Sydney Sede Vacante

A little over a year after Pope Benedict's abdication, we now have the momentous news that George Cardinal Pell, Archbishop of Sydney, will move permanently to Rome where he will be the Cardinal Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See.  This appears to be a newly created Secretariat, and a very important one at that.

Congratulations to His Eminence!

See the Vatican's press release here, with the English version following the original Italian.

See the relevant Motu Proprio Fidelis Dispensator et Prudens in Italian (English translation).

See below a letter dated 24 February 2014 from + Pell to undisclosed recipients:

See other new stories:

• Vatican Radio; 
• Catholic Herald; 
• ABC (Australia).

The ramifications for Sydney, of course, are great as the towering figure in the Antipodean church takes up residence in Rome : a new Archbishop will need to be appointed forthwith, with few instantly suitable candidates for a variety reasons.  + Coleridge has been suggested as the outstanding candidate on the basis that he is a biblical scholar and lucid preacher, competent at singing the Mass and a highly respected, orthodox and personable bishop (no mean feat), but he was only recently translated to Brisbane and is in the early stages of revitalising that Archdiocese.  + Fisher of Parramatta has long been seen as the Archbishop-in-waiting, and is also an outstanding preacher, but is he too young, and is he not still required in Parramatta to continue his excellent revitalisation of that important diocese?  + Porteous, formerly an auxiliary bishop of Sydney, has just been translated to Hobart.  + Hart of Melbourne is about the same age as + Pell, and therefore is likely to stay in Melbourne where he is doing an outstanding job.

With Pell on the Congregation for Bishops, his successor will likely have his imprimatur, though Archbishop Gallagher, Nuncio to Australia, will no doubt have his recommendations also.

We have an interesting few weeks ahead of us here in Sydney.

Vincent Cardinal Nichols

as the current Archbishop of Westminster will now be styled after he received his red hat on Saturday (22 February 2014).  Unlike the other Cardinals-in-waiting, VCN came armed with choir!!

Martin Baker's Westminster Cathedral Choir sang superbly at the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Creation of New Cardinals on Saturday (order of service), and the following day at the Sunday Mass with the Pope and new Cardinals (order of service here), joining forces with the Sistine Chapel Choir and occasionally singing separately.

Our beloved Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI also attended - one wonders if it was because he knew the Westminster Cathedral Choir would be singing - a choir he heard first-hand in 2010 (forgive the cheek, but I couldn't resist).

The choir met the Pope:

See this news etc:

• newspaper article; 
• Westminster Cathedral news; 
• pictures, all © Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

There are now plenty of videos of the two events.  First, the video highlights from PapalMusic, followed by the full Consistory and Mass from TheVatican:

From the Mass

Guerrero O Sacrum Convivium - sung by Westminster Cathedral Choir alone (Cardinal Pell is in shot at the start)

Responsorial Psalm, sung by a chorister from Westminster Cathedral Choir - I strongly suspect that the accompanist is either Martin Baker, Master, or Peter Stevens, Assistant Master, of Music

From the Consistory

Stanford Beati Quorum Via

Bach, Magnificat (opening movement, organ and brass arrangement)

Consistory - Whole video

Holy Mass with the New Cardinals - Whole video

Felicitations to His Eminence

Catching up - Part 1

Apologies for the infrequent posting of late, it has been for want of time not material.  I should soon like to do a longer post on the recent news about the new document from the Holy See, "Sacred Music: Fifty Years after the Council".  For the time being, I recommend reading the document immediately, and reading the Chant Cafe's take on it.

Also, I hope to post about upcoming concerts in Sydney, including the Bach Magnificat, a Venetian Coronation at St Mary's Cathedral (local forces conducted by the excellent Paul McCreesh - aren't Sydney-siders being spoiled this year) and the King's College Choir tour of Australia.

Here I post the first part of a summary of stories I should like to have posted about in greater detail in the past six months or so:

