REVIEW

Brahms’s German Requiem/ St Martin’s Church, Worcester

To celebrate is 20th anniversary, Worcester Cathedral Chamber Choir chose to programme Johannes Brahms’s magnificent German Requiem; but with a difference. Instead of the usual orchestral accompaniment, we were treated to a two-piano arrangement based upon Brahms’s original 1869 version for piano duet.

Brahms, a master writer for the piano did not leave the score wanting: neither, did the choir who gave a glorious performance under the insightful and energetic direction of conductor Stephen Shellard.

Any doubts I may have had about this version were swept aside by the majestic opening movement ‘Blessed are they that mourn’. Even the sumptuous orchestral introduction was beautifully captured by the deep and sonorous legato lines of the pianos, played expertly by Christopher Allsop and Robin Walker.

From the perfectly paced opening, Stephen Shellard drew impassioned singing from the choir. The choral singing throughout was compelling.

I was especially impressed by the mighty chorus, ‘Behold, all flesh is as grass’, where the virtuosic piano writing and vigorous fugal textures added greatly to the drama. Equally striking was the thrilling singing in ‘For we have here no abiding city’. The faster sections were taken at a breathtaking pace with the pianos’s percussive incisiveness adding greatly to the overall excitement and rhythmic drive. The soloists too added much to the evening’s success. Baritone Edward Seymour possessed a wonderfully lyrical tone and sang with deft assurance, while soprano Sheila Davies was a highly expressive singer.

Juliette Kemp