The South-West Essex Choir goes from strength to strength, their reputation growing along with that of their dynamic conductor, Ben Palmer. Together with the Meljon Singers and a quartet of professional soloists, they gave a stunning performance of Verdi’s choral masterpiece. Ben Palmer marshalled the large choral forces with consummate skill, drawing out all of the music’s subtleties with careful control of dynamics, phrasing and tempo. The Forest Philharmonic Orchestra provided a splendid accompaniment, playing with verve and style, and producing a full orchestral sound that never threatened to overwhelm the singers.
A fine quartet of soloists, Elisabeth Toye, Belinda Williams, Sebastian Ferrada Garramon and Ian Caddy, sang Verdi’s challenging music with clear diction and beautiful tone. In the Agnus Dei in particular, under the expert baton of Mr Palmer, the beautifully drawn unison singing of the female soloists was subtly contrasted with the rich harmony of the choral textures. There were many other examples of fine choral singing.
Following last year’s excellent Dream of Gerontius, this was a truly memorable Requiem.
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