will I Be.
Richard Madden appears to have strengthened the choir since I last heard them a year ago. The result is that big strong pieces such as Martin Shaw's With a Voice of Singing, Luther's A Mighty Fortress is our God (in which the contrapuntal work was very tidy), Emrys Jones' setting of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, and their final number, What Would I do Without My Music? all came off very well.
On the gentler side, there was some lovely singing in The Water is Wide and Pokarekare ana.
Soprano Sophie Sparrow, and three instrumentalists, Sandra Crawshaw, Jonty Schmidt and Laura Barton, were the guest artists performing between the choir items.
Crawshaw not only gave an excellent performance of Fritz Kreisler's Liebesleid in Rachmaninoff's virtuoso transcription but acted as accompanist for the other soloists.
Jonty Schmidt's clean and clear oboe playing was a delight, both in Ennio Morricone's romantic piece, Gabriel's Oboe, and in the more stylish Allegro and Bouree by Handel.
Laura Barton performed Saint-Saens' popular Havanaise.
This was technically accomplished, but could perhaps have done with just a little more fire and passion.
She also played Kreisler's well-known Liebestfreud.
Sparrow is possessed of a wonderful voice throughout the range, and exhibited this in three songs: the Polish Folk Song, Mother Dear, Lehar's Vilia, and lastly, Il Baccio.
Royal Dunedin Male Choir
Dunedin Town Hall
Sunday, June 19
