Cantorion Llandeilo Singers

Orchestra, choir, four fine soloists and an evening of Mozart’s glorious music. What more could one want!

Review by Brendan Wheatley

 

The cleverly devised programme started with Mozart’s earliest composition and moved in date order through orchestral and operatic arias and duets. That was only the first half of the programme, devised by Artistic Director Gordon Kilby. In the second we were treated to an excellent performance of Mozart’s Requiem mass, which ironically was his final composition.

 

The evening started with a Minuet and Trio originally written for harpsichord but here played with flair on the piano by Wyn Turner.  Composed when Mozart was only five years of age, this stylish piece already showed the genius of the boy Mozart.

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The next item, which I must admit I had never heard before, was his symphony No 1 in E flat, composed aged eight. It is always fascinating to hear a composer’s early pieces, as quite often you can hear the germ of a theme expanded upon and used again in a later work. Did I hear a few bars of Osmin’s aria from Il Seraglio in there? I must listen to the piece again.

 

We then moved into the vocal section of the concert with four fine soloists – Helen Massey soprano, Esme Bronwen-Smith mezzo, Robyn Lyn Evans tenor and Theo Perry baritone. This was high quality singing from all concerned. Starting with an impressive ‘Exsultate jubilate’ from Helen Massey – a difficult piece at the best of times, but to be the first thing you sing in the evening, this was quite remarkable. Later in the programme Helen also showed her natural stage ability in the comic ‘Papageno Papagena’ duet from The Magic Flute.

 

Esme Bronwen-Smith, our mezzo for the evening, sang both of Cherubino’s arias from The Marriage of Figaro. To my mind this is the perfect voice for the role, and it was well characterised. Later in the programme she also showed a more dramatic side to her vocal talents by giving an impressive rendition of ‘Parto, parto’ from La Clemenza di Tito. Mention should also be made of the difficult clarinet obligato contained in the aria, executed with great aplomb by Richard Whitehead, really well done.

 

Robyn Lyn Evans sang two of the most difficult tenor arias in the Mozart operatic repertoire, namely ‘Il mio tesoro’ from Don Giovanni and ‘Un aura amorosa’ from Cosi fan tutte. These arias demand great control, with high sustained legato as well as flexibility in the florid passages. Many a fine tenor has met his match with these arias, but Robyn sang them with beauty of tone and complete assurance.

 

The lower male voices, like good wines, take a little longer to mature. Baritone Theo Perry has a fine voice with a solid technique, and I look forward to following his career with interest. The Count’s aria from the Marriage of Figaro is a real tour de force, including at the beginning a tricky accompanied orchestral recitative. As with all these concerts a run through against time in the afternoon, and performance in the evening can sometimes be insufficient time to get things spot on, and in the recitative the orchestra sounded just a little uncertain.

 

Once into the aria proper, however, we were treated to a fine performance with our Count really strutting his stuff and finishing with a fine high F sharp. His other items were two duets, ‘La ci darem’ from Don Giovanni and the ‘Papageno Papagena’ duet from The Magic Flute, both duets delighting the audience.

 

Part two of the programme was Mozart’s Requiem in D minor. In this the singers were joined by the Cantorion Llandeilo Singers. From their very first entrance this choir was so impressive. Throughout the whole piece they showed precision and clarity of diction. In many local choirs you hear a disparity of voice types with soprani and mezzi usually outnumbering the poor tenors and basses, and therefore creating an imbalance. Not this choir. Yes, there were more soprani and mezzi than tenors and basses but with good training from the choir master, this group of singers showed what really could be achieved with hard work. Colin New has done a remarkable job honing the skills of this remarkable choir.

 

I must not finish without praising the fine orchestral playing throughout the evening, led by Angharad Morgan. I read in the programme that Colin New is moving away from the area, and therefore the choir and orchestra will need a new musical director at their helm. I could tell from the reaction of all at the end of the concert that he will be sorely missed. Whoever is his replacement has extremely high standards to maintain. Very well done all concerned for a glorious evening of Mozart.

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Brendan Wheatley is  Artistic Director of Swansea City Opera

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