ED2011 4/5 Reviews ED2011 Music Reviews

Cathedral Bruckner By Candlelight (St Mary’s Cathedral)

By Lauren Kelly | Published on Wednesday 31 August 2011

Although ‘By Candlelight’ is something of a misrepresentation as only the choir have candles and there is electric lighting aplenty elsewhere, the procession of 50 robed figures into the choir stalls is an impressive spectacle. Even more impressive is the quality of their collective voice: clean, crisp, and invigoratingly defiant. The first few pieces include the works of Palestrina and Brahms, in addition to those of Bruckner, and are performed with restrained technical mastery. Then, from nowhere, swells the discordant, Gothic ‘Ecce sacerdos’, which establishes the tone for a series of dark motets. Bruckner might not be as famous as his contemporaries Brahms and Wagner, but the supreme talent of St Mary’s Cathedral Choir will definitely raise his profile.

St Mary’s Cathedral, 23 Aug, 9.00pm (10.00pm), £8.00 – £10.00, fpp198.
tw rating 4/5
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