If the scale of Missa Solemnis were not daunting enough, with a Gloria of just under 20 minutes, its bold shifts of style and texture make for an unsettling but dramatic experience, effectively conveyed on this occasion.
A blaze of D major jubilation eventually transformed into a beautifully elaborate meld of soloists in the Qui tollis, complemented by hushed choral asides and well-contoured orchestral playing.
The Credo opened with the sonic equivalent of a defiant fist, in full ceremonial setting, its spectacular wall of sound curiously reminiscent of the seventeenth-century Venetian splendours of the composer Gabrieli.
The choir's tenors introduced the Et incarnates, followed by the smooth duetting of Dark and O'Neill, leading to a rousing Et resurrexit, its bold primary resonances vying with fugal bustle.
Jenny Khafagi's violin obbligato occasionally lapsed into wanness in the Benedictus but, from Martin Snell's noble invocation of the ever-forgiving Lamb of God, the final Agnus Dei was a particularly poignant plea for peace, right through to its obsessively repeated "Dona nobis pacem".
Classical review
• What: Auckland Choral
• Where: Auckland Town Hall
• When: Saturday
• Reviewed by: William Dart
