This concert had a programme of instantly recognisable pieces that will no doubt be in the CD or LP collections of most of those present. This was not an iPod audience.Opening the evening was a tentative performance of Mozart’s Exultate Jubilate, which was a pity for such a joyful piece of music. Things cheered slightly as we hit the final Alleluja only for the big ending to fall flat. Bach’s Double concerto for violins put the spotlight on the orchestra for the evening. Sadly the balance of the players was missing, the keyboard was inaudible from where I was and the tuning wandered. John Clark and Sarah Harrington on bass and 'cello held the piece together.Mozart’s Requiem provided the main part of the programme. This is a huge piece that should cover a spectrum of emotion, from the terrors of hell to the sublime paradise of heaven, and is well suited to a church setting. The additional players for his piece gave the performance a huge lift. The timpani, woodwind and brass sections were superb throughout. The strength of the choral performance lay in the quieter, more ethereal sections. Here the church choir looked at home and even the strings got it right. Similarly, the Confutatis, Agnus Dei and Domina Jesu were all well presented.In the bigger set pieces Brigitte Harris, the Director of Music, did her level best to drive the piece forward but faced a tough challenge. A small ensemble does not need volume but it does need to have power at certain points. In the Kyrie and various Hosannas the sopranos should cut through the piece, but they were not able to do so. Among the soloists Carole Clarke, Josept Doody and Hugh Hillyard-Parker added a fine tone to the evening. The Tuba Mirum was particularly enjoyable.This was a very genteel concert from which the audience went away satisfied. It will not have caused them to wake up with the fears of eternal torment in the original piece, but on a comfortable Elysian Field.
