Four Seasons/Coronation Anthems - York Minster - 18/3/09

Violinist Lucy Russell excelled as soloist in The Four Seasons, performing with the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists.

The changing seasons depicted in the four concertos were illustrated in a wonderfully evocative performance: from joyous spring birdsong to the languor of men and beasts under a hot summer sun; from the autumn harvest to icy winters and evenings by the fireside; the audience were transported on a fantastic journey through the year, as envisaged by Vivaldi.

Russell’s virtuosic performance was complemented by the passion and sincerity of the highly stylised playing of the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists. Producing an extraordinary range of tone colours, their performance as an ensemble was near faultless. Interpretative decisions such as the unconventional use of ‘Bartok pizzicato’ (when the string is allowed to snap back onto the fingerboard) ensured audience interest was maintained.

Unfortunately, the wonderfully resonant acoustic of the Minster is not ideally suited to small-scale chamber repertoire of this kind: for those seated further from the stage, many of the intricacies of the performance were lost in a wash of sound.

For the second half of the concert the University Choir took to the stage for a performance of Handel’s Coronation Anthems under the expert direction of Peter Seymour. The anthems were originally composed for the 1727 coronation of George II and Queen Caroline and are works of an exultant and celebratory character. The Minster proved much better suited to repertoire of this kind: the 300 voice choir of mixed ages filled the nave with glorious resonances from the opening outburst of ‘Zadok the Priest’. While not technically as secure as the Yorkshire Baroque Soloists accompanying, the choir sang with conviction and joy, expressing the grandeur and festive nature of the texts.

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