Choir rises to challenge of singing in Russian
December 1

 1999

Uplifting thoughts amid the gloom
March  27

Dvorak, Stabat Mater,
St Edmundsbury Cathedral

    Stabat Maters are about Good Friday and have all the gathering gloom of an execution.  It is strange, then, that you should come away having heard something so invigorating and life-enhancing.
     Beneath the lofty chancel arch of Bury Cathedral, the Essex Sinfonia's atmospheric opening took us to the hill outside the city wall.
When the voices joined them it was as if figures had begun to ascend Calvary.  The choir ranged from passages of intense
sweetness to surges of triumphant praise.  There were moments, with soloists in quartet and the choir and orchestra in full spate, when there was an extraordinary torrent of sound.
     But the soloists never lost their identity.  Each was a strong individual - an expressive bass (Jeremy White), a tenor with an attractive roll in his voice (Marc Le Brocq), a passionate mezzo-soprano (Kathryn Turpin) and a warm soprano (Julie Kennard).  The effect of Jeremy White's voice followed by the mellifluence of the choir was a memorable experience.   
    The audience was given an intense, emotional, soul-stirring lead into Holy.

            Basil Abbott, East Anglian Daily Times

1998

University of Essex Choir
Christmas Concert
December 5

Haydn, Harmoniemesse, Charter Hall

     The University of Essex Choir and Essex Sinfonia gave a stunning Christmas Concert.
     Haydn's Harmoniemesse of 1802 was his final mass, and shows him at his best, both in terms of choral writing and orchestration.  From the start it was clear that this was to be an evening of the very finest choral singing, the performance made particularly special by first class soloists, Jane Margaret Doran, Kathryn Turpin, Simon Haynes and Peter Cox.
     From the beauty of 'Et incarnatus est' in the Credo, to the exuberance of the Benediction, the soloists gave outstanding performances.  The choir's disciplined ensemble and excellent tone quality was just right for Haydn.
      After the interval, we heard the ladies of the choir perform Edward Elgar's 'The Snow'.  This is a setting of a poem by his wife, Alice.  As well as depicting snow, the music also has a wonderful warmth to it, and the sopranos and altos brought out this warmth through particularly expressive legato singing.
      As with the Haydn, the spontaneity and imagination of the interpretation was not least due to the choir's conductor.
Richard Cooke, who always seemed able to draw out just the right colour and timbre from choir and orchestra, at just the right moment.
Then came a break from choral music.  The violinist Jonathan Carney gave an exhilarating performance of Bruch's Violin Concerto No 1 in G Minor.  The virtuostic passages were breathtaking, time seemed to stand still during Carney's amazingly beautiful playing in the second movement.
      Finally, the bass, Christopher Cox joined the orchestra and choir again, for a sparkling performance of Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on Christmas Carols.'
      This was a concert of great variety, clearly enjoyed by the large audience.

                                                                                          Andrew Quatermain

1997

University choir gives excellent performance
May 26 

Brahms, Snape Maltings

       It was refreshing to hear Brahm's rarely performed Gesang der Parzen (Song of the Fates) in his anniversary year, and the University of Essex Choir, the Essex Sinfonia and conductor Richard Cooke are to be congratulated on their performance as well as their choice.
There was a fine sense of balance throughout and the chorus sang the German texts with conviction.
       In the familiar Violin Concerto in D the soloist, Krzystof Smietana, gave a powerful performance with satisfying tone and phrasing.
The reflective "adagio", with a good oboe solo, had a delicate feel, and the last movement's gipsy rondo was played with rhythmic vigour and crispness.
       Richard Cooke guided the orchestra with restraint, and their accompaniment was considerate.
      Bruckner's Mass in F minor is a taxing work, especially for the choir. Many details show the influence of Wagner, including the orchestra of symphonic proportions, which in it exuberance was at times in danger of overwhelming the vocal forces.
       The solo quartet, Julie Kennard, Deborah Miles-Johnson, James Oxley and Kevin O'Donnell, were all well balanced, and James Oxley's tenor solo 'Et incarnatus est' was particularly moving.
                                                                                    
