Finnissy and EXAUDI at the Wigmore Hall

Jeanice Brooks (Professor of Music) has been listening to a recent performance of work by Southampton colleagues and friends: Michael Finnissy’s extraordinary Kelir for unaccompanied vocal ensemble was the highlight of a Wigmore Hall concert last Tuesday, broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Kelir (1981) is the word for a curtain used for the shadows in Javanese puppet theatre. Its text is in Javanese, and consists of a ritual formula declaimed before the play begins. The leading contemporary group EXAUDI performed the work, described as a ‘tour de force’ by the programme’s host.  I’ve just been listening to this amazing piece, which combines intense lyricism with some brilliant vocal effects.  It’s both beautiful and fiendishly difficult to sing, and I can’t think of many vocal ensembles other than EXAUDI who could do it.  In his review of Tuesday’s performance, the Guardian‘s George Hall commented, “The choir offered tremendous assurance combined with colouristic range in the work’s dense writing, which demands absolute choral virtuosity and received it here.”  Hilary Finch wrote in the Times that EXAUDI’s rendition of the piece was unforgettable, leaving her “stunned into silence.” You can still listen to the performance for another week on the BBC website, and I also noticed it’s up on YouTube.  I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Our department are big fans of EXAUDI, co-directed by soprano Juliet Fraser and composer-conductor James Weeks, who did his PhD at Southampton.  The group has worked with Michael Finnissy for many years, and we were lucky enough to have them with us in November for our premiere of his Remembrance Day.  In 2016  they plan to record Kelir and another of Michael’s compositions, Gesualdo Libro Sesto (2012-13), a work the ensemble commissioned.  There’s a Kickstarter campaign underway to support the recording – donate now and you can get a free copy when it comes out!