Review of Ely Consort’s performance of Brahm’s Requiem in Ely Cathedral on Saturday 26th March 2011

By rjwestwell (published Localcolour.com)

Two impressive soloists performed with the choir. Francis Brett (baritone), who in the early days of his career won a choral scholarship to King’s College Cambridge, and our Ely-based diva Catriona Clark (soprano) enhanced the evening with first rate performances. Francis sang Herr, lehre doch mich, the third movement of Brahm’s Requiem, with mesmerizing warmth and potency. His superb technique engendered a sense of effortlessness as he captured the expressiveness of the text exactly. His contribution to the sixth movement of the Requiem, Denn wir habern hie keine bleibende Statt, brought out significant words with special clarity and colour.