SMALL WONDERS
The New Hall, Sydney Grammar School
Concert review
North Shore Times, June 8 2012
Reviewed by David Gyger
Small wonders program offers big value
In the cavernous New Hall at Sydney Grammar School...Halcyon presented a demanding program entitled Small Wonders. Soprano Alison Morgan, mezzo Jenny Duck-Chong, pianist Jo Allan, cellist Geoffrey Gartner and flautist Laura Chislett-Jomes performed nine works by as many composers, but only two offerings required more tahn two to appear at once.
It was a significant tribute to the performers that their efforts came close to satisfactorily filling the hall.
In Giorgio Colombo Taccani's Soleil levant, Chislett Jones displayed impressive mastery of the giant bass flute, and both she and Gartner excelled in Nicholas Vines' Jury's Din.
With one hand on the keyboard and the other plucking the innards of her piano, Allan impressively to the challenge of accompanying George Crumb's inspired Apparition of 1979.
The Sydney premiere of Katy Abbott's droll The Domestic Sublime Part 2 was a highlight, and the world premiere of Moya Henderson's intriguing Lovely How Lives, with the two singers blending beautifully, put the cap on the proceedings.
The other world premiere was the first half of an eight-part song cycle by Elliott Gyger entitled Giving Voice.