Stormy seas and becalmed regions

There are a series of choral outings coming up this Christmas and Verdi Requiem by Canberra Symphony Orchestra was our most recent.  Basically the program was just Verdi.  There was an introduction with a solo horn offstage playing a commission composed by Liza Lim, called Dianna, evoking the Australian bush and Magpie sounds but it was very short, perhaps one minute.  Then CSO with CSO chorus and four solo singers and this big work, Verdi Messa da Requiem, of 7 movements.  Big as in almost 2 hours; turbulent as in a repeated loud segment, initially from Dies irae, that suggested to me a floundering ship in a stormy ocean; then switching through voice and orchestra, somewhat lacking in orchestral movement to my ears, singers with minor accompaniment.  Stormy seas and becalmed regions.  I expose myself, but I didn't particularly respond to the work.  The playing was perfectly good.  I noticed the basses had some chillingly demanding lines and they pulled them off with aplomb.  I liked the performances; all were impressive: voices and choir, accompaniment and sectional plays, nicely done.  But that image of a floundering ship stays with me, and those long passages of solo song with minimal accompaniment.  The alternative of Mozart's Dies irae doesn't help.  Maybe I should have followed the words - Verdi is renowned for opera, after all - but his Requiem mass just didn't do it for me.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra performed Verdi Requiem at Llewellyn Hall under Jessica Cottis (conductor) with the CSO Chorus and soloists Helena Dux (soprano), Deborah Humble (mezzo-soprano), Paul O'Neill (tenor) and Warwick Fyfe (bass).