Director: Toby Ward
The range of work presented by Opera North in the Howard Assembly Room is exemplified by following up the jazz-come-Cuban music of Roberto Fonseca with the Ensemble Pro Victoria presenting music from Spain’s Golden Age. This lasted from the establishment of the monarchy over the whole country ruled by “los reyes catolicos”, Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1492, to 1659. The peak of achievement came in the long reign of Philip II in the second half of the 16th century. If the Ensemble Pro Victoria failed to emulate Fonseca’s capacity crowd, an unusually appealing programme produced an enthusiastic response.
Ensemble Pro Victoria, set up at university in 2015, are now well established as one of the finest vocal ensembles of this type. It consists of eight members – two sopranos, male and female altos, two tenors and two baritones/basses – all under the direction of Toby Ward.
The major composer of the time – and the only one this reviewer was familiar with – was Tomas Luis de Victoria and the early pieces seemed to confirm his superiority. Asperges Me, by the earliest Golden Age composer, Cristobal de Morales, with its soaring soprano line, and Francisco Garro’s Parce mihi, Domine, seemed to this untutored ear to promise more of the same, but then came Victoria. His Trahe me post te, for an ensemble of six – minus the sopranos – produced a dark texture reflecting the originality of the piece. His superb setting of Psalm 136 – all eight voices, divided into two groups answering each other – was the highpoint of the first half, but Morales’ Jubilate Deo, with two members of the ensemble stationed in the gallery behind the stage, provided a joyous finale which prompted a questioning of the Victoria-and-then-the-others view.
And so it proved after the interval. The three Victoria pieces were dynamic, especially the closing Gloria from Missa pro Victoria after which the ensemble is named. The “Victoria” is not the composer, but “Victory” and it imitates the sounds of battle. But the other pieces, from Francisco Guerrero’s intense Maria Magdalena et altera Maria onwards, were increasingly original: Sebastian de Vivanco’s wonderful Magnificat Octavi Toni, with its periodic plainsong chant followed by different voices leading the exploration of the text, and – at the tail end of the Golden Age – Juan Guttierez de Padilla’s remarkable Gloria from Missa Ego Flos Campi. This, composed in Mexico, takes on board the music of the indigenous people and is a glorious farewell to the Golden Age.
The Ensemble Pro Victoria were as assured as one could wish, the dynamics beautifully controlled. My only real complaint would be that Toby Ward finally spoke to the audience before the last but one number and the programme, uploaded to your phone, expressed a preference for saving the applause till the end of each half. A little unbending would work wonders!
Reviewed on 21st April 2022.
