Praise for this spectacular concert given by the choir at St John's, Smith Square, on Saturday 8th May 2004
"A wonderful performance at St John's, Smith Square, it
was one of those events which does live in the memory in considerable detail… a
wondrously eloquent performance … a powerful sense of architectural intent
without any loss of drama or momentum"
Francis Pott, composer
"… a magnificent achievement …the scope and breadth
of the repertory was enormous and you achieved some exquisite and thrilling
vocal performances"
Richard Blackford, composer
"A splendid performance - such
professionalism and enthusiasm... A brilliant inspirational programme".
Humphrey Clucas, composer
"The concert was fantastic, especially the performances
of Absolon, my Son, and the Tomkins When David Heard which were
both exceptionally well-sung"
Jonathan Rathbone, composer
The promotional material for this concert
should have given the game away: a striking image of the iconic Angel of the
North sculpture, opposed against a reflective renaissance rendering of Mary. If
that didn’t grab you, the juicy-sounding headline hinting at the type of
repertoire that was to come, would certainly have done the trick. On the night
the large audience, packed in to a full St John’s, were granted a rare musical
treat, something we have come to expect from this excellent chamber choir,
directed by Jeremy Backhouse.
The concert had an ambitious arch: pairing
landmark works of the renaissance with works by contemporary British composers
directly inspired by them, either in text, theme, or as a musical tribute. In
addition to the potential difficulties of performing such a range of style of
repertoire, the Vasari Singers were required to cope with vastly differing
ranges of forces needed, in number of singers, numbers of parts, and numbers of
choirs. But cope with it they did, and admirably so with a stunning level of
commitment, control and passion.
Much of the concert was of the highest
quality: the opening pairing of Gabrielli and Filsell, here performing his own
composition, provided an energetic start: this provided another contrast to the
opening grouping of the 2nd half, the challenging works of two
Scottish composers, James MacMillan and Robert Carver. The Tomkins/Rathbone
pairing of their settings of Absolon, my Son/ When David Heard, was a
musical revelation and perhaps the real highlight of the night, whilst Francis
Pott’s extended work My Song is Love Unknown, impressed with its scale
and drama. Possibly not surprisingly, Striggio’s 40-part motet Ecce beatam
lucem did not compare well against Tallis’ more sophisticated Spem, but
it was fantastic to experience it none the less and leads one to wonder if there
are other 40-part motets out there?
In
a concert with so much variety, the audience members were all able to take away
their own favourites, whilst being exposed to music they might not otherwise
have considered approaching before, and this is perhaps the biggest triumph of
this programme. The Vasari Singers are becoming increasingly well known for
their contemporary programming and it will be interesting to follow the
group’s achievements with their ambitious commissioning scheme in 2005.
©
James Dance 2004