Phase One - March 2005
On 19 March 2005, 47 members of Exeter Festival Chorus joined forces with choirs from Germany and Russia to perform Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, in Hanau, Germany. This was the first concert in a series of three, in which this work will be performed (No.2 will be in May in Yaroslavl, Russia, and No.3 will be the opening concert of the Exeter Festival in June)* For details, see EFC programme 2005.
The reason for these concerts is to celebrate the end of war in Europe 60 years ago, in the spirit of reconciliation through music. The Hanau concert was particularly poignant because it was held 60 years to the day since the town was heavily bombed by Britain, and mostly destroyed. The concert-hall in Hanau (Congress Park) is a superb combination of traditional and ultra-modern, and was an ideal setting for this great twentieth century masterpiece.
To start from the beginning... The members of EFC (with a few partners /supporters) set off from Exeter in basically three groups - a few left on 17 March by 'plane and a few (hardy) souls went by coach. The largest group went by 'plane the next day. All three groups experienced cancellations/delays en route, so arrived much later than planned - not an auspicious start to this major undertaking.
Sadly, this meant that the majority of the singers missed the civic reception (and food/drink which we desperately needed) and went straight into rehearsal - but we soon got swept up by the wonderful sound of the orchestra(s), soloists and children's choir, and tiredness was put 'on hold'. It was then that we learnt that the bass (German) soloist was ill, and they were searching for a replacement (not an easy task for such a demanding role, which is sung in English).
During that rehearsal (on the night of the 18th) it was quite disconcerting to receive detailed directions from the German conductor (Christian Mause) in German, which were then translated into Russian - but rarely into English, so we had to rely on a combination of intuition and help from the German singers, to keep us on track! It was also strange not having our musical director (Nigel Perrin) with us, but it was a tribute to his meticulous training that we (mostly!) knew what we were doing. We finished rehearsal at 10.30pm, exhausted, hungry and thirsty, but quietly confident that a great concert was in prospect the following evening.
We went home with our German hosts (mostly singers from the choir) who looked after us beautifully, and 'entertained' us the following morning, until it was time to attend the afternoon rehearsal which started at 1pm in the Congress Hall. We were given the good news that a bass soloist had been found, but the bad news that the orchestra would be an hour late. So we spent some time practising walking onto stage in a neat fashion (quite a feat for about 150 singers of mixed nationalities), and various singing exercises, until the orchestra arrived. After rehearsing some of the trickier sections, our conductor announced that we were going to sing the whole work, without stopping, 'as a concert performance'. As it happened, there was quite a sizeable 'audience' attending the rehearsal, because all the seats for the concert were fully booked. The rehearsal was excellent and finished at 5pm, so we were in urgent need of sustenance to give us energy for the evening to come.
There was a real buzz of anticipation as orchestra and choirs foregathered in the spacious corridors before the 8pm start. All choir members were dressed completely in black, and carried their music scores in black folders - all very suitable for this solemn occasion.
The performance was electric - everybody sang and played to their utmost. Our conductor, Christian Mause had, by now, established a perfect rapport with the choir and orchestra, who were fully attentive and responsive to his clear directions. The pathos of the exchanges between the tenor and bass soloists was beautifully captured, and the children's choir was exemplary in tonality and diction.
The biggest impact on all the performers was the ABSOLUTE silence at the end of the concert - it was tangible, and seemed to last at least two minutes. The whole audience then gave us a standing ovation - lasting ten minutes or so.
We knew that we had been part of something special, and hand-shakes and hugs were exchanged all round. The splendid evening ended with an excellent supper in a nearby church hall, with congratulatory speeches and thanks to all concerned.
For the record, here are the details of the performers:
Orchestras:
Yaroslavl Symphony Orchestra
Chamber Orchestra of New Philharmonic, Frankfurt
Choirs:
Glass Choir, Yaroslavl
Hanauer Kantorei
Exeter Festival Chorus
Fuldaer Children's Choir
Soloists:
Natalia Kreslina, soprano
Andrew Mackenzie-Wicks, tenor
Berthold Bosselmeier, bass
Report by Rob Martin
