From Karl Jenkins to Mozart in two weeks – it’s a busy and varied life in the City of Birmingham Choir; and Saturday’s all-Mozart concert promised much greater variety than the samey offerings delivered previously by the other chap.
So it did, up to a point, even if the programme of this Raymond Gubbay promotion had a drearily familiar ring: the Requiem (of course) and, for non-choral types, the ‘Figaro’ Overture and Piano Concerto No. 21.
But the performances displayed considerable freshness. Adrian Lucas allowed the overture to rattle along without hindrance, and for the concerto drew from the responsive Orchestra of the Swan a degree of sensitivity that revealed several woodwind subtleties.
Soloist Anthony Hewitt may not have fully explored Mozart’s lyricism, or sustained the pathos of the Andante (the programme note thankfully refrained from mentioning that soppy 1960s film where it was used), but the nuts and bolts of the work were well served by his crystalline textures and clean, unfussy approach.
For its part the CBC gave a commendably serviceable account of the Requiem, with just the right mixture of gravitas and alacrity. Fugues had punch and definition (though some hard consonants were not forcefully projected enough), runs were clearly articulated, and Lucas paid close attention to mood and textural balance.
The soloists made a fairly amorphous quartet although individual contributions, especially those of the tenor Samuel Boden, were more distinctively voiced – and soprano Rhian Lois toned down her searchlight delivery very nicely for “Lux aeterna”.
