Review of Anniversary Concert
The November concert, held at Olton Friary, consisted of music by two composers celebrating anniversaries in 2009, Purcell and Handel.
The great English Orpheus, Henry Purcell was represented by two of his best known Odes: “Welcome to All the Pleasures” and the ever popular “Come Ye Sons of Art”, written for the birthday of Queen Mary. In this, the most famous movement is Sound the Trumpet, written for two counter tenors. David Clegg (a regular soloist with the Society) and Gareth Price matched each other well and were given great support by the continuo team of the Queens Park Sinfonia.
Other soloists to impress in this half were Samuel Boden (tenor) and Adam Green (bass). The choir in their interjections were alert to all the nuances involved in these most delicate of pieces and the orchestral colours were allowed to shine through with the sensitive conducting from Andrew Fletcher. Of particular note was the beautiful obbligato oboe playing.
These two pieces warmed up the large audience for their glasses of wine in the interval and everyone came back into the church cheered by the prospect of hearing more fabulous music, this time in the shape of Handel’s choral tour de force “Dixit Dominus”. What they were not prepared for was the energy with which Andrew Fletcher started the piece. The strings of the Queens Park Sinfonia played with gay abandon but at no point did the performance seem about to topple over itself. From the blistering pace set at the opening we went straight into the alto aria “Virgam Virtutis” sung by Gareth Price, a late replacement, who gave a fine performance. Perhaps the highlight of the piece came near
the end with the heavenly sounds of the two soprano soloists, Suzannah Vango and Katie Trethewey, intertwining their lines in “De Torrente”, ably supported by the men of the chorus. Speaking of the chorus, this piece is a daunting challenge for any choir, amateur or professional, and Solihull Choral Society coped magnificently throughout with the technical demands made upon it. Obviously trained fantastically well, they rose to the occasion at all points and Andrew Fletcher should be
very proud of them, and himself. The smiles on all faces, both in the choir and in the audience at the end of the evening told its own story. A concert to live long in the memory.