A magical performance in a fine venue

The mayors of Oldham and Rochdale sat beside each other on Sunday for a partnership that brought together a fine Oldham choir with Rochdale’s equally fine new venue.

If either mayor felt a twinge of competitive anxiety they needn’t have, as Oldham Choral Society and the arena complemented each other perfectly.

The excellent acoustics of Rochdale’s flagship venue provided a terrific platform for Handel’s best-known, best-loved work, “Messiah”.

Handel was a great writer of tunes and knew how to please a crowd, so it’s difficult not to love “Messiah”, with its joyful choruses and beautiful arias.

As the choir opened on Sunday, some of the opening sections, which give it universal appeal, seemed tentative, lacking the abandon the work deserves.

Perhaps unfamiliarity with the venue’s acoustics contributed to the restrained start, but when soprano Camilla Roberts stepped up to the mark and delivered heart-rendingly beautiful versions of the arias — “Rejoice Greatly” and “Come Unto Him” — the effect was electric. The choir’s smiles revealed that conductor Nigel Wilkinson had struck a chord, creating a magic that permeated the rest of the performance.

Baritone David Kempster picked up the gauntlet laid down by Roberts with more fabulous singing, and stand-in tenor Matthew Moss and mezzo Kathleen Wilkinson (whose performance, despite a throat condition, was diminished in power but not at all in quality and clarity) maintained a very high standard on the part of the soloists.

But the real star of the show was the choir, which brushed off its initial reticence, answering any doubts about the venue’s suitability for sacred works like this one by passing its own exuberant enjoyment on to the delighted audience.

Nigel Wilkinson’s deft leadership produced a lovely, well-balanced sound from the choir and delivered another excellent night’s entertainment.

SC