Carmina Burana, Waterfront Hall

Britten's Variations and Fugue on a theme by Purcell, better known as the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, was an appropriate opener for this final Saturday night.

An array of young people were assembled on the Waterfront stage to join the Ulster Orchestra and Belfast Philharmonic Society under the baton of Greg Beardsell, himself a relatively young and talented conductor. His direction of Britten was flexible and fanciful, rhythmically alert and dynamically colourful, reaching for the musical core of this popular, almost clichéd piece.

But its popularity would be as nothing compared to the worldwide fame enjoyed by Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Recognising that this is not a work relying on subtlety for its effect, the Festival had provided a platform for the combined, massed forces of the Ulster Youth Choir and Orchestra, four local school choirs, the Belfast Phil and the Ulster Orchestra. The visuals worked a treat but the vocal sound was surprisingly underwhelming, almost swamped by the vibrant orchestral powers. I think the variable acoustics of the Waterfront were largely to blame for this as choral diction and clarity were not really an issue.

Of the three soloists, Aoife Miskelly, Owen Gilhooly and Christopher Hann, it was the soprano who fared best, especially in her last appearance which was spellbinding. Again, Beardsell drove the music along with a controlled energy. Could the Waterfront management please resolve the intruding foreign sounds which distractingly permeated this entire concert?