Set aside the tenuous nature-connections of Benjamin Britten’s Rejoice in the Lamb (a whole menagerie of animals) and Mahler’s sumptuous, cosmic farewell to the world “Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen”, and we were left with a short but curious collection of musical ‘What ifs’.
Despite Collon’s efforts the performance felt lacking (Viktor Erik Emanuel/Kings Place)The Britten – a miniature cantata whose musical invention keeps pace with poet Christopher Smart’s hallucinatory visions – traded its usual organ accompaniment for chamber ensemble in Imogen Holst’s lively arrangement. There was a joyously wriggling “cat Jeoffry” from clarinettist Peter Sparks, castanet-hoofs clattering for “Nimrod the mighty hunter” and plenty of low percussion rumblings adding an underlying disquiet to a piece whose joy was still the dominant note. Conductor Nicholas Collon kept up the propulsion, though we missed much of Smart’s glorious text in smudged diction.
The Royal Opera House's Jenufa is unforgettable
Read MoreOn paper this concert was a done deal; in performance it felt anything but. Perhaps that’s what you get when you mix safe-pair-of-hands the BBC Singers and risk-takers, Aurora: earth not so much unwrapped as knocked off its axis.
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