Wonderful!
Reflecting on our performance of Handel’s Messiah on Saturday 6th December …
It was busy, wintery night in Winchester, and beneath the shimmering, shifting colours of the Cathedral’s Christmas-lit walls, there was confusion and excitement. The usual stoic queue to enter the Christmas market was becoming overwhelmed with the buzz and sheer numbers of a different queue- the hundreds of people arriving to enjoy a Christmas performance of The Messiah by The Waynflete Singers.
Queuing!
We knew, of course, as we sat in position lit up in pink, that the anticipation and eagerness of the jostling crowd was justified. Our very rehearsals had been the stuff of festivity. Brightly coloured squares had adorned our seats and- as if at the world’s most musical street party- we had left our vocal “homes” to mix and mingle; maybe to meet the person from the opposite block for the first time.
The Cathedral lit up in pink , the choir ready!
And so we sat in the Cathedral in a perfectly curated patchwork of sound. And when we sang each voice part came from everywhere, and we could hear everything and everyone all at once, and we not only rose to the challenge of singing in this way but it felt as we soared!
Although- how could we not, with such an orchestra as Floreligium playing at our feet, and with David Blackadder’s trumpet gloriously sounding from within touching distance? And on the stage in front of us our very own George played the continuo with such obvious pleasure and with such consummate ease it seemed that the extraordinary baroque instrument before him was no more than an old and familiar friend.
We were transported, too, by our four incredible soloists, whose passionate and dramatic performances told each well known story as if never told before and announced all good news as if truly new (and sometimes at a jawdroppingly agile speed, in the case of soprano soloist Harriet Eyley!)
However, we all know that the magic ingredient in that magical peformance was the magic wand being waved over us all - in the form, of course of Andy’s conductor’s arm. There was no need to be afraid of being “gone astray” despite singing outside the fold of our own voice part. Andy led us- and indeed led the whole glorious and colossal choral work- in a way that was both easy and light, with smiles as well as skill, with infectious calm, and with perfectly poised prowess.
Many have since been told, by those in the audience, that this was one of the best performances by The Waynflete Singers that they had ever seen- if not the best. That is surely something we can be incredibly proud of, particularly having performed a work so loaded with expectation, and so at risk of predictability and complacence. We have perhaps earned ourselves a Christmas treat- and it so happens that we have one! It comes in the form of an exclusive Wayns Augmented interview with Andy Lumsden himself! You can read it here, and read for yourself just how Andy approached his directorship of this performance of The Messiah, as well as learn all about the amazing and interesting things he’s been up to over the last year!
Enjoy this rather wonderful Christmas gift, and have a very happy Christmas!
The idea behind of our Wayns Augmented blog is to share our musical experience and boost our musical camaraderie. If you have an idea for a future blogpost then please don’t hesitate to contact Jacki Donnellan jacki@donnellan.org.uk
or Sarah Jones sj@luminaconsulting.com
