A CHORAL CHRISTMAS

Sinfonia Smith Square

★★★★

“a strong and heart-warming performance by all”

There is nothing that heralds Christmas more than a joyous classical choral music concert, and A Choral Christmas, in the beautiful Smith Square Hall, was just that. Performed by the youthful emerging musicians of both Sinfonia Smith Square and National Youth Voices, energetically conducted by Nicholas Chalmers.

The programme was full of traditional and contemporary carols and music with festive themes; with welcome opportunities for the audience to join in, including the opening carol Unto Us Is Born A Son.

The programme started perhaps with too many slow carols including Judith Weir’s ethereal The Guardian Angels and the wistful melody of John Ireland’s The Holy Boy. But then came Matthew Martin’s joyful Novo Profusi Gaudio. The colourful and exuberant music with its memorable motifs and rhythmic phrases saw all on stage relax into an evening of festive joy.

Baritone, Dominic Sedgwick, joined the concert singing the solo in Gerald Finzi’s In Terra Pax, serenely telling the Nativity story, making it a very attractive piece to close the first half of the programme.

The evening was top heavy with John Rutter, but no one was complaining – least of all me! The second act opened with Rutter’s sprightly Shepherd’s Pipe Carol – the carol became a modern classic whilst he was still an undergraduate at Cambridge.

Ralph Vaughan Williams quintessentially English folk Fantasia on Christmas Carols conjures up a merry vision of a rustic village covered in a blanket of snow. With other hidden Christmas carols in the orchestral setting and warmth in the voices, it was a strong and heart-warming performance by all, especially from the sinfonia’s string sections and Sedgwick’s strong baritone.

The pace slowed again with the bleakness of winter and a troubled world in Errollyn Wallen’s Peace on Earth. The slowly spinning ostinato on solo harp over which the voices sing is a difficult carol to convey, especially when the harpist, beautifully played by Chris Clarke, is so far away from the choir.

Then it’s non-stop John Rutter to the end, with his The Twelve Days of Christmas – and the audience standing to sing “five gold rings” and quickly sitting down as the next verse begins, to ready themselves to repeat the line and action again! Fast on its heels comes O Holy Night, followed by the audience, choir and sinfonia joyously singing Joy to the World.

One housekeeping note: maybe don’t allow a baby/toddler into a classical concert, especially if it is being recorded for a wider audience to enjoy. Luckily, said sprog had either fallen asleep or been taken home, by the start of the second act. And my only other gripe was a staging note: if you have a young soprano soloist, keep her on stage in her spotlight for the whole song. Do not let her walk off back to the choir halfway through the song and be lost. Let her have her moment centre stage, and enjoy the immediate applause for her, at the end of the carol.

A Choral Christmas was recorded tonight for broadcast on Classic FM on 22 December – so everyone can enjoy pure Christmas in a concert, which this is.

A CHORAL CHRISTMAS

★★★★

Sinfonia Smith Square

A CHORAL CHRISTMAS

Sinfonia Smith Square

★★★★

“a strong and heart-warming performance by all”