J S Bach: St John Passion

St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne, Saturday, May 5, 2018

By Clare Stevens

Kington Choral Society (KCS) were blessed with a gloriously sunny evening for their Spring Concert in St Andrew’s Church, Presteigne, which added to the sense of occasion that characterised their performance of J S Bach’s St John Passion, sung in German and conducted by Robert Evans.

The choir was joined by the period instruments of Marches Baroque orchestra and an extremely distinguished line-up of guest soloists, all members of the acclaimed professional choir The Sixteen.

Outstanding among them was Jeremy Budd, singing the role of the Evangelist, which he did with tremendous authority and commitment. Timothy Jones brought eloquent pathos to the role of Christ, and the additional arias were skilfully performed by Julie Cooper (soprano), Kim Porter (alto), George Pooley (tenor) and Ben Davies (bass).

Highlights included the latter’s tender arioso ‘Betrachte, meine Seel’ / ‘Consider, my soul’ and Julie Cooper’s limpid final aria ‘Zerfliesse, mean Herze’ / ‘Dissolve, my heart, in floods of tears’, with its exquisite flute (Jonathan Morgan), oboe (Mark Baigent) and cello (David Hatcher) accompaniment. The contribution of continuo players Hilary Norris (organ) and Michael Neville (harpsichord) should also be acknowledged.

KCS is an unauditioned choir and it is no mean feat for them to undertake the demands of singing this great work, but they rose to the challenge magnificently. Their hard work over the rehearsal period was apparent, as was the inspirational effect of working with such experienced soloists and instrumentalists. The reflective chorales were nicely varied in mood and the difficult choruses were delivered with a great sense of drama. Entries in the fugal sections were generally confident, with some particularly strong tenor leads. It was noteworthy that the choir’s tuning improved in the second half rather than flagging as one might have expected, and they successfully negotiated most of the tricky rhythmic hurdles.

This was Robert Evans’s fourth concert as music director of KCS and he is to be congratulated for giving the choir this opportunity. The concert was deservedly sold out and the audience rightly appreciative of a very special performance.