Summery Music for a Lovely Afternoon
Those who stayed at home to watch the football on Sunday 27th June may wish they had instead come to hear Reading Festival Chorus perform in the Great Hall of Reading University. The programme consisted of English and American folk songs, including John Rutter's "The Sprig of Thyme". The choir blended particularly well, especially in the gentle wistful passages and their diction was excellent. The audience was able to hear all the words, especially effective for songs such as "I Bought Me a Cat" by Copeland. Janet Allen, a member of the choir, sang the solo part in "The Cuckoo" beautifully.
Jane Seymour played two virtuosic pieces by Percy Grainger as a piano solo with great gusto and, with rousing cheers, was presented with a gift from the choir to mark the fact she has served as their accompanist for 30 years.
The concert was followed by a picnic in the welcome shade of the trees in the gardens next to the Great Hall. All in all, a lovely way to pass an afternoon spent so dismally by others!
AJ
Johanneskantorei's concert visit to England
Within the framework of the partnership between Düsseldorf and Reading, Johanneskantorei, with musical director Wolfgang Abendroth, undertook a concert visit to England from 30th March to 4th April in order to perform "Missa Solemnis" by Ludwig van Beethoven with the Reading Festival Chorus.
The evening of 30th March saw the Kantorei arrive in Reading located west of London, where it was warmly welcome by its English hosts. The friendly atmosphere at the evening's get-together extended throughout the weekend, and thanks to the Reading Festival Chorus members, who proved to be perfect hosts and excellent guides of the Reading area, the visit developed into an exceptional experience. The following day, in happy atmosphere and the presence of members of the Düsseldorf-Reading-Association, the Reading Mayor, Councillor Riaz Chaudhri, officially received the guests from Düsseldorf and welcomed them to the English partnership city.
The first joint rehearsal of both choirs and the orchestra "Oxford Sinfonia" under Janet Lincé, musical director of Reading Festival Chorus, took place in the evening of 31st March. The second and final rehearsal in the afternoon of 1st April received the desired refinement ready for the concert in the Great Hall of the University of Reading. Performers and the large audience alike were delighted with this splendid performance. At the reception afterwards the concert was hailed a great success, particularly in the sense of the special relationship between the two cities.
In the morning of 2nd April it was time to depart. As a 'thank you' gesture to the Reading Festival Chorus, Johanneskantorei sang a piece by Heinrich Schütz –accompanied by rain - in a car park which to everyone's surprise proved to provide astonishingly good acoustic. Thereafter a coach took everyone to Windsor and following a visit to Windsor Castle as planned, the choir separated. Some went home, while others went to London for two days.
Monday morning, split into several groups, some of the numerous sights of the British capital were being viewed. The group assembled once more for the lunchtime concert in St. Martins in the Field. All participated in the "Evensong" in Westminster Abbey. It was an impressive event, experiencing an "original" Service, which has meanwhile also become popular in Düsseldorf. An evening of feasting in a Lebanese restaurant concluded a wonderful day favoured by good weather.
Early in the morning the train took the group to Cambridge. Two accomplished guides led us through Cambridge streets and lanes, showed and explained colleges, churches and the history of this beautiful and famous University City. Exhausted and well informed, there was sufficient time in the afternoon to explore Cambridge off one's own bat; in a punt on the Cam, in the park, or in the museum.
Cambridge is not far from Stansted airport. Richer by many positive impressions, including the association between the choirs, all made their way home, arriving in Düsseldorf around midnight. All participants are looking forward to the performance of "Missa Solemnis" in the Johanneskirche. To that end Reading Festival Chorus will join Johanneskantorei for a counter visit to the Rhine.
Regine Zeller
A Concert to Commemorate the War
The Hexagon
Of the many commemorations of the end of the Second World War that there have been this year, this concert must have been one of the best.
To focus our attention on what the war had meant to ordinary people, all the performers wore a poppy and the programme itself had some accounts of what it had been like and here and there were prints of old posters and photos.
The music reflected the fact that the end of the war was a time of great rejoicing as well as of sadness and remembrance.
The guest singers, Berkshire Youth Choir, opened the concert with a neat, attractive performance of Reading Abbey's own Summer Is A-Coming In.
For these confident, well-prepared singers their programme of composers like Bardos and Tavener, with their unexpected progressions and harmonies, presented no problem.
Before they joined the full choir, The Tamesis Chamber Choir, conducted by Louise Rapple, sang Morten Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, bringing a quiet tranquillity to this calm meditation.
Karl Jenkin's The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace summed up the purpose of this concert. Aidan Oliver conducted the combined choirs and the Brandenburg Sinfonia in a dramatic performance which ranged from the mighty Sanctus to the moving quiet Benedictus with its tender recurring theme.
The second part of the concert was a lively performance of Mozart's Requiem, where the choir's control and attack were excellent.
From The Wokingham Times Nov. 2005
© Rosemary Bayliss
In a memorable concert to commemorate the end of the Second World War, Wokingham Choral Society and Reading Festival Chorus combined forces to entertain a large audience.
Accompanied by the Brandenburg Sinfonia, conducted by Aidan Oliver, they sang The Armed Man (A Mass for Peace) by Karl Jenkins, and Mozart's Requiem.
To set the concert going, the Berkshire Youth Choir, conducted by Peter Hunt, sang In the Heart of the World, an amalgam of sacred and secular songs.
Outstanding for its excellent blend, exquisite balance and pathos were Parry's Never Weather-beaten Sail, the poignant The Lamb! by Tavener and Chilcott's soulful In the Heart of the World.
Tamesis Chamber Choir, conducted by Louise Rapple, contributed with the lovely O Magnum Mysterium by Morten Lauridsen, giving it a particularly lovely finale.
After the interval, Wokingham and Reading Festival Choirs, accompanied by the Brandenburg Sinfonia, sang The Armed Man, cleverly delineating the syncopation, powerfully exposing the sheer drama, beautifully revealing the lyrical phrasing in the exquisite cello phrasing of the interlude.
One of the finest performances was delivered by the two chief choirs in their singing of Mozart's Requiem.
With the solos parts being sung by four superb young artists in Claire Booth, soprano, Caitlin Hulcup, mezzo-soprano, Andrew Staples, tenor and Matthew Rose, bass, they joined with the choirs in creating a wonderful interpretation of Mozart's last work.
Choral entries were clear and confident with lovely soprano tone and exciting atmosphere as required with a triumphant Benedictus before the finale.
Congratulations are due to all who participated in this memorable event.
From The Reading Chronicle 8 December 2005
© Bert Gonella
