Review
Review of the BBC Philharmonic, Leeds Festival Chorus & Leeds Philharmonic Chorus
.jpg)
21/03/2009
Yorkshire Post review of the BBC Philharmonic, Leeds Festival Chorus and Leeds Philharmonic Chorus at Leeds Town Hall on the 21st March 2009 as part of Leeds International Concert Season.
BBC Philharmonic, Leeds Festival Chorus & Leeds Philharmonic Chorus
Leeds Town Hall, 21st March 2009
By using the words of the famous anti-Christian philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, Delius's A Mass of Life provoked an angry backlash from both the Protestant and Catholic churches at the beginning of the 20th century.
Now in a more accepting society we can view the words from a less emotive sacred viewpoint, and at least make a dispassionate evaluation of the musical aspects of a work that came from the end of Delius's richly rewarding early period.
Yet for all of the confidence and excellence of this performance from the combined Leeds Philharmonic and Leeds Festival Choruses, their sopranos fearless in the high passages, I still find my love for Delius sorely stretched by this sprawling score.
True, there are invigorating choruses at the beginning of each of the two parts, and the concluding passage is suitably pumped up to form a big finale, but much between is padding, with the soloists having little that is memorable to sing in a work that lasts almost two hours.
The conductor, David Hill, and the BBC Philharmonic did all they could for the score, while Anne Sophie Duprels, Alan Opie, Jean Rigby and Daniel Norman were the soloists.
Book for the Leeds Festival Chorus, Leeds Philharmonic Chorus and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra performing as part of Leeds International Concert Season on Saturday 15 May 2010
Author : David Denton
Back to summary
