KEY POINTS:
Brahms' German Requiem is a vast undertaking for even the most experienced choral groups. It demands finesse and stamina, with the ability to balance Romantic expressiveness with the solid contrapuntal fortitude that comes from confidence singing Baroque repertoire.
It demands a full symphony orchestra with players who can cope with truly symphonic demands.
Clara Schumann described it as full of tender and daring thoughts, which gives some idea of the range of its performance requirements.
Finally, the two soloists need to acknowledge the nuance of lieder and the rhetoric of the oratorio.
Rita Paczian, her Bach Musica singers and orchestra and soloists David Griffiths and Morag Atchison can indeed be proud of how well Brahms was treated on Sunday afternoon, in what must be one of the group's most ambitious concerts.
The opening chorus, "Blessed are they that mourn", was unswerving in its tread. There may have been the occasional strain when sopranos ventured above the stave, but this was a small price to pay for the richness of the texture when Brahms was at his most harmonically intense. The second chorus, "Behold, all flesh is as the grass", had a Mahlerian inevitability to it while Paczian caught the idyll that is "How Lovely are Thy Dwellings".
The orchestra, sans tuba and piccolo, was in good form and suffered more than the choristers from the ungrateful acoustics of the venue.
Griffiths brought his customary intelligence and command to his two contributions; Atchison was effortlessly eloquent in her great outpouring of hope and eternity.
In a letter written after the premiere, Brahms stated: "I very happily would omit the 'Deutsch' (German) and simply put 'Menschen' (Mankind)." Paczian and her musicians made one only too aware of the universality and sense of humanity that makes this a monument in its field.
