A fun family-friendly Christmas sing-along in a spell-binding venue
The Royal Choral Society was first formed as part of the Royal Albert Hall’s official opening in 1871, which was attended by Queen Victoria, and first sang at Christmas at the Royal Albert Hall in 1872. While I can’t personally attest to the standard of the choir then, they were absolutely excellent this year, and the spell-binding venue is fit to make all the audience feel like royalty.
With traditional festive choral repertoire including Stille Nacht and The Little Road to Bethlehem alongside some familiar favourites The First Nowell and Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, the programme was well-balanced and well-paced.
Conductor Richard Cooke was lively and enthusiastic, keeping the audience engaged and singing at the appropriate moments with gusto, although the thousands of voices in the crowd were still rather paltry in comparison to the 150-strong choir!
Soprano Jennifer France had a number of solo pieces, which were sung very competently, however her talents were best displayed with the Puccini, which was utterly enchanting, suggesting she may be more suited to opera than a choral repertoire.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra were perhaps not at their best – likely due to the absence of their usual conductor – but this was still disappointing from one of the most prestigious orchestras in the UK. There were some particularly jarring moments during Tchaikovsky’s Waltz of the Flowers, with a badly out of tune French Horn sounding a discordant beginning to the piece. Otherwise, the brass were generally excellent, drowning out the choir at times, but you won’t hear any complaints from me: nothing feels more Christmassy than a big brash brass section.
There were readings by Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh interspersing the musical programme, and while I applaud the efforts to include different material in this event, I’m not sure how Benjamin Zephaniah would have felt about being read aloud at a performance which began with the National Anthem, and took place in the Royal Albert Hall. It made for an uncomfortable and incongruous contrast.
The highlight of the performance had to be The Little Road to Bethlehem, by Michael Head, which was sung beautifully by the choir – soft, dreamlike, and the best performance of the piece I have heard in years. However I think the crowd was at its most festive and jubilant during the encore, featuring Jingle Bells, which had everyone laughing and singing along.