Choral Union Concerts, Edinburgh and Liverpool

[david]

Hi all,

Thought I'd let you know that Andrew and I had a great concert at the McEwan Hall in Edinburgh on Sunday, in a joint performance between the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union and the Liverpool Welsh Choir. We performed the beautiful Faure's "Reqiuem", "Laudes Organi" by Kodaly, "Totus Tuus" by Gorecki and the "Messe Solennelle" by Vierne, which was definitely some of the most exciting choral singing I have done in my time with ERCU. The Edinburgh Youth Choir also performed there brilliantly. Hard work doing the rehearsals during the week and rehearsing Saturday and Sunday before the concert itself, but hugely enjoyable!! Here's a link to a review in the Herald:

www.theherald.co.uk/features/featuresartsreview/display.var.1810805.0.0.php

I'm in Liverpool this coming Saturday doing the same concert again at the Anglican Cathedral, looking forward to that!

Best wishes

David

[Richard]

Thanks for posting the link, David!

Here's a transcript of the review.

Edinburgh Royal Choral Union, McEwan Hall, Edinburgh

CONRAD WILSON

Temporarily deprived of the Edwardian surroundings of the Usher Hall, Edinburgh Royal Choral Union turned instead on Sunday to Edinburgh University's vast Victorian dome for what was a potentially fascinating programme of music.

Though Berlioz's Requiem, the perfect masterpiece for so grandly resonant a building, was absent, and Vierne's unsensational Messe Solennelle proved not much of a substitute, Michael Bawtree's choice of works was otherwise thoroughly resourceful. With the combined forces of ERCU and the Liverpool Welsh Choral at his disposal, he had all the singers he needed, and the hall's Hope-Jones/Willis organ gave them rock-solid support. Morley Whitehead was at the console, triumphantly conflating Vierne's demands for two different instruments.

However, it was Kodaly's Laudes Organi - "in Praise of Organs" - that gave the event the music it deserved. Written for the Atlanta Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, this exhilarating summing-up of Kodaly's output of choral music was presented with ample fervour. So, in more sentimental vein, was Gorecki's Totus Tuus, from the man who gave us the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which left the serenity of Faure's Requiem to bind the concert together.

Lisa Swayne and Richard Latham, two refreshing young voices from the RSAMD, were an asset, as were the welcome moments of jauntiness provided by the Edinburgh Youth Choir under its new director Dominic Peckham.

I hope the concert in Liverpool is a success too!

Best Wishes,

Richard

[david]

Hi Richard & all,

Pleased to say the concert in Liverpool went well! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif Had very little time for myself throughout the weekend with travelling down there followed by rehearsals and then the event itself, but I managed to take a few photos of the vast interior - and it is VAST!! Apologies for the quality of the photos not being so good, the conditions were not ideal for photography.




The view from my seat


Looking behind


Looking towards our seating area



Anyway, hope you enjoy the photos (and that I'm not being a bit too self-indulgent here!! )

Best wishes

David

[Andrew]

Hi David,

Wow... What excellent photographs - thanks for sharing those. I can just imagine how the ERCU's rendition of 'Totus Tuus' (by Henry Mikolaj Gorecki) must have sounded in that Cathedral WOW...

I was disappointed not to be available to join the ERCU in Liverpool this time.

Andrew

[david]

Hi Andrew,

Sorry not to have replied a bit sooner, glad you enjoyed the photos! It was a very enjoyable concert in a hugely impressive space - and if anyone's interested, here's a link to a review from the Liverpool Daily Post:

www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-arts/2007/11/13/music-review-choral-classics-liverpool-cathedral-64375-20099043/

Can't seem to eliminate that space in liverpool there towards the end, so think you'll need to copy and paste into the address bar...

Interesting words about the tenors there, we could maybe have done with one or two more ... anyway, have a read!

Cheers

David

I edited your link with the Noubbc tags Stephany

[Stephany]

Hi David,

Thank you very much for the review. It looks as though you really enjoyed performing in Liverpool and I am sad that I couldn't go and attend the concert. Incidentally, I visited the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral just a week before you went there!

Stephany

[david]

Hi Stephany,

Many thanks for fixing the link there, not quite sure why I couldn't get it to work on this occasion! I imagine you found the building as impressive as I did!! Just wish I could've had a bit more time for myself to walk round and see the outside, by the time we got there just after 3pm we had to start preparing for the rehearsal and then the concert itself, so I was at the cathedral until after 10pm!! I'm just thankful my hotel room hadn't been cancelled when I checked in at 11pm that night.

Best wishes

David

[Richard]

Hello David!

Many thanks for the link to the review. Here's a transcript.

Music Review: Choral Classics, Liverpool Cathedral

Nov 13 2007 by Glyn Mon Hughes, Liverpool Daily Post



ON THE face of it, the latest offering from the Liverpool Welsh Choral – along with their guests, the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union – could have been a very dull affair.

Choral Cathedral Classics implied a whole string of hum-a-long favourites, with nothing new and certainly nothing to challenge either performers or audience.

But what a refreshing concert this was. The Faure Requiem apart, this was a concert of works rarely heard outside a liturgical setting – and, even then, one would be hard pushed to find most of these works on a service list.

The opening work set the scene: a large setting of Laudes Organi by Zoltan Kodaly, written in 1966.

The choir used the drama of this setting to an excellent degree with a fine range of intimate, pianissimo moments contrasting with the thunderous fortissimos. The tenors felt a little hard-pushed at times, with the tonality sinking, but that was a minor point in what was, overall, a triumphant performance.

Conductor Keith Orrell has done much to turn round the Liverpool Welsh Choral. It’s now back where it should be – among the ranks of the fine, large choruses.

I've added Liverpool to the title of this thread.

Richard