The performance of Mozart’s Requiem at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on September 18th was a triumph built on the judicious use of the Ballarat Wind Orchestra instead of the traditional symphony orchestra. Conductor Mario Dobernig, leading the Victoria Chorale and the Ballarat Choral Society, balanced the sound produced by the large ensemble and directed with precision and purpose.
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The afternoon began with a new work, “Looking Into Fire”, for wind orchestra, by Houston Dunleavy. This composition is designed as a preamble to a performance of Mozart’s great choral work. The unifying theme comes from the “Confutatis maledictis”, although the language remains modern and relentless in its drive, as the “Dies Irae” would suggest.
Despite the uncertainty of what is Mozart’s in the Requiem and what belongs to those who contributed to its completion after Mozart’s death the work remains one of the great choral masterpieces. The large choir produced the appropriate texture of sound, from the opening “Introitus” to the powerful “Dies Irae” and finally the “Lux Aeterna”. The balance with the wind orchestra was excellent. Considering some of the great wind ensemble compositions of Mozart it is not surprising that the sound texture worked so well. Soprano Michelle McCarthy, mezzo Anna Plotka, tenor Lyndon Green and baritone Samuel Thomas-Holland were excellent in the solo roles and blended very well as a quartet.
