"Fabulous" Gerontious -continued

“I hope when I meet my maker the choirs of angels will achieve the same sublime celestial heights as The Hackney Singers”, added Rochelle Lewis. “The rich and robust sounds from the soloists were the best I’ve heard and rightly fitted the story line”.

 The Dream of Gerontius is Elgar’s story of Gerontius’ (‘old man’ in Latin) journey into life beyond the grave, his fears and trials, which are represented in music by splits into beautiful eight-part choral harmonies. Elgar’s own judgment of his work, written at the end of his score, was ‘This is the best of me’. This performance echoed that sentiment.

 “Well worth the two-hour drive from the coast”,

David Lewis.

 Hackney Singers and Forest Philharmonic were joined by international soloists: Mezzo-soprano Anne-Marie Owens, Tenor Julian Gavin and Bass-baritone Andrew Greenan, who echoed the audience’s assessment.

“It was a wonderful, spiritual, musical experience and it makes you remember why you actually wanted to be a singer”, said Greenan. “There was a real sense of concentration by everybody and the spirit of the piece seemed to come alive”, agreed Gavin.

 “It had a wonderful atmosphere”, said Owen. “It’s a marvellous choir – it’s the fact that it is composed of people from all walks of life and reflects the area of Hackney well”.

Mark Shanahan, international conductor and Musical Director for Hackney Singers and Forest Philharmonic, paid tribute to the part that the choir played in creating the atmosphere. “The chorus were like a wall…I mean that as a compliment! It was a huge amazing sound.”

Hackney Gazette review