                            Hilary Furlong
                                

1996

A Memorable masterpiece
May 18

The Dream of Gerontius, Norwich Cathedral

        From the sombre opening chords of the orchestral prelude to the Angel's final pronouncement, Saturday's performance was memorable.
Richard Cooke's masterly direction of the orchestra and 144 strong choir emphasised the intensity and spirituality of Elgar's massive masterpiece, enhanced by the sensitive singing and enunciation of the three principals.
       Of these, the resonant bass-baritone Jeremy White excelled.  Tenor William Kendall was consistently expressive, but the Angel, sung affectingly by Janet Shell, had the most tender moments.

                       Keith Cutler, Eastern Daily Press

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Scared to death, but frightened to die
April  27

Dream of Gerontius
Snape Maltings Concert Hall

      If Bach's music is the best intellectual evidence we have for the existence of God, then Elgar's The Dream of Gerontius must rank as one of the most convincing of appeals to our emotions.
      To say that John Graham-Hall and Margaret Mcdonald sang this work is to say that Columbus did a bit of sailing.  They became the work.  Behind them, the mammoth Essex Sinfonia and University of Essex Choir lived and died it.
      Conductor Richard Cooke gave a controlled, but passionate reading of the overture, the Sinfonia producing a beautiful burnished sound, especially from the lower strings, as warm and comforting as the arms of the angel that later speeds Gerontius on his way.
      It was a shock the to hear Gerontius on his deathbed, played by Graham-Hall as a man scared to death, but frightened to die.
If there are those who find the high Catholicism of Newman's poetry, with its strong belief in Judgement and Purgatory, difficult to hack it is because they haven't heard a performance as masterly as this one.
      Totally convincing and utterly absorbing, stripped of all schmaltz, Elgar's music becomes greater than the message.
So it was with the burning precision of the chorus.  Their praise to the Holiest became a pure affirmation: an affirmation of what didn't really matter.
      It is rare to find a choral work delivered with such unanimity of purpose in all departments.  

   Kathryn Dean, East Anglian Daily Times

1994

A Russian salad at Charter Hall
 May  1

Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov, Charter Hall

       This concert, given by the University of Essex Choir and Essex Sinfonia, featured the works of three great Russian composers.
       For a composer who once declared himself "the greatest who ever lived, " Modest was perhaps an unfortunate Christian name for Mussorgsky.  That said, he made a valuable contribution to musical history.
       On this occasion we heard four pieces for choir and orchestra.  All came from uncompleted operas and other choral works, and were to some degree orchestrated and revised by Nickolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
       All four movements were highly melodious, and the choir and orchestra both performed well under the firm guidance of conductor Richard Cooke.  There were contributions also from soloists Eleanor Bennett (soprano) and Colin Campbell (bass).
       The second work performed was Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony.  The first movement opened with a sombre theme from the woodwind which permeated not only that movement but the work as a whole.
       The second movement also began with a distinctive melody, this time a haunting, melancholic theme initially in the lower strings.
        The third movement, a waltz, showed Tchaikovsky as inclined towards westernised musical ideas.
        The finale is a curious blend of fanfare and climax somewhat mismatched to the pessimism of the rest of the work.
        The final work on this programme, Rachmaninov's Choral Symphony, The Bells, proved to be something of a tour de force for the choir.
Singing this difficult work in Russian, the choir and soloists gave a fine account of themselves.  A similarly fine performance and equally excellent accompaniment from the orchestra should ensure a fine reception when this concert is repeated at Snape Maltings tomorrow.

