Review
TITLE: Gledholt Male Voice Choir
VENUE: Huddersfield Town HallREVIEW: William Marshall
THEY are notably mellifluous, the Gledholt Male Choir.
As a relatively small body of men they do not have the vocal power to make the Town Hall foundations rumble – indeed they used discreet amplification when they sang with the orchestra – but they have a very attractive tone, well in tune, and have tenor singers capable of nailing high notes very effectively, so that the harmonies are rich and full.
The choir, directed by Susan Wilkinson, demonstrated its sustained control at pianissimo volumes in a rendition of Schubert’s Night and there was technical excellence and evidence of hard work in the rehearsal room in an exuberant, accomplished account of the whimsical but elaborate and quite lengthy King Hal, by Gordon Langford, which enumerates Henry VIII’s wives and their fates.
Among the other choir numbers, there was a sentimental but affecting Two Little Boys, the ultra-famous Nessun Dorma, a very nicely sung Russian item, Casatschok, and The World in Union, based on Holst’s famous melody from The PlanetsŠ – although they would have done better to go the whole hog and sing I View to Thee My Country, which keeps the original tune intact.
The Gledholt MVC, which has a mission to encourage local music making, was joined for this concert by Kirklees Youth Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Thom Meredith.
Sub-ensembles from within its ranks were showcased. The Kirklees Youth String Ensemble showed good ensemble and tuning on Will Robertson’s intense, introspective and somewhat-Gorecki inspired Retribution, featuring an eloquently performed cello solo.
The Kirklees Music School Percussion Ensemble played some lively numbers, displaying plenty of technical accomplishment in Khachaturian’s famous Sabre Dance.
The orchestra as a whole was at its best in two selections from Aaron Copland’s Rodeo. This is highly melodic music – offering well-taken solos for trombone and trumpet in particular – but also highly demanding rhythmically and requiring a lot of disciplined playing. It was a high point of the concert.
There was plenty of colour and verve and technical skill too in a suite of music by John Williams from his Star Wars Phantom Menace soundtrack. This rightly made a big impact on the audience but it served to show that the orchestra has the ability to perform bona fide symphonic musicŠby the composers – such as HolstŠ – who originated the styles that feed into movie music.