REVIEW: Portsmouth Baroque Choir, Church of the Resurrection

Invariably rewarding in its programming, Portsmouth Baroque Choir here broke new geographical ground on the city’s eastern fringe.

Young guest soprano Anna Gould seemed a little overwhelmed by her location in the pulpit for her opening item but sang with greater freedom of tone and expression at floor level in two Mozart works.

That soloistic quality was evident in contrast with the contributions from other solo singers drawn from the ranks, although they were mostly assured.

In a busy programme, dynamic organ playing by Peter Gould in Haydn’s Insanae et Vanae Curae prompted more extrovert choral singing under Malcolm Keeler’s direction, and the sopranos were impressively nimble in Mozart’s Missa Brevis.

The Dolce Quartet accompanied the choral works and played the first two movements of Mozart’s K499 quartet in the first half, and the other two in the second.

This was an effective way of giving the singers a rest, and the adagio produced the evening’s most profound music-making.

The Drayton church proved acoustically welcoming, although without the sonic bloom of Holy Spirit, Southsea, where the choir goes for its remaining 2016 concerts.

MIKE ALLEN