Page 274 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

Messiaen’s unaccompanied O sacrum convivium! is a work of quiet restraint that never fails
to make an impact with its long-breathed phrases and ear-catching harmonic progressions.
More often sung by considerably smaller choral forces than heard here, it was a bold choice
to include this challenging motet. Despite occasional difficulties with pitching and ensemble,
the large contingent of some 130 voices still managed to convey the work’s ecstatic
devotion.

That quality took a more jubilant turn in Poulenc’s Gloria, commissioned by the
Koussevitsky Foundation of America in 1957. It’s a work of unbuttoned exuberance and
while its musical invention may be decidedly thin at times, its clipped phrase patterns
brought accumulating momentum with Poulenc’s combination of the sweet and the tart fully
realised. There was nothing cloying in the forthright tempi, nor any doubt about the work’s
rhythmic vitality, Partington shaping an account that spotlit the composer’s vision of angels
sticking out their tongues and Benedictine monks playing football. The orchestra
showcased the work’s primary colours and an ardent Samantha Clarke, replacing an
indisposed Gweneth Ann Rand, neatly negotiated Poulenc’s sinuous solo writing, her
radiant soprano adding much to the work’s fervour.

Altogether, these performances were a credit to the participating choirs, and if words were
not consistently transparent there was plenty of commitment behind them.