Accomplished performance of a challenging work

Messiah, Uppermill Civic Hall
Fine choral singing, the fresh vocal sound of young soloists and sensitive orchestral playing were all expertly drawn together under the accomplished direction of Damian Cunningham, to produce a joyous and uplifting performance of Handel’s great oratorio.


“Messiah” has become one of the most enduring and well known of all Handel’s choral works, presenting a particular challenge for all the performers. The audience at the Civic Hall certainly wasn’t disappointed.

The male voice choir was joined by women from local choirs to provide the chorus and the combined forces produced some excellent singing, with great tonal colour.

The contrapuntal lines of many of the great choruses present a range of technical challenges for singers, but these were mainly met and the choral sound was bright, with good dynamic contrasts.

The soloists were four young singers from the Royal Northern College of Music. Soprano Anne Marie Loveday was clearly nervous, and though her voice had a great purity she as yet lacks the maturity to perform the work with confidence. But she was more settled by the time she sang “I Know My Redeemer Liveth”, giving a glimpse of her great potential.

Mezzo soprano Emma Stannard gave by far the most accomplished performance of the evening. She has a beautiful voice, used expressively to portray the full meaning of the text. Particularly beautiful was her performance of “He Was Despised” in which she moved effortlessly between the contrasting sections of the aria.

Tenor Timothy Langston sang with conviction and understanding, and while there were times when the technical hurdles were not all totally overcome, he is developing a fine tenor voice.

Bass Aaron O’Hare provided some of the most accomplished and outstanding solo work of the evening, his voice offering beautiful tone throughout its entire range.

The orchestra, expertly led by Donald Clarke, provided well crafted and sensitive accompaniments for both soloists and chorus. The contributions of David Chapman on trumpet, Peter Collier on harpsichord and Angela Costello as principal cello, added significantly to the musicality of the whole performance. DOS