Andrew Johnstone reviews RTÉCO, Galway Baroque Singers/Ó Duinn at the National Concert Hall in Dublin.

Bach

- Cantata 78

John Rutter - Requiem

Bach - Magnificat

Though they are more than 70 voices strong, the Galway Baroque Singers obtain, under the meticulous training of Audrey Corbett, the pure, blended tones of a chamber choir.

Their clean, English finish may have its costs in expressiveness and sheer resonance, but it makes for a happy union with the ever efficient RTÉ Concert Orchestra.

It's an alliance well suited to Rutter, whose lyrical Requiem is easy listening if you're not distracted by the homage it pays to those cult works by Fauré, Duruflé, Britten and Lloyd-Webber.

In a smooth performance replete with innocent choral charm, soprano soloist Colette Boushell was a strikingly sophisticated presence.

Despite confidently delivering their notes in Bach's cantata Jesu, der du meine Seele, the choir shirked the all-important text. In an extended recitative, however, tenor Robin Tritschler was on top narrating form.

Counter-tenor Jonathan Peter Kenny proved something of a mismatch in duet, first with nimble soprano Rebecca Ryan, and later with an accommodating Tritschler, while bass Conor Biggs fared better in the economically scored Magnificat aria Quia fecit than he had against the cantata's denser instrumental textures.

The RTÉCO lived up to its reputation for versatility, with accomplished solo cello playing in the Requiem, fiery trumpeting in the Magnificat, and many a shapely woodwind obbligato in both works by Bach.

At tempos that didn't go to extremes, the choir achieved sure entries and some taut passage work.

There were, however, phrases that ended with stray sibilants, and moments when sections of the choir or orchestra, along with the elaborative organ continuo, slipped out of line.

There will be another performance at Leisureland, Galway, next Sunday at 8pm.