Music / Choral
Review: Bath Camerata, St. Mary Redcliffe
Saturday night’s chilly temperatures did not deter the capacity audience thronged into a vast (and thus draughty) St. Mary Redcliffe Church for this heartfelt rendition of St John Passion performed by west-country chamber choir Bath Camerata and soloists.
St John Passion is one of Bach’s two extant works on the trial and sufferings of Christ with the other being the St Matthew Passion. Towering in the pulpit was renowned evangelist James Chilchrist, aided by another gorgeous tenor in the form of Joshua Ellicott. Robin Blaze, whose spirited and emotional countertenor initially struggled to fill the venue, gradually became more resonant.
Sadly, the billed Giles Underwood was ill and unable to perform, but was more than capably replaced by seasoned bass Stephan Loges. For this reviewer, however, it was soprano Elizabeth Cragg whose performance shone. Her arias were delivered with such impeccable clarity, precision and purity of tone that she pierced the lofty church acoustics like a roman sword.
Bath Camerata themselves – a small 25-member choir and 10-piece orchestral ensemble led by musical director Benjamin Goodson – gave a full-throated, seamless performance in their composite role of the mob at Jesus’ trial. Individual members of the choir also stepped up for solos, notably Phil Brotheridge who was compelling throughout as the ambivalent villain Pontius Pilate.
All told, it was a respectable performance in a remarkable location. Predictably, Bristol contributed a few of its own unsolicited sound-effects, such as shrieking police sirens while the chorus sang about Christ being ‘captured like a thief in the night’… which, in the end, seemed oddly appropriate.
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