Seasoned singers

Press, 9 June 1980, Page 6

Seasoned singers

By PHILIP NORMAN The ageing Papa Haydn’s vision of the four seasons is one of time and nostalgia. Gentle and lyric, it concentrates On the recollection of seasonal activities and pastimes rather than fluctuations in the elemental forces. Haydn painted his oratorio, •‘The Seasons,” with a palette of pastels, reserving the oils for the surprsingly (for one so pious) infrequent references to the Deity. ,' The Christchurch Harmonic Choir's interpretation of this oratorio (in a regrettably poorly patronised Town Hall auditorium) on Saturday evening held faithfully and satisfyingly ■ to the essentially pastoral quality of the work. Grand musical gestures were tastefully reserved for Haydn’s “oildabbling” with the Deity, in particular the rousing but tightly •" - controlled " finale,

"Then Comes the Dawn”. All credit to the conductor, David Childs, for curbing the natural proclivities of a large group of singers. That the choir had been well drilled was evident from its first chorus, the stunningly muted“ Come Gentle Spring”. One could sense the drowsy shedding of the shrouds of winter’s mist. The finesse of the choir was, however, unmatched by the orchestral accompaniment — .at most times adequate and competent, but on occasions lapsing into inappropriate rusticity. j: < The naive and rather jolly libretto called for three rural characters to describe the changing seasons and “sometimes act as dramatic characters.” . Lucas was sung by an engagingly subdued Anthony Benfell, and Simon by ,a R

somewhat lethargic Bruce Carson, whose narrowly won wrestle with the vocal gymnastics of the air, “Behold, Along the Dewy Grass,” revealed a certain weakness of power in the lower register. Heather Taylor, as Jane, proved herself mistress of the mezzo-piano . dynamic and revealed an interpretative power capable of conquering the. potentially somnolent qualities in Jane’s recititives. Her sense of theatre in the “Kiss Me” air was a delight.

"The Seasons” as a composition is not Haydn at his best. Musically underwritten with an overly simplistic libretto, it requires fine craftsmanship from a choir to arouse interest. With the exception of some sluggish tempi, interest was certainly aroused by the Harmonic Choir’s performance, and, a greater feat, sustained.