Agata’s Cantata a heavenly gem

Australian Chamber Choir

Vivaldi’s Gloria, Agata’s Cantata

Live streamed from the Scots’ Church, Melbourne on 7 May, 2022 and available on demand at access.auschoir.org

Vivaldi’s well-known Gloria is one of my favourite choral works to sing. Joyful and exuberant it’s my regular go to for a quick pick-me-up. As soon as I hear that blasting trumpet fanfare-like opening it puts a smile on my face, so I was looking forward to this concert by the Australian Chamber Choir (ACC) even before I knew that I would be hearing a program containing two world premieres written nearly 300 years apart. What an intriguing, and somewhat magical idea.

The concert began with the buoyant Magnificat by Francesco Durante (formerly attributed to Pergolesi). This gave ample opportunity for the choir and musicians to demonstrate their prowess and musical ability. Given the main work was the Vivaldi Gloria I was surprised to see only a small quintet of string players on period instruments and a chamber organ on stage, not the larger chamber orchestra I was expecting. But however small, this was an ensemble of excellent players who provided a clarity of sound that beautifully complimented the 17 voices of the ACC, especially during the many vocal solos and duets. I particularly enjoyed the Suscepit Israel duet, performed with vigour and excellent enunciation by tenor Matthew Bennett whose voice sat neatly beside Thomas Drent’s lush bass.

The first of the two billed world premieres was from Australian composer Christine McCombe, commissioned by the ACC with support from Modest Expectations Foundation in 2020 during Melbourne’s longest lockdown. With slowly evolving chords emerging from the repeated line “there is a power in stillness, in silence, in waiting” punctuated by long rests, it evoked a sense of isolation, connection to nature and the restorative qualities of stillness. Power in Stillness was a bit of a stylistic and tonal diversion from the the baroque qualities of other works programmed but it was nonetheless a worthy addition to the concert, and indeed to the Australian choral repertoire as a whole.

Quite a lot of publicity has surrounded the second world premiere, and central work of the program, the cantata Ecce nunc composed by Agata della Pietà, a star student of the famed orphanage l’Ospedale della Pietà where Vivaldi taught in the 1730s and 40s. An incomplete set of two instrumental and two vocal parts were recently uncovered by ACC’s manager, harpsichordist and alto Elizabeth Anderson, whose childhood curiosity about the female musicians of the orphanage was rekindled when programming Vivaldi for the choir’s 2022 season. Agata’s cantata had remained untouched in the Benedetto Marcello Library in Venice for almost three centuries and Anderson was able to reconstruct the work into a fifteen minute cantata of six movements. It’s quite an extraordinary story which Elizabeth shares in an interview with ABC’s Virginia Trioli linked here.

But what was a three hundred year old premiere like?…

At once both sweet and pious, yet fiendishly difficult – it combined a highly ornamented and virtuosic first violin part (completely written by Agata) with a fugal interweaving of choral lines, all in a highly Baroque, playful, yet warm style. Artistic Director Douglas Lawrence describes the piece as, “both assertive yet gentle” and I would certainly agree. He also asserted that it doesn’t sound like Vivaldi, while Anderson disagrees. I’m with Elizabeth on this, I’m no Vivaldi specialist but I could pick up noticeable similarities, in particular the Gloria Patri soprano duet was reminiscent of Vivaldi’s Laudamus te (at least to my ears). The darker tone of the alto solo In noctibus extollite manus (performed by Anderson herself) however was very different. Perhaps Agata was not so much inspired by Vivaldi himself but the music of their time and place, of which he no doubt had huge influence. Elizabeth Anderson should be commended for bringing this beautiful composition to light and congratulations must go also to the choir and musicians, especially violinists Jennifer Kirsner and Arun Patterson who performed with a sense of lightness while still bringing a richness of tone to this stunning premiere. I hope to hear it again soon.

And finally the Gloria! While I had initial reservations about hearing the work performed with only a quintet and chamber organ, once they were joined by Joel Brennan on trumpet for the fanfares I very much enjoyed this more intimate interpretation of the work. Always a joyous listen. The Australian Chamber Choir is quite a youthful ensemble full of talented voices, and you could tell they were enjoying themselves. A special shout out to Amelia Jones who took most of the soprano solos in the program, she and Kristina Lang in the lovely Laudamus te duet presented a fine performance.

The ACC toured this concert to regional Victoria with the world premieres actually being first performed in Terang, a town of about 2,000 people in Victoria’s Western District. A million miles away from Venice in both time and place, yet music lovers drove for up to six hours to be in the audience for Vivaldi’s Gloria, Agata’s Cantata. I wholeheartedly agree with Greg, an audience member surveyed at the first concert… “Well done Elizabeth and all who collaborated to bring this gorgeous piece of music to our ears – too good to remain hidden away in a library for such a long time. What a heavenly gem!”

The full concert Vivaldi’s Gloria, Agata’s Cantata is available on demand from access.auschoir.org and a recording of the cantata is planned soon.