Gloria - Vivaldi

Concerto Op 3 No 7 - Vivaldi

Requiem -Mozart

Mixing choirs and orchestras from different backgrounds is a challenge. On Tuesday night at the National Concert Hall, the Tokyo Oratorio Society made up just over a third of a chorus numbering 140 or more, of which the majority came from four choirs in the Dublin region. With them was an orchestra of Dublin-based professionals, also of diverse backgrounds. James Cavanagh conducted two works by Vivaldi, and Mozart's Requiem was conducted by Hiroshi Gunji.

That the Tokyo choir is good was confirmed by their brief, farewell encore. And there were plenty of experienced singers amongst the Irish people too. So, whatever else might be said, this large choir made a good sound, despite being low in numbers in the male sections.

The rhythmically soggy opening of Vivaldi's Gloria was a poor start, and the tendency to stray flat when singing quietly never entirely disappeared from this concert. But the Vivaldi improved, and some of its fugal sections had enough bite to suggest what this large chorus might achieve with sufficient time and direction.

The four vocal soloists - Mayumi Kamei, Cliona McDonough, Robin Tritschler and Philip O'Reilly - were well-balanced and provided many of the evening's best moments.

In a concerto from Vivaldi's L'estro armonico collection, Annette Cleary was a strong-toned soloist. But why would anyone wish to play this violin concerto on the cello, especially as Vivaldi wrote several real cello concertos? The transcription distorts the texture, and in parts of the slow movement the harmony becomes nonsensical.

Although Hiroshi Gunji's conducting was emphatic, he is no time-beater, and that made the singers listen to one another and count. He knew what he wanted and how to get it. His long-line, dramatised view of the Mozart Requiem was inclined towards extremes of expression, but it worked.