The Tallis Scholars

The Tallis Scholars, Portsmouth Cathedral, June 23rd

The acoustics of Portsmouth Cathedral have been explored to great effect over the years by the flamboyant baroque music of the Kammerensemble Koln, the Ensemble Clement Jannequin featuring the counter-tenor of Dominique Visse, the Bach Cantatas series under David Stanicliffe and, more recently, James Bowman and Catherine Bott. The Tallis Scholars seemed an ideal match for them as part of this year's Portsmouth Festvities, and so it conclusively was proved.

Their programme of Palestrina, Morales, Gibbons, Morley and Josquin des Prez might be varied to the educated and sophisticated ear but not necessarily to my more cloth-based devices. Nonetheless, it's difficult to see how any amount of education or expertise would make it sound any more heavenly or superb except that it would help differentiate between styles, personality and mood in this ancient music. While the Josquin Agnus Dei from Missa L'Arme Homme might be more gorgeously poignant and the Gibbons Hosanna more celebratory, the prevailing mood is that of a bright, unfolding eternity.

The subtle alto parts and continuo tenors sound fine and restrained in their places but it is, of course, the soaring top parts that carry the thrill and bravura of most of these pieces, most notably tonight as the light outside began to fade and the stage lights had more effect and it immediately became more intimate and evocative. This happened to be in the Morales Emendemus in melius immediately after the interval but whether that really was one level more glorious than the pieces in the first half or if it was a trick of the light is hard to say.

The best known piece, by us at least, was the Josquin, with which they ended with spectacular charm and poise rather than climactic drama. Apparently a simple composition based on a carillon leitmotif, it can't be quite as easy to achieve as it was made to sound, moving through its phases towards inevitable resolution. You can't hear it like that on any sort of hi-fidelity equipment, of course, and neither can such a choir be appreciated to such effect in the wider spaces of the Albert Hall at a greater distance from the action.

When sublimity is the object of the exercise, it's always going to be hard to exceed expectations but the Tallis Scholars, world renowned purveyors of any amount of such fare, didn't disappoint either, especially given the astute move of not beginning until 8pm to allow dusk to gather by the end. I'm not sure the cathedral would have shifted Evensong to allow them to start any earlier anyway.

But it was a treat for Portsmouth to have them here and if Tasmin Little delivers as much as she is expected to tomorrow night then the Portsmouth Festivities will have provided richly for its appreciative audience this year.