REVIEW
PROGRAMME
LONDON PRO ARTE CHOIR
Mendelssohn Hear My Prayer
Bruckner Christus Factus Est
Bruckner Locus Iste
Mendelssohn Verleih uns Frieden
Wesley Ascribe unto the Lord
Interval
Mendelssohn Lauda Sion
Soloists
Louisa Kataria Soprano
Isabelle Blain Alto
William Glendinning Tenor
Ciaran Yeo Bass
Charles Andrews Organ
Tom Winpenny Conductor
St Michael's church is one of the best venues for intimate choral concerts. With its very high wooden ceilings and rectangular shape it provides an excellent acoustic meaning that the audience of around 200 can hear and see perfectly. So I was looking forward to this programme of Sacred Music in a Church setting. It did not disappoint.
The opening piece
Hear My Prayer by Mendelssohn is very well known. The solo Oh For the Wings of a Dove was a best selling recording last century - selling in the millions. Although in this century it is rarer to hear it. The soprano soloist
Louisa Kataria started the evening with a soaring version and the Pro Arte Choir, enjoying their role, supported her superbly. It really set the tone for an evening of beautiful Sacred music.
The other pieces in the first half included two by Bruckner including the much sung
Locus Iste which is a short and lovely introit. It finished with the complex
Ascribe unto the Lord by Wesley. This was sung with great commitment and the tenors and basses leading the sopranos/altos were directed by Tom Winpenny who kept it moving along nicely to its huge conclusion.
The interval at these concerts has become legend. Drinks are served in the church as you would expect but there is the famous Produce Stall which we were told prior to the Concert ( in the welcome by the Church's vicar) actually makes the most desirable seating next to it so that concert goers can get in first at the stall ! By the time I can get near they are usually sold out!
After the interval we all settled down to hear a beautiful 30 minute setting of Aquinas's text
Lauda Sion. Written to illuminate the doctrine of transubstantiation. Not often performed in concerts and so it was a real treat to hear this.
The choir are now producing a very rounded sound. It suited this piece with its mellow tones. So whenever the choir sang it was easy to feel the ritual elements of the music. The soloists were all very young which has become a trademark of these concerts. The Pro Arte choir is to be congratulated on this - giving emerging singers a chance to show their great skills in concert performances is brilliant. As an audience we could be seeing stars of the future and certainly the quality was very high.
The soprano soloist
Louisa Kataria from the first half returned and had the majority of the solos in this second half. At only about 18 years old she has a clarity of a young Lucy Crowe and if she continues to add depth and power to her voice she is certainly a singer to watch, and I think her voice would really suit Handel repertoire (and yes I saw Lucy Crowe near the start of her career !)
Isabelle Blain joined her in a superb duet and the tenor and bass of
Ciaran Yeo and
William Glendinning blended beautifully when the four soloists were working together. Really exceptional singing from all four of them.
Throughout the evening the organist Charles Andrews accompanied in a sensitive way. He makes the organ in the church sound far grander than the specification on the National Pipe Register would suggest !
The audience and myself left just after 9p.m thoroughly entertained and rested from the beautiful programme which had been presented. Thank you to all who sang and played and organised such a successful event. The church was full to the back yet again. These concerts have become central to many people in the area and beyond, due to their quality and the low ticket price of just £14/£15. Long may they continue and if you have not been then you are missing out on some of the best nights of music in this part of NW London. Make sure you come to the next concert - details below.
NEXT CONCERT
SONG AND DANCES
Chilcott - Dance of Time
McDowall - A Fancy of Folksongs
Copland - Old American Songs
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