Barts Chamber Choir - Dixit Dominus (Handel) and the Vivaldi
Gloria at St James Piccadilly
This is a fabulous venue with a great acoustic. The concert was on
the night of the England Italy world cup match so with an English (nominally)
first half and an Italian second half, there was something for the conductor to
link in to. In art, as in real life, Italy won. I didn't know the Handel at all
prior to the gig. It was a lot more intense than I associate with him generally
– I know he does powerful stuff, but this had an urgency beyond what I had
expected.
On the other hand, I know the Vivaldi very well, and love it.
Sitting in a beautiful church as the Cum Sancto Spirito fugues its way to the
end was the highlight of the evening.
Barts Chamber Choir is probably about forty strong, and drawn from
the wider Barts choir - clearly comprising some extremely talented singers.
They got that balance/mix that smaller choirs can find (which is harder for the
choral leviathans I guess). And one of the soloists - Grace Davidson I think,
is just angelic. The most amazing voice, with seemingly no effort (or need to
breathe). To balance the review, there was also some counter-tenor stuff in the
Handel.
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