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Ireland, Finzi and Haydn: Dame Felicity Lott (soprano), Mary Bevan (soprano), Catherine Hooper (mezzo soprano), Adrian Ward (tenor), Peter Willcock (baritone), The London Chorus (chorus master: Ronald Corp), The New London Orchestra, Ronald Corp, Cadogan Hall, London, 25.2.2009 (BBr)

Ireland: Like as the Hart - psalm 42 (1908) (world première)
Finzi: Dies Natalis, op.8 (1939)
Haydn: Theresienmesse (1799)


Premières are always special occasions, and a new work by such a fine composer as John Ireland is an occasion to relish. Unfortunately, this setting of Psalm 42, which was written as his exercise for his B Mus examinations, had to show that he could write a partsong or motet, an aria for solo voice, a fugue and his ability to write for string orchestra and voices. Ireland achieves all of these but there’s sadly little of real substance in the work. In four, quite large, movements – the outer ones for chorus and orchestra, the second the aria for soprano and the third an unaccompanied quartet for the soloists (the partsong) – it was a pleasing piece but it lacked the strength of the contemporary Phantasie (Piano) Trio in A minor and at no time would one have been able to recognise the composer of the piano suite Decorations, the orchestral Prelude: The Forgotten Rite, or the wonderful setting of Masefield, Sea Fever, which would all follow a mere five years later. This is no lost masterpiece and although I am grateful to Corp and his musicians for this fine performance, it’s best to leave this work now and concentrate on the more important, and better written, choral pieces such as Ireland’s wonderful, and much underrated, partsongs and the towering setting of Symons’s These Things Shall Be.

I have always thought it invidious to compare a recording of a work to a live performance – simply because a recording is made to be perfect, often in many different takes, without the human element of only being able to have one crack at the piece as is the case of a live performance – but with Finzi’s Dies Natalis, surely one of the most sublime of all English orchestral song cycles, the recording by the great Wilfred Brown has surpassed all comers in this work. Of course, Brown sang the piece under the composer’s direction so he had a special insight into the work and he brought his great artistry to bear in a musical performance which, to coin a phrase, passeth all (musical) understanding. Setting words by Thomas Traherne (1637 – 1674) Finzi sets four texts – preceded by a luminous orchestral prelude – concerned with the wonder experienced by a new born child, to music of ecstatic beauty. Dame Felicity Lott, whilst not quite displaying the awe and wonder Brown brings to his performance, sang with an obvious understanding and sympathy for the music. In the Rhapsody – Will you see the infancy of this sublime and celestial greatness? – she brought an innocence and wide eyed amazement to the first sights and sounds experienced, with a restrained voice, sounding quite childlike (not childish!) and expectant. The Rapture – Sweet Infancy, O heavenly fire! – is almost sexual in its elation, but it is still chaste, and if Dame Felicity and Corp didn’t quite reach the heights of ecstasy it wasn’t their fault – this music is full of abandon and it’s difficult to get exactly the right balance here, too much and it’s a mess, too little and it simply doesn’t work. We English seem to fight shy of such overt shows of emotion but here the slight holding back was a mistake, I hope that next time Dame Felicity sings the work – and I do hope that there will be a next time – she will throw caution to the wind and unleash the passion of which I know she is capable. The final two movements – Wonder – How like an Angel came I down! – and The Salutation – These little Limbs, These eyes and Hands which here I find – were superb in their combined control, innocence and marvel, and the ending, where the music seems to walk off stage, outside to take its place  in the world at large was magnificently handled. At the close, if I didn’t quite feel the elation I felt when England won the Ashes in 2004, I was brought very close to it. Full marks for this truly inspiring performance of a masterpiece we hear far too seldom.

The programme notes told us that after encountering Handel’s Oratorios when on his second trip to England, Haydn took advantage of the large, and bold, choruses he had head and utilized the idea in his own later choral works. This can be heard most obviously in the late oratorios The Seasons and The Creation and his last six Masses. What is also evident is his understanding of operatic drama and this work is full of grand operatic gestures with bold ariosi for the soloists and huge choruses. The London Chorus was here heard to great advantage – whether in quiet supplication or the fervor of the Gloria – and was the real star of this performance. The young quartet – what a good idea to employ fresh, new, voices for this work for it brought a bright quality to the music – sang with such a purity and simplicity of line, no wobble here, that they complimented the massed voices of the choir perfectly. Corp’s direction was undemonstrative and his training of the chorus told of his deep understanding of the work.

This concert was, from the point of view of performance, a total success, with glorious choral singing and it’s a shame that we didn’t hear this wonderful choir in a better piece at the start.

Bob Briggs


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