A visit to France and the Deep South

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Inverness Choral Society/Inverness Choral Sinfonia at Eden Court Theatre 23/4/2016. A Review.

The Empire Theatre at Eden Court was the venue for a setting of works by Fauré and Rutter.  Outside the theatre teams were beavering away in preparation for the Loch Ness Etape.  Inside was no less busy with an appreciative audience gathered to see the Choral Society/Inverness Choral Sinfonia.

At the beginning of the performance the large screen in front of the stage rose dramatically to reveal the choir and sinfonia already in place.  The choir was split into three sections with the ladies on either side of the men who were placed in the centre.  This made good use of all voice parts with the sopranos, altos, tenors and bass being used to great effect across the stage.  Ripples and waves of sound were created at various points during the evening which made for very interesting harmonies.

The evening began with a recital of the Requiem by Gabriel Faure.  For this the choir were joined by the soprano Eilidh McEwan and the bass Douglas Nairne.  The reviewer had never heard the whole Requiem performed before so this was a new experience.  The sinfonia and the choir blended well together to produce a very competent performance of the work.  One minor quibble which may offend the purists.  The acoustic of the theatre was a bit flat for a work better suited to an ecclesiastical setting.  The addition of overhead microphones amplified and linked to a soundesk with a bit of echo or resonance applied may have enhanced the effect of the work.

After a brief interval the groups returned to deliver two more works by Fauré – the Cantique de Jean Racine and the Pavane.  Again these were performed well and with atmosphere.

The mood changed totally when the choir and orchestra turned to performing Feel the Spirit by John Rutter.  This is a collection of spirituals including: Steal away, I got a robe and Deep river, from the American Deep South reworked by Rutter to showcase both voice and instrumentation.  

For this part of the evening the mezzo soprano Marion Ramsay joined the groups.  Miss Ramsay obviously was enjoying herself and this infection extended to the choral and instrumental players who let rip after the rather sombre nature of the Fauré works.  The sinfonia and its various parts worked together with the different parts of the choir to create some stunningly atmospheric aural effects.  Here in the one place were jazz players, church organists and Salvation Army bands all bound up in having fun.

The concert ended with a bit of audience participation when Mr Tocher turned round and invited us to sing along with When the saints go marching in.

One final minor quibble although there was a very informative programme available it would been good if there had been some background information given on each piece before it was played.

All in all a very diverse and enjoyable evening.  Look out for the return of the performers to Eden Court in November when they will be performing the Petite messe solennelles by Rossinni and a selection of Italian operatic works.

Many thanks to Eden Court for hosting the reviewers.

The image African Americans posed outside of church – courtesy of Library of Congress.

A notefrom the editor

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Rob Polson
Rob Polson
Rob Polson can’t play a note but loves listening to music, especially played live. Likes any sort of music but particularly interested in ambient, early and world music. Being involved with InvernessGigs gives me the opportunity to get out and about and listen to music, try some new beer and also to develop my writing skills.

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