★★★★½ Robertson’s ‘from the heart’ Mass returns to the heart indeed.

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House
October 14, 2015

The Missa Solemnis is the only music that Beethoven never heard. By which I mean not because of his deafness (which was never entirely total), but because he was only ever present for three of the movements, given as part of a curtain raiser to the premiere of the glitzier, more crowd-pleasing Ninth Symphony. Admittedly that was quite an opener, coming in at around the one-hour mark, but the mere two rehearsals available for a concert of well over two hours almost certainly meant that whatever impressions the 55-year-old composer gleaned from this, his one and only try-out, would most likely have focused on the complaints of the choir and soloists, several of whom lamented the unsingability of aspects of the vocal lines – usually, specifically, that they were too high. Not that any of them got anywhere. Stubborn old Ludwig simply turned a deaf ear (pardon the pun) and flatly refused to ease the burden.

Nowadays we come better prepared, and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra’s sterling performance last night with Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and a superb line up of soloists...