A Sensitive Account The blend of deeply-felt religious sentiment and aura of fashionable Parisian salons that is Rossini's Petite Messe Solenelle has not always been easy to get into perspective. It works best as originally conceived, for twelve solo voices, but as Derby Choral Union's performance showed, it can also respond to the large choir treatment.
The big moments, like the openings of the Gloria and Credo, were full of confidence, and the choir also projected the quiet intensity of the more intimate passages effectively. Contrapuntal textures were particularly well handled; the jaunty energy that choir and conductor Richard Dacey brought to the Cum Sancto Spiritu section of the Gloria was a particular delight.
The well-matched team of soloists comprised soprano Deborah Norman, who gave a sensitive account of the Crucifixus, and whose dark mezzo-ish tone helped fend off any tendency for the O Salutaris Hostia to turn saccharine; Gaynor Keeble brought passionate intensity to the Agnus Dei; |
tenor Ben Thapa commanded a wide dynamic range, with an Italianate ring to the voice that was obviously totally at home; Callum Thorpe's bass was rich and sonorous. The tenor aria Domine Deus was possibly a bit too quick - like Cuius Animam Gementem, its counterpart in Rossini's Stabat Mater, it can sound less incongruous, even surprisingly dignified, at a steadier tempo.
Solid support came from piano duo Margaret and Peter Williams, and Tom Corfield, playing a harmonium of the same make (Debain) and vintage as the one used at the first performance. Its warm sound, totally unlike the instrument's stereotyped wheezy image, also proved an ideal vehicle for a gently persuasive performance of the Berceuse from Vierne's 24 Pieces in free style.
The evening began with a rock-solid account of Handel's Zadok the Priest, and a nicely clear-eyed, unsentimental one of Elgar's early Ave Verum Corpus.
Mike Wheeler
Derby Telegraph,
21st. April, 2010 |
