Music Review: Choral Classics, Liverpool Cathedral

Nov 13 2007 by Glyn Mon Hughes, Liverpool Daily Post

ON THE face of it, the latest offering from the Liverpool Welsh Choral – along with their guests, the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union – could have been a very dull affair.

Choral Cathedral Classics implied a whole string of hum-a-long favourites, with nothing new and certainly nothing to challenge either performers or audience.

But what a refreshing concert this was. The Faure Requiem apart, this was a concert of works rarely heard outside a liturgical setting – and, even then, one would be hard pushed to find most of these works on a service list.

The opening work set the scene: a large setting of Laudes Organi by Zoltan Kodaly, written in 1966.

The choir used the drama of this setting to an excellent degree with a fine range of intimate, pianissimo moments contrasting with the thunderous fortissimos. The tenors felt a little hard-pushed at times, with the tonality sinking, but that was a minor point in what was, overall, a triumphant performance.

Conductor Keith Orrell has done much to turn round the Liverpool Welsh Choral. It’s now back where it should be – among the ranks of the fine, large choruses.