January 2006  

'The Mastery of Mozart'

Norwich Cathedral

with

Nicki Kennedy (soprano)

Angharad Gruffydd Jones (soprano)

Emma Barton (mezzo)

Mark Dobell (tenor)

Vojtech Safarik (bass)

The Academy of St Thomas

Mozart

Mozart

Mozart

Vesperae solennes de confessore  (KV 339)

Exsultate, jubilate (KV 165)

Mass in C minor (KV 427)

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

October 2005  

'Delights in Harmony'

Norwich Cathedral

with

Jonathan Rae - Reader

Instrumentalists

Roderick Rose; Benjamin Lowe; Geoff Barker; Jane Slocombe; Ceri Peterson; Sally Barnes; Vivien Rose; Claire Gibby; Philip Trzebiatowski; Crispin Warren; Robert Ferris and David Dunnett (organ)

Purcell

Tavener:

Holst:

Joubert:

Locke:

My heart is inditing

Chacony in G minor

Two hymns to the Mother of God

Nunc Dimittis

Sleep Canticle

Be thou exalted, Lord

A celebration in words and music to mark the 400th anniversary of the birth of Sir Thomas Browne.  The concert was part of a two-day celebration/conference organised by the UEA Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Dept of History) and the Norwich Medico Chirurgical Society. 

April 2005  

'Italian Baroque'

Norwich Cathedral

with

Academy of St Thomas

Angharad Gruffydd Jones (soprano)

Susan Gilmour bailey (soprano)

 David Clegg (counter tenor)

Julian Stocker  (tenor)

Benjamin Davies (baritone)

Vivaldi

Francesco Scarlatti

Handel

Dixit Dominus

Miserere

Dixit Dominus

Italian baroque church music offered the singers of John Aplin's choir the challenges and opportunities they relish.   The Academy of St Thomas, led by Paul Clarke, provided the orchestral background, with Philip Trzebiawtoski as a fluent continuo cellist. Trumpets added a bright splash of splendour, though David Dunnett and Timothy Patient at the two chamber organs had little chance to shine.

No fewer than five vocal soloists had important roles. Susan Gilmour Bailey and Angharad Gruffydd Jones were both attractive sopranos who sounded even more delightful as a pair.  Benjamin Davies' bass voice carried authority in contrast, particularly when he was not rushed. The tenor, Julian Stocker, had less to offer, and the counter-tenor, David Clegg, was disappointing in tone and diction.

The Misere by Francesco Scarlatti, is a setting of Psalm 51. It brought some fine moments in grief and in joy.  The Cathedral is a fine venue for sacred music, but the nave was draughty and too cold.   A paying public deserves better.

 Christopher Smith  EDP  25/04/05

Feb 2005  

'Master Tallis' Testament'

Norwich Cathedral

with

 David Dunnett (organ)

Britten

Tallis

Britten

Aston

Vaughan Williams

Howells

Tallis

    "

Walton

A Hymn to the Virgin

The lamentations of Jeremiah

Voluntary on Tallis' Lamentations (ORGAN)

Haec Dies

Mass in G Minor

Master tallis' Testament (ORGAN)

Suscipe quaeso

Loquebantur variis linguis

The Twelve

Half a millennium after his birth, Thomas Tallis still influences choral music – and on Saturday, a thoughtfully constructed programme by the polished KHC demonstrated this. Surprisingly, it was not the Lamentations of Jeremiah which made the impact, but two lesser-known Tallis motets, Suscipe quaeso and Loquebantur, in which the choir's colour and precision, under the direction of John Aplin, were better displayed. And it was particularly poignant in a concert dedicated to the memory of former member, Patrick Heley.

The Lamentations were rather too lusty for me, and there were moments when the renowned precision and musical nuances deserted them, though the ebb and flow of the introductions and refrains were delicately handled, with fine tuning and real spirituality. The strength of KHC is its flexibility, and a leap of four-and-a-half centuries to Peter Aston's Haec Dies had a dramatic and moving quality around the mood-changing organ interludes from David Dunnet (who later impressively built on the programme – linking Howell's Master Tallis's Testament). It was all religiously portrayed with rhythmic variety in a performance which pleased the composer as well.

