RSNO Chorus, 02/02/2020
Brahms : Ein deutsches Requiem
Alison McNeill, soprano
Oskar McCarthy, baritone
Christopher Baxter, piano
Edward Cohen, piano
RSNO Chorus
Gregory Batsleer
It was Brahms himself who prepared this piano-duet version of his German Requiem, for private performance in London, three years after the German premiere of the complete Requiem. (There had been a partial premiere earlier). It's an arrangement that permits performance by choral societies who cannot afford an orchestra, and also for smaller groups than the 80-odd singers heard this afternoon. I've heard this so-called "London version" before, but with a small chorus, and today it has to be said that the pianos were, at times, barely audible, certainly not clearly enough to be a genuinely effective replacement for the orchestra.
This was not from any lack of effort or quality on the part of the pianists, and the pianos were set out without their lids, as much for sound as for vision. Brahms's arrangement, however, is pretty much a straight transcription, not really using the strengths and colours of the piano to their full extent - it's more like an upgraded rehearsal piano playing than anything else. With a small chorus, the texture becomes more interesting, because you don't have the same thickness of the choral sound, but when you have a full symphony chorus, it's definitely a case of making-do.
The RSNO chorus, when they arrived on the platform, seated themselves in (apparently) random order. This is the second time in the last twelve months that I've seen a 'jumbled' seating pattern for a chorus, rather than the traditional 'blocks' of SATB, and I wonder if it's becoming a new trend. I'd very much like to talk to a professional chorus director one day, and ask what the advantages and/or disadvantages are, from that point of view. Opera choruses are used to that sort of thing, the demands of staging take priority over vocal distribution, and even there, you will still see groupings of same voices at times. For music that is not written to be performed 'in action' so to speak, however, it's a little odd to be deprived of that stereophonic effect which has been habitual up to now.
Overall, I can't say it perturbed the performance to any great degree. There were a couple of moments when I felt that an exposed tenor entry was a little weak. The tenors are always the smallest section of the chorus, it's the least common of the voice types, and when you sing in a block, you get very clear support from your neighbours, which would have been a bit dissipated in this more random arrangement. On the whole, though, this was good, clear singing, with well marked dynamics and for the main part, very precise. Alison McNeill has a little too much vibrato for my taste, and I found her somewhat inexpressive, but Oskar McCarthy was anything but, and sang with a bright tone, somewhat lighter in timbre than is perhaps usual for this solo, but quite satisfactory.
Most of the performance was conducted by the chorus's usual director, Gregory Batsleer, but the central movement, "Wie lieblich sind die Wohnungen", was conducted by Sarah Charista, the current recipient of the Sir Alexander Gibson Memorial Fellowship for Choral Conductors. While it's certainly unusual to switch conductors in the middle of the proceedings, the matter was explained in advance to us, and her contribution was certainly a positive one, the lyrical flow of this movement shaped very nicely at her direction.
[Next : 13th February]
Alison McNeill, soprano
Oskar McCarthy, baritone
Christopher Baxter, piano
Edward Cohen, piano
RSNO Chorus
Gregory Batsleer
It was Brahms himself who prepared this piano-duet version of his German Requiem, for private performance in London, three years after the German premiere of the complete Requiem. (There had been a partial premiere earlier). It's an arrangement that permits performance by choral societies who cannot afford an orchestra, and also for smaller groups than the 80-odd singers heard this afternoon. I've heard this so-called "London version" before, but with a small chorus, and today it has to be said that the pianos were, at times, barely audible, certainly not clearly enough to be a genuinely effective replacement for the orchestra.
This was not from any lack of effort or quality on the part of the pianists, and the pianos were set out without their lids, as much for sound as for vision. Brahms's arrangement, however, is pretty much a straight transcription, not really using the strengths and colours of the piano to their full extent - it's more like an upgraded rehearsal piano playing than anything else. With a small chorus, the texture becomes more interesting, because you don't have the same thickness of the choral sound, but when you have a full symphony chorus, it's definitely a case of making-do.
The RSNO chorus, when they arrived on the platform, seated themselves in (apparently) random order. This is the second time in the last twelve months that I've seen a 'jumbled' seating pattern for a chorus, rather than the traditional 'blocks' of SATB, and I wonder if it's becoming a new trend. I'd very much like to talk to a professional chorus director one day, and ask what the advantages and/or disadvantages are, from that point of view. Opera choruses are used to that sort of thing, the demands of staging take priority over vocal distribution, and even there, you will still see groupings of same voices at times. For music that is not written to be performed 'in action' so to speak, however, it's a little odd to be deprived of that stereophonic effect which has been habitual up to now.
Overall, I can't say it perturbed the performance to any great degree. There were a couple of moments when I felt that an exposed tenor entry was a little weak. The tenors are always the smallest section of the chorus, it's the least common of the voice types, and when you sing in a block, you get very clear support from your neighbours, which would have been a bit dissipated in this more random arrangement. On the whole, though, this was good, clear singing, with well marked dynamics and for the main part, very precise. Alison McNeill has a little too much vibrato for my taste, and I found her somewhat inexpressive, but Oskar McCarthy was anything but, and sang with a bright tone, somewhat lighter in timbre than is perhaps usual for this solo, but quite satisfactory.
Most of the performance was conducted by the chorus's usual director, Gregory Batsleer, but the central movement, "Wie lieblich sind die Wohnungen", was conducted by Sarah Charista, the current recipient of the Sir Alexander Gibson Memorial Fellowship for Choral Conductors. While it's certainly unusual to switch conductors in the middle of the proceedings, the matter was explained in advance to us, and her contribution was certainly a positive one, the lyrical flow of this movement shaped very nicely at her direction.
[Next : 13th February]