Recent Concert Reviews

27th February 2010

Monteverdi Vespers – Norwich Cathedral

With:

  • Nicki Kennedy and Julie Cooper (sopranos)
  • Joshua Ellicott and Nicholas Mulroy (tenors)
  • Ben Davies and Jonathan Arnold (bass-baritones)

Review:

There will be countless performances of the Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610) this year to mark its 400th anniversary, but few will surpass that on Saturday evening, directed meticulously as ever by John Aplin.

And although composed specifically for a smaller venue, the singers managed the cathedral’s spacious acoustic to give the collection of psalms and hymns a larger dimension.

Almost inevitably there was the occasional loss of precise clarity, but add the mellow tones of The Brook Street Band, QuintEssential’s cornetts and sackbuts and a sextet of young and excellently focused soloists and here was a performance to savour.

The choir attacked the movements where required, but also produced many subtle moments and their balance and blend could not be faulted and neither could that between singers and instrumentalists, while changes of tempo were seamlessly dealt with.

The first extract from the Song of Solomon was a tenor solo of exquisite control and if the Gloria to Psalm 121 was joyous, then that for Psalm 147 was, well, glorious and the final Magnificat…. magnificent.

And, yes, it was operatic, too, but a truly artistic performance.

— Michael Drake EDP 01/03/10

25th April 2009

Haydn & Mendelssohn Bicentenary Concert – St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich

  • Mendelssohn – Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave), op.26
  • Mendelssohn – Lauda Sion, op.73
  • Haydn – Missa Sanctæ Cæcilæ (Missa Cellensis)

With:

  • Maureen Brathwaite (soprano), Catherine King (mezzo-soprano)
  • Joshua Ellicott (tenor), Peter Rose (bass)

Review:

With a gentle splash of ripples giving way to the crash of breakers beating against rocks as a sudden squall blew up, the Hebrides Overture opened the programme with vivid Romanticism.

A different facet of Mendelssohn, who was born 200 years ago, was shown in his Lauda Sion. Extra brass added solemnity to the start as the instrumentalists of the Academy of St Thomas, combined under John Aplin with the Keswick Hall Choir in these ancient Latin texts in praise of the Holy Sacrament with full-throated commitment. The four soloists brought home the message with style, particularly when hailing the spiritual food on which angels feast. Their contribution to Haydn’s St Cecilia Mass was equally important.

The bass, Peter Rose, a University of East Anglia graduate who has gone on to a career in opera, was sonorous and dramatic at both the top and bottom of his extensive range. Tenor Joshua Ellicott also knew how to thrill us.

The chorus was lively and responsive throughout a programme that demanded a lot. The basses especially distinguished themselves, producing sustained rich, dark tones to create a firm foundation.

— Christopher Smith EDP 27/04/09

28th February 2009

Norwich Cathedral

  • Poulenc – Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence
  • Martin – Mass for double choir
  • Fauré – Cantique de Jean Racine
  • Duruflé – Requiem

Review:

For the first Saturday in Lent John Aplin's Keswick Hall Choir chose Poulenc's Four Motets to open a programme of sacred music with David Dunnett at the organ adding colour as well as support, Fauré's Cantique de Jean Racine had both confidence, strength and serene beauty. Another French work, the Requiem by Maurice Duruflé, who received his early musical training in Rouen, also benefited from the combination of the organ with the choir.

Mostly gentle and reflective, with many hints of plain chant, the setting of the traditional words became more dramatic and forceful for just a few moments to evoke the pangs of death.

The singers did not miss their chance, with the basses producing some distinctively dark tones. The soloists were baritone Mark Horner and the agile soprano Rebecca Mundy, with Philip Trzebiatowski adding the fluent cello obbligato.

The setting of the mass for unaccompanied double choir by the Swiss 20th-century composer Frank Martin started with long, elaborate Kyries. Later, when invited to bring out emotions, the singers responded with a will, though generally with rather more relish in the louder passages than the hushed ones.

