5-star review in The Times

Richard Morrison from The Times gave our “Journey to Haydn” with Royal Northern Sinfonia, Rachel Redmond (soprano) and Steffan Morris (cello) a 5 star review!

Here it is:

★★★★★
Richard Morrison

After two tough years the Royal Northern Sinfonia is clearly on a fast track back into the premier league. Now it’s up to audiences in northeast England to sustain its rebirth by getting their posteriors onto the pews in big numbers.

There’s an exciting new conductor, the Portuguese but British-nurtured Dinis Sousa, and new faces all round the band, not least the superb Polish leader Maria Wloszczowska — remember the spelling! — who directed a scintillating Bach Brandenburg No 3 here, showcasing her own mercurial playing skills with a slow movement interposed from a Bach violin sonata.

That was just one delightful item in this cleverly curated concert, leading chronologically but far from pedantically through the century before early Haydn. I usually hesitate before raving about an event I experienced only on a live stream, but I can’t imagine it made any less impact in the glorious acoustics of the Sage Gateshead. The only sadness is that by the time you read this the streaming will have been removed from the Sage’s website. Put it back!

First up was a revelation, to me at least. The mid-17th century Leonora Duarte was the daughter of a Jewish Portuguese diamond merchant who escaped persecution by moving his family to Antwerp. She clearly studied composition to a high level: the gently interlaced counterpoint of her viol fantasy,Sinfonia No 4, stylishly revived here, could easily have passed for Gibbons.

Slightly more familiar but no routine choice, CPE Bach’s Cello Concerto in A minor struck me as a Sturm und Drang masterpiece, especially with Sousa encouraging such incisive, ultra- passionate playing all round the band but particularly from the soloist, Steffan Morris, the Sinfonia’s principal cellist. Similar drive also brought to life a selection of pieces from Rameau’s operas, with another terrific young soloist — the Paris-based Scottish soprano Rachel Redmond — injecting melodramatic verve into the spitfire Aux langueurs d’Apollon from Platée, and then beauty and grace into the sublime Tristes apprets from Castor et Pollux. She ought to be lured back from France a lot more often.

Fittingly, though, it was Haydn’s Symphony No 8, Le Soir, that capped the evening with some wonderfully lithe solo playing all round the orchestra. Haydn is so often used as a warm-up for bigger repertoire. Sousa’s joyous, detailed but not fussy interpretation proved that this composer needs no main course to follow.

Christmas Concerts

Another unforgettable week with Orquestra XXI, and this time also with our Coro XXI, ended just before Christmas. Continuing our exploration of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, this year with Parts 3 and 4, we completed the programme with Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op. 6 no. 6 and with two Christmas Responsories by one of Portugal’s greatest composers, Duarte Lobo.

Monteverdi Choir in South America

For three weeks in November I was very lucky to travel across South America with the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists and John Eliot Gardiner, assisting on a fantastic programme of Monteverdi, Scarlatti, Carissimi and Purcell.

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Going to several different cities in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, we ended our tour in Curitiba, where we had the chance to visit one of the ALEGRO centres for music education. Here, this fantastic project works in partnership with the Dorcas Association, to teach music to children from incredibly deprived backgrounds. After hearing them perform to us, we invited them to come to our rehearsal the next day, where they ended up joining the choir on stage for the Monteverdi Mass. The children’s response during the rehearsal and their love for music was very moving and we couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end to a wonderful tour.

Romeo and Juliet

This year saw the biggest project so far in Orquestra XXI’s history, as we put together Berlioz’s genre-defying masterpiece “Roméo et Juliette”. A large-scale “dramatic symphony” for two choruses, large orchestra and soloists, it’s a piece that I first came across when I started working with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, and had to conduct the semi-chorus at the Proms. So it was an amazing experience to come back to this piece and now conduct the whole thing with such great soloists (Anna Stéphany, João Pedro Cabral and Stephan Loges) and with an expanded Orquestra XXI!

Debut with English Baroque Soloists

2019 began with my debut with the English Baroque Soloists, conducting two programmes of Bach’s orchestral music, as part of the Cartagena International Music Festival.

There are some reviews below and more information here.

Reviews

‘The English Baroque Soloist offered, under the direction of the young and vital Dinis Sousa, a selection of the magnificent orchestral work of Bach in a bright and fresh interpretation without transgressing the style.’  El Spectador, Carolina Conti

‘The English Baroque Soloists gave a concert that captured the essence of a festival that beautifully melds ancient venues with baroque masterworks.’  The City Paper Bogota

‘Another high point was the performances the English Baroque Soloists, with their virtuoso performances of Bach’s repertoire.’  El Tiempo, Yhonatan Loaiza Grisales 

Assistant Conductor Post

The Monteverdi Choir and Orchestras (English Baroque Soloists and Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique) have announced the creation of this new post and it’s a huge honour for me to be the first-ever person to hold it! More info here: https://monteverdi.co.uk/news/mco-announce-new-assistant-conductor

5th Anniversary Tour

Last month saw the 5th Anniversary of Orquestra XXI and, to celebrate, we had a fantastic tour of 4 concerts across Portugal, with a programme of Ligeti, Mozart and Beethoven.