Review: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Leeds Town Hall, Saturday, March 25, 2017

CHARLES Villiers Stanford's Song to the Soul was composed in 1913 but remained unperformed until Leeds Philharmonic Chorus director David Hill conducted the belated world premiere in Dublin two years ago. Stanford's blend of choral utterances and outbursts of optimism was powerfully articulated by Leeds Phil. The palette of instrumental sonorities was unveiled by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and City Organist Simon Lindley. Song to the Soul now deserves to be taken up by choral societies across the land.

Elgar's Cello Concerto, premiered in 1919, is his lament for a world seemingly lost to the ravages of war. Tim Hugh was a persuasive advocate of this autumnal work. His tone was rich and the singing solo line emerged without over- sentimality. The RLPO's nuanced account of Elgar's score was always meticulously balanced by conductor David Hill.

Elgar had been inspired to use stanzas by Arthur O'Shaughnessy for his final choral work The Music Makers. "We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams" is the immortal opening line. The tone of Elgar's very personal outpouring is retrospective. Perhaps the most instantly memorable of the quotations from his earlier works is a haunting setting of lines to Nimrod from the Enigma Variations for chorus and ecstatic soloist - on this occasion the opulent mezzo soprano Jennifer Johnston. Leeds Phil was augmented by Leeds College of Music Student Chorus and sang with conviction and refulgence of tone. The resplendent accompaniment of the seventy-strong RLPO and the Leeds Town Hall organ certainly pulled out all the stops.

by Geoffrey Mogridge