Recent reviews
Brahms Requiem and Captain Noah
Wiltshire Music Centre
June 2010
Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem Op 45 (German Requiem), as performed by The City of Bath Bach Choir at the Wiltshire Music Centre last Saturday, is a sombre work.
Hardly surprising as the word ‘requiem’ usually refers to the Catholic Mass celebrated for the dead. Yet it was easy to feel uplifted as well as deeply moved by the choir’s clarity of diction, the stirring delivery, of Brahms’ harmonic German text.
The immediate members of an almost capacity audience sitting around me could be heard to release approving sighs of pleasure at the end of each of seven movements skilfully and passionately conducted by the highly experienced and internationally renowned Nigel Perrin. This piano-duet accompaniment version of the original choir and full orchestra does allow that text to stand out and gives a different dimension of lightness and precision to the work.
The sublime playing of Marcus Sealy and Nicholas Thorne never intruded on, but only enhanced, the vocals of both choir and solo performer.
In movements three and six, we were treated to the impressive baritone solo of Simon Trist; a commanding presence on stage. The beautiful, slow-moving, opening to Leah Jackson’s soprano solo in movement five only intensified the drama she was to so movingly deliver.
The performance ended to thunderous applause from an appreciative audience. In complete contrast to their previous all-black appearance, the choir entered for the second-half dressed in the most vibrant of colours (including wellington boots and umbrellas) and all to the sound of torrential rainfall. Joined on stage by the CBBC Junior Choir, resplendent in purple, they became a rainbow-feast for the eyes. The cantata Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo by Michael Flanders and Joseph Horovitz, is a light-hearted chronicling of Noah, charged by God to build an ark to preserve mankind and all the creatures of the Earth. The members of the Junior Choir, under the excellent directorship of Adrienne Hale, brought such an energy and obvious enjoyment to their singing that it became visibly infectious on the smiles of both senior choir and audience alike. A relatively short piece (under thirty minutes), Captain Noah is crammed with wonderful refrains such as from the mocking crowd: Noah! Noah! Don’t do anymore!
Also some superb changes in tempo from Latin-American rhythms, as the animals enter the ark, to a heart-warming waltz as God avows never to send another flood (This is my promise to you, the rainbow overhead). This was a terrific evening’s entertainment from all, but in particular the Junior Choir who inevitably stole a second-half performance of which my nine-year-old daughter remarked would be something all children would enjoy. I agree. The whole performance is to be repeated on July 3 at Malmesbury Abbey.
©Wiltshire Times (Gordon Eggington)
Music by Monteverdi, Bach and Rossini
Bath Abbey, Mar 2010
This was the best possible celebration of Nigel Perrin's 20 years at the helm of this fine choir. A programme spanning the great Renaissance tradition, through the Baroque, to the Classical/Romantic age, Monteverdi, Bach and Rossini: and the singers were ready and waiting for action.
Beatus Vir is a miniature masterpiece, a joy to sing and to hear. For the choir, it had the advantage of novelty, and from the opening, pacey, but in no way hurried, the sopranos bright and radiant, it was full of light and shade, the spare accompaniment perfectly adjusted, full of exultation in the final Gloria and ecstatic Amen. It was immensely uplifting.
The Bach Cantata [BWV182] for Palm Sunday was an interesting and inspired choice. It is not one of his most familiar, and the soloists were very attentive to their scores. Here again, the tempo was perfectly judged, firm and confident, the orchestra purposeful yet supportive, the choir balanced and expressive, with well observed contrasts between the long phrases in the chorale and the joyful energy and brio in the last chorus. It was Bach at his most purposeful, and absolutely attuned to the significance of Palm Sunday, splendidly recreated.
Then Rossini's Stabat Mater. Yes, of course, it is full of drama and excitement, of piano crescendoing to forte in dynamic contrast. But it also has serious poignancy, which gives it a special place in the sacred music repertoire. And the soloists, now in more familiar territory, showed us their quality, from the petite soprano Mary Plazas to the substantial basso Darren Jeffery, in ascending order via mezzo Louise Crane and tenor Justin Lavender. They reminded me irresistibly of John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett in their memorable sketch. Plazas has a big vibrant coloratura, vivid and colourful, Crane's mezzo beautifully phrased and burnished bronze, Lavender managed the heroic tenor line with courage and a ringing operatic quality and Jeffery's cavernous resonant basso was absolutely made for this music: and all four provided an admirable foil for the choir.
