THE ADVERTISER, FEBRUARY 8, 1991
Worthy but dull
passages — a disciplined ral-
IT was the Evangelist, lentandoin the reflective first
Andrew King, whose
chorale, lots of expression in
musical and expressive Christ’s interrogation and a
robust call to crucify! The
performance just man- sound
was rather polite, even
aged to lift Guildford
then.
The most important elePhilharmonic Orchestra’s performance of ment in the Back passion is
the line-up of soloists, and
Bach’s St. John Passion
here King stood out for his
from the realms of the musicality and ‘commitment
_ to the drama of Chnst s trial
"
dull.”
Worthy,
but
dull.
For
much of the passion was
beautifully played by a scaled
down orchestra fronted by
two viola d’amore and a
viola da gamba, plus a de-
lightful little organ.
What their dehcate, well
modulated accompaniment
failed to mask, however, was
the deep mediocrity of the
choral singing and the failure
of the soloists apart from
King, to get to grips with the,
drama.
The philharmonic choir,
conducted by Neville Creed,
was disappointing. Soprano
tone was poor and the overall
effect a bit complacent. The
choir dld achieve some good
and death.
His compelling performance was not matched by
the others. Simon Keenlyside
was calm, dignified and
pleasant as Christ, but his
voice held no awe or sense of
tragedy.
Rufus Muller dld not
appear to be in good voice,
and Nigel Short the counter-
tenor did not have much
score to show off his beauti-
ful top notes. Hecame over
best in the moving aria It is
accompltshed accompanied
by solo viola da gamba,
before the full string section
overwhelmed him.
Soprano Jennifer Smith
put lots of expression into
her singing.
The baritone Stephen Varcoe came closest to matching
ngs commitment — his
voice rich and fruity, packed.
with quiet feeling.
Jane Garrett