A surprisingly enjoyable evening for me.
I booked this ages ago on the basis that I really like Elijah, by Mendelssohn. Tthen I started thinking. I might like Elijah, but I don't really know it. It's in Westminster Cathedral, a venue I have already discovered to be completely antipathetic to music.
Then I looked at the list of soloists. Kate Royal, I know little about except that she's the next Big Thing in British Opera, and I heard her as Woglinde in Rheingold about eighteen months ago. I have always found Timothy Robinson to be satisfying and reliable without ever hitting my T-spot.* I have seen Iain Paterson in a few minor roles here and there and have not been displeased, and he was impressive in Curlew River on the TV. But, to be honest, when I saw his name, I thought, 'he's the one who looks like someone I used to be involved with...' rather than thinking about his voice. As for Jean Rigby, the last time I saw here I wrote
I've found her disappointing before. Once I can forgive, twice I draw conclusions.
I sat down with the CD over the weekend and played it in my ears today, and concluded that it is indeed a fine piece of work. But still I don't know it.
I took myself along to Westminster Cathedral and prepared for an evening of misery.
As the conductor walked on someone on my row said "Ooh, it's that gorgeous one...!" I racked my brains to think of a youngish gorgeous conductor. I t dawned on me it was Paul Daniel. I would say 'Easy on the eye' rather than gorgeous, but I would be a sad woman indeed if that mattered to me. You know, conductors, the ones with their backs to the audience.
It was definitely a performance of two halves. In the first half the orchestra, chorus and three of the soloists battled heroically against the appalling acoustic. I moved forward after the interval and heard a splendid concert, conducted wonderfully, played magnificently and sung gloriously by chorus and three of the soloists. I think I might have been in an acoustic whitespot, on the aisle, about Row 10 of Block B. Timothy Robinson hit my T spot, notably in his closing aria; Kate Royal sounded good, but far from the finished article, I would say. And Iain Paterson was amazing. I really like his voice, and I resolved that I do want to see him again. As it happens, I have tickets to see him four times in May but, knowing nothing about the opera Cyrano de Bergerac, I know less than nothing about Le Bret. I'm wondering whether I should, after all, go and see Sir John in Love, but again, I'm not sure how significant is the part of Sir Hugh Evans.
I'm sorry but I'm going to have to say it. Jean Rigby was awful. Maybe it's just me, because she has an impressive CV, but at one point, there seemed to be a lot of fidgeting when she started singing, whereas the next time Iain Paterson began, the only stirring was people sititng upright to pay attention. And it can't just be me, because when she had strangled 'O rest in the Lord', a sumptuously beautiful aria as written, and as sung by Janet Baker on the CD I own, the chap behind me exhaled the word 'crap'. He didn't know the music - he said so afterwards, although he did know the story, because he wrote an essay on it once. However, you don't have to be familiar with the music to recognise brilliant singing, nor do you to recognise, well, crap. So maybe I shouldn't go to Sir John in Love, after all, because she is in it.
Elijah is an extraordinarily beautiful piece of music, with some fine arias and some rousing choruses. I doubt it will ever overtake Messiah or the Creation in my affections, or that of the Great British Public, but it's a great piece of work. Quite possibly the missing link between Haydn and Wagner. Mendelssohn died at 38, the same age as I am now (7 November will be my Mendelssohn day). Another great Aquarius. Him, Mozart and Schubert. All Aqaurians, all geniuses. All died young.
And I will say this for Westminster Cathedral. The bizarre acoustics muffle the strings and allow the brass and timpani to sound out. Admittedly, it was Mr Noisy on the timps,but I like him!
I feel a lot happier about the final concert I have in the Westminster Cathedral series. My seat is in Block A, and hopefully it will be somewhat warmer at the end of May, so I won't have to sit shivering in coat, pashmina and gloves. And I will book the Riccardo Muti Verdi Requiem for next March.
*it's a spot specially reserved for Tenors; sort of the aural equivalent...oh, you get the picture.
