Category Archives: In concert

Online Concerts – The Cardinall’s Musick / Andrew Carwood: Byrd 400th anniversary

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William Byrd
Masses for 4, 3 and 5 voices

The Cardinall’s Musick / Andrew Carwood

Wigmore Hall, London
Tuesday 4 July 2023

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood Photos (c) Benjamin Ealovega

This week we have been marking the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, one of the founding fathers of English classical music as we know it today.

One of the key events on Tuesday, the day itself, was a trio of concerts at the Wigmore Hall from the Cardinall’s Musick choir and their conductor Andrew Carwood. Together they have recorded all of Byrd’s choral music for the Gaudeamus and Hyperion labels, but on this occasion the focus was the composer’s three Mass settings.

Context for these unique works is vital, and it was given by an extremely helpful and thorough note from Katherine Butler, bolstered by musical insight, and also from Carwood himself in well-chosen asides to the audience. Both illustrated vividly how perilous Byrd’s own position as a composer was, for as a Catholic he was compelled to write settings of the mass, despite knowing public airings of the music would be against the demands of his monarch, Elizabeth I, for whom he was royal composer. If discovered, these performances could bring about imprisonment and even death. Because of this, the works lay undiscovered in their largely anonymous packaging, used for very private occasions presided over by a priest who would even have his own bolthole, should the ceremony be discovered.

Byrd
Mass for 4 voices (c1592-3), with the Propers for the Feast of Easter Day

The Cardinall’s Musick [Patrick Craig, Matthew Venner (altos), William Balkwill, Mark Dobell (tenors), Richard Bannan, Robert Rice (baritones), Edward Grint, Nathan Harrison (basses)] / Andrew Carwood

The three Cardinall’s Musick concerts began with a lunchtime account of the Mass for Four Voices, dating from around 1592-3, and given context by in performance by Byrd’s settings of the Propers for Easter, completed in 1607. These began with a celebratory Introit, with its busy acclamation of the resurrection, with the mood changing for a solemn, weighty Kyrie from the Mass. This was given plenty of room by Carwood, with superb control from the singers in their sustaining of the notes. A fulsome Gloria followed, notable for its clarity of line and rhythm. Carwood was judicious in harnessing the ten voices available to him, reducing the forces to five for the Gradual & Alleluia. Here, the portrayal of ‘Mors et vita duello conflixere mirando’ (death and life have fought a huge battle)’ was vividly conveyed, before ‘et gloriam vidi resurgentis’ (‘and I saw the glory of the rising’) reached impressive heights.

The substantial Credo was paced just right, with a holding back from the ‘descendit’, with controlled lower notes to complement. A busy Offertory and graceful Sanctus were beautifully sung, the music gradually unfolding. The Communion (Pascha nostrum) was slow, appropriately reverent and pure, before the moving Agnus Dei had as its end a final chant and response telling us the Mass had finished.

Byrd
Mass for 3 voices (c1593-4), with the Propers for the Feast of Corpus Christi

The Cardinall’s Musick [Julie Cooper, Laura Oldfield (sopranos), Patrick Craig, Matthew Venner (altos), William Balkwill, Mark Dobell (tenors), Nathan Harrison (bass)] / Andrew Carwood

As Andrew Carwood explained, we heard some of the richest music in the first concert, then some of the most intimate in the second. This was music of the recusant house rather than the big church or cathedral, and Carwood invited us to imagine we were in a building no bigger than a sitting room. With Catholics shrouded in secrecy, he gave an idea of just how risky this music making was.

We heard the Mass For Three Voices, with a noticeable reduction in texture from the lunchtime concert, as well as less movement within the parts. That said, there was an air of restrained celebration all the same. A quick Kyrie & more florid Gloria was sung with two to a part, and while the single parts could be left exposed they were very secure in these hands, notably the tricky entries from on high. The Propers on this occasion were for the feast of Corpus Christi and were published in 1605. They featured a ‘risky’ Gradual, before a six-piece Credo found a lovely peak on the words ‘Et ascendit in caelum (and ascended into heaven)’ and a beautiful confluence at the end. There was a suitably thoughtful start to the Sanctus, which became more florid in its ‘Hosanna’ exultations. The Communion was outwardly expressive, retreating to a sombre Agnus Dei and a solemn final chant.

