THEY will sing in Portugal in April, head for Orkney in July and by late September will team up with Barry Humphries for a spectacular concert in Sheffield.
Huddersfield Choral Society travels first to Oporto to sing Britten’s War Requiem with the Orquestra Nacional do Porto under Christoph Konig.
Then, in summer it’s off to Orkney for two concerts as part of the St Magnus Festival, where the programme will include Vaughan Williams’ A Sea Symphony conducted by Martyn Brabbins, the Choral’s former conductor.
Finally, the Choral will be at Sheffield Arena on September 23 for a Last Night Of The Proms concert.
They will join Barry Humphries, plus Dame Edna Everidge, Sir Les Patterson and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Carl Davies.
Between all those travels the Choral will record a CD of Stainer’s Crucifixion in Huddersfield Town Hall in June.
The CD will be issued by Signum Records in September.
But, before all of that, the Choral completes its current season of subscribers’ concerts March 27 at Huddersfield Town Hall.
Conductor Adrian Leaper will make his debut with the Choral and the Orchestra of Opera North in Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms.
This piece was first heard more than 40 years ago at the Southern Cathedrals’ Festival at Chichester Cathedral. Bernstein uses a Hebrew text for boy treble, choir and orchestra.
The evening’s second piece is Syzmanowski’s Stabat Mater, based on a Polish translation of the Marian hymn, although sung in the original Latin, which uses traditional Polish folk melodies and rhythms to bring profound meaning to this Catholic text.
This rare combination will close with the more familiar Faure’s Requiem which should create a calm, serene world of sound in an evening which promises power and considerable emotion.
The soloists are Rachel Nicholls, Ceri Williams and Christopher Purves and two choristers from York Minster. Though this is a subscribers’ concert, there are a few gallery tickets available at £20 from Peter Sunderland on 07792 591 119.