Vaughan Williams' Mass in G, an English symphony of a mass, contained a joyously pointed Gloria and a real song of praise in the Credo, containing reflective passages, while the final anthem, The Twelve, by William Walton to words by Auden, was always under vocal control. It was an exhilarating evening for a large audience.    Michael Drake  EDP  28/02/05

November 2004

Gavin Bryars

Connected

(a concert of contemporary music with film and sound effects)

Norwich Cathedral

with

Runi Brattaberg (bass)

Sound Intermedia

London Sinfonietta

Olaris Elts (conductor)

Pärt

Bryars

Magnificat

From Egil's Saga

.......Whether on tape or (mostly) in person, Brattaberg's rich voice delivered Gavin Bryars' music with pleading and passion.   The Keswick Hall Choir added strategically-placed choruses and they were earlier heard in Arvo Part's Magnificat.  Dramatically lit in front of a film screen, they showed affinity to this composer with reverent and controlled singing of high quality.  Michael Drake  EDP  24/11/04
 

April 2004 

Monteverdi

Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610)

Norwich Cathedral

with

Hedvig Eriksson (soprano)

Angharad Gruffydd Jones (soprano)

 Kevin Kyle (tenor)

Andrew Mackenzie Wicks (tenor)

Jonathan Brown (baritone)

Colin Campbell (baritone)

The Brook Street Band

and

QuintEssential

My anticipatory musings included wondering what the sounds must have been at the first performance of Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine (Vespers) almost four centuries ago.   Whatever the result then, it can hardly have given more satisfaction than to the large audience on Saturday evening as choir, soloists and the period instruments of the Brook Street Band sounded just as fresh and focused after nearly two hours as they did for the opening Antiphon.

It was these linking, plainsong sections which proved to be the only relatively weak link in an otherwise quite splendid performance, for it was here some of the neatness and precision was lost. The sextet of soprano, tenor and baritone soloists in whichever grouping was entirely complementary, handling the complicated decorations stylishly whilst moving from the plaintive to the exuberant passages of the five psalm settings. Conductor John Aplin's immaculate direction kept this performance excitedly rhythmical.  If Psalm 121 “I was glad” epitomised the whole – light, sustained, powerful and always balanced with the KHC disciplined and precise – perhaps Psalm 147 “Praise the Lord” was the core of bright and focused singing.

And the total from everyone, with remarkable consistency, enthralled the large audience with its joyous spirituality.   A premier-class performance.    Michael Drake  EDP  26/4/04

Feb 2004  

'A Baltic Journey'

Norwich Cathedral

with

Mike Hall (soprano saxophone)

 David Dunnett (organ)

Górecki

Pärt

Buxtehude

Purcell/Sandström

Sviridov

Tchaikovsky

Kokkonen

Dubra

Totus Tuus

Magnificat

Missa Brevis

Hear my prayer, O Lord

Zorju Bjut

An angel crying

Laudatio Domini

Alma Redemptoris mater

John Aplin, admirably supported by his intrepid Keswick Hall Choir, set out on a musical voyage to the Baltic States. There he found treasures, no less in today's techniques than in more traditional works. The impression was of vibrant cultural life reflecting powerful spiritual forces.  The lights were dimmed at the start to add drama to Górecki's setting of a hymn to the Virgin. “Maria! Maria!” the singers intoned again and again, quietly but urgently, and the repetition of the name with small musical variations conveyed a sense of devotion.  Buxtehude's Short Mass took us back in time to the 17th century, and its style was not modern even then. The choir tackled the polyphony with practised ease, though opportunities for sustained hushed singing were not taken.  Climbing high to add extra thrills, Rebecca Mundy was the soprano soloist in five brief triumphant psalms set by the Finnish composer Joonas Kokkonen. The baritone Graham Barton was no less impressive. Against the background of a wordless chorus, he declaimed with great aplomb the Russian text of a poem by Pushkin in Sviridov's evocative setting.  After Tchaikovsky's “Cherubic Hymn”, in the rapt manner associated with Orthodox devotion, came Pärt's elegant, delicately crafted Magnificat. Its controlled serenity gave just the right contrast for the Advent Antiphon by the Latvian composer Rihards Dubra.  After the opening chant, the Choir discovered even greater depths of feeling. Mike Hall's soprano saxophone added unusual timbre, and David Dunnett at the organ had a resonant last word.     Christopher Smith  EDP. 1/3/2004

Dec 2003  

Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

'Christmas Concert'

Theatre Royal

Norwich

with

 Dame Kiri Te Kanawa

Manchester Camerata

The first half of the concert was given by Dame Kiri and the orchestra.  The second half was a mix of Christmas Carols and Songs sung by the choir and Dame Kiri.  KHC sang two items on their own.

Trad. arr by

R L Pearsall

J Willcocks

In Dulci Jubilo

-

'Christmas Pudding'

And so to Christmas, with Dame Kiri in startling red and a series of fairly relaxed and well known seasonal songs.  In a number of these she had a 'backing group' - and how impressive were our own Keswick hall Choir who, with neatness and precision, made the bells ring as well as singing parts of 20 (or more?) carols in three minutes (*).  Mike Drake.  EDP. 10/12/2003  * this is reference to the item 'Christmas Pudding'.

This was Kiri's Christmas concert and she was sharing the stage with the Manchester Camerata conducted by the brilliant Julian Reynolds and the Keswick Hall Choir who put on a memorable performance.  ...they (the choir) rose to the occasion and can be proud of themselves.  Derek James.  Evening News. 10/12/2003

May 2003  

'Requiem!!'

