Concert with the Leicester University Chamber Choir
Reviewer: Neil Crutchley in Leicester Mercury, November 2007.
"This recital of Sacred British Music was the first concert given by the Leicester University Chamber Choir, and it proved to be an impressive debut.
"Formed and conducted by Mark Batten, the talented organist of St. James the Greater, the choir consists of around thirty young singers who produced an appealingly smooth and bright sound. Mark knew what he wanted from the music and how to achieve it. His conducting was direct and unmannered with lots of eye contact and plenty of cues.
"The highlight was an accomplished and compelling account of Britten's masterly cantata, Rejoice in the Lamb. This piece presents a real challenge to any choir, but these singers had been meticulously rehearsed and coped admirably with the countless changes of tempo and dynamics. It was a vibrant and searching reading with able soloists and superb organ accompaniment from Nicholas Johnson.
"John Rutter's organ duet, Variations on an Easter Theme played by Mark Batten and Nicholas Johnson, was enjoyably eclectic with a particularly attractive blues-inspired central section, and soprano Kat Hinkel excelled in a short piece by Barry Ferguson based on inspirational words by Mother Teresa and called It was in that train."
Concert with the Leicester Bach Choir
Reviewer: Neil Crutchley in Leicester Mercury, June 2007.
"Elgar's great anthem, Give unto the Lord, with its surging dynamics, was exhilarating. Tension was held throughout and there was a real sense of shape and form, helped by Mark Batten's glorious organ playing.
"Like the Leicestershire Chorale, the Bach Choir enjoys a tremendous rapport with its gifted and dynamic young conductor. Richard Laing directs with clarity and confidence and this is reflected in the choir's performances, which have tremendous zest and intensity.
"This same urgency was apparent in Parry's noble setting of Blest Pair of Sirens. Here the momentum was compelling and the build-up to the final bars, (where urgency remained just this side of rushed), was breathtaking — again aided by imaginative organ playing.
"Mark Batten's technical command and musical insight were also well displayed in his solo pieces: Howells' Epilogue and Bridge's Adagio in E.
Bruckner's two motets showed a more relaxed approach, as did the idiomatic and colourful account of Dvorak's Mass in D."
Organ concert at St James the Greater
Reviewer: Peter Collett in Leicester Mercury, September 2006.
"This was Mark Batten's first concert recital at St James, where he has been Organist for two years. Composers write notes for a reason and Mark's clean, clear playing paid due musical homage to each of them.
"A triumphant Excelsior by Franz Liszt opened the recital and set the mood for a first half of mainly lesser-known works. Couperin's Kyrie from Mass for the Convents was a chance to show off some of the reedy stops of the organ, with mouthwatering results. Mozart Changes, by Zsolt Gárdonyi, showed just how well the pipe organ can express jazz harmonies when in the right hands. I wonder how Mr Mozart would have felt about such use of the chord progressions from one of his piano sonatas!
"The second half consisted entirely of the major work of the evening, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. Keith John's transcription from the orchestral score and Mark's exciting performance brought new depth to this tone poem and transfixed the listener."
Duruflé Requiem with the City of Leicester Singers
Reviewer: Neil Crutchley in Leicester Mercury, November 2005.
"This performance... captured the spirit of the piece... Mark Batten provided an imaginative and assured accompaniment... Vierne's Adagio and Final (Third Symphony), stylishly played by Mark Batten, completed the programme."
Organ concert at Leicester Cathedral
Reviewer: Stephen Gamble in Leicester Mercury, July 2005.
"Mark's playing was of sufficient technique to allow him an apparent ease in communicating the spirit of each piece. I was particularly impressed by Bach's Pièce d'Orgue, which required phrasing of violin-like rapidity in the outer sections and sustained contrapuntal grandeur in the central section.
"The final item touched more on the surreal. Lefebure-Wely's Sortie in E flat conjures up the world of the grand Parisian opera spiced with a hint of fairground music — all this in a piece of church music that Mark assured us was a popular choice for funerals."