St John’s Smith Square

17th March 2008

I was really hoping Barry or Hairy would be able to review this, as Barry knows more about everything than I do, and Hairy is a great admirer of the Scottish composer James MacMillan. But, as Barry was unable to attend the performance and Hairy is very busy changing nappies, you’re stuck with me.

I was looking forward to this concert after really enjoying WNO’s performance of James MacMillan’s opera, The Sacrifice, but I had trouble engaging with this performance. The acoustics at St John’s Smith Square can vary according to your seating position, which might have had something to do with it. But I think the problem was that I have real trouble appreciating some modern music, and I don’t have a religious background so the words weren’t familiar either.

There were three pieces in the concert. James MacMillan’s …here in hiding… and Giles Swayne’s Stabat Mater were in the first half. After the interval, just one work was performed: James MacMillan’s Seven Last Words from the Cross. But the extent of my ignorance meant that all three works sounded pretty much the same. When there was a discernable tune, it seemed completely at odds with the other lines of music, with the result that it seemed as though everyone was playing a different piece.

On the positive side, something I did notice was that the music did somehow sound religious – there was something about the works that was awe-inspiring and reverential. Music like Mozart’s Requiem and Bach’s Passions have an not easily definable quality about them that makes them sound ‘religious’, and the music in this concert, while not as accessible as those works, and very different from them in style, did remind me of them in a way.

This could have been partly because the singers of the Dmitri Ensemble, who appeared in all three works, had very sweet, pure voices that seemed perfectly suited to more conventional religious music. The fact that the concert hall is in a church probably helped in some way, although I have been to operas and recitals here in the past – including one that was only about a week before this concert – without being struck by the religious setting.

The Ensemble – first and second violins; violas; violoncellos and contrabasses – sounded gorgeous, especially the cellos, and the singers were exceptional. They played and sang with strength and conviction throughout, as though they could recognise all the tunes I was missing.

In the choir, the sopranos were high and sweet, and there were some really lovely solos. The altos were a mix of three contraltos and four counter tenors which is a sound I really like. The tenors were gorgeous – again, there was a very accomplished soloist. But the basses were exceptional. They were one of the main reasons why I wanted to stay for the second half: I wanted to hear that sound again. It was such a big deep sound, like the lower registers of a bassoon or cello. They must be the most beautiful bass section I’ve ever heard.

Two of the names in choir were familiar: Ed Connolly is probably Edmund Connolly, who was a great Guglielmo in Opera UK’s short version of Cosi fan tutte, also covering the role in the full-lengh version. Mary Bevan sang Papagena for British Youth Opera at the beginning of this season. I don’t know if she is related to Sophie Bevan (a member of a ‘musical family’), who sang the soprano solos in Swayne’s Stabat Mater.

Sophie Bevan sang really well – most of what she sang sounded like cries of anguish, but they were shocking every time I heard them. It made it even more powerful in a way that the music was unpredictable because I could never tell when they were coming. Kate Symonds-Joy’s contralto-like tones were dark and powerful, and very lovely. It’s a distinctive sound, and she was the most successful of the soloists in bringing out a sense of line in Swayne’s music.

The tenor and bass soloists were also great: Ben Alden has a very sweet, light tenor that seems ideal for choral music but I can also imagine him singing Mozart and Handel roles. George Humphreys, who sang Masetto for British Youth Opera in 2006, was yet another gorgeous bass voice. It could be that St John’s Smith Square suits the bass voice very well, but the excellence of Humphreys and the Dmitri Ensemble basses must play a part too. I’ll have to go and see a baritone or bass recital there sometime.

Cunning Little Vixen

primi-divi at hotmail.co.uk