Barbican Hall, 17 December 2013

In a performance of wonderful musical intensity and great beauty, let us start at the end. After the Georgian triumphalism of Worthy is the Lamb, the Amen chorus opened with disarming simplicity and calm, no sense of haste or grandeur. It was as if we had not only reached the end of the work, but the end of all things; the story had been told and everything had been accomplished. It was a spiritually brilliant and utterly compelling conclusion to an evening of wonders.

Bernard Labadie’s approach to the score sees it as an organic whole. The fast pace of the opening movements draw us inevitably to All we like sheep and a sudden moment of realisation in and the Lord hath laid upon him. From that point the pace is more refined and the tone more introspective, but not for long. The turning point comes with the joy of the soprano’s But thou didst not leave his soul in hell, and from then on the work becomes increasingly confident and outspoken.

Such was the impact of The trumpet shall sound – with both bass Brindley Sherratt and natural trumpeter David Blackadder performing from memory – that there was a spontaneous eruption of applause.

Before the second part, Guy Dammann presented Iestyn Davies with the 2013 Critics’ Circle award for Exceptional Young talent (voice) and on the evidence of his performance this evening one could not doubt the justice of the award. The range of subtle emotion he brought to He was despised, with a hint of greater passion in the ornamentation of the da capo, the beauty of line in O thou that tellest, the fire of But who may abide all spoke of his deep understanding of the music and his exceptional professionalism.

Soprano Lydia Teuscher’s light, lyric approach brought freshness to her arias. Rejoice greatly could easily have been from Semele, and I know that my Redeemer liveth had the sincerity and confidence of profound faith. Jeremy Ovenden’s mellifluous tenor opened the evening with a gentle Comfort ye, and ended with a combative Thou shalt break them.

The chorus of the Academy of Ancient Music may be small in numbers but like their orchestral companions make an impressively full bodied sound. Their size also allows for real fluidity and speed without any loss of articulation.

Orchestral choices were sometimes unusual. The organ and harpsichord frewuntly played together, though the organ sound was often inaudible, particularly in the earlier movements. But these were very minor concerns in a wonderful evening.

The performance is being repeated tonight in King’s College, Cambridge, and on 20 Dec at the Salle Pleyel, Paris.  BH