2:27pm Wednesday 6th April 2011
By Giles Woodforde
Things have changed at Eynsham Choral Society. After nearly 25 years on the podium, Alison Wilson has retired, to be replaced by Stuart Dunlop, director of music at Reading University. Two further changes were apparent as Dunlop took up the baton for his first concert. The tenors and basses had been brought forward to stand at the front of the choir, and the lone organ accompanist at my last Eynsham concert had been replaced by a period instrument band.
There seemed to be a certain haziness about pitch — among both choir and band — as Dunlop launched into a series of excerpts from Mozart’s opera Idomeneo. The opening chorus, Nettuno s’onori came over as soft-focused. But Dunlop is an incisive conductor, and things settled down, with the choir producing impeccable entries. Soloists Ruth Jenkins, Laura Kelly, Sam Furness, and David Shipley were a well-matched quartet.
Then there was a sea change. The opening Kyrie of Haydn’s Harmoniemesse had me jumping off my seat. Here was the attack and pin-sharp diction that had been missing before. While Dunlop took a fairly stately overall approach to the following Gloria, there was real praise in Laudamus te, and the Qui sedes chorus was taken at a cracking pace. The final Dona nobis pacem really hit home. The advantage of having a top-notch band became readily apparent too, as Haydn’s cheerful accompaniment was brought to life with some characterful instrumental solos.
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