Simón Bolívar National Youth Choir of Venezuela

Last Saturday to hear the Simón Bolívar National Youth Choir of Venezuela.

We, and a reasonably full house at the Royal Festival Hall, had the men do Juan Bautista Plaza's Misa de Réquiem, the ladies standing in for boys do Benjamin Britten's Missa brevis for boys' voices & organ, Op.63, a soloist and mixed choir do Felix Mendelssohn's hymn 'Hear my prayer' and the full choir do Zoltán Kodály's Missa brevis. All very solemn and sacred. Backing from the newly refurbished organ (see 30th March), played on this occasion by Vincent Heitzer.

Around 40-45 men and 45-50 women, all smartly turned out in black, showing proper respect to God ( I imagine that they were all, at least nominally, Catholics), to the music and to the audience: I like my musicians to bother to dress. I also liked their singing, particularly of the first and last pieces, a sort of singing that appeals to me more than the sort of fancy singing offered by the choir of King's College Chapel at Christmas.

A very democratic choir, with the soloists stepping out from the choir to do their solos, then stepping back in again to carry on with the rank and file. Even the conductress took her turn at singing during the three encores, much more Latin American and much lighter in tone, all very jolly and they got the Latin American contingent in the audience going a bit more than the solemn and sacred music had.

Another rather lighter note was provided by the Directress for Outreach, Diversity and Education at the South Bank who felt it necessary to introduce the choir. No smart black turnout for her; rather the sort of outfit that the costume department on 'Midsomer Murders' might dig out for the eccentric lady to open the village fête in and set off by lime green shoes of some sort. A rather diffident manner, not very directorial at all: I dare say she is a fine director of outreach etc, but she does not have the presence for the platform on an occasion of this sort. The BBC Third Programme also feel the need for introductions of this sort at their concerts at St. Luke's and the Wigmore Hall, but at least they manage rather better than this, maybe even have the presenter (usually a woman) in a business suit - and at least we were spared the vulgar lighting deployed for Latry on 30th March.

A good concert, but not, I think, something that I would want to do too often.