Gertsamtkunstwerk: Britten's War Requiem

As soon as I saw this in the programme for the Royal Festival Hall, I knew I had to book it. I glanced at the date and thought, "Oh, that's VE Day." Two hours later, the penny dropped...

A good line up - the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Kurt Masur; Christine Brewer (soprano), Anthony Dean Griffey (tenor) and Gerald Finley (baritone), and the London Philharmonic Choir and Tiffin Boys' Choir.

It's wonderful music. "It grows on you," said my mother sniffily. Well, yes, but much great music is not instantly accessible: if it was it would be shallow and disposable. As the programme notes state

the fusion of the words of the Latin Mass for the Dead with the poetry of the First World War poet Wilfred Owen is in itself an achievement of genius

It's a great piece of work.

But the performance failed to move me. Perhaps it was me, who knows. I heard it last year at the Albert Hall and it was definitely one of my performance highlights of the year. I suspect I shall forget tonight's very quickly.

No doubt the Boys Choir sang beautifully, but they were positioned in the Balcony, whereas I was in the Stalls with the Balcony overhanging my head so they were faint and distant. I mostly found the chorus to be insipid, the Ladies in particular. Okay, I wasn't expecting masses of passion, but they left me indifferent. The orchestra was fine, but there was a never a time that I felt deeply moved by their playing. The percussion is interesting to watch in this. If I recall correctly, there were six percussionists and two timpanists. It was slightly strange when the 'chamber orchestra' was playing, the timpanist also played tam tam. I know it's supposed to be a chamber orchestra, but I thought it strange that she executed a few notes on the timps, then put her right timp stick into her left hand to take the tam tam beater in her right and beat the tam tam, over and again, when there were seven perfectly competent percussionists sitting there counting.

I didn't think the organ was anything special. Admittedly, the RFH organ is hardly the RAH, but it's not a bad organ. I've heard it a few times and liked it, but I'm struggling to remember whether I actually heard it. I certainly didn't feel it, as I did at the Albert Hall.

It seemed strange, as well, to me that the chamber orchestra had a different conductor, Neville Creed, Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Choir. but other than being strange, it wasn't an issue.

The position of the soloists was bizarre, with Christine Brewer already ensconced next to the organist before the concert began, and Anthony Dean Griffey and Gerald Finley walking on with the conductor. to go and sit behind the chamber orchestra, in front of the percussion. It made the bows at the applause a bit strange.

As for the soloists. People rave about Christine Brewer. I must be missing something. I found her shrill and rather unpleasant at the higher end of the range, although towards the lower register she has a rich and sonorous timbre. Anthony Dean Griffey I wouldn't go out of my way to hear again, although I wouldn't especially avoid him. I found his voice bland, without any colouring or nuance, and some of his pronunciations were downright odd.

So it was with some relief that Gerald Finley proved to be the highlight of the evening. I very much liked his voice when I heard him in Traviata, and if someone gets back to me, I shall be booking ticket(s) to see him in Eugene Onegin at ENO. I think his voice is noble, mellifluous, rich and with a good range of colours.

At the end I took some photos. Each time my flash went off a man in front of me turned and gave me a Look. I ignored him. I have a very wide peripheral vision (it partly compensates for my lack of spacial awareness), so he probably doesn't even know that I saw him glaring. Of course, the programme says "Photography is strictly prohibited in the auditorium" but every venue I go to (except the Coliseum for some reason...) has camera flashes as an integral part of applause. And none of them appears to mind in the slightest. Woe betide if you use flash during a performance - it's off-putting to other audience members and most of all, tot he performers. I read some venue somewhere or other which said "Flash photography is permitted only during applause" or similar wording.

I was a bit disappointed that the man in front didn't say anything to me, because I had two - not one, but two - answers at the ready "You need to get out more, dear..." or "Oh, I have all the stars on this Compact Flashcard...Steve Reich, Barbara Bonney, Angelika Kirchschlager, Jonas Kauffman, Teddy Tahu Rhodes, Thomas Quasthoff, Daniel Barenboim, Plácido Domingo...jealous, are we?"

All the photos I got of Christine Brewer are with her turned away from the audience. I got a few of the male soloists; in all of them, Gerald Finley is pulling dorky faces...!