• Choral music concerts in Sydney:
• The St Mary's Cathedral Choir sang the oratorio Messiah in full - I said I would come back with a full review, but alas time escaped me.  Suffice it to say that the singing of the choir was remarkable.  The closest recording I can compare it to (singing wise) would be the New College Choir one under Higginbottom, the major difference being that in the latter they had the period instruments of the Academy of Ancient Music, whereas in Sydney, for understandable reasons, a modern instrument orchestra was employed.  It was chamber in size, and played with period instrument sensibilities, but the trumpets in particular were noticeably 'modern' sounding.  The solo parts had very well advised embellishments (a sign that much thought and preparation had gone into the rendering of the score), and the solo singing was never less than strong.  The concert was a triumph, and one eagerly awaits more of this nature in the coming years;  
• The Brandenburg gave a stunning account of the Mozart "Great" Mass in C minor - reviews from the opening night were more subdued, citing for example haphazard tempi and some instrumental infelicities - but I saw the third concert and it (setting aside the questionable pre-interval programme) was simply superb.  The period instrument playing was distinctly mature but no less lively and engaging for it (Paul Dyer's training under masters such as Bruggen and Kuijken clearly paying off), and the singing - from soloists and choir - was very accomplished indeed.  This performance easily outdid many of the period performances committed to disc by European ensembles, and was a riveting account of Mozart's unfinished masterpiece.  Though my ears are now more accustomed to (and favour) this style of performance, I still recall with great fondness when this work was conducted at the Sydney Opera House in 2007 by the late Sir Charles Mackerras.  He had altogether bigger forces at hand, the SSO and Philharmonia Choirs, at least doubling those of the Brandenburg.  As for the Bach Magnificat by the Brandenburg, the opening concert was on Wednesday - this review cites similar  instrumental problems to those I heard anecdotally in relation to the opening night of the Mozart Great Mass - so I hope that they have been sorted out for the performance I am attending tonight; 
• The Tallis Scholars visited the Antipodes in October last year, and performed at St Mary's Cathedral (having been displaced from the Sydney Opera House due to the excessive noise of that building's 40th anniversary party!)  I was unable to attend, but by all accounts they sang Allegri's Miserere and Palestrina's Missa Papae Marcelli, pieces not unfamiliar to worshippers at said cathedral, with customary aplomb; 
• The Australian Brandenburg gave its customary series of yuletide concerts, Noel Noel - I attended the one at St Peter's Anglican Church in Cremorne.  As expected, the singing was of the usual high standard, though there was a distinct lack of polyphonic pieces which usually form part of the programme, perhaps explained by the chosen 'Celtic' theme.  At their expense were some odd inclusions, such as "Somewhere over the rainbow" and "Santa baby", seemingly not Celtic either, though they seem to have been well received by most of the audience.  
• But it was one of the last concerts in a year of such excellent ones that deserves special mention.  It was the Bach Christmas Oratorio.  One Sydney Concert, with the Australian Chamber Orchestra (in period instrument mode), and the Choir of London, conducted by Richard Tognetti (originally it was to be Gardiner's crack choir the Monteverdi Choir with the great man conducting).  First, let's get out of the way some of the minor deficiencies in the performance.  The choir, whilst never falling below excellent, occasionally had problems with blend, especially in the upper register.  This is likely due to two factors: it is an occasional choir made up of (albeit first rate) soloists from the UK (established, commendably, to pursue charitable purposes).  I would have preferred a choir like the Vocalconsort Berlin that sang Purcell's Dido and Aeneas in Sydney in January this year (with the Waltz choreography which I had seen in Lyon in 2009) - I quite concur with their description as 'dynamic and homogeneous'.  And secondly, the small scale choir had to project itself into the large concert hall at the Opera House, with its unobliging acoustic.  Those minor criticisms aside, this was a choral feast to behold.  The entire work of six cantatas was performed, with generous interval.  Some say this made the concert too long, a view which I find hard to comprehend.  At less than 2 1/2 hours of actual performance, the concert is hardly War and Peace, though obviously demanding for the performers.  A professional orchestra and choir at a premier venue simply could not justify performing highlights, or just a few of the cantatas (despite the liturgical setting in which they would once have been performed) - a view clearly shared by Tognetti and most directors of his calibre (see video below). In any event, the concert was one of the undoubted highlights of the year.  The Australian Chamber Orchestra lived up to its reputation as one of the finest chamber ensembles in the world - precise, and rich in tone.  Tognetti's directing, and solo violin playing, were sensational.  The period trumpets were played with great authority and flair.  When it was announced that Gardiner was to give this concert, I immediately listened to my Arkiv Proucktion recording of the work, and tracked down the performance in 2000 as part of his Bach pilgrimage.  Both are outstanding renderings of the work.  The performance in Sydney - Gardiner-less as it was - was of an equivalent quality, and there couldn't have been a better way to foreshadow the Christmas season.  

More to come ...

Dream Handel Concert

The sort of faultless concert that comes along once in a blue moon.  Among many highlights are the countertenor Iestyn Davies as Solomon, and McCreesh's extraordinary conducting - including an endearing gesture (a bit like a dance move) during From the censer, at the words "Happy, happy Solomon" (54.40).  This is markedly better than McCreesh's earlier studio recording of this work, despite same choir and orchestra, and equally good cast of soloists on paper (Scholl as Solomon).  Pour a glass of red, plug in the headphones and enjoy over two hours of choral magic.