Soloists: Jo Boddison (Soprano), Kathryn Woodruff (Mezzo), John Bowley (Tenor), Andrew Ashwin (Bass)
The Choir exploited the St Mary’s acoustic to the full and produced a beautifully mature, well-blended sound which was incisive and clearly articulated
Review by Grahame Whitehead for Nottingham Evening Post
The Nottingham Bach Choir under Paul Hale was in top form for this performance of Haydn’s Theresienmesse and John Rutter’s Magnificat. These liturgical settings come from very different musical backgrounds, almost two centuries apart, but they complemented each other perfectly with their accessibility and their prevailing mood of solace and joy. This was music to gladden the heart after a long winter.
The opening Kyrie of Haydn’s 1799 Mass established the tone: quiet serenity giving way to child-like unalloyed happiness. The brass section of the Bach Orchestra underpinned this extrovert mood with some fine playing.
Standing on high staging in the crossing, the Choir exploited the St Mary’s acoustic to the full and produced a beautifully mature, well-blended sound which was incisive and clearly articulated. Equally strong was the contribution of soloists Jo Boddison (Soprano), Kathryn Woodruff (Alto), John Bowley (Tenor) and Andrew Ashwin (Bass). Soloists, Choir and instrumentalists, in varying combinations, sensitively conveyed the warmth of Haydn’s music, its synthesis of confidence and reverence, and the many details of sound-painting.
The very different sound-world of Rutter’s Magnificat, first performed in 1990, was recreated with equal assurance. The English pastoral idiom was attractively juxtaposed with more flamboyant Latin American rhythms to produce a satisfying whole which had tenderness, confidence and vitality. Soprano Jo Boddison sang with warmth and relished the sensuous attention to detail in Rutter’s setting of Esurientes.
The percussionists had their chance to shine, supported by John Keys on the organ, in the vigorous Fecit potentiam and Gloria.