RSNO, RSNO Chorus, Edinburgh Festival Chorus & Patrick Hahn, Edinburgh review: 'glorious lyricism'
The combined forces of the RSNO Chorus and Edinburgh Festival Chorus made for a memorable performance of Verdi’s Requiem, writes David Kettle
RSNO, RSNO Chorus, Edinburgh Festival Chorus & Patrick Hahn, Usher Hall, Edinburgh ★★★★★
It was probably, RSNO Chorus Director Stephen Doughty explained in his informal but informed introduction, the very first time that the singers of his choir and those of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus had ever amassed together on stage.
The wall of vocalists – more than 200 of them – was certainly visually impressive, and sonically it was nothing short of resplendent: if this was a first-time collaboration, it definitely shouldn’t be the last. And it was just what was needed, of course, for a work as dramatic and extravagant as Verdi’s Requiem: the combined singers roared their way through the famously apocalyptic “Dies irae” with startling passion and utter conviction, and the tenors and basses were particularly gutsy and forthright in the “Tuba mirum”.
But RSNO Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Hahn’s gripping account was far from all spectacle, even if there was plenty of that to shake the spirit. His very opening crept in almost inaudibly, and there was a wonderfully awed quality to his hushed ‘Lux aeterna’, with mezzo Irene Roberts supplying a gentle luminosity. Roberts was a late stand-in for an indisposed Deniz Uzun, but she offered thoughtful, nuanced contributions throughout, blending beautifully with Hahn’s other three vocal soloists. Tenor Mario Lerchenberger felt rather over-projected in his solos, but found a winning richness in ensembles, while soprano Jennifer Davis brought a glistening sincerity to the closing “Libera me”, and bass Edwin Crossley-Mercer offered a commanding “Confutatis”.
Hahn drew particularly chiselled playing from the RSNO, setting Verdi’s dramatic writing in super-HD focus, while a special mention must go to BSL performer Paul Whittaker, who lived and breathed every moment in a supple, insightful interpretation. It was a performance of sometimes overwhelming power and glorious lyricism too, but it was the massed ranks of choral singers – in all their splendour and subtlety – that will live longest in the memory.
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