“Touches of sweet harmony”
A Review of the Concert by Vivace Chorus at Guildford’s GLive on Saturday 9" March 2013
| am of the generation brought up on the original version of Vaughan Williams’ ‘Serenade to Music’
for 16 solo voices,(and they were the finest voices of the day), so to hear the later choral
arrangement was something | was looking forward to, if with a little trepidation. However, | need
not have worried. The Vivace Chorus brought to the opening a gentle sweetness of sound which was
quite captivating, and as the harmonies faded the sopranos gave us the most limpid top A in the
phrase “of sweet harmony”. Diana would not have been woken by the soprano “Come ho!” which
had good attack but needed more volume. The weight of the orchestra covered the words in many
places and this was a problem later in the programme too. Perhaps the choir staging could be raised
by a few feet to enable the voices to project out into the auditorium at a higher level than the
orchestra. However the choral colour and beautiful legato cannot be faulted.
This performance of Elgar’s Cello Concerto, soloist Julian Lloyd Webber, was full of interest. | had
never thought of the first movement being a conversation between the orchestra and the cello, but
the orchestra were so sensitive to Lloyd Webber’s solo passages moving as one, sometimes quite
playfully, that it felt more intimate than | have heard before; almost a chamber performance.
There were many exquisite pianissimi from the cello, so soft as to draw the listener in, and then in
contrast some wonderfully burnished brass forte sections. In the slow movement the cello moulded
the phrases with a haunting beauty, but this is music which sears the soul and makes the heart cry
out with the pain of it and for me that did not happen tonight. The final note of the adagio was,
however, quite breathtakingly stunning.
The second half began with the unaccompanied part song ‘There is sweet music’. Here were some
beautifully shaped phrases and no orchestra to mask the words, so the poetry was able to sing as
sweetly to us as the voices....but sadly no ‘p’ on the end of the final ‘sleep’!
The programme concluded with a third Elgar work, ‘The Music Makers’. This is a setting of a poem
by
the Irish-English poet A.\W.E. O’Shaughnessy for chorus, orchestra and mezzo-soprano. Elgar has
composed a wonderful tapestry of sound and colour and the Vivace Chorus wove the threads with
utmost sensitivity.
At last we heard the choir in full flow, with some thrilling forte passages, which certainly made sense
of the text — “and therefore today is thrilling”.
Natalia Brzezinska was unfortunately indisposed and her place was taken at the last moment by
Jeanette Ager. Hers was a voice with a richness in the lower register as well as strong and vibrant
colour on her top notes.
Elgar’s orchestration in parts is full and strong, as is the choral writing. There is no possibility of the
solo voice being heard in many passages where orchestra, choir and soloist are all asked to perform
very loudly at the same time, and this was unfortunately the case. Surely the orchestral dynamic
needs to be tempered so that the solo phrases can soar above them.
This final piece showed Jeremy Backhouse in full control of all the musical forces before him, and he
gave us a dynamic performance. The final phrase ‘We are the music makers, and we are the
dreamers of dreams’ was perhaps the highlight of the evening, spinning out endlessly into a
breathless hush. It was hard to break it with the deserved applause...............
and we left the concert hall — (forgive a further quote from the final item) —‘our souls with high
music ringing.’