Byrd
Mass for 5 voices (c1594-5), with the Propers for the Feast of All Saints

The Cardinall’s Musick [Julie Cooper, Laura Oldfield (sopranos), Patrick Craig, Matthew Venner (altos), Ben Alden, William Balkwill, Mark Dobell (tenors), Edward Grint, Robert Rice (bass)] / Andrew Carwood

Finally the evening concert gave the Mass for Five voices with the Propers for the Feast of All Saints of 1605 – an effervescent celebration but becoming more meditative as the music proceeded. Carwood, revelling in the occasion, conducted with great sensitivity once again, presiding over a busy Introit with the rejoicing angels. The layered Kyrie of the Mass itself was ideally weighted, making the most of the chromatic possibilities, before a relatively restrained Gloria. The five voices, with increasingly complex writing, were nonetheless easy to follow, their rhythmic lightness suggesting a dance at the end of the Gradual – Carwood referring to the repartee between the voices.

He then referenced the intensity of Byrd’s writing, the declamation in the Credo and its extraordinary harmony, fusing of madrigal techniques into the mass. It was helpful to have these insights on top of the booklet notes, for Carwood setting Byrd apart as a composer even from the likes of Palestrina. The full ten-voice Credo explored deeply felt power and resonance, an incredibly expressive movement, while the purity of the sopranos shone through in the Offertory. A slow Sanctus gradually gathered pace with more complex writing, before the Communion – making explicit reference to the persecution Byrd felt, gave an appropriate stress to the words ‘propter iustitiam (for righteousness’ sake)’ and showed some well-handled dissonances. Finally an Agnus Dei of solemn, minor key angst found peace at last, capped by the closing sentence.

The choir and their conductor received a deservedly rapturous reception, for their beautiful and controlled singing had given Byrd the best possible remembrance, marking the death of this musical martyr in appropriate style. The Cardinall’s Musick and the Wigmore Hall should be applauded for such a well-conceived and executed trio of concerts, which are highly recommended for online viewing!

You can listen to the Cardinall’s Musick recordings of the Byrd Masses, dating from 2000, on the Spotify link below:

Arcana at the opera: The Bartered Bride @ Garsington Opera

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The Bartered Bride (Prodaná nevěsta) (1866)
Comic opera in Three Acts – music by Bedřich Smetana; Libretto by Karel Sabina
Sung in Czech with English surtitles.

Mařenka – Pumeza Matshikiza (soprano), Jeník – Oliver Johnston (tenor), Kecal – David Ireland (bass), Vašek – John Findon (tenor), Ludmila – Yvonne Howard (soprano), Krušina – William Dazeley (baritone), Mícha – John Savournin (bass), Háta – Louise Winter (mezzo-soprano), Ringmaster – Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts (tenor), Esmeralda – Isabelle Peters (soprano)

Rosie Purdie (director), Kevin Knight (designer), Howard Hudson (lighting), Darren Royston (choreographer)

Circus Troupe, Garsington Opera Chorus, Philharmonia Orchestra / Jac van Steen

Garsington Opera, Wormsley
Friday 30 June 2023

review by Richard Whitehouse Photos by (c) Alice Pennefather

Smetana may have played down its status in the context of his output, but The Bartered Bride remains the foundation of Czech opera and is much the most performed work stemming from that tradition, making this revival of Garsington Opera’s 2019 production the more welcome.

Rosie Purdie’s direction accorded wholly with Paul Curran’s original conception, transferring the scenario to a 1950s Britain where class restrictions and petty-mindedness were as much a given as in Bohemia a century before, yet the socio-political facet seemed as astutely handled as the cultural trappings of that first teenage generation were underlined without detriment to what was played out on stage. Kevin Knight’s designs clarified this setting most effectively, and Howard Hudson’s lighting was vivid without ever being garish. Most especially, Darren Royston’s choreography afforded communal togetherness during the crowd scenes while also ensuring that the circus troupe’s routines at the beginning of the third act came alive without any sense of their being a mere ‘add on’ to this production, and hence of the opera as a whole.

The casting could hardly have been bettered. Among the most wide-ranging role of any 19th-century opera, Mařenka was superbly taken by Pumeza Matshikiza (above) who conveyed pathos and real integrity of character to substantialize those comic capers unfolding on stage in what was an assumption to savour. Not comparable musically, that of Jeník is a notable role that Oliver Johnston rendered with verve and audible eloquence – such that his ostensibly hard-headed decisions could only be the outcome of an essentially sincere as well as selfless motivation.

