Thames Philharmonic Choir - review (From Surrey Comet)

Thames Philharmonic Choir - review

4:03pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009 in

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Thames Philharmonic Choir, Kingston Parish Church

Kingston Parish Church was packed with concert goers for the final event in the Kingston Festival of the Voice on Saturday, November 28. This concert was given by Thames Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra was an evening of delightful lightness and celebration, conducted of course by John Bate.

The evening began with a discussion of the newly commissioned Te Deum by Paul Reeves, to be performed later. The composer and a choir member, Ian Buist, enlightened us and prepared the ground. The concert opened with vibrant performances of two coronation anthems by Handel: Zadok the Priest and The King shall rejoice.

The excellent precision of the orchestra and tidy brass were a joy. This was followed by Mendelssohn’s very early piece: String Symphony No 10 in which the haunting opening and later bounce was beautifully caught.

The new Te Deum followed a most attractive and tuneful work, with a lightness and simplicity of style that drew us immediately in to spirit of the words set. Rhythmic repetitions gambolled with the twentieth-century English sonorities. A lovely piece, well sung.

Haydn’s lesser-known mass, Missa Cellensis formed the latter part of the evening. The choir was joined by soloists from the RAM: ruth Jenkins (soprano) whose Gratias was nicely assertive; Laura Kelly (contralto); Alexander Sprague (tenor); and Oliver Dunn (bass). The ensemble was competent and convincing. The Choir gave the lively performance we now expect from these musicians.

MN Woodroffe