— Christopher Smith EDP 02/03/09

24th February 2007

Lux Aeterna – Norwich Cathedral

  • Leighton – Crucifixus pro nobis
  • Pärt – The Beatitudes
  • Bach arr. Nystedt – Immortal Bach
  • Tavener – Mother and Child
  • Howells – Take him, earth, for cherishing
  • Whitacre – When David heard
  • Lauridsen – Lux æterna

Review:

Hearty applause at the end saluted another fine performance by Keswick Hall Choir and 25 years’ service by John Aplin as its conductor. His imaginative and determined efforts have won him the gratitude and respect of both the public and his singers.

The programme on this occasion focused on sacred music from the last half century.

Just how to work up to an inspiring conclusion was shown in an austere and concentrated setting of The Beatitudes by Pärt. The pulse and the rich reverberations of Andrew Newman’s gong added to the overwhelming climax of Tavener’s emotionally-charged Mother and Child.

Adopting a restrained manner for Take him, Howells’ elegant, typically-Anglican tribute to the late President Kennedy, the singers next fearlessly confronted greater challenges in Whitacre’s When David heard. It gave fresh vigour to the bible text, refusing to find easy consolations when grief kept pressing in.

Lux æterna, by Lauridsen, another contemporary American composer, also took familiar words and renewed them in a style that was modern, yet accessible.

Confidently taking everything in its stride, even the baffling complexities of Nystedt’s Immortal Bach, the choir was in impressive form.

— Christopher Smith EDP 26/02/07

16th December 2006

Messiah – St Andrew’s Hall, Norwich

With:

  • Nicki Kennedy (soprano), Derek Lee Ragin (counter-tenor)
  • Joshua Ellicott (tenor), Vojtěch Šafařίk (bass-baritone)

Review:

Under John Aplin, Handel’s Messiah quivered with life.

Taking the old oratorio that we all think we know so well and presenting it without the usual cuts that spoil its structure, he lengthened the vocal and orchestral texture and put rhythmic spring back into the music. That was not all. He increasingly brought out dramatic values and shaped key moments to convey the thrills of the unfolding religious drama. He had the forces he needed to give both delicacy and strength to his interpretation.

Under Paul Clarke, the Academy of St Thomas was lithe and alert, elegantly echoing the singers’ ornamentation.

Ray Simmons duetted with the fine bass Vojtěch Šafařίk in The trumpet shall sound.

The three other soloists were excellent too. The tenor Joshua Ellicott sang stylishly with seemingly effortless control while the counter-tenor Derek Lee Ragin matched agility with an impressively varied upper register.

With a little smile, soprano Nicki Kennedy caught the note of rejoicing. Her attention to words paid dividends in arias when she really did sound as if she was asking questions.

Flexible and tireless, the 40 singers in the Keswick Hall Choir were light on their feet when the music danced along. They also projected plenty of power and passionate climaxes.

— Christopher Smith EDP 18/12/06

21st January 2006

The Mastery of Mozart – Norwich Cathedral

  • Mozart – Vesperæ solennes de confessore (KV339)
  • Mozart – Exsultate, jubilate (KV165)
  • Mozart – Mass in C minor (KV427)

With:

  • Nicki Kennedy and Angharad Gruffydd Jones (sopranos)
  • Emma Barton (mezzo-soprano), Mark Dobell (tenor)
  • Vojtěch Šafařίk (bass-baritone)

Review:

Just a few days before the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, a large audience responded with enthusiasm to a concert made up of some of his most triumphant sacred music. It was performed by John Aplin's Keswick Hall Choir, accompanied, at times a shade too heartily, by the Academy of St Thomas orchestra under its leader Paul Clarke. David Dunnett played the chamber organ.

Celebrating heroic Christian example, the Solemn Vespers of a Confessor came across as festive music. The chorus responded with unflagging zeal, perhaps showing rather more commitment to the notes than to the words. Mozart's masterstroke was to convey a few moments of blissful tranquillity just before the end. Unforced, steady and clear, soprano Angharad Gruffydd Jones captured the mood against a delicate instrumental background.

Another soprano, Nicki Kennedy, was called on to adopt quite a different style in Exsultate, jubilate. She confidently negotiated all the twists and turns of this famous solo's elaborate ornaments and proclaimed her success with a ringing top note.

Adopting his grandest manner in his Mass in C minor, Mozart invented great moments for the chorus and two soprano soloists. These opportunities were not wasted in an interpretation that had both strength and the power to move.

— Christopher Smith EDP 23/01/06