Three members of a leading Devon choir are preparing to swap the safety of the chorus for the glare of the solo spotlight in a performance of Handel’s Solomon.
The one-hundred-strong Exeter Philharmonic Choir will take to the stage for its Lord Mayor’s concert at Exeter Cathedral on Saturday, March 14, when three of its own singers will perform solo roles alongside established professionals.
Soprano Helen Goode and soprano Charlotte Moyes, both from Exeter, and tenor Stuart Mole, from Exmouth, will join four professional soloists and musicians from Endelienta Baroque for the performance.
Helen, a secondary school teacher who has been a member of the choir for about four years, said she was feeling “nervous and excited in equal measure”.
She said: “Singing has always been part of my life. I did a lot of singing at school and sang in the National Youth Choir as a teenager and then all through university. In my 30s and 40s, I did not sing in a choir for about ten years and I really missed it. I knew I wanted to join a good choir and this led me to join Exeter Philharmonic Choir after lockdown. It is wonderful.
“I do not want to sound too cheesy, but I realised about a year ago that it is one of the best things in my life. The standard of the choir is really good, Howard as a conductor is great – the right mix of challenging us and giving criticism or positive feedback – and I absolutely love singing with a group that strives to be excellent.”
(Credit: Sharon Goble)
Helen explained that the opportunity arose after music director Howard Ionascu asked members to take part in a vocal assessment.
She said: “The soloists in an oratorio like Solomon are the characters and the story tellers. Last year Howard wanted everyone to do a vocal assessment, which he was at pains to stress was not a re-audition. He asked us each to prepare a song and I took something that I hoped would showcase my voice. Afterwards, he told me he was brewing an idea to have three choir members sing solos in Solomon, and he asked if I would be interested.
“I replied that I would love to. So, that is how this exciting opportunity came about.”
Based on a story from the Old Testament, the oratorio’s soloists portray the main characters. Helen and Charlotte will appear as two women who come before King Solomon, each claiming to be the mother of a baby. In a test of wisdom, Solomon proposes dividing the child in two so that each woman may have half. The true mother recoils from the suggestion. Helen plays the woman who is willing for the baby to be divided, proving she is not the child’s real mother.
The work also includes the instrumental piece commonly known as the “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba”, which opens Act III. Although Handel did not give the composition that title, it later became widely known by that name and is regarded as one of his best-known works.
The choir will perform in eight voice parts. Professional soloists for the concert include mezzo-soprano Martha McLorinan as King Solomon, a role traditionally sung by a woman; soprano Amy Carson as the Queen and the Queen of Sheba; tenor Hugo Hymas as Zadok the Priest; and bass Timothy Dickinson as the Levite.
The concert begins at 7.30pm and is scheduled to end at 9.45pm.
Tickets, priced at £30, £24 and £16, are available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/exeterphilchoir, online at exeterphilharmonic.org.uk or by telephone on 0333 666 3366.
