By Jim Fagan
It isn’t easy singing with a mask covering half your face because of Covid restrictions but, while the sound isn’t vintage Noosa Chorale, there’s no mistaking the eagerness and enthusiasm of the singers.
Still on a high from their gold medal Olympic performances in their May concerts, the choir and music director Adrian King are midway through rehearsals for their next blockbuster. On 17 and 18 September at The J, they will present Majestic Mozart featuring his Requiem in D Minor.
Timeless Mozart songs will also be performed by a quartet of professional opera soloists, soprano Judit Molnar, mezzo soprano Anne Fulton, tenor Gregory Massingham and bass Mark Jowett.
Much has been written about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the man and his music. Without doubt one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time, Mozart in his brief 36 years left us with a magnificent legacy of musical compositions.
Certainly, the Chorale is in tune with Mozart. In the last 27 years of its spectacular history, it has devoted five of its concerts to the 18th century composer’s works.
In 1995 the choir was only one year old when it first performed the Requiem at the Good Shepherd Lutheran College with then-music director, the late Leonard Spira, conducting.
After the success of his premiere concert Handel’s Messiah the previous year– Leonard felt it would not only challenge the singers but attract audiences. It was such a success the choir sang it later at Nambour and Caloundra.
A fan letter in the local press from Joan Armitage from Caloundra wrote, “Bravo, you wonderful people and may you continue to please your audiences for many years to come”.
And a visitor, D Franklin, from Mosman NSW also wrote, “I was impressed that a town the size of Noosa could produce a performance of this scale and quality”.
Two years later in March Mozart featured in a triumvirate of music masters, Handel, Vivaldi and Mozart, in a concert at the Good Shepherd. Leonard selected the Coronation Mass in C and, because he had a love of visual effects and always the showman, he had two actors dressed as a king and a queen sitting at each side of the stage– indeed, a royal performance.
In 2000 the world was celebrating the coming of the third millennium and for the April concert at the Bicentennial Hall Leonard chose The Requiem “as a fitting tribute and farewell to the past”.
International bass soloist Mark Penman was so impressed he wrote to the press, “I am writing to express my joy and professional satisfaction at participating and to acknowledge the grass roots organisation which allowed this work of stature to be performed”.
It was another 10 years before Mozart was on the Chorale’s program list. Leonard had retired and Adrian King was the new maestro. Calling it The Magic of Mozart, he selected five works for his October concert at the Bicentennial Hall. Included with The Requiem were time-honoured gems like Ave Verum and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
The repertoire then took a break from Mozart for seven years and it wasn’t until May 2017 at the J Theatre that the singers renewed acquaintance with the Coronation Mass in a programme called Viennese Masters of the Classical Era. It included music by Haydn and Schubert.
Noosa Deputy Mayor Frank Wilkie was there and later said, “I could have sat for another few hours listening to the transcendent music”.
Since it was founded in 1994 by barrister Joe McMahon, the Chorale has been fortunate in having two inspirational choir masters in Leonard and Adrian who between them have helped the choir engender a tradition of excellence.
In spite of the masks, majestic Mozart harmonies and magnificent melodies are now floating through the rehearsal hall on Tuesday nights as Adrian, our talented accompanist Janet Brewer, and the choir prepare for the September concerts.
The tradition continues …
“Majestic Mozart,” The J Noosa Junction, Friday 17 September at 7pm, Saturday 18 September at 2pm. Tickets $45. Book online thej.com.au or phone 5329 6560.
