Wine Women & Song, The Lady Clerks, The Three Choirs Festival, Chapter House, Gloucester Cathedral, 22 July, 2023.

4****: David Gray & Paul

The Chapter House of Gloucester Cathedral is a wonderful venue for a performance such as this: atmospheric, intimate and with a perfect acoustic for The Lady Clerks, women singers drawn from the choirs of the three Cathedrals involved in the festival, to float and blend their fresh, pure, and distinctive voices.

The focus of the concert, and a focus to be applauded, was to explore and celebrate the role of women in the choral tradition. We must remember that, until very recently, choral music in English Cathedrals was the exclusive preserve of the male of the species. Now, hopefully, we take it more for granted that women should share equally in this wonderful tradition. It was, therefore, good to have a group of female cathedral singers delivering music composed or arranged by women composers.

An antiphonal start, Amy Bebbington’s evocative setting of I Sing of a Maiden, had the singers ranged on each side of the audience passing musical ideas between them over and around the audience. This delightfully conversational performance highlighted the gorgeousness of the individual voices and a remarkable sense of rapport, given that this is a group of singers who do not regularly sing together.

There followed an eclectic but intriguing selection of sacred and secular settings, sung with attention to detail, commitment, and tight ensemble. This was a well-balanced and varied programme constantly delivering something new.

We once again got to hear the individual voices highlighted in Hildegard of Bingen’s Ave Generosa, and as before, for the singers left the stage to make use of the space. A move that added to a feeling of the audience being really involved in the performance.

There are some very big voices in this ensemble, which enabled them to deliver some striking dynamic contrasts. At times the volume was overpowering and there were occasions when the higher voices could have held back a bit in deference to the lower ones. These moments were few and far between, and overall, the blending and balance were excellent.

After rapturous applause from a highly receptive crowd, The Lady Clerks delighted us further with a bouncy setting of Cole Porter’s I Got Rhythm. It was a shame that the encore was not by a female composer. All the same, this was a lively and engaging end to a gloriously engaging hour of music making. It is sincerely hoped that this first outing is not the last for this talented group of musicians.

Cast

Sopranos – Charlotte Sleet, Eve Doyle

Mezzo-Sopranos – Alexis Hutchinson, Catherine Perfect

Altos – Marissa White, Sacha Fullerton

David, a classical singer, & Paul, a choral & vocal composer with Prof Paul Mealor @ the University of Aberdeen, are reviewers of music, the creative & performing arts for Birmingham & Central England. They review for www.reviewsgate.co.uk and other media outlets. If you would like David & Paul to come review your musical or theatrical performance, just drop them a line at: p.gray.20@abdn.ac.uk