Bach - B Minor Mass - Greenwich Old Royal Naval College Chapel
Wednesday, 17 Apr 2019, 18:00I performed Bach’s B Minor Mass [BWV 232] with the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists and the Old Royal Naval College Trinity Laban Chapel Choir on Wednesday 17th April 2019. The performance was directed by Ralph Allwood MBE (who I had remembered from a previous Brandenburg Baroque Soloists performance at Wellington College in August 2017).
The Old Royal Naval College Chapel is a magnificent building - inside and out - and a great venue for this B Minor Mass. I played first trumpet with Will Russell on second trumpet, Nick Wright on third trumpet and Bobby Howes on timpani and we really enjoyed this fantastic acoustic. We were surrounded by twenty-seven strong singers, several of whom departed ranks in the choir to sing solos from the front. Anastasia Stahlmann and Bethan Pezzarini sang an excellent duet in the Christe eleison, then Anastasia Stahlmann took the solo in the Laudamus Te with excellent breath control, and wonderful sounds from the violinist Sarah Moffatt (leader) who accompanied her. Maia Béar and Matthew Norriss sang the Domine Deus, Simon Oakley sang the Qui Sedes and Dominic Veall sang the Quoniam, the latter with fantastic horn and bassoon sounds from Anneke Scott, Robert Percival and Jenni Cooper. With encouragement from the director, the trumpet section was allowed to shine in the Cum Sancto Spiritu before the interval.
Highlights from the second half were Molly Cochrane’s and Rhian Davies’ Et in unum Dominum, the moving choruses from Et incarnatus est until Et resurrexit, Felix Wareing’s Et in spiritum sanctum and from the Confiteor which led into an excellent Sanctus. The Sanctus featured a beautiful Benedfictus from Andrew Woodmansey (tenor) and an excellent Angus Dei from Alexis Hutchinson (alto).
The director Ralph Allwood kept momentum between the movements by running attacca between as many movements as possible. As a result, the Gloria (in particular) flowed along excellently and in a way I’ve not heard before. The choir was technically excellent and they sang the whole work confidently and very securely.
It was a fantastic collaboration between Trinity Laban and the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists. Additionally, a team of sound engineers on the Tonmeister course at Surrey University were in attendance to gain further recording experience for purely educational reasons. I was glad to be able to support this venture. We had a brilliant orchestra and the continuo section of Ruth Alford (cello), Peter McCarthy (Violone) and Richard Gowers (organ) played with impeccable accuracy, style and vitality throughout.
Bach, Baroque, Brandenburg Baroque Soloists, Concert, London, RecordingThe Old Royal Naval College Chapel is a magnificent building - inside and out - and a great venue for this B Minor Mass. I played first trumpet with Will Russell on second trumpet, Nick Wright on third trumpet and Bobby Howes on timpani and we really enjoyed this fantastic acoustic. We were surrounded by twenty-seven strong singers, several of whom departed ranks in the choir to sing solos from the front. Anastasia Stahlmann and Bethan Pezzarini sang an excellent duet in the Christe eleison, then Anastasia Stahlmann took the solo in the Laudamus Te with excellent breath control, and wonderful sounds from the violinist Sarah Moffatt (leader) who accompanied her. Maia Béar and Matthew Norriss sang the Domine Deus, Simon Oakley sang the Qui Sedes and Dominic Veall sang the Quoniam, the latter with fantastic horn and bassoon sounds from Anneke Scott, Robert Percival and Jenni Cooper. With encouragement from the director, the trumpet section was allowed to shine in the Cum Sancto Spiritu before the interval.
Highlights from the second half were Molly Cochrane’s and Rhian Davies’ Et in unum Dominum, the moving choruses from Et incarnatus est until Et resurrexit, Felix Wareing’s Et in spiritum sanctum and from the Confiteor which led into an excellent Sanctus. The Sanctus featured a beautiful Benedfictus from Andrew Woodmansey (tenor) and an excellent Angus Dei from Alexis Hutchinson (alto).
The director Ralph Allwood kept momentum between the movements by running attacca between as many movements as possible. As a result, the Gloria (in particular) flowed along excellently and in a way I’ve not heard before. The choir was technically excellent and they sang the whole work confidently and very securely.
It was a fantastic collaboration between Trinity Laban and the Brandenburg Baroque Soloists. Additionally, a team of sound engineers on the Tonmeister course at Surrey University were in attendance to gain further recording experience for purely educational reasons. I was glad to be able to support this venture. We had a brilliant orchestra and the continuo section of Ruth Alford (cello), Peter McCarthy (Violone) and Richard Gowers (organ) played with impeccable accuracy, style and vitality throughout.
Russell Gilmour

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Brass Instrument Making
Broadcast
Chronicles
Classical
Concert
Cornetto
Education Outreach
English Slide Trumpet
Engraving
Festival
France
Germany
Gorczycki
Guts and Glory
Göttingen Handel Festival
Handel
Haydn
Historic Royal Palaces
Horn
Instrument
Instrument Making
Interview
Isle of Man
Kuhnau
Le Concert Lorrain
Lecture
Leipzig
Les Talens Lyriques
London
Masterclass
Modern Trumpet
Monteverdi
Mozart
Museum
Music
Natural Trumpet
Natural Trumpet Courses
OAE
OAEducation
Opera
Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century
Oxford
Period Costume
Photography
Poland
Purcell
Radio Broadcast
Recording
Renaisannce
Review
Royal Academy of Music
Royal Society of Musicians
Schelle
Schütz
Shakespeare
Solomon's Knot
Spain
Spiritato!
St. Martin-in-the-Fields
Switzerland
Taverner Consort
Teaching
Telemann
The English Concert
The Section
Tour
Touring
Toyota Classics Tour 2018
Travel
Trumpet
Trumpet and Organ
Venice
Ventless
Vivaldi
Vox Luminis
Wedding
Workshop
Wrocław Baroque Orchestra
York
Zelenka
Zugtrompete