Bishop’s Stortford Choral Society and Sinfonia combine for ‘an exhilarating evening’

Bishop’s Stortford Choral Society combined with Bishop’s Stortford Sinfonia on Saturday night (March 23) to tackle the plagues of Egypt as envisaged by Handel in his biblical oratorio, Israel in Egypt.

A packed audience at the Methodist Church heard the choir and orchestra recreate the story of Moses and the Exodus, complete with musical imaginings of the frogs, flies, locusts and hailstones, the crossing of the Red Sea, the waves parted by Moses and the ultimate destruction by drowning of the Pharaoh’s troops.

Most of the action is delivered by the choir in a series of choruses, which is a test of any choir’s vocal stamina. But there are solo moments too and the choir was joined by sopranos Emily Chapman and Eppie Sharp, countertenor Matthew Farrell and tenor Jordan Wilson.

Afterwards, there were warm words of praise from concert-goers.

“It was an exhilarating evening with a spirited performance by the choir,” said Vic Knope, who travelled from Epping for the concert. "The four soloists all sang with great conviction. A joy to all who were lucky enough to be there."

Another audience member, Richard Ridler, agreed: “BSCS’s presentation of Handel’s Israel in Egypt was, as the text suggests, ‘glorious’. Once again the conductor Richard Brain led the choir and orchestra magnificently.”

And on Facebook, Lucy Ambrose commended “absolutely brilliant performances” from all concerned.

Are you interested in singing with BSCS? The next open rehearsal is on Thursday April 18 at 7.45pm at the Water Lane United Reformed Church. For more details, visit www.singwithbscs.org.uk.