Classical review: Fauré’s Requiem; St Mary’s Parish Church (Haddington)

BRINGING what by all accounts has been a hugely successful third Lammermuir Festival to its close, the Requiem by Fauré was a perfectly fitting finale to this impressive annual event.

Unquestionably living up to the Festival’s mantra of beautiful music in beautiful places, the voices of the National Youth Choir of Scotland filled the historic St Mary’s Church yesterday evening with a richness well tuned in to its typically reverberant acoustic.

Not only are these young vocalists ever disciplined in their diction and intonation, but, under conductor Christopher Bell, they brought outstanding musicality to their approach to Fauré’s familiar score. Controlled phrasing, tone, dynamics were all there, along with the meaning and nuance of the text, making the Introit surely one of the most glorious moments of the whole festival.

Ethereally clear sopranos were angels personified as paradise beckoned, with NYCoS member Catriona Hewitson delivering a beautifully moving account of the Pie Jesu in its simple and honestly stated pleading.

In the first half of the all French programme, Northern Sinfonia kicked off their debut appearance at Lammermuir in exuberant style with Ibert’s Hommage á Mozart, strings and winds scampering through its playful delights in bright colours. In common with Fauré’s Pelléas et Mélisande, the Danse sacrée et danse profane by Debussy was shot through with warm immediacy and silvery movement, although its finer detail was occasionally difficult to pick up.

Rating: * * * *