BRITTEN's fledgling musico-dramatic instincts in The Company of Heaven were magnificently realised under Alan Eost's direction but the reams of spoken text could have come over more meaningfully.
Throat frog apart, a little stronger projection from Philippa Howell would not have gone amiss. A roaming Chris Brailsford, who at times joined his fellow speaker in her fixed pulpit position,was more successful. However, when his wanderings took him to the front pews where the soloists were, he was so clear it was obvious both should have been there throughout for a comprehensive gain in immediacy.
From the jagged writing - nice transition into and out of the central angelic sounds - of the first chorus to a truly magisterial final one, albeit not original Britten but a reworked hymn, the Oratorio Chorus sang with superb clarity and attack. The unaccompanied 'Who so dwelleth' was exceptional and the men did a fine job in the declamatory War in Heaven.
Bronwen Humphrey, well known in Chesterfield and a strong-voiced soprano soloist, was mightily impressive, as was the tenor Paul Thompson, if a little raggedness at the end of his aria is overlooked.
Instrumentally, the prominent timpanist was surprisingly subtle and Peter Heginbotham ensured the organ part was at a discrete level but some dodgily-pitched violin playing in the South Yorkshire Symphony marred the exposed orchestral opening and Funeral March for a Boy.
With the chorus again offering outstanding singing and the soprano also proving excellent, Rutter's Magnificat should have pleased Rutter fans. He is an extremely fine miniaturist but with three interpolated sections this is an extended work with passages which are long-winded and unvarying in utterance.
Bernard Lee, Sheffield Telegraph
The heavens were resolutely telling here with many people in a packed and very cold cathedral standing in the enthusiastic ovation at the end of Haydn's oratorio.
The chorus and orchestra - the South Yorkshire Symphony, who played splendidly - were also applauding and one had the impression that much of the acclaim was directed towards the three soloists.
The Oratorio Chorus and their indefatigable conductor Alan Eost, perched precariously on top of two podiums, certainly deserved some of the cloud-nine ecstasy generated if only for the final chorus, Sing the Lord, ye Voices All, with its cleanly-defined lines, but that was the icing on the cake. Generally the choir's singing had vigorous clarity and they sang their hearts out, nowhere more so than at Acheived is the Glorious Work.
Elizabeth Watts was in terrific voice, producing singing of the highest order and soaring to top C in her first aria, while her better-known later ones, With Verdure Clad and On Mighty Pens, particularly exceptional, were simply wonderful.
Singing of equal magnificance, with equally fine diction, was provided by dark-hued Irish-Welsh baritone Paul Carey-Jones. His Adam and Eve duetting with Liz was marvellous and his singing as Raphael outstanding on all counts, firm, focused, non-exagerated, graphic word painting - the lot!
Although young tenor James Edwards did not quite attain the high level of his colleagues, with whom he blended superbly, he still turned in a remarkable performance, singing the music astonishingly well for the first time as a very late replacement.
Bernard Lee, Sheffield Telegraph
A Packed cathedral and a splendid account of Mendelssohn's oratorio dedicated to the memory of Roger Bullivant who died last November.
Alan Eost conducted with his customary commitment and sense of stylistic consideration, maintaining discipline in the large (augmented?) Oratorio Chorus which sang extremely well.
They were certainly up for it, meaningful in Blessed Are the Men, powerfully invoking Baal, capturing the fugal joy of Thanks Be To God, angrily responding to the Queen's Have Ye Not Heard? triumphant in But The Lord, resounding in Then Shall The Light Break Forth. Balance was excellent too with discernable tenors in Yet Doth the Lord and Behold! God the Lord Passed By.
The semi-chorus, Sheffield Cathedral Girls Choir directed by Neil Taylor, a little too distant as the Angels Lift Thine Eyes were heard to better advantage as the nearer Seraphim Holy, Holy, Holy and Cathedral Choir treble, Joseph Vincent, excellent as the Youth.
Peter Savidge, a vocally imposing prophet, sang Lord God of Abraham magnificently, hammered home Is Not His Word with fire and turned in a moving 'farewell' despite his voice beginning to go. Cari Searle had her own throat gremlin to contend with in the first part but chased it away at the interval to turn in an authoritative Queen and superbly sung Oh Rest in the Lord . Debra Morley sang her big moment Hear Ye, Israel exceptionally well and the unscheduled tenor Ashley Catling (in Opera North's Thieving Magpie three weeks ago) had voice to spare in If With All Your Hearts, making good use of it in Then Shall the Righteous.
Peter Heginbotham provided discreet, quality organ playing and the South Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra couldn't seriously be faulted, except perhaps rather acidic violin tone in the Overture.
Bernard Lee, Sheffield Telegraph
David Fanshaw's fusion of taped African sounds and the Latin mass would seem to be as big a draw now as it was when the work was new three decades ago. This was a sell out with 900 people in the audience.
Maybe many were there for the added element of dance, which, occasional mishaps apart, worked very well but tended to make the work a political statement. Debatable that was in Fanshaw’s mind 30 years ago.
It was a different Africa then and, with contemporary relevance, Simon Banda’s choreography for Sunduza Dance theatre from Zimbabwe reflected the upheaval and struggles since.
For instance, the Crucifixus section of the Credo, visually, became a revolutionary scenario with a soldier in camouflage uniform beating up a small farmer, the victim becoming the victor in the Sanctus.
An extremely skilled dance company, Sunduza initially appeared in African tribal dress, but soon eschewed romantic perceptions for the stark reality of black tops and trousers.
Sheffield Oratorio Chorus sang exceptionally well. Fanshaw must have been thinking about professionals when writing some of the frankly, avant-garde music, particularly in the Gloria and Credo.
