Venue: Wiltshire Music Centre, Bradford on Avon

Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem Op 45 (German Requiem), as performed by The City of Bath Bach Choir at the Wiltshire Music Centre last Saturday, is a sombre work. Hardly surprising as the word ‘requiem’ usually refers to the Catholic Mass celebrated for the dead.

What a wonderfully piquant contrast this concert gave us – the Brahms German Requiem followed by Captain Noah and his Floating Zoo. Yet in both, after passages of melancholy reflection, of turbulence and stress, at the end all is well and we can rest in peace. The Requiem is a demanding sing.

Zur Aufführung gelangte ein neuzeitlich premiertes Opern-Pasticcio, dem das junge Ensemble mit innewohnender Entdeckerlust und stimmlichen Fähigkeiten zu einem – damals noch versagten – Erfolg verhalf.