The final two choruses sung by the choir were quite ravishing: first Quando Corpus, done a capella, then Amen, with the orchestra. I've not heard better singing from the choir, molto espressivo, from exquisite pianissimo to soaring extrovert finale, it brought the work to a rousing close. Bravo to conductor Nigel Perrin for his sensitive, masterly reading of the piece, to the orchestra led by Adrian Eales and the continuo with Marcus Sealy at the chamber organ. It was memorable music making.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams)
Carols by Candlelight 2009
The Pump Room, Bath
This is one of the most enjoyable in the profusion of Christmas musical events, like a Christmas pudding, familiar and heart warming, but with some unfamiliar tastes to tickle the palate.
Conductor Nigel Perrin always comes up with a new carol or two to leaven the customary mixture. The final group in the first half came over particularly well, starting with the calypso style De Virgin Mary had a Baby Boy done with real panache: A Spotless Rose by Norwegian composer Ola Gjeilo that had a special quality, the sopranos handling the high notes beautifully: a typical Eric Whitacre carol, Lux Aurumque with its crunchy dissonances and lovely hushed sound: and a spirited joyous In Excelsis by Jonathan Willcocks. And two Bob Chilcott carols had special appeal: Shepherd's Carol with its lovely soprano solo line: and, perhaps my favourite, Where Riches is Everlastingly, rhythmic and quite other-worldly. The choir were on excellent form, the balance good, the tempi full of well observed contrast, jazzy and smooth, and the tone quality burnished and elegant. Marcus Sealy was as eloquent as ever on the piano.
The Junior Choir sang a group of four songs under their new conductor Adrienne Hale, finishing with a rousing When Children Ruled the World. They also showed the audience how to do it with a splendid Gloria Calypso which provided a keen contest between the two sides of the house. My side won hands down! We also joined in a birthday tribute to Sir David Willcocks, Birthday Carol: he is 90 this month and still as active as ever.
The solo spot on Wednesday was provided by young soprano Sophie Gallagher from Wells Cathedral School, where she is already attracting very favourable comment. In her mid-teens, she has a remarkably mature voice, with a wide range of tone, and well developed vocal discipline and control. She gave us a group of three songs, including Vaughan Williams' beautiful Silent Noon, sung with style and expressive feeling. A real talent to watch.
We finished with a magnificent encore, The Twelve Days of Christmas, an exuberantly cheerful way of warming us up to face the cold outside.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams)
Bach, Bruckner, Britten etc
Bath Abbey, Nov 2009
This programme of music by composers all of whose names begin with B, provided not only a broad base of big names, but a balance of musical styles bridging almost 300 years.
Bach first – the great man deserves pride of place: Marcus Sealy's opening Sinfonia breathed joyous life around the Abbey. It sounded really authentic on the Klais organ and Marcus showed us his mastery, both of the instrument and the music. It was the ideal curtain raiser. We had two of the great Bach choral works: Jesu, meine Freude and Lobet den Herrn, both accompanied on a chamber organ, rather than the Klais, an interesting decision. In their different ways, they make substantial demands on the singers, particularly the high soprano line, and after a slightly tentative opening, the singers were soon into their stride, handling the big choruses with confidence and style. I particularly enjoyed Lobet den Herrn which closed the concert with a splendid outburst of exhilaration, full of light and shade, with a lovely breadth of sound. Just as Bach would have wanted.
We heard four Bruckner motets, Inveni David, for men's voices, and Ecce Sacerdos, in which the singers were joined by four young trombonists from Wells Cathedral School, a most effective, rich combination, which came off very well indeed. The other two Tota pulchra es and the gorgeous Ave Maria found the choir in excellent form, with some beautiful pianissimo singing. The trombonists also played Beethoven's Equale with accomplished poise, a performance of maturity and musicality – promise of great things to come.
Marcus Sealy gave us another treat on the Klais organ, Bonnet's Variations, a bravura piece full of big sounds, with a tremendous climax: and by complete contrast, a quietly reflective Frank Bridge Adagio, full of interesting harmonic ideas, both played with immaculate control and understanding.
The choir also took on Britten's Rejoice in the Lamb, one of his smaller scale masterpieces, with words by Christopher Smart which are utterly compelling, brought to life by Britten with subtle genius. The changes of tempo and key are vocally quite challenging, but wonderfully demonstrative, and the choir gave a very good account of it, bold and beatific in turn. The soloists from the choir sang well and the whole tenor section solo, The Flowers, was especially poignant.
