Wednesday 26 June
The Chorus has just returned from an extremely successful mini-tour of the Mozart Requiem with the fabulous Flanders Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kristiina Poska. Everyone had a marvellous time and reviews of the concerts were wonderful.
“Flanders Symphony Orchestra review – Vienna comes to London via Ghent and Sheffield 21 June 2024
Three works from the Viennese periods of Mozart and Beethoven given worthy presentations by the Flanders Symphony Orchestra and Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus. ….. Flanders SO [Belgium] were joined for this performance by Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus [England] for a generally sturdy performance that took no risks, but delivered everything it needed to……
The chorus gave a very decent account that was nicely co-ordinated and alight with attention to Poska’s requirements in terms of speed and dynamic, albeit that, perhaps, a little extra drama might have been gained from more contrast in the latter (the only truly pianissimo came in the final ‘dona eis requiem’ of the ‘Agnus Dei’). The contrapuntal material presented them with no challenges, so that their fugues throughout were crisp and well delineated in each voice (although perhaps having half of the sopranos and altos positioned in the gallery led to occasionally understrength entries in these parts). If the opening of the ‘Sanctus’ was perhaps a touch underpowered (the subsequent statements got louder), the friskiness brought to ‘Hosanna’ made up for it.”
Barry Creasy see full review at Flanders Symphony Orchestra review – Vienna comes to London via Ghent and Sheffield 21 June 2024
“Safe, solid, super: Flanders Symphony finishes UK tour in Edinburgh
…..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.“
Simon Thompson, see full review on Bachtrack
“Flanders Symphony Orchestra
Unusually, the nigh on 100-strong choir occupied the choir balcony throughout the first half, clad in black with gold sashes for the ladies, worn on the right shoulder for the sopranos stage right and on the left for the altos stage left; the tenors and basses in the middle. Before a note was sung, they looked absolutely stunning. …..
The choir were as aurally impressive as their visual promise. Scrumptiously sepulchral in the Introitus, the Kyrie gave a first taste of their ardent facility with contrapuntal singing as they were unleashed in a double fugue. Flawless pitching in the chromaticism of the Dies Irae confirmed their status as a topflight chorus. More delicious full-on counterpoint with Rex tremendae dropped dramatically to hushed awe and had me on the edge of my seat. A spirit-shocking contrast can be wrung from the brutality of the male voices interspersed with the gentleness of the female lines in the Confutatis and Kristiina Poska exploited this to great effect, the chorus evidently willing accomplices in the theatricality. The mood of the opening was recalled in the Lacrymosa, bringing the Sequentia to a close. Two more fabulous fugues drove the drama of the first part of the Offertorium, Domine Jesu. The second part, Hostias, with dynamic contrasts and searching harmonies, explored a range of keys before another dramatic fugue. Süssmayr’s Sanctus was satisfying with its wee fugue on the Hosanna. After the Agnus Dei, the Communio brought us back to Mozart’s glorious music from the beginning, fitted to the concluding liturgy. Perfect.
The Usher Hall audience knew they had experienced something special. The dynamic balance, a bit light on the string sound in the first half, was fine for the Requiem. The applause was enthusiastic and prolonged and the chorus’ Music Director, Darius Battiwalli, came to the stage to acknowledge it with the other performers. Ms Poska then addressed the auditorium, thanking the audience for the warm welcome and announced “a little present”. The four soloists had joined the choir in their balcony. All then performed the most perfect rendition of Mozart’s exquisite ‘Ave verum corpus’ as an encore. A perfect end to a perfect afternoon of music-making.”
Donal Hurley Full review in the Edinburgh Music Review (online review site)