Adelaide Festival

Festival Review: Part 3 ‘Safety’ in 150 Psalms

This performance is the third part of the 150 Psalms choral performances, devised in 2017 by the Netherlands Chamber Choir director Tido Vasser.

5

Presented by The Tallis Scholars
Reviewed 29 February 2020

This performance is the third part of the 150 Psalms choral performances, devised in 2017 by the Netherlands Chamber Choir director Tido Vasser. The Festival program notes the ‘12 concerts will encompass all 150 psalms in musical settings by 150 different composers spanning 10 centuries of choral tradition’.

The evening’s theme of ‘Safety’ was introduced by Mireille Juchau, an Australian writer. Members of her own family had escaped the deportations of Jews from Occupied France and arrived as refugees in Australia – others were not so fortunate. She spoke movingly of the devastion of the recent bushfires and how people yearned for safety through that terrible time. Although not religious herself, she appreciated that the words of the psalms we would hear; some more than two thousand years old, still had resonance today.

The Tallis Scholars have a deserved reputation as brilliant exponents of Renaissance sacred music, led by their founder and conductor Peter Phillips and the performance did not disappoint. The singers were accompanied by Lars Notto Birkeland on the organ for a few psalms but most were a cappella settings. Performing twelve works by twelve different composers is probably unusual in a choral concert but this was part of the original intent of the 150 Psalms project.

By including settings of psalms by 20th century and living composers the music reflects the hope for a better future found in many of these pieces and showcases the incedible talents of the Tallis Scholars as part of a living, breathing tradition of choral music. The concert was a delight in the wonderful setting of St Peter’s Cathedral and whether or not you are religious, you will find the very human emotions expressed through the sublime singing uplifting.

Reviewed by Jan Kershaw

Rating out of 5:  5 Sublime

Venue:  St Peter’s Cathedral
Season: Part 3 on 29 February.150 Psalms season runs to 3 March
Duration:  60 mins
Tickets:  $69
Bookings:  https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/events/150-psalms

@adelaidefest

@TallisScholars

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