23 June 2024
Coming to their tour on its final performance, in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, you could tell that the relationship between the orchestra and chorus had settled in nicely. They even had an encore up their sleeves, Mozart’s Ave verum corpus, which formed a neat companion piece to the main item on the programme, Mozart’s Requiem in D minor.
This was a Requiem performed with focus and energy, held together ably by conductor Kristiina Poska, who preferred fast speeds and tight drama. Those speeds stretched the chorus a little in the fugues of the Offertorio, and there were one or two pitching issues in the Confutatis and Lachrymosa. Otherwise, they sang with concentration and drive, managing proper heft in the Dies irae and impressive agility in the more stately Kyrie fugue.
Touring programmes tend to go for safe options, and in featuring only Beethoven and Mozart this one didn’t contain any surprises, but it was delivered with care, affection and a great degree of skill. Most audiences would find that very satisfactory indeed.“