Cost factors caused Ian Sloan's Malvern Festival Chorus to replace their originally intended performance of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius with a concert version of a masterpiece by an earlier great English composer, Henry Purcell.
His 1689 Dido and Aeneas is a perfectly balanced 50-minute operatic gem, with a fully developed plot and an astonishing gamut of emotions for such an early opera.
The heroine is one of the greatest of women's roles and Malvern is fortunate to have, in its favourite singer Susan Black, someone whose vocal range and dramatic abilities suited the part ideally. Her fellow soloists supported her well, with particular praise to the bright-toned Sarah Busfield as Dido's maid Belinda.
The joy of the choir in preparing this work for performance was evident; they were forthright, clear and effective, though perhaps genteel Malvernians will never be an ideal chorus of demons!
The splendid keyboard player, Michael Phillips, underpinned the orchestra, largely drawn from Malvern College.
The first half of the concert was an effective tapestry of lesser known choruses and solos, showing the range of Purcell's work for church, stage and ceremonial occasions.
This fine concert attracted an enthusiastic quorum but by no means the full house needed if the choir are to be able to perform the largest scale works.
Ernie Kay
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