Viva Brighton Issue #63 May 2018

INSIDE LEFT: BRIGHTON FESTIVAL CHORUS, 1970
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This picture, printed with kind permission of The
Argus, is of the Brighton Festival Chorus practicing
prior to the Brighton Festival of 1970. It was
taken in the JMS Lecture Theatre at the University
of Sussex on April 18th of that year, and the
chorus are busy rehearsing Bach’s B Minor Mass.
The picture really brings a flavour of the times.
These may have been classically-trained singers,
but judging by the knees of the girls and ladies
in the front row, every one of them is wearing a
mini skirt. There are a couple of priceless hair-dos
on show as well, not least that sported by the
sun-tanned lady in the third row up, who, by dint
of the fact she is the only person looking at the
camera, becomes the punctum of the picture.
The ladies are silent at this point; look at the men
behind and you can see that they are busy singing.
Brighton Festival Chorus was founded two years
before, by Hungarian director Laszlo Heltay, specifically
to participate in the second-ever Brighton
Festival, during which they performed Belshazzar’s
Feast, conducted by the composer of the piece,
William Walton. They have gone on to become
one of the country’s most respected choirs, regularly
performing in London and further afield,
and collaborating with orchestras of the highest
calibre. Guest conductors have included André
Previn and Simon Rattle.
In the 1970 Festival this bunch performed two
concerts at Brighton Dome. Bach’s B Minor Mass
was conducted by the formidable German maestro
Karl Richter on the 9th May; the Chorus sang
in conjunction with the Sussex University Choir,
accompanied by the English Chamber Orchestra.
On the 17th, in the same venue, the then-just-25
Daniel Berenboim – now Music Director of the
Berlin State Opera - conducted the choir, along
with the New Philharmonia Orchestra, performing
two Beethoven pieces, Fantasia and the
spectacularly rousing Symphony No 9.
The modern-day version of the Chorus still
rehearse in the same lecture theatre; this year
sees their 50th birthday, and to celebrate they
are going to reprise their first-ever performance,
with what should be an exuberant rendition of
Belshazzar’s Feast on the 27th, accompanied by
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, no less, and
conducted by Sir Richard Armstrong. This follows
a performance of Britten’s War Requiem, with Britten
Sinfonia, and the Orchestre de Picardie. Both
take place in the Chorus’ spiritual home, Brighton
Dome Concert Hall. Alex Leith
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