Royal Festival Hall
Brahms:
Schicksalslied, op.54
Schumann:
Piano Concerto in A minor,
op.54
Mozart: Mass in C minor, KV
427/417a
Nico de Villiers (piano)
Elin Manahan Thomas, Helen
Meyerhoff (sopranos)
Peter Davoren (tenor)
Philip Tebb (bass)
Hackney Singers
Lewisham Choral Society
London Mozart Players
Dan Ludford-Thomas (conductor)
A strange concert, this, in
that, although chorally conceived, it proved strongest in the performance of Schumann’s
Piano Concerto: not so much a comment on the choral singing as on the conducting of Dan Ludford-Thomas. That might seem odd, given that he
proved himself very much a choral rather than an orchestral conductor, but the
concerto came off best precisely because control of its direction was for the
most part in the more than capable hands of pianist, Nico de Villiers. There
was no doubt whatsoever that he was the real thing, offering playing both pellucid
and, where required, weighty (making me keen to hear his Brahms). Insofar as he
was able to lead the London Mozart Players, he did, with all the give and take
of chamber music. The shaping of the first-movement cadenza offered a
conspectus of that movement, even the work, as a whole. A lovely blend of ‘Classical’
and ‘Romantic’ was similarly achieved in the Intermezzo, also benefiting from
fine cello playing (though a few more cellos and indeed strings more generally
would have been welcome). Finely sprung rhythms characterised a finale both buoyant
and directed, the LMP on noticeably better form throughout the concerto than in
the choral works by Brahms and Mozart that surrounded it.
First of those was Brahms’s Schicksalslied, or ‘Song of Destiny’.
Again, one would ideally have had a larger orchestra, not least given the
presence of two very large choruses, the Hackney Singers and Lewisham Choral Society,
but there were doubtless financial reasons for that. Ludford-Thomas certainly
handled those gigantic, Gurrelieder-like
choral forces well here. They offered a pleasing sound and excellent diction,
clearly well trained, with convincing dynamic contrasts. The final stanza
proved hard driven, though, and the orchestra was largely left to fend for
itself – sometimes with more convincing results than others.
The second half of the concert
was given over to Mozart’s Mass in C minor. The ‘Kyrie’ offered a largely
promising start. Swift, if not unreasonably so, and well balanced – again,
given the mismatch in size between choruses and orchestras – it once again
offered fine choral singing, and a nice change to hear so many voices in
Mozart. Alas, soprano, Elin Manahan Thomas proved parted here and elsewhere,
also contributing decidedly peculiar Latin pronunciation and ornamentation. If
there was nothing especially insightful to Ludford-Thomas’s conducting of the ‘Gloria’,
it enabled the chorus, which was a good part of the point of such a concert. Helen
Meyerhoff, in its ‘Laudamus’ section proved a more convincing soloist, a
bizarrely fast tempo notwithstanding. Subsequent sections sounded more like
rushes to the bus stop than moments of Rococo wonder and suffered from poor
blend between soloists. By the time we reached the ‘Qui tollis’, choral
intonation left a good deal to be desired. However, the teenor, Peter Davoren
had some good moments.
Maybe the novelty of such large
choral forces had simply worn off, or maybe they were growing tired: either
way, the ‘Credo’ seemed more affected by roughness around the edges than had
been the case earlier. The ‘Et incarnatus est’, which should be one of the most
wondrous movements in all Mozart’s sacred music, suffered from uneven singing,
plain strings, and serious disjuncture in pitch between the two; only the woodwind
redeemed it. A plain ‘Sanctus’, lumbering ‘Osanna’ and perfunctory ‘Benedictus’
made for dispiriting listening.
