represented by

SOLI - Amy Haworth, Juliet Fraser, Emma Brain-Gabbott, Heather Cairncross, Andrew Busher

CHORUS - Micaela Haslam, Amanda Morrison, Jennifer Snapes (sops), Jenny Bacon, Julia Batchelor, Amy Wood (altos), Phillip Conway-Brown, Morgan Crowley, Gerard O'Beirne (tenors), Michael Dore, Gabriel Gottlieb, Lawrence White (basses)

Royal Festival Hall

"I'd like to take this opportunity to thank once again all the singers who put such a huge amount of time and effort into preparing Prometeo. Thanks too to Rachel Toogood at the South Bank who took over the organisation of the project at a late and critical stage. I wonder if she knew what she was getting into! Rachel was the one everyone turned to whenever there was a problem or a query - and there were many! She must have been exhausted at the end of it all.

Back to the singers, and special thanks to Amy Haworth who managed to find a "super F" just for this gig. She had never sung so high in public before and she didn't miss a single one - not even in rehearsal. Heather Cairncross also gets a prize for her incredible alto/tuba duet. This is the most exposed, quiet, sustained solo imaginable and requires total control. I can't think of anyone who could have done a better job.

I could sense all of the 3 "chorus" tenors heaving a sign of relief whenever Andy Busher sang his solo lines in a "rather you than me" way. All of our soloists did a splendid job, bearing in mind that this piece is well outside most singers' comfort zones. There are several occasions in Prometeo when the soloists' pitches are "detuned" in the amplification, so that an out of tune version is heard at the same time as the actual version - very difficult to sustain. Not only were the solo vocal lines incredibly exposed, but so were the singers, on their own platform overlooking the stage and audience.

Soloists on high

Between the 2 concerts, I reckon we'd have a amazing recording of the piece. The solo chorus movement was one of the highlights for me. The dynamics, the ensemble, the tuning and the control were exemplary. I was really proud of the team. Another movement called for all manner of strange sounds, cupping hands over mouths etc, in a web of extremely tricky rhythms. This was the most difficult section for the choir, but we got there in the end.

Prometeo chorus in action

All the ensembles from the balcony

At nearly two and a half hours long (and with no interval) it's no surprise that Prometeo is rarely performed. That said, I do hope we'll get to do it again some day. The hardest work is all behind us now and it would be nice to get another chance to reap the benefits."

Micaela