Conductor saves the day stepping into soprano solo after illness strikes choral society concert

Pangbourne Choral Society’s Easter Surprise

at the Falkland Islands Memorial Chapel, Pangbourne College

on Saturday, March 29

Review by PETER HAYWARD

PCS led by music director Sara Benbow delivered an Easter surprise, uncovering some musical treasures depicting the death of Christ and the brutal way in which he was betrayed and executed.

This concert unearthed some lesser-known nuggets, and unquestionably, this choir and its MD staged a dramatic performance of Easter music from the 17th to 21st century.

As Sara Benbow explained: “We wish to show a cross section of dramatic music focused on a key moment of human tragedy and despair that led to the birth of Christian faith.

“This is as much about technique as it is about telling a story through clear, sensitive narrative communication. Above all, it must be fun!”

It is never easy for a choir, no matter what its experience, to master different musical styles and genres in one performance and it is to its great credit that PCS did not at any time flinch from the many challenges.

The concert opened with John Henry Maunder’s Olivet to Calvary cantata. Once a staple work of the early 20th century, its popularity has waned, but this performance made one think again. Great drama and brutality in the lead-up to Pontius Pilate handing Jesus to the crowd, demanding complete commitment to the unfolding story.

The choir was well supported by Tori Benbow (soprano), Richard Robbins (tenor) and Cormac Diamond (baritone), who assumed the role of Pontius Pilate with great gravitas, contrasting with the agitated choral crowd. Organist Steve Bowey also played a major role in bringing this work to a thrilling climax.

The second half of the concert swung back from 20th century to the 17th, opening with Antonio Lotti’s Crucifixus and progressing through to Part Two of Handel’s Messiah, which again dramatises the moments (Behold The Lamb of God; Surely; All We Like Sheep) leading to Christ’s death, finishing in utmost despair with the crowds scoffing and jeering (He trusted in God). This choir focused vigorously on the real-time drama of brute force coming up against something which it could not understand.

This paved the way for more uplifting spiritual renewal evident in James MacMillan’s Christus Vincit (first performed in 1994) and Sarah MacDonald’s Crux Fidelis (published in 2019). The choir was quite magical in the latter as the music soared to (unaccompanied) heights as we were led to contemplate a new ‘guest in Paradise’ before dying away into a delightfully peaceful and uplifting conclusion.

The performance of the MacMillan piece contained its own moments of high drama, with the choir staying on top of a terrifically challenging piece of music and the conductor having to address the standing down through sudden illness of Tori Benbow, with a key soprano solo, with calm authority. And so, we enjoyed from the conductor’s rostrum, Sara Benbow, Maestro and Soprano, and the audience loved it.

This choir, ably supported by Steve Bowey (organ) and Liz Collins (piano), performed superbly – unaccompanied in the final two works and holding pitch throughout