By Isle of Wight Observer
By a series of coincidences, the next concert given by Orpheus Singers features a number of family members.
The concert, at St. Catherine’s Church, Ventnor, takes place on Saturday 30th March 2019 when the choir will perform Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem.
The work will be performed in German, with a piano duet accompaniment written by the composer himself, and the pianists are Merryl Spong and Judith Flint, who are sisters. The Soprano and Baritone soloists are Miranda and Martin Johnson, a married couple returning to the Island after their performance in Orpheus’ hugely successful June concert last year when they were soloists in Mozart’s Mass in C minor at Totland.
Orpheus’ new Music Director, Charles Paterson, will be conducting his first concert with the choir. Charles was singing, playing and writing music from an early age. His choral experience stretches over more than 30 years in a number of choirs in Cambridgeshire and Leicestershire, during which time he also performed as a soloist.
Brahms’ extraordinary Requiem was the composer’s first major composition, written when he was only in his thirties. It’s a work of physical and emotional magnitude, with a unique libretto that shuns the words of the traditional Catholic Mass in favour of text selected by the composer himself from the Lutheran Bible, focusing on comfort for the living.
The piece will be sung uninterrupted, as originally intended. Tickets can be obtained from Choir members or online at www.orpheussingers.org.uk.
