The RNCM's Symphony Chorus is open to all first year students, regardless of their major, and is presided over by Stuart Overington. And if you think you might have heard that name before, then you have. Overington is also Director of The Halle Youth Training Choir and The Chetham's School Chamber Choir.
In this concert we were there to hear the wonderfully evocative and Romantic Mass in D (opus 86) by Antonin Dvorak. And with The Halle's Dvorak season only just over and still ringing in our ears, one may have thought that we had already had our fill of Dvorak; but quite simply one can never have too much Dvorak!
The Mass lasts only 35 minutes and is scored for four solo voices, mixed choir and organ. There was no programme for this event and so I cannot credit the organist. In this performance those four solo voices were given over to 12 selected choir members, three for each vocal part. (SATB).
The choir though did sing it really rather beautifully. Overington is a very expressive and emotive conductor and even though they may not have achieved exactly the dynamics and sounds he was trying to create you could see his intent in his frantic and passionate arm-waving. 
The choir of over 120 singers, once seated and poised, were quite professional. However, their entrance onto the stage was nothing short of haphazard and shabby. There was no order to it and they came on chatting with each other; and one errant boy, not wearing the requisite blacks, came on from the audience entrance and borrowed a jacket from a friend before obtrusively taking his place. It was shambolic and ad-hoc.
I also tend to think a little work on Latin vowel sounds wouldn't go amiss. The 'a' and 'e' in Latin are bright and full; not the dull and flat vowel sounds we normally come out with. The top notes, especially from the soprano and bass section could do with more covering too. However, I am being picky and technical, and so shall stop right away. This, as far as I can tell, is a hobby choir, and is also quite a new innovation for the RNCM, and so needs to be encouraged and fostered.
The long and slow organ intro to the final Dona Nobis Pacem, and the singing of these final few words, 'pacem, pacem, pacem' were plaintive and beautiful.
Looking forward to finding out what more gems this newly formed choir will have to offer in the future.
Reviewer: Mark Dee
Reviewed: 1st June 2016
