Standing ovation for Messiah

The extraordinary performance of Handel's Messiah on Wednesday 24 March was met with a standing ovation. Since then, praise for the concert - the first in the Cathedral's 2010 Series - has been steadily flowing in.

The audience included significant figures within the arts and music scene in Western Australia who were highly impressed and moved, particularly by the performance of the Cathedral Consort and Joseph Nolan’s unique rendering of the piece, which paid respect to its original intentions.

Pianist and music critic to The Australian, Mark Coughlan, wrote:

"... one of the most dynamic and musically engaging 'Messiah's that I've had the pleasure of hearing.

"Joseph Nolan has transformed the St George's Cathedral Consort into an outstanding ensemble, with excellent technical control. Their clear articulation in all the fast passages and a beautifully blended sound brought considerable intensity and dramatic impact to the work's more powerful moments. A genuinely moving and uplifting performance."

The West Australian focused on the extraordinary performance of Soprano Sara Macliver:

"Of the four vocal soloists, soprano Sara Macliver was the star of the evening. Producing a stream of pure, perfectly pitched and projected tone, her diction was beyond reproach."

Here are some of the comments received from patrons in the days following the concert:

It was the most uplifting Messiah we had heard for a very long time... the music remained with me for hours... the wonderful work by Joseph Nolan is truly remarkable... a world-class performance... uplifting... The Cathedral Consort singers were superb... absolutely magical, the best performance of Messiah I have ever heard... In a word - brilliant... Absolutely first class... Sublime... Exhilarating. The choir was magnificent. Wonderful, authentic performance... The choir were superb - such precision and emotion. I was on the edge of my seat!

Congratulations to all – Joseph, the Consort, the remarkable soloists - Sara Macliver, Courtney Pitman-Kerr, Stuart Laing and Robert Hofmann - and the orchestra, led by WASO Assistant Concertmaster Semra Lee.

A selection of images taken at the concert have been posted on the St George’s Cathedral Facebook page and will be uploaded to this site soon. You can view the images here: Messiah photo album.