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Virtuoso Display by Choir of Trinity College Cambridge
Less than fourteen hours after taking part in fine performances of Poulenc and Fauré in, Gloucester Cathedral (Review), Stephen Layton and his Cambridge choir were back in action but this time they had the stage to themselves.
Cheltenham College Chapel is a substantial Victorian building. All the seating is arranged choir stall-style, facing...
Providing companion pieces to some of Benjamin Britten's core works has been the challenge for many composers during this centenary year. Michael Zev Gordon was no exception: the daunting nature of the task in hand for him was underlined by a fine performance of Britten's Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings, featuring tenor Toby Spence with Richard Watkins's matchless horn solos, in the first...
Evening of French Music Raises the Temperature in Gloucester
On the evening of what was the hottest day so far in 2013 it was a relief to escape into the cool interior of Gloucester Cathedral for this concert of French music in which the Cheltenham Festival gave pride of place to Francis Poulenc.
To open proceedings David Briggs, Organist Emeritus of Gloucester Cathedral, returned to the...
To recap: there are five extent “versions” of Bach’s St. John Passion. I say this because today’s listening audience doesn’t always get what’s on the inside of the recording package by reading what is on the outside. To complicate things, the version that Layton has chosen follows the Neue Bach-Ausgabe, a respected edition that offers plausible solutions to the problem of this multi-sourced work...
The Star of David is everywhere, as a symbol of Jewish unity. The senior Israelite wears a kippah, denoting respect for God’s law. Joshua starts off with a machine gun, the archetypal freedom fighter, and ends in a suit, every bit the modern statesman. There’s only one place this could be – Palestine in the 1940s. An 18th-century oratorio has been turned into a metaphor for the establishment of...
In spite of the fact that a Handel oratorio, however renowned, provides limited opportunities for staging, this production of Joshua, directed by Charles Edwards, is a largely successful exercise in the art of the possible. The magnificent Opera North Chorus is able to flaunt itself extensively, a stripped set with backstage views is used to good effect, a terrific orchestra is tightly conducted...