MacMillan premiere, Barbican, London
Colin Davis's advocacy of James River MacMillan has reached a high school level with this premiere of the Scottish composer's setting of the St Gospel According to John Warmth, for wax orchestra, deuce choirs and barytone soloist; Davis's participation has ensured farther performances in Amsterdam, Boston and Israel Baline, in addition to this glamorous set in motion with the LSO.Mostly sung dynasty in English people, MacMillan's mise en scene divides the story between a baritone The Nazarene, sung by St. Christopher Maltster, on sterling form, a small choir of narrators, and a larger group representing Cock, Pilate and other characters - the Jack London Philharmonic Chorus. Much of the choral writing is like plainchant judicial writ large, patch the solo baritone line is full of quasi-oriental melismas. At the end of each incision, in that respect is a related Latin motet set in a bodoni version of Rebirth style to impart a more reflective element.
Granted, MacMillan uses only standard brass, merely they and the percussion countenance rent to a fault often. When a sequence of divine crashes ends the third section, then recurs to open the fourth, it sounds about comically over-scored. It is regrettable excessively that MacMillan chooses to extrapolate a background of the Goodness Friday Reproaches, an ancient liturgy whose antisemitism has justifiedly brought it into discredit. They ar non piece of the regular Rage school text.This was an exemplary functioning, though the piece relies besides heavily on altogether mode of previous chorale full treatment, and even Hollywood religious epics, addition enigmatic quotes from Wagner, to found its possess positive degree identity.