The Chorus’s diction meant they were just about discernable as such, while their singing had terrific energy, power and rhythmic drive generated by their conductor, Alan Eost, who should be awarded danger money for his precariously balanced podium position.
The more conventional sounding passages, such as the reprise of the Kyrie after Agnus Dei, induced first-rate choral singing, and there was fine singing from soprano soloist Jenny Leadbetter, the Lord’s Prayer being especially moving, excellently sung.
Sunduza’s acappella singing, with occasional choreography, in the first half, would have had meant more with some knowledge of what they were singing about, as would the fine impression made by pupils of Firth Park Community College if someone had indicated what was being represented.”
Bernard Lee, Sheffield Telegraph
FORTUNATELY Alan Eost, conductor of the Sheffield Oratorio Chorus has always been prepared to judge music on its merit rather than by reputation, and gave us a splendid performance of Beethoven's rather neglected First Piano Concerto in C (it was written second but published first). The performance, accompanied by the South Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra was conducted by Roger Bullivant, enabling Eost to play the piano part, which he did with great precision. There was stirring Beethovenian energy, alternating with a light lyrical touch in the first two movements, and the steady tempo of the final rondo giving it a pleasing clarity.
An interesting touch of programming paired the concerto with another under-rated work, Beethoven's Mass in C. As conductor, here Eost brought an engaging freshness to the sturdy climaxes and dramatic pianissimos. The soloists were the soprano Kay Jordan, mezzo Cari Searle, tenor Andrew Nicholson, and the bass David Townend. They worked well in ensemble, and both the soprano and mezzo showed an admirable purity of tone combined with seemingly effortless power when required.
The first under-rehearsed performance of Beethoven's Mass was not a success, but if that original audience had heard the performance given in the Cathedral, they would surely have given the same rousing round of applause.
Stephen Draper, Yorkshire Post
A FIRST-RATE performance of Vaughan Williams' Hodie with conductor Alan Eost finding all the work's eloquence and joy. Its colour too, especially in the March of the Three Kings, even if the fine South Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra overpowered it a little towards its end.
Perhaps clarity of diction could have been a bit better once or twice from the Oratorio Chorus, but its strongly-projected singing was always well balanced and had good tonal quality.
Clarity of words was not exactly a virtue with the three soloists but there was no denying the expressive singing of soprano Kate Flowers, the quality of Adrian Clarke's baritone voice or Philip Sheffield's technique in the tenor's difficult Sinfonia Antarctica-like Hymn.
His word clarity was admirably clear in the Bach Evangelist-like narration, as it was from the excellent four-female semi-chorus, music actually written for a boys' choir.
Honegger's atmospheric Christmas Cantata worked extremely well. The bleak opening section was well sustained by the chorus, textures in the central Quodlibet of Carols were clean and the last section suitably joyous, Sheffield Cathedral Girls' Choir being very effective in both.
Bernard Lee, Sheffield Telegraph
The Oratorio's programme opened with the rare opportunity of hearing Christopher le Fleming's Five Psalms.
The slow movement, The Lord is my Shepherd, introduced to the concert the soprano Maria Bovino, her pure and beautifully focussed voice beguiling the innocence of le Flemings setting.
No choir should be deprived of performing the Brahms choral masterpiece Ein Deutsches Requiem. Yet in an ideal world we would have looked for a more weighty vocal line in the second movement than the modest size of the Oratorio could provide, the orchestra throttled back so as not to swamp them.
But this is not a work which views damnation, the score redolent in sadness and compassion. Bovino's operatic background was invaluable in the score, and she was joined by the powerful and outstanding baritone Robert Poulton.
The original German was used rather than an uneasy English translation, the choir's diction very good, and their unforced singing was always of the highest quality.
David Denton, Yorkshire Post
IAN PARTRIDGE as the Evangelist was the icing on the cake for this performance by the Sheffield Oratorio Chorus in its 40th anniversary season.
Singing from the cathedral pulpit - a piece of stage-management the society has used before - was an effective dramatic ploy, the Evangelist being a commentator and not directly involved in the unfolding drama.
As always Mr. Partridge was unfailingly musical, the ear being caressed with subtle phrasing and beauty of line. However, there were times when the line was too refined, too highly polished, with a lack of tonal colour tending to lend an air of monotony.
The laurels for the evenings singing must go to the soprano soloist, Alison Barlow, whose sparkling radiant voice and beautifully rounded technique was a joy to listen to.
Helen Francis, a short notice replacement for the scheduled contralto soloist, had some projection problems in her first aria, happily rectified for the magnificent Crucifixion Aria, where one could more readily appreciate the voice's tonal beauty.
Martin Hindmarsh appeared to have sawdust in his throat in the tenor's first aria. A painful accompaniment apart, he was, however, singing with a more customary mellifluous flow in the second.
A pointed finger and facial expression, unconventional though they might be, added an intriguing element to Anthony Scale's singing of Pilate. Such actions were perhaps instinctive, considering his highly expressive singing of the bass arias.
That Mr. Scales is rather more baritone than bass provided a balanced contrast with Jolyon Dodgson's un pious, noble authority as Jesus.
There was great nobility too in the Oratorio Chorus's singing of the Chorals. Some insecurity in the mighty opening chorus there may have been, but the chorus - in numbers really a choir - very quickly found its rhythmic precision for its role as the mob.
That the St. John Passion is the nearest Bach got to writing an opera was not lost on Alan Eost, who directed with vigorous intent and athletic prowess.
Mr. Eost also played the harpsichord continuo - extremely well, it should be said - yet one wonders whether this affected the orchestral playing, particularly the strings of the South Yorkshire Symphony Orchestra. The woodwind playing was, however, magnificent.
Bernard Lee, Yorkshire Post
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