St Mary’s Priory Church hosted a concert presented by Monmouth Choral Society who gave a splendid performance of Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle writes Christopher Northam.

Aided and abetted by a fine quartet of soloists and two accompanying keyboards, the evening was presided over by Steven Kings, who conducted proceedings with his usual calm authority.Anyone who passed up the opportunity to hear this wonderfully entertaining work missed a real treat.

Rossini is of course remembered mostly for his many operas, 29 written between 1810 and 1819, slowing down to nine between 1820 and 1829, finishing with the grandest of all, William Tell, in four long acts. After this gargantuan achievement he retired from stage works, exhausted and ill, which limited any further composing to much smaller offerings.However there are two exceptions, the Stabat Mater and towards the end of his life the Petite Messe Solonelle. The 14 sections follow the full Mass and are divided equally between choral and solo movements, with a purely instrumental section in the second half which gave all the singers a well-earned rest. Interestingly the accompanying instruments specified by the composer are piano and harmonium, fetchingly played here by respectively Sam Bayliss and Edward Dean, who was playing a wonderfully-voiced harmonium which I gather was from his own collection.

The choir provided many touching but also exhilarating passages of singing, and warmed to the task as the evening progressed. The Cum Sancto Spiritu just before the interval and the moving responses in the final Agnus Dei were particularly well managed.

Originally meant for 12 singers in total, some of the faster, intricate movements can blur round the edges in a generous acoustic, but generally the choir acquitted themselves well throughout the evening. Of our four soloists tenor Andrew Henley had just the right timbre of voice for the almost heroic music, thrillingly dispatched. Charlotte Newstead (soprano) and Susan Marrs (alto) provided necessary balm and beauty in their singing while Robert Marson (bass) sang with nobility and fine resonance, using his words with intelligence.

Huge congratulations to all concerned and a big thank you to Monmouth Choral Society for its usual hospitality and enthusiasm.