Here’s some informal feedback from some members of the audience last Saturday:
“Congratulations on an excellent performance of Rachmaninov’s Vespers. Such a challenging work which your choir sung magnificently and seamlessly. It was hauntingly beautiful. All sections performed so well with the basses producing an amazingly sonorous Russian sound. I don’t know when any of you were able to take a breath but none could be heard, so much so that I had to remind myself to breathe!”
“My long-suffering wife, who has been dragged along to many a concert, said how beautiful we sounded last night, and this concert was probably the best she had been to…”
“Peter, many congratulations to you and the choir for an outstanding performance. The movements of sound were profound. Also yours and the choir’s stamina to be commended! And all to do again next week..”
“From an audience’s perspective, the concert was fantastic. I spoke to a number of people last night and like me they all were bowled over by your performance. Everyone felt that it was probably as good as any professional group of singers. Such fortitude and stamina as well. Very well done indeed. Good luck with next Saturday, not that I think you’ll need it!”
And from one of our guest singers:
“It really felt as though there were some moments of proper ‘chills’ with the volume changes and tight phrase endings. And the soloists were fantastic. My singer friends in the audience (who have both sung it before) were thrilled by the performance. I should also add that as a guest I have never felt so welcomed and befriended by a choir – what a lovely bunch of great singers. I will very much cherish the memory. And thank you also for illuminating the context of the piece. It’s so important to do so to allow us to give it its due weight.”
We raised around £550 for the DEC Ukraine appeal by means of a retiring collection.
Image: Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple and the Virgin of the Burning Bush, Russian anon, c. 1598, via Wikimedia Commons
