Schubert takes the strain out of choir's comeback concert
The oldest and largest choir in the Tunbridge Wells area stages its first concert for two years on 14th November, with a stirring programme of works by one of the greats of Western music, Franz Schubert.
Flexing vocal chords rusty from lack of use and live rehearsal during lockdown, meant that the Royal Tunbridge Wells Choral Society’s comeback concert needed to be inspiring but not too demanding. ‘Simply (and splendidly) Schubert’ fitted the bill: a compact programme of “stunning music with lovely vocal colour,” as baritone Robbie Haylett described it. There’s no interval, to minimise mixing.
Supplementing the choral works – a melodious Mass, a rousing Magnificat and a moving Tantum ergo (a Latin hymn) – professional soloists have chosen their favourite Lieder, the poetry-to-song settings of which Schubert was the absolute master. Soprano Kristy Swift, who has won prestigious awards for singing opera and Lieder, describes her choice: “a final, hopeful section about the return of spring feels particularly apt as many of us emerge from the loneliness of the pandemic and find our way in the world again.”
“Schubert,” she added, “is a melodic genius, with an instinctive feel for the contours of the human voice.”
Covid restrictions on singing and group gatherings resulted in a sleeker version of the RTWCS 100-strong pre-pandemic self. Despite lively weekly online workouts throughout the lockdown period, “we just didn’t know what choir members would be capable of,” said Music Director Robyn Sevastos. “You don’t project or challenge your voice when you’re singing in isolation at a screen in your kitchen.” The number of active choir members dropped to around 35 during lockdown, but at the return to live rehearsals in mid-September, 70 hardy, determined and double-vaccinated choir members regrouped, suitably distanced and wrapped up against fresh night air circulating through open windows. From behind a very large face helmet, Director Robyn, who, like the 5ft-tall Schubert, makes up for lack of height by huge presence, energy and musical expertise, inspired and guided the Choir back to performance standard.
For mezzo-soprano soloist Sophie Kidwell, the Simply Schubert concert will be her first performance with a full choir for two years: “it will be an utter thrill to be part of the glorious full force of the Magnificat, ” she said, “and it will be so special to feel the warmth of sound when the soloists’ parts are echoed by the choir in Tantum Ergo.”
Tunbridge Wells-born baritone Robbie Haylett, who has sung with Kentish and Midsummer Opera companies, as well as many choral concerts and recitals, describes Schubert as “the ultimate craftsman: his works are perfectly structured, and beauty is always at the forefront of the work.”