Review by Francis and Sue Taylor.

AS Christmas approaches and the days become shorter, people want to be cheered with memorable melodies and good tunes they can hum while driving home.

This is not the time for Götterdämmerung!
The Athenaeum Singers hit the spot here by giving us a concert of music by two of the greatest ‘tunesmiths’ in the world of classical music – Mozart and Schubert. The programme for the evening consisted of several shorter works by these two composers and included items for a soprano soloist.

It was a joy to see the Athenaeum Singers responding to their new young musical director, Thomas Mottershead, with such obvious enthusiasm. All eyes were on him, and the individual voice sections came in on cue, and, what is probably more difficult, stopped singing on cue as well. The choir made a good sound and were well supported by the flying fingers of Simon Dinsdale on the organ. The soprano soloist, Amy Carson’s, lovely clear agile voice was perfect for the programme and her enjoyment of singing came across to the audience. It is always a treat to see a soloist who can sing beautifully while smiling.
The concert opened with Mozart’s Regina Coeli, written when he was only 15 after his first visit to Italy. The choir tackled the outer two movements with spirit, with the altos in particular being outstanding, while the inner two movements were superbly performed by Amy. This was followed by the Mozarts’s Exsultate Jubilate, a challenging piece for a soprano soloist, where Amy excelled and was supported ably by Simon who switched to the piano for this item.

Mozart’s Ave Verum Corpus is well known to the choir and the audience and it is always a delight to see it on the programme. This performance was both beautiful and sensitive – as well as being technically accurate – and for many of us was the highlight of the evening. The change of mood to the lesser known Jesu, wahrer Gottessohn was achieved with ease.

The second half of the programme was devoted to Schubert, starting with his less familiar Stabat Mater which the choir performed with confidence, though the sopranos struggled at times to maintain the pitch. This was followed by his popular Ave Maria where Amy, once again, demonstrated her virtuosity.
The final item of the evening was Schubert’s Mass no.2 in G Major, probably the best known and most performed of his masses. The work is not technically difficult but still requires concentration and clear diction to bring out its song-like nature. We knew we were in for something special when the initial ‘K’ of the opening Kyrie rang out loud and clear. In the final two movements the soprano soloist would normally be joined by tenor and bass soloists, but in this performance the tenor and bass sections took responsibility for the solo parts. Despite their small numbers this was a successful experiment and they provided able support for Amy.
We wish the Athenaeum Singers well and we are sure they will continue to flourish under the direction of their new conductor.