Review of recent concerts

A Celebration of Mozart (March 2001)

Peter rehearsing with choir and orchestra “A Celebration of Mozart” was promised by the Surrey Choral Festival at The Harlequin on Saturday 10 March, and this was indeed a vibrant and celebratory event. A huge chorus of some 200 voices was gathered under Music Director Peter Farrant’s baton, with Reigate & Redhill Choral Society hosting the event and constituting the core of the choir.

Representatives from many local choirs were present and also, from further afield, a choir from Brunoy in France, one of the official twin towns of Reigate and Banstead. The evening began in fine style with the Overture to the Marriage of Figaro, ably played by the newly-formed Surrey ProMusica who again acquitted themselves well later in the evening with an accomplished performance of the Haffner Symphony (no. 35). The distinguished soprano Alison Pearce gave a thrilling virtuoso performance of Exultate Jubilate in which she held the audience entranced by her seemingly effortless coloratura (shown off to particular effect in the two ad lib cadenzas) coupled with an exquisite purity of tone. The remaining item in the first half was a superb rendition of the short motet, Ave Verum, in which the choir gave the audience a tantalising taste of the choral delights to come in the second half, which was devoted to the well-known Requiem. With such a large and clearly enthusiastic choir performing a work as passionate as the Requiem, it would have been all too easy for things to become overblown. But Peter Farrant controlled the chorus and orchestra perfectly so that the dynamics were never overdone and the tempi remained admirably steady, even in the fugal passages which, with less skilful direction, can sometimes feel hurried. There was some excellent singing from the choir, whose sensitivity to the text produced moments of great poignancy, notably the plangent imprecation “salva me” in the Rex Tremendae and some very good sustained singing in the Sanctus. The tone was never forced, even at moments of high drama, and there were some beautifully articulated semiquaver runs, particularly in the alto line. This was a magical evening and such a splendid concert must surely rank as one of the highlights of Reigate and Redhill Choral Society’s Diamond Jubilee Season.

Samantha Pistell
Surrey Mirror, 'Inside Out', Thursday 22 March 2001

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	Reigate & Redhill Choral Society is affiliated to Making Music: The National Federation of Music Societies and gratefully acknowledges support received from the Borough of Reigate & Banstead Arts Council. Registered Charity No 280195

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