London Symphony Orchestra, Harry Christophers (replacing Simon Rattle). Lucy Crowe soprano, Andrew Staples tenor, Roderick Williams baritone, LS0 Chorus. Haydn – The Creation (sung in English)
This Thursday performance was part of the Barbican’s 40th Anniversary celebrations, and there was a free glass of prosecco to greet everyone with a ticket, plus some young /local community performers. There seemed to be a number of people – at least in the Stalls – who sounded in their conversation like senior Arts admin / BBC types. On the stairs leaving, I was behind Nicholas Kenyon, ex-BBC and the administrator of the Barbican for 14 years until he fell on his sword, accused of institutional racism, who was being greeted by all and sundry. Inevitably there was a speech – several in fact- referencing the last 40 years, including somebody gushing about the presence of the LSO for that period, and having ‘one of the greatest orchestras in the world’ associated with the hall. This is faintly absurd when their music director has spent the last 5 years denigrating the place and trying to get somebody to build a new concert hall! And, indeed, the inadequacy of the hall is very apparent – no organ, cramped space for chorus, let alone the much-complained-about acoustics. There was also a speech and dedication of the concert to the people of Ukraine – while this is a very deserving cause and issue, I can’t help reminding myself that people in Afghanistan / Yemen / South Sudan have been as much impacted on by war and violence as, sadly, people in Ukraine and without quite the same UK solidarity or appeal for funds
Because of the Barbican junketing, the performance had a later start – 8pm – and played without a break. This was good – the third Adam and Eve section seems slighter than the other two sections and running at a lower level of inspiration, so playing it straight through gives that section less important in structural terms. I hadn’t realised till I read the programme notes that no-one knows who wrote the libretto. It’s clearly a contemporary or near contemporary piece of writing – one theory suggests it was put to Handel, who never got round to working on it. Whatever the origins of the work, I have found it increasingly a joy to listen to – always inventive, joyful, and radiating contentment without sounding complacent.
Maybe, perhaps, because of the space problems on the Barbican stage, maybe, perhaps, because of some effect Simon Rattle wanted to achieve, the chorus was interestingly placed – not behind the orchestra as per normal but in front of the orchestra in the first 3-4 rows of central Stalls. This meant they sat facing the orchestra when they weren’t singing, and then all stood up and turned clockwise to face the audience when it was their turn to sing. I was probably too near to them to be able to judge the impact – it didn’t seem to affect the accuracy and responsiveness of the singing, and they made a thrilling sound (perhaps sometimes blocking the sound of the orchestra from where I was). Apparently Simon Halsey, their Chorus Director, stood at the back of the stalls to direct the singers he had prepared, so he rather than TV monitors showing the conductor was what was guiding the chorus. It must still have been quite disconcerting for Harry Christophers!
The soloists were all good but one of my favourite singers, Lucy Crowe, was much more than that – she offered singing of a quite extraordinarily high standard: not just beauty of voice, but also her clarity of diction, not just her coloratura and easy flowing top notes but also her way with words – the way in which words like ‘enchanted’ and ‘cooing’ were floated to give an extra sense of delight. The two big arias – the birds one (“On mighty pens uplifted”) and “With verdure clad” – were quite outstanding. The other two singers were good but less outstandingly distinctive, and maybe some of the lower notes were slightly uncomfortable for Roderick Williams
Simon Rattle had been booked to conduct this but he made another cancellation, recovering from a minor operation. Harry Christophers certainly achieved a rhythmically vital and energetic performance . Quite what Rattle would have done with it more than what Christophers achieved I am not sure. The LSO were excellent, with polished woodwind contributions, and the precision of the music-making at all times was impressive
I thought this was very good but somehow not quite as overwhelming as it should have been, given the line-up – I am not sure the chorus positioning quite worked for me, from where I was sitting.
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