Saturday 25th March 2023, 7.30pm. Methodist Church, Portishead, BS20 6EN
Haydn: ‘The Creation‘
Soloists: Eloise Routledge (Soprano), Paul Badley (Tenor), Marcus Evans (Bass),
Richard Lennox (Organ), Jonathan Palmer (Conductor)

Earlier this year, I wrote a short ‘promo’ for the above: –
“After their memorable performance of Mozart’s Coronation Mass in December
last year, the members of Portishead Choral Society are back in fine form after
Covid, and will present Haydn’s ‘Creation’ along with a team of brilliant soloists.
This is surely an opportunity not to be missed!”

Well, those people who did miss the opportunity, for whatever reason, missed a
memorable concert. I often use that adjective as it emphasises the passing
experience of making music, but memorable for the right reasons, of course. For
any concert, after weeks and weeks of work, it eventually all comes together and
the concert itself can happen very quickly. Then, afterwards we can’t help looking
back, still singing sections of the music that linger in the memory.

All that work exaggerating the vowels and consonances paid off because it meant
that the audience could understand what was being sung, wherever they were
seated in the church. Paul Badley (tenor soloist) noticed and was quick to
acknowledge the choir’s achievement: – “I really enjoyed working with you again
and was delighted by the high standard of the choir – they sang with energy and
clearly enjoyed Haydn’s uplifting choruses which they delivered stylishly and with
clear diction”.

Jonathan Palmer (1st April 2023)