Page 136 - FINAL_The Sixteen Coverage Book 40th Anniversary Year

Slater’s production and Robert Innes Hopkins’ designs are distinguished but the brilliance of
the evening chiefly rests with the combination of the Grange Festival Chorus and The
Sixteen; celebrating its fortieth year, Harry Christophers’ ensemble achieved a rare
perfection here, every choral scene featuring magnificent singing and truly remarkable

movement. Switching seamlessly between fearful prisoners and lascivious hangers-on, this
sublime combination of the two groups was not only original but genuinely revealing.

Robert Murray’s Belshazzar steered that very fine line between undue histrionics and
credibility very skilfully, and made it possible for one to believe that this personable young

tenor was actually a very bad man indeed. His singing was both powerful and beguiling.
Christopher Ainslie’s countertenor is beautiful if a touch under-powered for the role of
Cyrus, but he presented the conflicted hero with style. James Laing was a forceful Daniel,
singing mellifluously and creating a powerful presence – it was a bit disconcerting to see that
this character and the Queen seemed to have fallen into each others’ arms, to put it

delicately.

Claire Booth was having a rather uncertain night, with some pitch problems, but she never
failed to show the complex nature of the troubled Queen. It was a little odd that she appeared
at the start to be either mourning her dead husband, who does not feature in the story, or

bewailing the death of her son ‘in advance.’

Henry Waddington is always a sympathetic presence, and his Gobrias was genuinely moving
in his desire to destroy Belshazzar in revenge for the murder of his beloved son.

Haylee Ann, Craig Dagostino and Felipe Reyes provided eye-watering acrobatics, almost
stealing a few scenes, and Peter Mumford’s lighting superbly evoked both the false
brightness of the king’s court and the crepuscular sadness of the prisoners’ surroundings.

Harry Christophers directed the Orchestra of The Sixteen with his customary flair, relishing

both the grand choral numbers and the more intimate conflicts. There was some especially
fine work from the Theorbo (David Miller) and oboes (Hannah McLaughlin, Catherine
Latham). To see and hear an orchestra and chorus in such unison is a special pleasure.

Both Figaro and Falstaff are sold out for their remaining performances, but there are as few

seats left for the two July evenings of Belshazzar. It’s an experience worth having, especially
when it comes with a stunning landscape and a remarkable house.

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