ARMONICO CONSORT AND ORCHESTRA

VERDI: REQUIEM

MALVERN THEATRES - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12

It is not often that a figure like bass Sir Willard White visits these shores.

Last Saturday night however, Malvern Theatres was privileged to hear White as one of the soloists in Verdi’s Requiem. The Armonico Consort and Orchestra provided a stirring contribution to this remarkable work under the direction of Christopher Monks.

In addition to White, soloists Helen Semple (soprano), Niamh Kelly (mezzo), and Richard Rowntree (tenor), who replaced the indisposed Brad Cooper, did an extraordinary job in finding the Requiem’s sacred depths.

The Latin text for ‘Day of wrath and doom impending’ was aptly furious from the chorus and orchestra, and the hushed feel worked well with muted strings before the Latin words for ‘Grant them eternal rest, O Lord’ were sung near beginning of the relay.

Apart from towards the end when the soprano came to sing to the right of the conductor, the soloists were positioned on the left hand side. This may have been to do with the problem of lack of space between the soloists and the audience front row. This obviously affected the balance and may have taken some getting used to for audience members, but did not stop the event from being utterly memorable.

Also, the occasion proved that Verdi's Requiem can be performed in a slightly smaller concert hall environment.