Denmark - Jyllandsposten Denmark
Stephen Layton, the recently appointed principal guest conductor of Radiokoret had made thorough preparations to produce the exact tone quality he wanted from the choir and he did indeed seem pleased and happy with the result. This he was justified in as he impressively succeeded in eliciting from Radiokoret a varied sound, initially in Britten's Hymn to St. Cecilia.
The singing was just as charming in the choral dances from Gloriana. A meticulous man this Layton, and dynamic in temperament.
Whether Layton felt more at home with Britten's choral music than with Vagn Holmboe's, or whether Holmboe's music is not as powerful as Britten's is perhaps open to discussion. This last point was the case on this occasion although the choir also here performed with the same supple evenness.
But Layton has cerainly got force and power - and the choir knows how to interpret this.
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…and Radiokorets collaboration with its new guest conductor looks more than promising.
To judge from Radiokoret's first concert with the conductor Stephen Layton, the collaboration between him and the choir has all the hallmarks of more pleasures to come. Layton is a conductor who simultaneously manages to portray the outlines of the complete score, to hold on to the details of the music, and from time to time, to appear almost to let the choir do their own thing.
A slightly ragged beginning to Hymn to St. Cecilia' does not upset the overall impression - Britten's best known choral work is a virtuoso piece which makes demands on any choir's ability to sing very fast and very precisely. The rest of the concert, on the other hand, sounded as though those involved had performed together for years in Britten's 'Sacred and Profane' and the choral songs from the opera 'Gloriana', in Holmboe's strictly religious statement in 'Bededic Domino', in the lyrical 'Song at Sunset' and in the rustic simplicity of 'Two Border Ballads'. Here too, Radiokoret, under the direction of Layton, demonstrates that it is probably one of the best a cappella choirs around at the present time.
See concert details...