(a ballet by Birgit Scherzer)

Theatre Royal

Norwich

with

 Northern Ballet Theatre

The choir joined Northern Ballet Theatre (NBT) for 6 performances of the ballet 'Requiem!!  The ballet is danced to music taken from Mozart's Requiem 

NBT is certainly known for its extravagant productions, with the likes of Beauty and the Beast, Dracula and the Hunchback of Notre Dame in their back collection.  But this piece takes them in a totally different and, for me, less rewarding direction…..

The dancers remain as superlative as ever. David Kierce, the company's ballet master, stepped out from backstage to play Death and gave a physically powerful performance while the dancers representing Man, Simon Kidd, Adam Temple and Christopher Hinton-Lewis, were again spot on.

Yet the real thrill is Mozart's marvellous score, accompanied by four soloists and 50 (*) members of Keswick Hall Choir. It is as sublime as the choreography isn't.  Sarah Hardy.  EDP. 11/5/2003

*  actually we were only 40 members.

April 2003  

'Passiontide Reflections'

Norwich Cathedral

with

 David Dunnett

Allegri

Lotti

Nystedt

Caldara

Messiaen

Pärt

Tavener

Barber

Tippett

Miserere mei, Deus

Crucifixus à 8

O Crux

Crucifixus à 16

O Sacrum Convivium

The Beatitudes

Thunder Entered Her

Agnus Dei

Five Spirituals from 'A Child of our Time'

"Wonderful Holy Week concert.  Billed as 'Passiontide Reflections', a dozen or so items were sung by this choir under the usual positive direction of John Aplin, with an artistry and spirituality to guide one into Holy Week.  In fact, KHC were on top form on Saturday, gelling entirely from the soaring opening of the Allegri Miserere with its so effective, remote quartet, to the atmospheric Five Spirituals from Tippet's A Child of our Time, which encapsulated into precision with feeling and dynamics with subtlety which so impressed in every piece.....It all confirmed that KHC is a first-class ensemble which sings with care, a purity of tone, balance and uplifting musicality."    Michael Drake. EDP. 14/4/2003

Feb 2003  

Norwich Cathedral

with

 Carl Rütti

Victoria

Pärt

Finzi

Lassus

Missa 'Pro Victoria'

Seven Magnificat Antiphons

Magnificat

Aurora Lucis Rutilat

Magnificat super 'Aurora Lucis Rutilat'

Rütti

"This fine concert at Norwich Cathedral was yet more proof why John Aplin's Keswick Hall Choir has become one of the cultural treasures of the region. Whether performing music from the Renaissance or the latest works, the singers impressed with their confidence and commitment.  Always making light of technical elaboration as they conveyed the spirit of rich texts."   Christopher Smith.  EDP.  3/2/2003 

May 2002  

St. Andrew’s Hall

with

 Brook Street Band

Four Coronation Anthems

Zadok the Priest

My heart is inditing

Let thy hand be strengthened

The King shall rejoice

B Britten

J S Bach

Choral Dances from 'Gloriana'

Magnificat in D major.

"In a programme of celebration, for probably the first time a local audience heard Handel's Coronation Anthems in one concert, which was given a Majestic opening with Zadok the Priest.  Britten's Choral Dances from Gloriana, starting exclusively, moving to lovely legato lines and rich choral sounds. The Brook Street Band showed what a well integrated unit it is with great rhythmical sense in Bach's Magnificat - the choir was spirited and finally exultant with the brilliant trumpets of the band.  The high class of this talented choir and their guests would surely have enhanced the (current Norfolk & Norwich) festival programme."  Michael Drake.  EDP 13/5/2002.

Feb 2002

Norwich Cathedral

J S Bach

Mahler 

Schoenberg 

Mendelssohn  

Nystedt

J S Bach 

Lobet den herrn,... (BWV 230)  

Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen

Friede auf Erden, Op 13

Four sacred partsongs

Immortal Bach

Der Geist hilft unser Schwachheit auf (BWV 226)

“The choir showed its customary skill and even more versatility than usual in a remarkably varied programme of sacred music chosen by John Aplin.  ...Schoenberg's 'Peace on Earth' was quite magnificent in concept and performance.  This setting of the angels' Christmas tidings to the shepherds stretched tonality to extremes before returning to more familiar ground to create a sense of reconciliation.  ...'Immortal Bach', by Knut Nystedt, made a great impression too ..... the singers created a soundscape of shimmering, slow-moving beauty.    Christopher Smith.  EDP 25/2/2002.

Nov 2001

Norwich Cathedral

Roger Mayor

Julian - Mystical Revelations

“To a growing number of people, the words of Mother Julian of Norwich have as much meaning today as they did when first written 600 years ago.  Now they have been set to music in a stunning choral piece released on CD.    Mark Nicholls.  EDP 21/9/2002.

