Upbeat Festival opening

My Account
Logout

Create an Evening Standard Account

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Welcome! Sign in here

Use your social network

Save time by using your existing account to sign in to Evening Standard

We'll never share your information or post anything to your account without your permission

Forgot your password ?

Registration

* indicates fields that are mandatory

Email *

Password *

Confirm Password *

First name *

Surname *

Postcode *

Country *

Mobile phone number

Username *

Gender *

Year of birth *

When you sign up...

You will have access to all our online competitions, discounted offers and can post comments on our site.

You will also receive The Weekender newsletter sent every Thursday - it’s full of fantastic offers and ideas for the weekend. You can update your email preferences in your account page when you log in.

Other newsletters and emails

Homes & Property Newsletter - Yes I want to receive the weekly email with all the latest news on property in the capital

Occasionally we would also like to send you relevant emails detailing specific offers either from ourselves or carefully selected partners. If you would prefer not to receive these then please tick the appropriate boxes below. We will never pass on your details.

I do not want to receive additional offers and information from the Evening Standard

I do not want to receive additional offers and information sent by Evening Standard on behalf of carefully selected partners

Terms and Conditions

* I have read, understood and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of Evening Standard

Registration

Mail Sent for Registration Confirmation.

A confirmation email has been sent. Please activate your account by clicking on the activation link sent in your mail box.

Short, to the point and written for small orchestra, the Idyll is everything that Wagner's operas aren't.

Yet as demonstrated in this performance by 12 players from the Aurora Orchestra under Nicholas Collon, it has genuine narrative drive and an enchanting transparency. Brief solos for flute, then clarinet, then horn had poise, while the strings played with warmth but without applying any sentimental overlay.

Opening Spitalfields Winter Festival, it made an upbeat, secular counterweight to Schubert's darkly ambivalent Mass No 6, written in the last year of his life.

Here the orchestra tripled in size and was joined by the Choir of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, with Geoffrey Webber as conductor.

Despite the augmented forces, the orchestral textures remained bold and clear, except in the fugues, which were somewhat muddy, but not damagingly so. The choir, on the other hand, was precision itself, while the occasional solos added quasi-operatic drama.

With youth on their side, players and singers alike caught the tempestuous mood swings, from fear to rustic good humour to serene acceptance.

Spitalfields Festival: Choir Of Gonville And Caius College, Cambridge, Aurora Orchestra/Collon
Shoreditch St Leonard's Church
Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JN