East of England Singers | Pure Baroque

St. John the Baptist Church, Beeston
11 October 2008
By Peter Palmer

A flood of tsunami-like proportions was evoked in the piece with which the East of England Singers rounded off their weekend concert of European baroque music with the New Classical Players.

It was the most dramatic of many striking devices in Dominus Regnavit . This imaginative setting of Psalm 93, by the French composer Mondonville, featured vivid orchestral writing, impressive choruses and dazzling solos.

Directed by Angela Kay, the orchestra opened with the first Concerto Grosso from Handel's Opus 6. Wendy McDonald and Christian Rudolph were well-matched soloists in a concerto for two oboes by Albinoni. The strings combined smartly in Vivaldi.

The singers rose to the contrasting challenges of two Bach motets, the first being the partly festive, partly meditative Singet dem Herrn , for double choir. The exhilarating delivery of verses from Psalm 150 crowned a splendid performance.