 Lucas brings clarity and insight to Rossini mass
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| Members of the Choir rehearsing in
Symphony Hall |
Rossini's dismissal of the Petite Messe Solennelle as one of his
'sins of old age' should not be taken literally. The title may be
ironic but it's correct: the Petite Messe is a modest work but
seriously intended.
In his interpretation, compellingly realised by a City of
Birmingham Choir in lustrous collective voice, Adrian Lucas was
clearly of the same mind in his eagerness to bring out all the
richness and expressive range of Rossini's vocal writing.
And he was stunningly successful ... From the Kyrie, sensitively
proportioned in tonal shading, balance and articulation, to the
thrilling attack of the Gloria and Credo, this performance bristled
with good things.
Even the two killer fugues, Cum Sancto Spiritu and Et vitam
venturi, with their endless Amens which can so easily degenerate
into a murky thrash, were delivered with clarity, wonderfully sprung
rhythms and a total awareness of musical structure; and the unaccompanied
Christ eleison and Sanctus lost neither pitch nor emotional impact.
Such an ideally judged, well nigh faultless choral reading ought
to have had four soloists to match. Not so here.
Although they made a well-balanced ensemble, Helen Meyerhoff,
Susanna Spicer, Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks and Christopher Foster brought
too much oratorio respectability to their individual solos, rather than
the operatic intensity and full-throated Italianate passion that Rossini
demands.
No quibbles, though, about the accompaniment. David Newsholme made a
pungently voiced 1880 Mustel harmonium sound really quite beautiful, while
the piano duo of Christopher Robinson (how lovely to see and hear him again
with the choir he conducted for so many years) and daughter Libby showed a
perfect mix of subtlety and assertiveness.
David Hart in The Birmingham Post,
Monday 27 April 2009
Previous review |
... superb clarity and wonderful dynamics.