               Christian Roots, Essex County Standard

1993

A Concert for the oppressed
 December 11

A Survivor from Warsaw, A Child of our Time, Charter Hall

       Concerts with a political message are very much a rarity these days, but the performance by the University of Essex Choir fell firmly into the category.
      The coupling of Arnold Schonberg's A Survivor from Warsaw with the Sir Michael Tippett's A Child of our Time established quite clearly that this was a concert for the oppressed.  This was reinforced by the inclusion of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which although not written for the persecuted later became associated with freedom.  The similarity of the opening phase to the Morse code letter V symbolising victory became a very effective symbol in the Second World War.
       A Survivor from Warsaw is a remarkably powerful work.  This is in part due to its length - it is very short - leaving unfulfilled and also to the spare scoring for just narrator, male chorus and orchestra.  Inspired by an incident recounted by a survivor from the ghetto, the horror of the story is effectively amplified by the dissonance of the music.
       In A Child of our Time, Tippett  has taken the opposite course.  He started writing it two days after the outbreak of war and instead of being purely narrative he not only compares the sufferings of one people with another but also introduces an element of hope in the form of Negro Spirituals which occur regularly through the work.
       In the course of one work the choir was required to be narrator, the oppressed, the persecutors, the self righteous and then to switch to well known spirituals, a difficult task at the best of times but when combined with the soaring soprano voice of Adele Paxton there were moments of spine tingling beauty.
                                                       
                    D.N.T, East Anglian Times

1992

Requiem a rich and powerful drama
March  21

Verdi Requiem, Charter Hall

      From the haunting tension of the Kyrie to the final terrifying "in die illa tremenda" this was a mature and memorable performance of Verdi's operatic requiem. 
      The University of Essex Choir at Colchester's new Charter Hall was always stunningly near the emotional centre of the music and their conductor, Richard Cooke, drew rich and powerful drama from the Essex Sinfonia.
      The solo quartet was beautifully balanced yet individual performances also shone through.
      As the Kyrie died away we were assaulted by a shattering "Dies iria" that returned again and again with ever great ferocity.  Threatening drum beats of doom led us into the terrifying whispered "Quando Judex Est Venturus".
      The tension was palpable.  The brass octet was cunningly placed above and behind the audience.  The prospect of Judgement was there above us in heaven.  Particularly strong was the chorus "Salva me, fons pietatis".
      The gentle and balanced duets from Katerina Kudriavchenko and Anne-Marie Owens were punctuated by tenor and bass solos which reached a climax in a heart stopping "Lacrimosa dies illa".
      The power of the final "illa tremenda" was awesome indeed, the silence of the last prayer a sublime and lingering moment for the capacity audience.

                        Peter Newton, East Anglian Times

1991

Choirs demonstrate superb vocal ability
May 5

Beethoven, Missa Solemnis,
Snape Maltings Concert Hall

      The choirs of Essex University and Colchester Institute joined together under Richard Cooke's inspired direction to give a brilliantly polished performance of this all too rarely performed Solemn Mass.
      In a presentation full of highly charged emotion the amateur singers amply demonstrated their vocal abilities.  Beethoven's choral writing is punishing; a vocally unsympathetic, quasi-instrumental style that calls for intensive rhythmic awareness frequently also uses sudden dynamic contract, and often combines this with phrasing which stretch the limits of "normal" vocal range and demands almost super-human breath control.
    The work has five movements, each weaving its own particular magic through a carefully conceived alternation between available force according to the needs of the text.  Each movement uses some new approach, and must have seemed a practically insuperable challenge to early performers.  The Gloria is possibly the most challenging movement ever written for such forces, presenting all the work's problems in sustained and fervent praise.
     The dazzling stream of sound produced on Sunday left at last one member of the audience feeling drained with exultation and elation.
Any subsequent strain heard in the voices of the choir only served to enhance the effect, the effort required to carry the work through being almost an act of homage in itself.
     The Essex Sinfonia, supplemented by members of the Institute's Orchestra opened with an assurance and control which was ever present.
The score has an almost symphonic texture, with truly Beethovenian requirement for dynamic intensity.  Never once did these talented stray in their realisation of the composer's text, providing a sound which sensitively balanced the need to accompany with the need to assert their own identity.
     The four soloists were excellent.  Lynda Russell's soprano clarity was a dream, its projection achieved without a hint of strain.  Susanna Spicer's contralto and Andrew Murgatroyd's tenor were sensitive throughout and particularly at the change of mode and mood at "et Incarnatus" sounded deliciously hushed.  The generous warmth of Brian Bannatyne-Scott's rich bass tone was best heard in the Agnus Dei preceding the chorus' desperate shout for peace as the work draws to its emphatic close.

