Cathedral Paris Cafe Recital

A Parisian café concert in an imposing cathedral, the largest ecclesiastical building in Scotland no less, is an interesting idea and one that, by and large, works. The Cathedral is busy in August with a plethora of exhibitions in addition to the daily round of worship, but particular thought has been given in this recent attempt to create an intimate space using the choir stalls, the space to the High Altar and reduced lighting.To get the problems out of the way, the refreshments waned and the concert started ten minutes late, far from ideal when most of the audience were of a certain age and the start was already 10pm. I suspect that the organisers were caught out by the numbers turning up. On the positive side the introduction from the Consul General of France was genuinely warm and fitted the tone of the evening.The programme is filled with 18 songs, 11 by Fauré, split between tenor Oliver Brewer and Mezzo Judy Brown. Brewer struggled to enter into the project, and although both are members of the Cathedral choir he seemed unable to change his style. Duncan Ferguson, on the piano, tried hard to soften Brewer’s performance particularly in Fauré’s Clair de Lune, but without true success. However, Brown entered fully into the occasion. A Chloris by Hahn was delivered superbly, as was the closing rendition of La Vie en Rose. All of her pieces had the scent of romance or tragedy about them. It would have been nice to hear more Piaf and less Fauré as it fitted the spirit better. This was a concert about an emotion, a feeling. One couple were seen wrapping themselves in each other’s arms in the choir stall, truly affected by the musical themes. It was a fine way to end an evening, particularly in the company of someone special. I had invited someone to join me, they didn’t show. I hope that they do this again next year so that I can share it with them.