1998, Mozart's Mass in C minor

The oratorio season involved Mozart's Mass in C Minor and some unaccompanied madrigals, which turned out to be a really enjoyable experience. Michael Try performed a bracket from his final recital at the Conservatorium. He was unable to be part of the oratorio because of commitments with Opera Australia.

Performances were at Euroa, Ormond, Greensborough and Bundoora. At Euroa Ken loved the organ - until some keys started to stick! There were only twenty-one in the audience, so it was not a profitable experience, but enjoyable. Ormond was a bit better with thirty, and when it was suggested a difficult madrigal they'd been struggling with be dropped, the tenors objected. They'd been practising! It turned out to be the best they did on the day! At Greensborough, Ken was on a pipe organ that he enjoyed, until he found it only had two volumes, soft and flat out, and then it got stuck on the latter! However the performance went well and had a reasonable audience of thirty-five.

Some time was spent at the rehearsal in Bundoora trying to decide whether to use the new organ, which seemed inadequate, or Ian's keyboard. Eventually we found we could move the organ to the other end of the church. Then Ian and Ken found a bent pin in a valve and it sprang to life! At the performance, we had an audience of about sixty, which was terrific. The choir really lifts its performance when we see so many appreciative people.

These history notes have been kindly provided by our long-term artistic director and co-founder, Graham Ford.

Oratorios, 1990'sSteve WilkieMozart, 1998