Fresh exuberance of Mendelssohn splendidly captured (From Hereford Times)

Fresh exuberance of Mendelssohn splendidly captured

1:12pm Wednesday 1st April 2009 in

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This year marks Mendelssohn’s bi-centenary and also the putative bi-millenary of Paul the Apostle, subject of Mendelssohn’s oratorio Saint Paul which depicts the saint’s conversion from oppressor to missionary. Whether or not it reflects the Mendelssohn family’s own conversion to Christianity, it certainly reveals the young composer’s adulation of the Bach Passions he did so much to champion. Unlike the high-romanticism of the later and more famous Elijah, Saint Paul is firmly rooted in classical soil, and in Hereford Cathedral on Saturday its fresh exuberance was splendidly captured by the Hereford Choral Society, clearly relishing the chance to have a darn good sing.

Of the three soloists only the bass has a real chance to shine, and Alex Ashworth’s portrayal of Paul combined impact with dignity. The soprano and tenor solos are mostly confined to narrative recitative. Carys Lane clearly wanted more dramatic scope, while David Webb seemed to forgo the dramatic in favour of the ecclesiastic. Either way, the all-important meaning succumbed to the cathedral’s hefty reverberation, rendering constant reference to the printed text essential.

Under Geraint Bowen’s direction the Hereford Sinfonia acquitted itself well, the strings sounding particularly rich. However, despite Mendelssohn’s markings, the dynamics of the whole performance rarely dropped below mezzo-forte. This deprived the music of some of its nuances and, when the big moments really came, left the performers with nowhere to go, since they were mostly there already. That said, and no small thanks to Mendelssohn, ‘there’ was a good place to be.

John Rushby-Smith