MEDIA
Reviews
Jack Stephens’ voice was made for the sort of Bach bass recitatives which ‘Ein irdscher Glanz’ represents. The dramatic rendering he gave of the ‘reissen’ from ‘Aus unsrn Herzen reissen’ was deliberate, meaningful and moving, and is redolent of the dramatic rendering Bach himself gave of the words ‘Himmel reisse’ with that evocative passage which literally ‘rips’ through the cello in his earlier St Matthew’s Passion”
Aryan Mohseni
(State of the Art)
The entire performance was faultless with wonderful clarity and balance displayed by the 23 choristers. Dynamic control and contrast was excellent, pitch and intonation absolutely accurate and phrasing always clean and precise. Director of Music Jack Stephens not only conducted with tight control but introduced the program with interesting and relevant annotations.
Ian McLean
(CanberraCityNews)
“Stephens’s artistic brilliance was also evident in his thoughtful staging designs, in addition to his excellent execution of musical directions. It was truly a delightful evening, witnessing one of Sydney’s top-notch young choirs take on the challenge of performing an opera that falls outside their usual context as a church choir. This bold programming vision by Stephens is greatly appreciated.”