Notwithstanding that the secondary roles provide relatively little in terms of characterization, John Findon drew a degree of sympathy for the hapless Vašek, William Dazeley and Yvonne Howard were well matched as the warmly uncomprehending Kružina and Lumilla, while the scheming couple of Mícha and Háta saw a suitable response from John Savournin and Louise Winter, abetted in this respect by David Ireland’s roguish Kecal. Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts was magnetic as the Ringmaster, and Isabelle Peters provided an entrancing cameo as Esmerelda.

The latter characters are part of a Circus Troupe that, fronted by Jennifer Robinson, brought the stage to life just after the dinner interval. Elsewhere, the hard-working Garsington Opera Chorus offered a reminder this is an opera second to none in terms of its choral contribution, while the Philharmonia sounded in its collective element under the assured direction of Jac van Steen, familiar in the UK through his extensive work with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Ulster Orchestra. In particular, the overture and set-pieces in each act had the requisite vigour and effervescence as has made them at least as familiar in the concert hall, and it remains a testament both to Smetana’s immersion in and understanding of his native music that only the ‘Furiant’ at the start of the second act derives from a traditional source.

The Bartered Bride has enjoyed numerous UK productions during recent decades – among which, this Garsington revival can rank with the finest in terms of musical immediacy and visual allure. Those not able to see it four years ago should certainly do so this time around.

For information on further performances, visit the Garsington Opera website. Click on the artist names for more information on Pumeza Matshikiza, Oliver Johnston, Jac van Steen, Philharmonia Orchestra and stage director Rosie Purdie

In concert – April Fredrick, Thomas Humphreys, English Symphony Chorus & Orchestra / Kenneth Woods: Voyage to America

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April Fredrick (soprano), Thomas Humphreys (baritone), ESO Chorus, English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Dvořák Symphony no.9 in E minor Op.95 ‘From the New World’ (1893)
Sawyers Mayflower on the Sea of Time (2018) [World Premiere]

Worcester Cathedral
Saturday 17 June 2023

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

This final concert of the season by the English Symphony Orchestra brought us the premiere of a piece delayed from three years ago. Philip Sawyers’ Mayflower on the Sea of Time was to have been launched at the Three Choirs Festival in April 2020, but the pandemic derailed this as so many other events. Happily, the tenacity of conductor Kenneth Woods has paid off such that the composer’s largest work so far was finally heard, and in the venue originally intended, making for a notable addition to the English choral tradition and one wholly on its own terms.

Commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Leiden to Plymouth and thereby founding the United Sates of America, this is an oratorio in concept but equally a choral symphony in its overall design and thematic cohesion. Its libretto, mainly by the artist Philip Groom, features set-pieces for various figures from the Old and New Worlds duly taken by soprano and baritone soloists (those for treble being allotted to sopranos in the chorus), but these along with ones for chorus are drawn into an inherently musical evolution.

Formally, there are four continuous parts. Persecution and Journey, a sonata design such as informs the Pilgrims’ flight from religious persecution and their decision to cross the Atlantic; Arrival in the New World, a slow movement charting their embarkation and tentative initial interaction with native peoples; Survival and Making our Community, a scherzo where the Pilgrims’ industriousness and idealism quickly becomes its own justification; and Our New World, a rondo-finale whose looking to the future is framed by choruses of growing fervour.

As befits such a work, the choral writing is both extensive and resourceful – not least when it elides between depicting Pilgrims or Natives, and that of a more abstract commentary. No less assured, the writing for soprano and baritone allows Sawyers’ lyrical impulse free reign – not least in extended sections toward the end of the second and fourth parts; the latter, especially, rendering comparable passages by Delius or Tippett from a perspective wholly of the present. On either side, luminous and ecstatic choruses accentuate an essentially affirmative message.

The contributions of April Fredrick (no stranger to Sawyers via her long association with the ESO) and Thomas Humphreys could hardly be faulted for commitment or insight, while that of the ESO Chorus exuded a power and immediacy amplified by the resonance of Worcester Cathedral’s acoustic as to belie its relatively modest numbers. The ESO gave its collective all throughout, projecting the textural intricacy and emotional heft of music whose longer-term formal integration was securely conveyed through Woods’s precise yet unobtrusive direction.

