Grads members and guest choristers still on a high after our Town Hall performance of Verdi’s Requiem can vicariously relive the experience this month, when the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, under its American Chief Conductor-designate, David Robertson, performs the great work in the Opera House Concert Hall on 10, 12 and 13 July. The soloists are Erin Wall (soprano), Olesya Petrova (mezzo), John Daszak (tenor), and Ain Anger (bass). The chorus will be composed of members of the Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

David Robertson is a young, very talented musician, and can be expected to deliver a performance of high quality and interest. No doubt he will have available more than the one string rehearsal and one full orchestral rehearsal that Christopher Bowen had in April. As well, the luxury of repeat performances, which we would all love to have had with our own concert, will give opportunities to refine detail. It will be fascinating to compare these professional performances with our own, which far exceeded in quality what might be reasonably expected of an amateur choir. But we are perhaps not the best people to offer an objective assessment of that comparison!

John Bowan