RSNO, 16/11/2013

Britten : War Requiem

Evelina Dobraceva, soprano
Jeffrey Francis, tenor
Russell Braun, baritone
RSNO Junior Chorus
RSNO Chorus
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Peter Oundjian

Every year, the RSNO Chorus does one big choral concert, by which I mean pillar-of-the-repertory choral, in addition to their other participations throughout the season.  In this anniversary year for Benjamin Britten, it made sense that the work chosen should be the War Requiem, without doubt his masterpiece outwith the operatic stage.  The concert's placing, midway between Armistice Day and St. Cecilia's Day (which was Britten's birthday) was also singularly apposite.  More's the pity, therefore, that they did not really do themselves justice on this particular occasion.

I have to lay the blame for this at Oundjian's door, because I heard these same forces perform this same work, just over three years ago, but with a different conductor and soloists, and the result was very much better.  Yet the orchestra itself, tonight, was absolutely magnificent, especially the brass, vivid and compelling from start to finish.

The chorus - the adult chorus, that is - on the other hand, sounded a little tentative all too frequently, and downright messy in a couple of instances (the end of the "Dies irae").  The Junior Chorus, kept back-stage for the duration, however, was a suitably ethereal presence.   Taking that into consideration, their timing was impressive, their tuning very good too, bearing in mind that distance alters the perception of pitch.

Pitch wasn't a problem for the main chorus either, the major chords of resolution that close the Kyrie, Dies irae sequence and In Paradisum slid beautifully into place to resonate around the hall with their wistful half-promise of peace.  Timing, though, was a different problem, and I have to wonder if they simply weren't reading the conductor clearly enough.

The soloists were a bit of a mixed batch too.  Evelina Dobraceva (replacing a still-indisposed Susan Gritton) was competent, but uninspiring.  She was placed in the choir gallery, above the orchestra, but her voice didn't soar particularly.  The two other soloists, set to the right of the conductor, also had the twelve instrumentalists of the chamber ensemble that always accompanies them in this work grouped beside and behind them, rather than dispersed through the body of the orchestra.  This had the advantage of a clearer sound image for their music, but had the disadvantage of placing a full set of timps, plus a couple of other drums, very close to the soloists, and they were sometimes a little overpowered by this percussion.

Jeffrey Francis also started out sounding distinctly tentative.  He strengthened as the evening progressed, but his singing remained, for the most part, a little abstracted, whereas Russell Braun brought his characteristically lyrical warmth to his contribution.  The best moment for them was probably the Isaac and Abraham section of the Offertorium, extensively re-using the music from Britten's Canticle II, Owen's twisted outcome all the more chilling for the serenity of the passage that immediately precedes it.  On the whole, however, all the singing, chorus and soloists alike, tended to be rather more detached than it should have been, and deprived the work of much of its emotional impact, rather a shame given the power of the orchestral contribution.

[Next: 23 November]