                   Toni Calam, East Anglian Times

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Highly charged music-making
May 1

Beethoven, Missa Solemnis, University of Essex Lecture Theatre 

     Beethoven's Missa Solemnis is undoubtedly one of the great monuments of classical music, and one which still generates a sense of occasion.
     The large combined forces of the Essex University Choir, the Colchester Institute Choir and Orchestra and the Essex Sinfonia promised the excitement of being in the physical presence of some highly charged music-making by predominantly young performers.
     The performance, under Richard Cooke's direction, succeeded in conveying the personal, indeed intimate, significance of much of the work, as well as the dramatic, symphonic, liturgical and spiritual aspects.
     The Kyrie unfolded with the solemn, measured movement of a procession entering a building, anticipating an authentic religious experience.
      Although physically separated from the choir by the orchestra, the solo voices of Julie Kennard, Susanna Spicer, Andrew Murgatroyd and Brian Bannatyne-Scott, emerged naturally form the choral singing and formed an harmonious ensemble without the tension that often arises from too soloistic a manner.
    The Gloria erupted powerfully, the choir, in spite of its large numbers, being momentarily eclipsed by the orchestra in the university lecture theatre block.
    The various clauses of the great mass sections were each given their characteristic emphasis, the quieter or more awesomely spiritual, the qui tollis in the Gloria and the et incarnatus....crucifixus in the Credo, coming across most strongly.
     The hushed opening of the Sanctus, the Benedictus, with Jonathan Carney's ethereal violin solo, and much of the Agnus conveyed Beethoven's prayerful response to the text.
     In this atmosphere the belligerent intrusion into the Dona nobis pacem sounded uncomfortably out of place, but his is how it is meant to sound.
                                                 

Alan Parsons, Essex County Standard

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Choir's Debut at Charter Hall
December 5

Mozart's Requiem,
Beethoven Choral Fantasia, 
Piano Concerto No 5

     The University of Essex Choir and the Essex Sinfonia gave the inaugural concert at Colchester's newly completed Charter Hall on 5 December.  Conducted by Richard Cooke, whose ten years as University Choir Conductor were celebrated by an earlier presentation, the concert included not only the Mozart Requiem, but also the Beethoven Choral Fantasia and his Piano Concerto No 5, with the outstanding young South American pianist Alfredo Perl.  
     Even in the quietest Choir passages, the choral singing was distinct, melodious, and could clearly be heard over the skilfully subdued Orchestra.  The forte-fortissimo passages were powerful, thrilling and well-balanced.  The overall effect was lively, bright and very clear.
     The Choral Fantasia, a striking anticipation of the 9th Symphony's Ode to Joy, starts with a delicate piano entry, which engages each section of  the orchestra in turn in a series of variations.  The beautiful playing of the piano and Orchestra and the distinct sound gave ample evidence of the quality of each section.  The combination of piano, six soloists, Choir and Orchestra  is unusual and produced interesting sonorities.    The rousing climax ending the work was very satisfying and the choice of this rarely performed work was amply justified.
    The Mozart Requiem, performed in the Franz Beyer edition of 1971, rather than the more usual Sussmayer version, revealed a true Mozartian style and texture in the orchestral scoring, and allowed the confident Choir to display its range of dynamics, from hushed quiet to unforced loud passages.  Several times during the performance, a high  soprano choir line floated out with ethereal beauty: the basses gave rich underpinning and the altos and tenors carried enough weight to balance the ensemble throughout.   
    The Lacrymosa had deeply moving singing and lovely string accompaniment.  The Dies Irae and the Tuba Mirum were impressively sung, full bodies and superbly complemented by the trombones.  The last Cum Sanctis changed the mood abruptly and broke the spell of this emotional performance.
    As usual, the diction and responsiveness of the Choir were excellent, thanks no doubt to their excellent Choir Director - I offer a toast to the next ten years under his leadership.
                                                                                                                            Mary  Philips, Wyvern

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