Before the interval, Woods gave a notable account of Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony. The poised anticipation of its introduction and visceral drama of its coda were highlights of the opening Allegro, proceeded by a Largo of an eloquence epitomized by rapt cor anglais playing from Louise Braithwaite. Contrast between the incisiveness of the Scherzo’s outer sections and the lilting delicacy of its trio was pointedly underlined, then the final Allegro surged onward to a coda paying tribute to 19th-century symphonism while blazing a trail for what was to come.

Further information on the ESO’s latest Philip Sawyers release (Nimbus NI6436) can be found at the English Symphony Orchestra website. For more on the artists in this concert, click on the names of April Fredrick, Thomas Humphreys, Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra themselves – and click here for more on composer Philip Sawyers.

Arcana at the opera: Hansel and Gretel @ Opera Holland Park (Young Artists Performance)

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Hansel and Gretel (1893)
Opera in Three Acts – music by Engelbert Humperdinck; Libretto by Adelheid Wette
Sung in German with English surtitles. Orchestral reduction by Tony Burke

Hansel – Shakira Tsindos (mezzo-soprano), Gretel – Emily Christine Loftus (soprano), Peter – Edward Kim (baritone), Gertrud – Madeline Boreham (mezzo-soprano), The Gingerbread Witch – Ella de Jongh (mezzo-soprano), The Sandman – Claudia Haussmann (soprano), The Dew Fairy – Eleanor Broomfield (soprano)

Bence Kalo (director), Avishka Edrisinghe (repetiteur), Lily Wieland (deputy stage manager)

Opera Holland Park Chorus, Choir of Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, City of London Sinfonia / Charlotte Corderoy

Holland Park, London
Friday 16 June 2023

review by Richard Whitehouse Photos by (c) Ali Wright

Performances by The Young Artists have been a welcome feature of Opera Holland Park this past decade – none more so than this staging of Hansel and Gretel, Humperdinck’s fairy-tale opera with its ‘rites of passage’ scenario ideally suited to singers at the outset of their careers.

An object lesson in less is more, Bence Kalo’s astute direction worked convincingly through conveying the essence of the siblings’ nocturnal journey – maybe more imagined then real, as was implied by the overture’s becoming a pantomime where a host of comedic and woodland characters assumed the spotlight. Neither was the subsequent element of danger played down, with the confrontation with the Witch taking on ominous overtones as cut across the farce and so made the latter’s demise then the freeing of her victims the more affecting in consequence.

The eponymous figures were as well matched vocally as visually. Shakira Tsindos proved a Hansel likable for all his (sic) gaucheness and gullibility – projecting the character with flair and immediacy, if marginally overdoing the slapstick in the third act. Emily Christina Loftus was a Gretel near ideal in her unforced eloquence, all the while exuding an awareness of the ‘outside world’ as made her the dramatic and musical focus during their sylvan wonderings. As an empathetic portrayal, it could hardly have been bettered technically or interpretively.

Absent throughout much of the opera, the roles of the parents are none the less crucial to its dramatic trajectory. Edward Kim was adept in channelling the warmth and guilelessness of Peter with no risk of sentimentality, making him a dependable figure whatever his failings. Madeline Boreham was forceful but never mean-spirited as Gertrud, her overt exasperation leavened by the anguish through which she lamented her family’s poverty, and recognizing the degree to which Humperdinck humanizes her character compared to the Grimm original.

The remaining roles were ably taken – not least the Witch of Ella de Jongh, who brought off the vocal as well as scenic change from pantomime dame to small-time dictator with aplomb. Claudia Haussmann was magnetic though a little edgy in tone as the Sandman, while Eleanor Broomfield conveyed real enchantment without unnecessary whimsy as the Dew Fairy. The choral contribution had the requisite poise and finesse, not least in those evocative moments when the shades of children vanished into the witch’s domain emerged out of the tonal ether.

The orchestra (City of London Sinfonia in its familiar summer guise) was its usual dependable self, the scaled-down complement of strings not lacking for presence situated at the centre of the platform. It helped that Charlotte Corderoy (above) was so evidently attuned to this score, pacing the unfolding drama with subtlety and purpose, while drawing instrumental felicities aplenty from such as the animated prelude and magical ‘dream-pantomime’ which frame the second act. In its mingled pathos and effervescence, the closing scene provided a fitting denouement.

