KENNY MATHIESON hears the Inverness Choral tackle Puccini’s unconventional Stabat Mater.

ITALIAN CHORAL MUSIC has had a good airing in the Inverness airt of late. The Dingwall Choral tackled Rossini’s ‘Messe Solenelle’ in Strathpeffer (see Arthur Brocklebank’s review) in the wake of this performance of a more controversial work by another Italian composer better known for his operas, Puccini’s ‘Stabat Mater’.

Sacred choral music rarely attracts a great deal of controversy, but this one did in its day, and still arouses strong feelings in the right circles. Like Verdi’s more famous ‘Requiem’, the music stands accused of ignoring the sacred obligations of the commission in favour of an operatic treatment that – as conductor Gordon Tocher pointed out in his programme note – is highly characteristic of the composer, but not necessarily appropriate to the context.

Tocher’s conclusion that Rossini wrote as he knew best, and that to attempt to do otherwise would in all probability have produced an unsatisfactory outcome, seems the sensible approach, and the whole issue carries less weight – and perhaps even becomes moot – in the context of a concert rather than liturgical performance in any case.

There is no doubt that Rossini’s operatic imagination is allowed to run riot in the music, at times almost to the point of parodying the religious texts. The soloists reveled in the opportunity to show off their operatic credentials, and the score is packed full of colourful contrasts in pitch, dynamics and setting, culminating in the airy textures of the unaccompanied soloists in the penultimate ‘Quando corpus’, followed immediately by the extravagant large-scale gestures of the closing ‘In sempiterna saecula’

“Like most choirs these days, it is heavy on sopranos and altos and distinctly light on tenors and basses, making it an even more difficult challenge to achieve a satisfactory balance.”

The first half featured a performance of a less iconoclastic work. Haydn’s ‘Harmoniemesse’ was the last of his major choral works, and revealed the individual and imaginative touches expected of that great master, but all within the boundaries of sacred music conventions. It received a solid performance from the choir and orchestra.

Like most choirs these days, it is heavy on sopranos and altos and distinctly light on tenors and basses, making it an even more difficult challenge to achieve a satisfactory balance. The lower voices did not always register with sufficient weight as a result.

They were joined as usual by four professional soloists. Soprano Catriona Holt made a strong impression, and mezzo-soprano Frances McCafferty – a frequent soloist with the choir over the years – maintained her usual high standards. The male voices, tenor Mark Chaundy and bass-baritone Peter Grant, made a less striking impact, but they sang well enough in both ensemble and solo settings.

© Kenny Mathieson, 2004