Ross Harris and Vincent O'Sullivan - Face

The creative partnership between the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra and the composer/librettist team of Ross Harris and Vincent O’Sullivan has produced an impressive body of critically acclaimed work, beginning with Harris’s Symphony No.2 (https://bit.ly/2t2sPQV) in 2005.

The latest Harris/O’Sullivan/APO collaboration (with co-commissioners the BBC Symphony Orchestra) is captured in today’s Resound film from the Auckland Town Hall in April. ‘Face’ tackles the subject of war from the unusual angle of the rebuilding of maimed soldiers’ faces by pioneering plastic surgeon, the New Zealander Harold Gillies. A soldier, his fiancee and a surgeon examine the emotional depth of the subject, represented by Henry Choo (tenor), Allison Bell (soprano) and Joel Amosa (bass-baritone). Meanwhile, the Karen Grylls-led Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir quite matter-of-factly sings of the technical aspects of early plastic surgery. Projections of slowly evolving images by Tim Gruchy (after ‘The Soldier’s Face’ by Barry Cleavin) back the musicians.

This premiere performance was followed ten days later by a performance by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and BBC Singers at the Barbican. The Financial Times reported that the work covered “vast emotional territory”, making for a “rich emotional portrait.”

Audio was recorded by our Resound partners RNZ Concert (Tim Dodd, producer; Adrian Hollay, engineer).
Resound is funded by NZ On Air.