Pergolesi's "Stabat Mater"

I'd never been to St. Mary-at-Hill in Eastcheap in the City before, so going to a concert there on Sunday afternoon was an opportunity to have a look at the church as well.   It's set back a little bit from Eastcheap, and is approached via a little lane; if you didn't know it was there you could easily miss it, as the church is just an integral part of the buildings on the lane,

The concert was in two parts.   In the first half, two singers - Nina Kanter (Soprano) and Angharad Lews (Mezzo-Doprano) performed Pergolesi's "Stabar mater", with Riccardo Bonci on the organ.   Instead of standing in front of the audience in the church, they stood on the balcony next to the organ, where their voices probably carried better.

Following the interval, the stage was taken by the Canto Ergo Sum, a small choir from Spoleto in Italy, which was formed in February 1996 and perform a wide range of music, from classical to musicals such as "Hair".

They sang a variety of pieces for both soloists and the whole choir, including pieces by Monteverdi, Hassler, Palestrina, Viaduna, Dubra and Hinze, most of whom I had never heard of before, but were a real delight to listen to.

Interestingly, whilst the men all definitely looked soutern Italian, the women were much more varied and could been a group from anywhere in Europe.