Usher Hall, 6th October 2026
Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Patrick Hahn (conductor),
RSNO Chorus, Stephen Doughty (Director)
Edinburgh Festival Chorus, James Grossmith (Director)
Soloists: Jennifer Davis (soprano), Irene Roberts (mezzo-soprano), Mario Lerchenberger (tenor), Edwin Crossley-Mercer (bass)
A good but not a great Requiem - This was my judgement at the end of Friday's Verdi's Requiem at the Usher Hall. It may indeed prove to be a minority view as two reviews I've already seen give it five stars and uncritical accounts. I differ from some critics in that I think the role of the critic is to give praise where due, but to be critical where appropriate. I am not a trained musician but I do have over 60 years’ experience of opera and classical music and I do have an idea of what is good and what is great. The last time I reviewed the Verdi Requiem was 2 years ago at the Festival and I received some criticism because I compared it to what many critics consider the greatest ever live performance of the Requiem which was the opening concert of the 1982 Edinburgh Festival. That performance is available on YouTube and readers can access it and make their own judgement, but I was there and yes I have listened to it recently and it is wonderful!
Every performance of the Requiem is special and there is no doubt the RSNO pulled out all the stops tonight to present this great work. The orchestra was over 80 strong under the baton of their principal guest conductor Patrick Hahn, who it should be noted is a leading opera conductor as well as a symphony conductor. Of course many people (including my father!) suggest that the Requiem is indeed a thinly disguised opera so Patrick Hahn was right at home with it, as he proved. The work was introduced by the RSNO Chorus Director Stephen Doughty who said that the Requiem needed a chorus of 200+ to do it justice and tonight with the combined chorus of the RSNO and the Edinburgh Festival Chorus we had that. Indeed with the big orchestra and the banked ranks of the chorus we were facing a wall of sound!
However it was a wall of sound that began very quietly with the delicate sounds of the cellos soon backed by the violins and then the full orchestra introducing the Kyrie and then the singers and the chorus quietly joining in; all under the watchful control of the conductor were beautifully in harmony. Indeed as our regular critic at RSNO concerts has argued they are among the finest symphony orchestra in Britain not just Scotland and it is sad that, as we have noted in this publication, they are not fully funded. Tonight showed they deserve to be.
The massed ranks of the chorus were also very good and it was clear that the two choruses had blended well, meeting the mighty challenges of the work - this quickly became evident in the second movement, the Dies Irae, when it came bursting out over the very full Usher Hall. What was ‘good but not great’ were the soloists, all of whom are well established in their careers and making a career in the opera houses of the world so they are not novices. Yet at times I was disappointed, for example the young Carinthian tenor Mario Lerchenberger seemed a little strident at times in the Ingemisco, the bass Edwin Crossley-Mercer had a nice tone but at times lacked colour. The American mezzo soprano Irene Roberts was a late replacement and is making a good reputation in European opera houses and she sang her parts very well. The young Irish soprano Jennifer Davis is a graduate of Covent Garden's Jette Parker Young Artist Programme, now making a name for herself across Europe, including heavy Wagnerian roles; she certainly had no trouble making herself heard tonight. The music was signed by a very accomplished BSL performer, Paul Whittaker, who eloquently described the music for hard of hearing audience members.
The very full Usher Hall audience gave a very warm response to what is a major feat of endurance - almost 2 hours (with introduction and curtain calls) of non-stop attention. It was a very good but not a great performance. But that's OK; every performance cannot be the best and for those new to the work it demonstrated that Verdi's Requiem is one of great musical works. I for one have long thought I’d like to have it as my funeral music, but I doubt that my friends will stay for 2 hours so maybe I'll have to settle for the Ingemisco - with of course Gigli singing it!
