SCUNA history » Concerts » 1977 - Christmas
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SCUNA, the ANU Choral Society, will present Handel's 'Messiah' in association with the ANU Arts Centre in the dining hall of University House on Thursday, December 22, at 8pm.
It will be conducted by Bryan Dowling, who recently succeeded Brian Hingerty as SCUNA's conductor and this Christmas concert will be his first appearance with the society.
Soloists are Janet Healey, soprano; Anne Brabin-Smith, contralto; Raymond Gorringe, tenor, and Robert Haase, bass.
There will be a choir of 30 singers and an orchestra of 14 players.
Following the concert supper will be provided in the Fellows Garden and there will be singing of traditional carols. Admission will be $4.50 with student and pensioner concession rates of S2.
Source: LIFE STYLE TV-ARTS-ENTERTAINMENT. (1977, December 14). The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995), p. 32. Retrieved June 21, 2013, from Trove: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article110882821
[Page] 8 - The Canberra Times, Thursday, December 22, 1977
The ANU Choral Society
in association with A.N.U. Arts Centre
MESSIAH
Thursday 22 December 8pm
Dining Hall University House
Conductor - Bryan Dowling
admission $4.50 & $2.00
Inquiries 494787 or 511812
Why is it so, I ask myself each Christmas, that despite the fact that I love the music of Handel and think 'Messiah' one of the great masterpieces of Western music, I find my heart sinking at the thought of facing another performance of this perennial favourite.
The reason, I believe, is that after hearing over the years a continuing series of plodding, pedestrian performances which do nothing for Handel or for me, I have lost any hope of really hearing it as it should be.
And last Thursday night's presentation of 'Messiah' by the ANU Choral Society unfortunately justified my foreboding. Certainly it wasn't a plodding performance - just the opposite: it turned out to be a jolly jogtrot through the Handelian musical landscape, lively, loud and often rough.
In this season of goodwill toward men it is better that there should not be a detailed criticism of the performance; there were so many musical deficiencies that it is kinder to merely comment that it was a vigorous performance which many in the audience seemed to like.
But then it was very much a 'Messiah' audience. The Hall of University House was filled to overflowing (I have not seen so many people in that hall since the Chamber Music Society concerts were held there in the early 1960s). And, young and old, they all stood for the 'Hallelujah Chorus'. It was a pity that there was really so little to stand for, as it was one of the roughest performances of that magnificent chorus that I have heard in many a year. But everybody loved it.
Personally, I feel that poor old Handel deserves better. It must be 10 years now since we had a good performance of 'Messiah' in Canberra, so hopefully we should be due for another in the next year or so.
In the meantime we seem condemned either to the 'Messiah for All' approach in which everyone can have a jolly good bash at the music, or to the hearty traditional performance of which Thursday night was a solid example.
- W. L. Hoffmann, Canberra Times 24 December 1977
It was a great experience for the choir and the audience. Bryan Dowling's tempi were exhilarating and made this the most enjoyable performance of Messiah I ever took part in. At the SCUNA 50th, Michael Ryan (SCUNA President in 1978, more recently singing with Sydney Philharmonia) expressed a similar view.
Mr Hoffmann rarely gave SCUNA a poor review, but this was one of them. I've hesitated to put it up because it is so negative - and because even at the time I was taken aback. Such a bad review of what seemed to me such an excellent performance!
The words "a jolly jogtrot through the Handelian musical landscape" made such an impression on me that it took me a long time to find this review on the National Library's microfilm: for thirty-odd years I remembered the headline as "A jolly jogtrot through Messiah", and that's what I was looking for!
- Val T