LATEST REVIEW
Messiah “Law drives choir in style”
Brian Law really does make the choir, which by rights should have all the manoeuvrability of a logging truck, corner like a fine Italian motorcycle. The speeds down the back straight, as in For Unto Us A Child Is Born are eye-watering, the control on the hairpins in Since By Man Came Death is magnificent. - Timothy Jones
MUSIC FROM RUSSIA
Fortified by inclusion of the Oxfords, the men’s section was magnificent, while the sopranos and altos soft openings of some items were splendidly controlled. Firmly directed by Brian Law, the Choir coped with the formidable demands of the score. - David Sell
MISSA GAIA
Theresa Thomason was clearly top of the bill, with her spine-tingling voice and wonderfully straight forward presentation. Te Ropu o te Kotahitanga were also a class act. Many of the individual performances were superb. The concert, it should be noted was a sell-out. - Timothy Jones
Congratulations to Messrs Law and Halley and to the hundreds of performers for the many hours of organization and rehearsal that must have gone into staging this magnificent performance. - Chris Oldham
A MESSIAH TO REMEMBER
Christmas means another Messiah. Brian Law’s crisp tempos with a small flexible orchestra and the Choir - Soloists, four specialists, each with a voice of real personality with diaries packed with impressive engagements at the worlds greatest musical venues made this a Messiah to remember. - Timothy Jones
ANZAC SALUTE
Christchurch Symphony & Christchurch City Choir ( Joint Concert) with N.Z.C.T. Woolston Band & Artists QUALITY BEFITTING OCCASION. For a concert in which the meaning was in the event, this was a very successful one. It had variety, dignity and consistently good quality, and at the same time never lost sight of the event that it was saluting. There was plenty of nostalgia. - David Sell
MOZART REQUIEM
Memorable effort, focus maintained, the bite and fury in the Dies Irae is worthy of special mention. The choir was impressive, producing a full rich evenly matched tone. The symbiotic chemistry of seasoned performers and youthful spirit definitely got results. It was great to see and hear James Harrison and Christopher Bowen back in Christchurch for this concert, both doing extremely well overseas and deservedly so. - Patrick Shepherd
MISSA SOLEMNIS
Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis stands alone in his repertoire as a work of such complexity and expressive power that even he called it his greatest achievement. Involving over two hundred musicians in music of often fiendish difficulty, its twenty-year absence from the city is understandable. However the success of this performance suggest that the tune was right for its reappearance. - Rachel Hawkey