May 2001  

'Judas Maccabæus'  (Handel)

St. Andrew’s Hall

with

 Brook Street Band

“….Accompanied on period instruments by the Brook Street Band, the choir negotiated every change of mood with its customary skill.  It knew when to speak with unanimity and when to bring out the character of each of the four vocal lines…..”  Christopher Smith.  EDP 14/5/2001.

March 2001

‘Music for Passiontide’

Norwich Cathedral

Victoria

Gesualdo 

Nystedt 

Adès  

Johnson 

Requiem  

Tenebræ Responsories

O Crux (1977)

The Fayrfax Carol (1997)

The Angels (first performance)

“Passiontide brings the best out of composers and, under John Aplin, the Keswick Hall Choir was on top form for an inspiring concert of unaccompanied music, ancient and modern, that caught the mood of the season. …Gesualdo’s Responsories for Tenebrae came across full of Lenten emotion.  So did the intense O Crux, though written more than three centuries later by the Norwegian Knut Nystedt.  ….Sombre in magnificence, Victoria’s 1605 Requiem was given an interpretation that left listeners moved and grateful.”  Christopher Smith.  EDP.  2/4/2001.

Dec 2000 

‘Christmas Concert’

    St Andrew’s Hall

with

Norwich Citadel Band

Aston 

Misc 

Make we joye 

Carols 

April 2000

'St Matthew Passion'  (Bach)

Norwich Cathedral

with

Brook Street Band

 Cathedral Girls Choir

“A performance of Bach’s Matthew Passion should be an uplifting experience, and there can be few settings as magnificent as Norwich Cathedral for such an event.  Saturday’s performance by Keswick Hall Choir came close to filling all requirements, with John Aplin directing a scholarly performance.  The choir, together with that of Norwich Cathedral Girls, produced a stylish and well-balanced sound in the choruses and sang beautifully in the chorales, the entrance of “wenn ich einmal soil scheiden” following the dramatic pause after Christ’s last words being especially magical….”  Frank Cliff.  EDP.  10/4/2000.

Jan 2000 

‘Farewell 20^th century’ 

Norwich Cathedral

Tavener 

Funeral Ikos 

Song for Athene

Svyati

Aston

Johnson

Rutter

How lovely is your dwelling place

Apparitions (first performance)

Requiem

 “..from the first a cappella chants of John Tavener’s Funeral Ikos – perhaps just a little too full throated – it became a fulfilling concert with KHC, as always, well-disciplined under conductor John Aplin’s direction and creating warm, rounded sounds to complement the music’s inherent simplicity.  …..The first performance of Norfolk composer Paul Johnson’s ‘Apparitions’, commissioned by KHC, brought together a trio of disparate musical portraits and showed the choir ‘s ability to change character, while Peter Aston’s ‘How lovely is your dwelling place’ contained some exuberant singing from a soprano quartet over beautifully balanced full choir…..”  Michael Drake.  EDP.  24/1/2000.

Oct 1999

‘Norfolk & Norwich Festival’ 

St Andrew’s Hall

Ellington 

Sacred Music 

with

 Echoes of Ellington Band

May 1999

‘Marc-Antoine Charpentier’ 

Norwich Cathedral

Te Deum à 8, H145

Salve Regina à trois chœurs, H24

Transfige, dulcissime Jesu, H251

Laudate pueri Dominum, H203

Messe à 8, H3

“Lively yet with moments of genuine splendour, using daring harmony at crucial points and generally cheerful though sometimes truly moving in their response to liturgical texts, the 17^th century compositions of marc-Antoine Charpentier were presented with verve as well as expertise in a programme all the better for exploring some less familiar works.  The singers, tellingly supported by a small, but effective instrumental ensemble, divided confidently into smaller groups to create intricate webs of sound, and the cathedral’s nave had the space to bring out the interplay of the vocal lines in their contrast or blending.  John Aplin, the choir’s inspirational trainer, was also the conductor.  ….”  Christopher Smith.  EDP.  24/5/1999.

Feb 1999 

Norwich Cathedral

Duruflé 

Poulenc 

Bernstein 

Messiaen

Johnson  

Requiem 

Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence

French Choruses from The Lark

O sacrum convivium

Choral Scena: Regina cœli – La Vierge à midi

“In an all-French connection programme on Saturday evening, the greatest impact came from the shortest piece as the choir gave the finest example of legato singing in Messiaen’s motet ‘O sacrum convivium’.  The effect was of an all-enveloping vocal incense from voices hidden from view.  It was a splendid example of the attention to detail and musical discipline with which John Aplin has imbued this fine ensemble.  ….”   Michael Drake.  EDP.  1/3/1999.