Waverley Singers

Masterful Elijah a tribute to new conductor

The following review was contributed to, and published in, The Herald newspaper on 17 April 2009.

For his first concert as newly appointed conductor of the Waverly Singers in their performance of Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Richard Pearce ably demonstrated his fine musicality and rich personal gift for encouraging each member of the Choir. He communicated both energy and a winning sensitivity to the music, setting just the right pace and dramatic atmosphere. There was a palpable sense of rapport between conductor and choir.

It was a special treat for the large audience at St Andrews Garrison Church in Aldershot to hear this challenging work last Saturday, and in addition it raised over £1,100 for Help for Heroes and its timely work for the men and women of our Armed Forces wounded in conflicts across the world.

Elijah is outstanding for its sheer length, and we were given the entire work without cuts. It makes dramatic demands on the soloists, and involves a sizeable orchestra. The youthful Brandenburg Sinfonia produced a rich and well-balanced sound; particularly notable was the fine solo playing from the flutes, oboes and cellos.

The Waverley Singers were brilliantly served by the evening’s soloists. Michael Bundy as an experienced Elijah gave us a powerfully moving and musical performance, each note packed with emotional intensity; his eyes ablaze with anger, scorn and tenderness.

The Soprano Angela Bic has a voice of melting liquid tone and considerable power, which made up for her occasionally unclear text. By comparison Martha Jones, mezzo. sang with great clarity of text though she lacked strength in the ensembles; in her arias she produced great warmth of sound particularly in the upper register. As if from nowhere, the tenor John McMunn was especially impressive with his soft clear entry in See now he sleepeth beneath a juniper tree. His final aria was simply superb.

The choir was augmented by a few young voices, as it was without the originally planned support of another choir. The singers paced themselves well, only flagging slightly in the penultimate chorus. They filled the church with their beautifully blended tone, and produced clear and confident entries, a wide range of dynamics, and expressive phrasing, but particularly in He watching over Israel.

The unaccompanied women's voices in Lift thine eyes were perfectly tuned and sang so delicately. There was tremendous drama and spat out consonants particularly in Behold, God the Lord passed by! Perhaps the most magical moment was the opening of Holy, holy, holy is God the Lord with solo voices from amongst the choir giving us a shimmering electric sound.

We look forward to their next concert on June 14 in St Mary's Church Frensham.