By Isle of Wight Observer
By Peter Savory
Ryde Chorus gave us a treat on Saturday at All Saints’ Church, Ryde – a concert of 18th-century music from Vienna: an era of unparalleled European musical creativity.
The concert focused on three composers from the period: Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven.
The first half of the concert was quite intimate in scale. The soloists for later in the concert, and James Longford, the accompanist, each performed a solo piece. The atmosphere was almost salon-esque, certainly close up and personal.
Then came the climax of the first half of the programme: the choir and soloists joined in a performance of Haydn’s “Little Organ Mass”. This was a real treat. Continuing the chamber-performance character of the solo pieces, this was a delightfully light, energetic and transparent performance, with some really poignant moments – in particular, the Miserere section of the Sanctus which was quite uplifting.
The second half of the concert was more choral. Soloists and choir joined together in a number of Beethoven pieces, from the familiar Ode “An die Freude” to an excellent interpretation of the Hallelujah from his oratorio “Christ on the Mount of Olives”. As a finale we were treated to Mozart’s Missa Brevis in D major. This contrasted with
Haydn’s Missa Brevis in part one – it was larger, more “choral”, and in some respects, jollier, even in the more solemn parts of the libretto.
All in all, the evening was a lovely insight into the extraordinary musicality of the period and left one with a longing to experience more of this astonishing creativity.