SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK FESTIVAL REPORT
 

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010 (1) – Handel, Bach: Ludus Baroque, Richard Neville-Towle, Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, 10 and 12.8.2010 (ST)

Handel: Alexander’s Feast (10.8.2010)

Bach: Mass in B Minor (12.8.2010)

 

Ludus Baroque are an Edinburgh-based ensemble who deserve to be much better known. They are well loved among music lovers in Scotland’s capital, though I suspect that part of the reason for their relative obscurity further afield is their fairly infrequent performances. They do an annual performance of the B Minor Mass and Christmas Oratorio but beyond that they don’t seem to do an awful lot. It’s a shame, because on the basis of these performances they deserve a much wider following.

Conductor Richard Neville-Towle is the organist of the historic Canongate Kirk at the foot of the Royal Mile and his ensemble fit this environment like a glove. The size of the orchestra and chorus is perfectly tailored to the acoustic of the church and their performances delivered the most wholly convincing accounts of these works I’ve heard in a long time. The orchestral sound is lean and transparent without sounding wiry: you could pick out every line of the great Kyrie that opens the mass, something not always possible in a church environment. The natural brass are the equal of anything else I’ve heard, be it in the celebratory sections of the mass or the thunderous wake-up in Part 2 of Alexander’s Feast. Equally importantly they have a marvellous continuo section who keep things moving with variety and interest. Perhaps the finest moment of both evenings was the cello’s duet with the soprano in Handel’s Softly sweet.

The chorus (six Sopranos, four ATB) combined the best of period flexibility with vocal richness and sheer joy in the music. Handel’s Happy pair, for example, bounded off the page without a hint of the hair shirts so often associated with the authentic movement. It is most refreshing to hear a period group so unafraid of producing a fulsome, lovely sound, revelling in the sheer joy of the music. The festive moments of the Mass bounded with energy and Neville-Towle’s flexible direction kept things moving, maintaining interest and energy throughout, such as a wonderful sense of build in the Gratias.

The soloists made an outstanding group: Sophie Bevan’s rich – dare I say Romantic? – soprano was pure and lustrous, contrasting well with the baroque colouring of Ed Lyon’s tenor. Andrew Radley’s ethereal counter-tenor had a quite distinctive beauty. Only William Berger held a few doubts for me, sometimes struggling to make himself heard and with some pitching issues in the Mass, though Timotheus’ Revenge aria was magnificent.

A pair of great performances, then, proving that there is high quality music available in the Fringe as well as in the International Festival. Incidentally, Alexander’s Feast has been recorded by the Delphian Label to be released in early 2011.

Simon Thompson

 

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