Concert By Royal Musical Society

Press, Volume C, Issue 29657, 30 October 1961, Page 15

Concert By Royal Musical Society

The concert given by the Royal Musical Society on Saturday evening attracted a large audience. A new staging arrangement was tried in the Civic Theatre, bringing both choir and orchestra further forward into the auditorium, and the result was interesting. The accompaniments were played by the John Ritchie String Orchestra augmented by wood-wind, brass and tympani. The programme began with Parry’s anthem “I Was Glad When They Said Unto Me.” The choir sang with excellent tone and rhythm and with meticulous response. The climaxes were thrillingly strong and the whole performance was balanced in tone, expression, and in colourful effects. Mr John Ritchie’s motet. “Lord When the Sense of Thy Sweet Grace,” was sung unaccompanied. It was a sensitively expressive performance. There were times when the basses overwhelmed the sopranos near the beginning. It was caused more by different carrying

qualities of timbres rather than by differences in volume. This will adjust itself when the singers become more accustomed to their new placing on the stage. It was a beautiful work, well laid out for voices. Kodaly’s Budivari Te Deum opened with electrifying eclat with both orchestra and choir producing powerful effect. Tre tugal writing in “Pleni sunt coeli” was clearly delineated and created strong texture of sound. The softer singing was tellingly expressive with deft phrasing and use of nuances. Excellent gradations of tone were brought forth in building up of power. Although the work is highly dramatic—and this was thoroughly realised in performance—and is in a somewhat contemporary idiom, nevertheless it is in the broad stream of • ‘church music” style and is reverent and completely convincing.

The performance was a splendid one in every respect. The vocal quartet, Margaret Jenkinson, Elizabeth Evans, Edmund Bohan and Ninian Walden, sang with balance and understanding of the complexities of the music. The orchestra entered fully into the spirit of the music and the good playing of the brass here earned them forgiveness for the way they staggered “into the house of the Lord" in the opening bars of the Parry work. “Requiem”

The familiar strains of the opening of Brahms’s “Requiem” came soothingly from choir and orchestra in movingly impressive performance. The soft sounds retained vitality and built up to rich quality. The first chorus was a model of consolation and tenderness. “All Flesh Doth Perish” had awesome atmosphere, leading to fine tonal effects in “Be Patient,’’ dramatic force in “Surely the Lord's Word” and triumph in “And the Ransomed of the Lord.” These were all the more effective because of the sensitive way in which this earlier part had been controlled.

Mr Ninian Walden sang the baritone solo in “Lord Make Me to Know” with resonant timbre and impressive interpretation. It was dramatic singing, controlled in accordance with the style of the music, but making deep effect with every phrase. The choir, in like fashion, made every expressive point and brought out the fugue at the end with intense singing.

“How Lovely are Thy Dwellings,” had a lovely unfolding effect and Mrs Margaret Jenkinson sang that meltingly beautiful solo, “Ye Who Now Sorror” with admirable clarity, vibrancy of tone and sensibility in interpretation. The choir’s interpolations were delicately restrained and most effective. This was very beautifully sung. The powerful sections of the next chorus came with hitting effect. The first part was possibly more mournful than was necessary. Mr Walden’s solo work was sympathetically in keeping with the spirit of the words and his tone on the melisma on the word “sleep” was particularly beautifully controlled. The last chorus was sung with the same interpretative skill which marked all the work, and the repeating of thematic material form the opening chorus gave unity to the work, whose interpretation had splendid unity throughout its course. Bringing so many of the large choir in front of the proscenium makes it possible for much more of the detail in soft work to be heard against orchestral accompaniment. This is a big advantage; but nevertheless there is now a problem to be overcome in fortissimo passages. The fortissimo singing, especially from the sopranos in the front—and they will have to restrain their exuberance would have been excellent in a hall twice the size of the Civic Theatre. Such effects can be thrilling at first but soon become unpleasantly overpowering. The problem will be to retain the intensity of performance without being rather too much of a good thing to the audience. Of course, do what you will, that hail will never be satisfactory for large sounds, excellent though it is for smaller ensembles. However, this experiment has more advantages than disadvantages. Mr Field-Dodgson conducted with artistry and a high degree of technical skill. All his interpretations were carefully and logically planned and he has trained his singers to respond instantly to ail the fine points of his direction. This was the most mature and convincing performance of the Brahms “Requiem” we have had and it was a delight to hear. C.F.B.

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