'remarkable focus on clarity and deep expression — truly a moment to treasure' - 6.12.06

[Concert Review: LSO Choral Blockbuster Series, The Barbican, London] L’Enfance du Christ, Neil Fisher 06 December 2006

As “choral blockbusters” go, Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ doesn’t quite meet the specifications. Still, who would deny the LSO the chance to sneak this suitably seasonal oratorio into their Blockbusters series? In Colin Davis, this orchestra has arguably the world’s greatest interpreter of Berlioz, and in snapping up Tenebrae as the chorus for this performance they gave plenty of reasons to listen extra carefully.

Which is really what you have to do when it comes to this piece. Delicately hypnotic interludes segue into dramatic tableaux, delivered, as the composer himself related, “in the manner of the old illuminated missals”.

The trick is to find a pace and gentility that lifts these illuminations off the page, and Davis pulled it off. When Yann Beuron’s exceptional narrator (replacing an unwell Ian Bostridge) ushered us into the desert oasis where the Holy Family find rest, the woodwind responded with verdant serenity — as vivid a response as the disturbing sonorities they supplied to accompany Herod’s anguish as he contemplated “the wretchedness of kings”.

At times they might have gone a little further from chaste oratorio to more operatic liveliness. The dance of the soothsayers who incite Herod to his infanticide could have been spiced up, while Tenebrae’s voicing of their macabre malevolence erred on the side of tame. Of the soloists, Karen Cargill’s beautifully rounded mezzo drifted a little too far to demure as Mary; William Dazeley did what he could with the humble offerings allotted to Joseph.

But those quibbles aside, Berlioz’s painted miniatures sprang to life. Matthew Rose’s Herod was etched with very humane grief; Peter Rose was outstanding as the generous carpenter who takes Mary and Joseph in from their wanderings. And what you gain most with a group such as Tenebrae is their remarkable focus on clarity and deep expression. Raptly sonorous in the Shepherds’ Farewell, the delicacy of their musicanship matched the lightness of Berlioz’s soundworld perfectly. And it was at its most effective in the unaccompanied finale, where the narrator gives way to the gentle marvelling of the chorus — truly a moment to treasure.