I must confess that I am little hoarse this morning, and can only attribute that to some over-zealous singing at last night’s rehearsal.  It’s all down to Carlos.

As I reflected last week, we are now beginning to be more familiar with the words and notes of these Opera Choruses.  Carlos has realised this, and is encouraging us to take on the parts of the people we are playing in the scenes represented by each chorus.  So, although last night started in a very restrained manner as we sang Dido’s Lament, things hotted up more than a little when we sang through the Porgy and Bess Suite, with a need to get quite passionate towards the end.

But then the forces of Grand Opera were released in full.  Tchaikovsky’s Waltz Scene from Eugene Onegin has us dancing and prancing – oh yes, and also scheming.  We have to portray all this without the assistance of costumes and scenery, so it’s important that we really throw ourselves into the parts.  And of course, it’s glorious music to sing with lots of good tunes and luscious harmonies over a great accompaniment.

Not content with having us sing ourselves out over that, Carlos then embarked on the Anvil Chorus.  You cannot sing that half-heartedly.  It’s high and loud (although there are one or two quieter bits as Carlos reminded us), and if we were on stage we would have to contend with the crack of metal on metal as the blacksmiths pound their work into shape.  So if we had not sung ourselves out previously, here was the opportunity – and the need – to do so.

And of course there are a few more – the drinking song from La Traviata and the Habanera from Carmen will be pretty full on, and the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Nabucco is harder work than it seems.  Rehearsing these next week will challenge our stamina once more.  But there might be some respite in the Humming Chorus from Madame Butterfly and the Bell Chorus from Pagliacci.

Rehearsing these works has become huge fun.  Carlos works us hard, but it is well worthwhile.  The result are astonishing.  Let’s keep up the momentum by going over all the music between rehearsals, even if we only go through the words so that we do net get tongue-tied and we are can get into the right character.  If we carry on like this, it will be a great concert.

It has been a long time coming, but at last night’s rehearsal, the Opera Choruses seemed to start to come together.  Many of us have missed a few rehearsals, due to combinations of extended travel and sickness, and for these people, there has been a lot to learn in a short time.  But at last it is all beginning to feel like music rather than a set of notes represented by bewildering tadpoles distributed unevenly across the page, sung in languages that are in most cases anything but English.

I suspect that we had all thought that learning a set of Opera Choruses would be like a walk in the park compared with the complexities of the St John Passion.  How wrong we were!  Once again there are all sorts of nuances in the notes, both rhythm and pitch, and once again we are called on to play a different part in each chorus.  One minute we are singing a rollicking drinking song, the next we are grieving our exile from our homeland; then we have to circumspectly watch a seductress charm her target, then to mourn the death of our beloved.  And this only happens when we know the notes sufficiently well that we can anticipate the expression marks in the score and look up and follow Carlos’ directions.

It will be a great concert.  No doubt we will each have our own favourite chorus.  I can’t chose a favourite at present, but I have to confess that the suite from Porgy and Bess sends shivers down my spine at several key moments.

It will be very satisfying during the next few rehearsals to feel the music becoming more dramatic as we ease our way more deeply into each role.  For me, the key is to learn the words at home so as to be able to focus on the music on Thursday evenings.  It is amazing how much even a little preparation pays dividends!

It is hard to know where to start in commenting on last Saturday’s performance of Bach’s St John Passion.  It is a work unlike anything the Choir has attempted in recent years, and yet we succeeded in giving a performance which was more than creditable.  It was stunning.  This view is not just from within the Choir.  Audience members were thrilled by the music and the standard of the performance.  It was indeed a night to remember.

So many things came together to make for such a memorable evening.  Richard Butler was incomparable in the role of the Evangelist, ably supported by the continuo duo of Thomas Wilson and Michal Wieczorek.  Richard’s variety of tone and range of expression was key to our full experience of this gut-wrenching narrative. His singing was powerful and compelling.  Yet he sang almost sotto voce at key moments, holding the audience in the palm of his hand.  You could have heard a pin drop.

Alexander Knight managed to combine Jesus’ earthly agony and heavenly serenity very effectively, while Greg McCreanor’s Pilate sounded just like a compromised politician.

The other soloists, Maia Andrews, Nyssa Milligan and Joshua Oxley, sang their reflective arias with presence and sensitivity, an exact foil for the drama of the storyline.

Then there was the Choir – sometimes a baying crowd, sometimes a group of Roman soldiers, sometimes dispassionate onlookers.  After the spirals of the orchestral introduction, the first three chords, “Lord! Lord! Lord!” resonated round the Chapel in an indication that we knew what we were doing.  The first narrative section went together well, Evangelist and Choir moving the story ahead in a compelling manner.  From there the Choir seemed to grow in confidence and ability, singing the final chorus with a great deal of sensitivity, and the final Chorale as though the end of the world were nigh.

Alexandra Loukianova led the orchestra through this minefield of music with controlled flair, knowing exactly when to accompany and when to lead.  There was some delightful playing in the ensembles which accompanied the arias, none more so than in the Tenor Aria, “Behold Him”, with two violins and cello.

How did all this happen?  It is all the work of one man, our Conductor, Carlos Alvarado.  He had to rehearse all the musical components individually, and then meld them together into a coherent whole in just two final rehearsals.  The result speaks for itself.  From the point of view of a member of the Choir, it is clear that Carlos regards this music with the highest degree of respect.  He never let us forget what we were singing about, insisting on accuracy and expressiveness right from the first rehearsal.

This performance is a highlight of the Choir’s recent history and will be remembered long after others are forgotten.  We owe a huge debt to our soloists, particularly to Richard Butler, and to the orchestra, for their invaluable contribution.  But most of all we should reflect that it is indeed possible for a community choir, led by the right person, to do justice to some of the greatest music the world has ever heard.

As we get closer to the performance of the St John Passion, members are commenting that they are beginning to understand the work and the way in which Bach makes the drama of the story unfold.  It takes me back to the first time I sang the work, not ever having heard it, thirty years ago.  The rehearsals were at the start a bit of a grind.  Half the choir had sung it before, and those that had not were struggling to keep up.  Gradually, the newcomers caught up with the old hands and the music started to make sense.

Then came the first rehearsal when we began to put all the components together.  The WOW factor was incredible.  How did a composer in Bach’s day create such a compelling sense of drama with the resources at his disposal?  As we became more familiar with the music, the sense of magic became even greater, and the performance in Salisbury Cathedral was electrifying.

I have heard the work many times since, and have sung it a further three times.  Each time I marvel at the way the story comes to life and engages both performers and audience alike.

Next week we get to rehearse with the Evangelist, and then with the orchestra and eventually the other soloists.  We are very fortunate to be singing this work in the company of some illustrious musicians: soloists, orchestra and of course our inspired conductor, Carlos.  Performing such wonderful music with them will prove, I have no doubt, to be a truly memorable experience.

There are now two rehearsals remaining for the St John Passion before we put all the elements together in the final run-throughs.  We have covered almost all the music: all seventeen choruses and ten of the twelve chorales.  It’s a lot of  music to learn and remember.

Once again, Carlos is demanding high standards of us.  He encourages us to think actively about the text, the drive of the narrative and our different roles at different times.  We then have to sing not only accurately but also with meaning and feeling, befitting the wonderful music and its story.

These last rehearsals will be fascinating, as we get to work with the orchestra and the soloists to bring the whole work together.  We are most fortunate to have a stellar line-up of soloists.  In particular, Richard Butler brings a wealth of experience to the role of the Evangelist.  It will be a real privilege to sing alongside him.