THE National Chamber Choir has entered a new phase in its career; yet it faces a challenge. Last Thursday's concert at the National Gallery - the last of five - showed many of the strengths developed since the choir became a full time ensemble earlier this year. These include a better blend of voices, more confidence with virtuoso music, and an impression of common commitment.
Add this to the choir's forthcoming children's opera and its successful composition workshops for young people, and the future seems bright.
But there is still the question of the choir's aspirations as a concert group.
I heard three of the concerts - in this series; and this last one, devoted to French music from c. 1500 (Josquin) to the mid 20th century (Durufle), was the most technically proficient. The NCC coped well with the virtuosity of Ravel's Trois Chansons, while Durufle's Ubi Caritas had a suave restraint, in keeping with the compositional style.
Yet conductor Colin Mawby's proven strengths in English music of the 19th and 20th centuries tended to dominate; indeed, he treated Josquin's Mille Regrets with the care for detail, and the fragmented phrasing, which one might associate with an Elgar part song.
Also on the programme was music for clarinet and piano, played by Deirdre O'Leary and Fergal Caulfield. The occasional technical blips in O'Leary's playing of such demanding pieces as Debussy's Premiere Rhapsodie and Messager's Solo de Concours were eclipsed by her beautiful tone, and Caulfield was an accurate accompanist, though one who knew his place all too well. Such music thrives on a forceful drama between soloist and pianist.
Seeking the drama which animates choral music from the Baroque and Renaissance periods requires a specialist. I hope that the National Chamber Choir will have the courage to build on the strengths which Colin Mawby has fostered, and that I will draw on the experience of the specialists who can help make the choir fully worthy of its name.