Vespers review – haunting clash of cultures conjures Vivaldi’s Venice

Smith Square Hall, London
This resourceful semi-staging blended choral collective Idrîsî Ensemble’s ancient chants with Iestyn Davies and Figure’s Vivaldi.

Vespers. The word conjures an intoxicating aura of twilight and incense. Liturgically, it’s an opportunity for Christians to sanctify the day’s end as the sun is setting, but its roots are deeper, stretching back to first-century Judaism. Its name, from the Greek Hesperus, hints at darker pagan origins. This semi-staged concert located Vespers as it might have been heard in Vivaldi’s Venice, within the broader and more ancient cultures of the Mediterranean.

Entering to the sound of bells, the audience was seated either side of a raised platform. At one end were string players from Figure, a historical performance orchestra, crisply led by Frederick Waxman. At the other was countertenor Iestyn Davies, a troubled figure staring at a laptop and lit by a single candle. As he donned headphones, an otherworldly Kyrie drifted down from a balcony. The voices were Idrîsî Ensemble, a choral collective specialising in the performance of Old Roman chant, the music of the early Christian Church in Rome. It was a haunting sound, open throated and ornate, its vinegary harmonies peppered with ululating decorations.