Music / A Handel Celebration, Canberra Choral Society, Erin Helyard, director, Myriam Arbouz, soprano. At Llewellyn Hall, December 13. Reviewed by LEN POWER.

Promising arias and choruses from the greatest works of Georg Frideric Handel, the Canberra Choral Society provided a huge choir to sing the many choruses and French soprano Myriam Arbouz to sing the arias.

It was all directed by Sydney’s Erin Helyard.

Arbouz has established herself as one of the most compelling interpreters of baroque and early classical repertoire. She has performed across Europe, Australia and beyond.

Helyard is artistic director and co-founder of Pinchgut Opera and the Orchestra of the Antipodes (Sydney). He is also associate professor at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

For this Come & Sing event, the 160-member choir, prepared by Canberra-based composer, conductor and performer, Dan Walker, included 80 guest singers from the Canberra community.

Helyard addressed the audience at the beginning of the concert, saying that, in his opinion, Handel’s music and his works were Theatre of the Mind, conjuring up colourful ancient stories and characters. To open the program, Sinfonia from Handel’s early opera Agrippina was played by the orchestra, taking us deep into the Handel’s world.

A large program of choruses was presented. Many were familiar and the huge choir impressed with the depth and accuracy of their singing. The words in English were very clear and easily understood.

It was all so well performed by the choir. Particularly outstanding were Jealously! from Hercules with its contrasting soft and dramatic passages and Funeral Anthem For Queen Caroline with its beautiful, sombre beginning. The very well-known Zadok the Priest was given a rousing performance, with trumpeters Zach Raffan and Sam Hutchinson playing superbly. Two choruses from the oratorio Theodora were also memorably sung as was the moving finale of Handel’s Messiah.

Soprano, Myriam Arbouz, sang four arias. Her beautiful, clear soprano, and the depth of feeling she presented in each item to bring her characters to life, showed why she is so renowned as a performer. Each aria she sang was a highlight of the program. The well-known Lascia ch’io pianga (Let me weep) from Rinaldo was given a refreshingly new depth in her interpretation and the emotional Ombre pallide from Alcina was also memorably sung.

The orchestra gave a fine performance throughout and the thoughtfully chosen items of the program produced a true celebration of Handel’s music, ending the year on a high note.