St. John Passion at Norwich Cathedral

On the evening of Saturday 23rd March 2013 I attended the Norwich Cathedral Choir and Norwich Baroque's performance of J S Bach's St. John Passion at Norwich Cathedral. The role of the Evangelist was played by young tenor, William Blake who is one the UK’s rising singing stars. The role of Christ was sung by Bradley Travis, leading bass soloist from the Royal College of Music. The distinguished soprano, Amy Carson was joined by other soloists from within the Norwich Cathedral Choir.

Bach wrote his Passion according to St John for the service of Vespers at St Nicholas’ Church in Leipzig in 1724. It is without doubt one of the most dramatic representations of the Passion story, the striking narration and crowd scenes interspersed with reflective arias and chorales that are amongst the most beautiful Bach ever composed. And when from death you waken me, let my unworthy eyes then see with tears of joy, my soul's reward; my Saviour and my risen Lord! O Jesus Christ, give ear to me, and let me praise Thee endlessly.

This performance directed by Norwich Cathedral's Master of Music Ashley Grote was very inspirational and proved to be a special night. There was a large crowd in attendance as we were moved to reflect on the sufferings of Christ and his joyful resurrection. The concert took place on the eve of Palm Sunday and it marked the start of the Cathedral’s observance of Holy Week and Easter. J S Bach's St. John Passion is a sacred oratorio masterpiece and was performed wonderfully by the Norwich Cathedral Choir, Norwich Baroque and all the soloists.

Mark Padmore at Norwich Assembly House

On Friday 27th April 2012 I attended the Britten Sinfonia at Lunch concert at Norwich Assembly House which featured tenor Mark Padmore. Also performing were Nicholas Daniel - oboe, Emer McDonough - flute, Jacqueline Shave - violin, Miranda Dale - violin, Clare Finnimore - viola and Caroline Dearnley - cello.

The programme consisted of Ten Blake Songs - Vaughan Williams, The End - Jonathan Dove - The End and The Curlew - Warlock. This performance was the World Premiere of Jonathan Dove's The End which was commissioned with the Tenner for a Tenor campaign.

This concert highlighted the host of British composers who found inspiration in the poetry and folksongs of the British Isles in the first half of the twentieth century. Also Jonathan Dove's The End was performed in the middle of the concert. This was a concert of the highest quality which began with Vaughan Williams' Ten Blake Songs which were written as settings of Blake's poetry for the film The Vision of William Blake.

Jonathan Dove's commission is music composed for Mark Strand's poem The End. The music suggests the gentle rocking motion of a ship slipping into darkness and the sound of birds suspended in flight. The concert finished with Peter Warlock's The Curlew which is a song cycle of poems by W.B. Yeats. This was a brilliant lunchtime at Norwich Assembly House with Britten Sinfonia once again giving us a performance to remember.