Review: The Glyndebourne Chorus
JUST the word 'Glyndebourne' sums up a perpetual Edwardian summer – Fortnum hampers, the muffled pop of Moet, white linen tablecloths, floral chiffon frocks, high heels sinking into the lawn. Although performances always exceed expectations, the weather seldom does….except last Sunday.
The Glyndebourne Chorus accompanied by the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment conducted by James Gaffigan performed Mozart's Requiem in D Minor K626 on April 18 in aid of Leo House at Home and the Lewes Railway Land Wildlife Trust.
The concert was introduced by Alfriston resident and charity patron Lord Healey who told us – accurately – we would be listening to one of the most beautiful things we had ever heard.
For once the match between what was going on outside and inside the concert hall was perfect. A blistering blue sky, shoals of white narcissi, lamps frolicking in the pasture and birds singing their hearts out on the one hand. And a work so sharp, crisp and bright it could have been the work of an Amsterdam diamond cutter on the other.
Mozart's Requiem was left unfinished on his death in 1791 and comes down to us clouds of myth and dubious anecdote. The request for a requiem setting reached Mozart via a messenger, believed to be either his composer-colleague and deadly rival Antonio Salieri or sent by Count Franz Walsegg-Stuppach seeking a musical memorial to his young wife.
After Mozart's death his widow Constanze was left with a draft of around half the score. The blanks were eventually filled in by Mozart's copyist Franz Xaver Sussmayr.
Both would have been moved by Sunday's performance which was emotionally but precisely delivered, moving along at a sharp pace but unhurried and fluid.
Reviewers love to pick out super-stellar – or inadequate – performances but it would have been hard to isolate any musicians, members of the chorale or quartet for praise or a swift beating up. Each member of the quartet sang from the soul; soprano Sally Matthews lived her music; mezzo Barbara Senator had thrillingly deep resonance; tenor John Mark Ainsley established high command and Matthew Rose's baritone streamed like double cream from a still, quiet exterior.
The Glyndebourne chorus and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment responded to the sensitive baton of James Gaffigan whose conducting was energetic but never strained.
This Requiem delivered more than a spiritual uplift to its audience. The charitable sponsorship ensured children with learning difficulties, youngsters with life-limiting illnesses and a whole host of Lewes wildlife lovers reaped an even more substantial benefit.
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Weather for Horsham
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 6 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: -7 C to 2 C
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Wind direction: East