A victim of its own success for much of the 130 years since its premiere, Hansel and Gretel remains an opera not just for Christmas and not just for children: a work in which innocence and experience are meaningfully conjoined, as was confirmed by this admirable production.

For information on further performances, visit the Opera Holland Park website – and you can meet the OHP Young Artists here. Click on the names for more information on Bence Kalo and Charlotte Corderoy

In concert: Pavel Haas Quartet at Wigmore Hall – Suk, Martinů & Korngold

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Pavel Haas Quartet [Veronika Jarůšková, Marek Zwiebel (violins), Šimon Truszka (viola), Peter Jarůšek (cello)]

Suk Meditation on an old Bohemian Chorale (St Wenceslas) Op.35a (1914)
Martinů String Quartet no.2 (1925)
Korngold String Quartet no.3 in D major Op.34 (1944-45)

Wigmore Hall
Monday 12 June 2023 1pm

by Ben Hogwood

An unusual and intriguing program from the Pavel Haas Quartet contained music by two fellow Czech composers (Suk and Martinů) and one (Korngold) born in Moravia before moving to America.

The quartet began with a moving piece by Suk, his Meditation on an old Bohemian Chorale (St Wenceslas). This poignant pre-war utterance carried an air of deep profundity right from the first phrase of Simon Truszka’s viola, its elegiac tone enhanced by relative lack of vibrato. The air of solemnity carried throughout, though there was considerable strength in depth as the music grew in stature.

Though a Czech composer, Martinů spent a good deal of time overseas – largely out of necessity. By his early 30s he was in Paris, studying with Roussel, bringing a neoclassical language and tidiness to his music. The String Quartet no.2, though, is a curiously lopsided work, very front heavy with its first movement a combination of substantial slow introduction and quick section. There were close links to the St Wenceslas Chorale here, too, found in the solemn intonations of the Andante. This was the spiritual heart of the piece, dark and uncertain at times and contrasting greatly with the thoughtful but lightly coloured manner in which the quartet began. A resolute first movement found a mood that Martinů reprised in the closing Allegro, a propulsive dance number with a spring in its step. There was an undeniable French flavour to the music here, which the Pavel Haas Quartet brought forward, its elegance at odds on occasion with the rustic dance tunes.

There was tension in the final work, too, though this was undeniably the making of a mature composer. The String Quartet no.3 was Erich Korngold’s last published chamber piece, adjacent in publication to the Violin Concerto, with which it shares the same key of D major. The Pavel Haas Quartet gave a superb account of the piece, exploring its unusual musical language through music that would have presented considerable technical challenges.

The awkward but compelling violin melody in the first movement was brilliantly negotiated by Veronika Jaruskova, who conveyed its uncertainties through sweet tones and phrases. In spite of a convincing and full bodied outburst from all four players, the movement was dominated by this figure, which left a question in the mind. The Scherzo went some way to answering this, a black and white film scene easy to conjure up in the mind as the furtive darting of the main theme ensued. Again this was brilliantly played, as was the heart melting trio, its big tune (from the recently completed score to Between Two Worlds) full of tender longing and given appropriate glissando for expression.

The silvery slow movement flickered in the half light like a candle burning low, but with the flame essentially undimmed. The quartet’s sense of purpose was key here, with burnished lower string tones as viola and cello often combined, a notable cushion on which the searching violin melodies (using material from The Sea Wolf) could rest. Romance was in the air but although some of the music was borne of Hollywood, its intimate confines gave the music a deeply personal air. The atmosphere was heightened as a thundercloud hovered over the Wigmore Hall.

The motorised finale brought conviction and a strong sense of homecoming, not dissimilar to its equivalent movement in the Violin Concerto. Although emphatic in its resolution there were moments where the quartet moved into a different tempo or unexpectedly distant harmonies, Korngold momentarily distracted by edgier thoughts until his focus returned.

The Korngold string quartets have had something of a renaissance of late, with several new recorded versions and a marked increase in performance. On this very cultured evidence it would be no surprise if the Pavel Haas Quartet committed their version to disc soon – but it is to be hoped the other works will join it, for this was a fine concert indeed.

For more livestreamed concerts from the Wigmore Hall, click here