Renaissance of old favourites

Review

Favourites for Friends, The Renaissance Singers, Globe Theatre, Palmerston North, Sunday, September 2. Reviewed by Stephen Fisher.

A full house turned out to hear the Renaissance Singers’ short concert, which was a selection of items the choir had presented to audiences over recent years.

The choir members revelled in music representative of a wide diversity of styles and genres.

Although the songs were familiar, there were two new conductors.

Regular conductor Guy Donaldson finally succumbed to temptation and joined the basses for this concert, thus allowing Christine Archer-lockwood and Nigel Tongs to each step out of the choir and take their turn on the rostrum.

The unaccompanied programme featured brackets of the madrigals, sacred works and lighter contemporary music, all of which have earned the choir has an excellent reputation.

Each of the conductors showed an excellent rapport with the choir, stamping their own mark while still allowing the choir to demonstrate the discipline, ability and infectious enthusiasm that is so frequently on display in performance.

Globe 2, the smaller of the two theatres in this complex, proved an interesting choice of venue. Although the intimacy of the venue may have appealed to some, it means every member of the choir must maintain complete attention to detail.

A momentary lapse is not so obvious in a larger venue, but they were noticeable in Sunday’s performance, where attention to the blending of voices may have benefited the choir.

However, this was another satisfying concert from a choir that enjoyed the opportunity to relive old favourites.