Ex Cathedra for Holy Week at St John’s Smith Square

I was in two minds whether to opt for this concert, as I’d have another one to review the following day, but from the first note it was clearly the right decision.

Enhanced by bells, Ex Cathedra Jeffrey Skidmore give a low-key but highly dramatic performance of Rachmaninov’s Vespers in Birmingham Town Hall

Bradley Smith, as Evangelist, and a fine cast of soloists drove this Good Friday account of Bach’s St Matthew Passion from Ex Cathedra in Birmingham.

In the final instalment of aus LICHT, the Helicopter String Quartet lives up to the publicity hype and choirs perform marvellous feats.

In performing the Vespers in the acoustically wonderful Milton Court, Jeffrey Skidmore took the imaginative decision to interleaving its movements with solo piano works, played by Steven Osborne. It proved inspirational programming.

Le 16 mai, Carolyn Sampson et l'Ex Cathedra Consort and Baroque Orchestra donnaient un programme construit autour de la figure de Marie Fel, grande soprano du 18ème siècle. Un hommage tout à fait intéressant malgré une interprétation un peu monochrome.