On the 19th December we went down to Cape Town to the Groote Kerk (literally, 'big' (better 'great') Church) on Adderly Street for a performace of Bach's Christmas Oratorio by the Philharmonia Choir of Cape Town, directed by Kare Hanken with the Camerata Tinta Barocca Ensemble.
We arrived a little early thinking the traffic would be bad, but it was flowing nicely, and once we'd found our way around the diversions (most of Adderly Street was closed for a Christmas market) we decided to explore the market for a bit before going into the church.
We arrived a little early thinking the traffic would be bad, but it was flowing nicely, and once we'd found our way around the diversions (most of Adderly Street was closed for a Christmas market) we decided to explore the market for a bit before going into the church.
I'm not sure what I was expecting from a Christmas market, but having attended a few French and German Christmas markets (and the new Highland one in Edinburgh this year), I was probably not really prepared for Cape Town's one - which comprised 50% food stalls and the rest the sort of market junk you find everywhere (R5 fake brand sunglasses, cheap electronic goods, hand bags and perfume by the litre...!) There was also a fair amound of thumping pop music of a fairly third-rate variety. Actually, that's being generous. Bottom-rate.
There were plenty of people around though, and little cars for kiddies to play in, and loads of stalls to look at. Although once you'd seen three, you'd pretty much seen them all.
We returned to the top of the street and made our way round the back and into the huge church, which was already well-filled.
There were plenty of people around though, and little cars for kiddies to play in, and loads of stalls to look at. Although once you'd seen three, you'd pretty much seen them all.
We returned to the top of the street and made our way round the back and into the huge church, which was already well-filled.
The first thing that struck me was the completely hopeless sight-lines in the church - the worst of any building I have ever encountered. Everyone could see the pulpit, sure - so as a centre for preaching it was fine. But for concerts it is a disaster. Only the front row of the ground floor stood any chance of seeing anything. Even the front row of the balcony was useless, since the wooden ballistrade was so high that if you sat down you could only just see the elevated pulpit. We estimated a hall capacity of about 1500. The auditorium is bland and presbyterian in its austerity - with the exception of three ghastly ceiling roses which look rather like the icing on a large and grotesque pastel cake, on which someone at a cookery class has been practicing. The lights are recessed into the icing, and the whole thing is crying out for some large chandeliers. The ancient boxed-in pews are uncomfortable and only downstairs had any padding at all.
The concert started slightly late as one member of the orchestra was 'stuck in traffic' - something we quite refused to believe having just driven there...
Bach's Christmas Oratorio was never intended as a single concert piece. It comprises a week of cantatas, one for each day of holy week, so tonight's programme was made up of cantatas 1-3 and 6.
The concert started slightly late as one member of the orchestra was 'stuck in traffic' - something we quite refused to believe having just driven there...
Bach's Christmas Oratorio was never intended as a single concert piece. It comprises a week of cantatas, one for each day of holy week, so tonight's programme was made up of cantatas 1-3 and 6.
From the very start it was clear that there was to be one star of the show. Lead trumpet (playing a D trumpet) was Michael Blake. He was quite simply superb. Brilliant tone, he performed the tricky, exposed rapid Bach trumpet obbligato with crisp skill and impossible precision. I took a private bet with myself as to whether he would manage the entire night without putting a foot wrong. While the part does occasionally stray into pitches audible only to bats, the parts we could hear where quite stunningly performed.
The rest of the orchestra also performed excellently, if not quite as flawlessly as the lead trumpet. The tiny string section (more a double quartet really) was a little lost in the large hall. The occasionally fluffed string entry betrayed a slight under-rehearsing of the orchestra, but it is hard to rehearse a work as large as this... so I think some leniency (or at least understanding) is required there.
The soloists were generally good. The counter-tenor (Mark Donnelly) in particular was excellent, and it was good to see that the art is not lost. Although it does appear odd to hear a bloke sing "mein liebster Brautigam"...
The tenor (Arthur Swan) was the weak link of the soloists, and it was quite clear that Bach's melismas were a bridge too far for him. His intonation was not always good and he appeared to struggle in a number of the passages. An unconvincing performance.
The choir performed well. They suffered from choir inertia (an unwillingness to commit to the start of phrases) which is a common complaint of choirs all over (not least our own). But once going sang confidently and well. The usual upper soprano problems were not too bad as to be distracting. It was a generally good performance.
One thing which did spoil it was not under their control. The appalling pop music I meantioned earlier did stream in the windows from time to time throughout the evening, threatening in the quiet passages to overwhelm the Bach. A true case of the voice of good being drowned out by a more forceful and yet talentless opponent.
Another, and far more serious thing I noticed was this: among the estimated 1,100 people present, there was not one black or coloured face. There were a couple in the orchestra and choir, and one of the soloists was black. But while Bach will always win out in the end against Beyonce, he cannot win if the culture rejects him. And while we must preserve cultures in our society, and ensure that African music is shared with the west, this goes both ways, and we should ensure that education of the greats of western culture is also shared with the people of Africa.
I would love to say that our lead trumpet went through the entire evening without a single error, but alas, on the very last phrase of the evening (a simple one at that), he fluffed one note. Just one, and about the second last one he played all night. So he was in fact human after all, and not (as I had begun to wonder) one of the leads from heaven's orchestra sent down on some sort of temporary loan for the performance of Bach. Perhaps he was the angel's understudy.
The rest of the orchestra also performed excellently, if not quite as flawlessly as the lead trumpet. The tiny string section (more a double quartet really) was a little lost in the large hall. The occasionally fluffed string entry betrayed a slight under-rehearsing of the orchestra, but it is hard to rehearse a work as large as this... so I think some leniency (or at least understanding) is required there.
The soloists were generally good. The counter-tenor (Mark Donnelly) in particular was excellent, and it was good to see that the art is not lost. Although it does appear odd to hear a bloke sing "mein liebster Brautigam"...
The tenor (Arthur Swan) was the weak link of the soloists, and it was quite clear that Bach's melismas were a bridge too far for him. His intonation was not always good and he appeared to struggle in a number of the passages. An unconvincing performance.
The choir performed well. They suffered from choir inertia (an unwillingness to commit to the start of phrases) which is a common complaint of choirs all over (not least our own). But once going sang confidently and well. The usual upper soprano problems were not too bad as to be distracting. It was a generally good performance.
One thing which did spoil it was not under their control. The appalling pop music I meantioned earlier did stream in the windows from time to time throughout the evening, threatening in the quiet passages to overwhelm the Bach. A true case of the voice of good being drowned out by a more forceful and yet talentless opponent.
Another, and far more serious thing I noticed was this: among the estimated 1,100 people present, there was not one black or coloured face. There were a couple in the orchestra and choir, and one of the soloists was black. But while Bach will always win out in the end against Beyonce, he cannot win if the culture rejects him. And while we must preserve cultures in our society, and ensure that African music is shared with the west, this goes both ways, and we should ensure that education of the greats of western culture is also shared with the people of Africa.
I would love to say that our lead trumpet went through the entire evening without a single error, but alas, on the very last phrase of the evening (a simple one at that), he fluffed one note. Just one, and about the second last one he played all night. So he was in fact human after all, and not (as I had begun to wonder) one of the leads from heaven's orchestra sent down on some sort of temporary loan for the performance of Bach. Perhaps he was the angel's understudy.
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