It was an ambitious evening's music, with a lot of work for the choir. They acquitted themselves with distinction under Nigel Perrin's ebullient direction, with the ever-present Marcus Sealy giving his usual flawless accompaniment.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams)
Will Todd's Mass in Blue
Wiltshire Music Centre
July 2009
Singing the blues: New Orleans or Ronnie Scott's? But not rural Wiltshire. The Mass? Bach in B Minor perhaps, or San Marco in Venice. But these are preconceptions – stereotypes – and they need to be challenged. Nigel Perrin and his singers, in this performance of Will Todd's Mass in Blue, showed us a new idiom which had a freshness and musical energy that had toes tapping as the choir, hips swinging, handled this new challenge with no little skill and great enjoyment: full marks to them for managing the difficult balancing act of looking at the conductor and keeping track of the score.
The presence of the composer at the piano, with his jazz trio: and his wife Bethany Halliday, singing the solo part, added a really authentic blues sound: and it kept choir and conductor on their toes as the fusion of the improvisatory nature of jazz and the musical discipline of singing in parts combined to produce a remarkably effective quality of tone. Indeed, the relatively formal structure of the Mass seemed to give a shape to the performance which brought together warmth and exultation, from the spacious Kyrie through the potency of the Et Incarnatus to the brilliant finale, Dona Nobis Pacem and the Credo. It had not only vigour and originality, but it presented the concept of the Mass in a totally different style. This was high quality singing from Bethany Halliday and the choir, finding exactly the right moody atmosphere, accompanied by superb playing from the trio.
In the first half we had a selection of songs arranged by Will Todd including two well-known hymns Personent Hodie and Guiting Power: and the Junior Choir, under Simon Carr Minns, as enchanting as ever, gave us Fields of Gold, Summertime, with Bethany Halliday, finishing, with the grown ups, in a storming rendering of Cy Coleman's Rhythm of Life. It was a bold and fascinating experiment: and it worked. Big smiles all round.
Peter Lloyd Williams©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams)
It’s inevitable, emotionally, I suppose, that most of the attention would focus on the first half of this programme because of the appearance of the Junior Choir but, musically and significantly, the second half, featuring Will Todd’s Mass in Blue, was monumental.
The Junior Choir, conducted by the ebullient Simon Carr Minns, certainly sang and moved enthusiastically but as they develop, as they surely will, they do need to look at their tone and musical discipline.
And so to Mass in Blue: a major work blending driving jazz and the Latin Mass with Todd himself on piano, his wife, Bethany Halliday, as jazz soprano soloist and Todd’s jazz trio colleagues of Gareth Huw Davies dazzling on double bass and percussionist Jim Fleeman. But who to conduct? None other than Nigel Perrin, doyen of musicologists whose talents seem to know no bounds.
His conducting was fluid, masterful, concise and, for his large choir, so clear. The chemistry between Perrin and percussionist Fleeman, with some quite violent changes in tempii, was almost the bedrock for what is a quite brilliant piece of music, allowing scope for Todd’s prodigious gift of improvisation.
If jazz can ever be disciplined then this was out of the textbook. Yet the sense of freedom, the power of devotion, were paramount.
Maybe, just to bring things down to earth, a little more attention to diction, tellingly at the final syllable, would have crowned a towering performance.
©The Gazette and Herald(Reg, Burnard)
Jenkins' Stabat Mater and Messiah Part 2
Bath Abbey
March 2009
Karl Jenkins' music, as the programme noted, arouses widely differing reactions: and this setting of the Stabat Mater, premiered in 2008, is no exception.
It is, as one listener remarked, immediately recognisable as Jenkins, from the broad melodic lines and rousing climaxes. But there is also a feel for the deep emotion of the words, treated with imaginative respect and evocatively striking contrasts. In particular, the solo part, sung with amplification by 17 year old Annabel Jones, in her final year at Wells Cathedral School, is a remarkable fusion of styles, ranging from Middle Eastern chant to ballad. And she was brilliant, composed and musically balanced, giving these very different texts authenticity and serious vocal quality.
The choir, in unfamiliar territory too, handled the sweeping choruses and rhythmic movement with verve and dexterity. The sound was well-modulated, showing a good understanding of the relationship between text and music: and the sopranos especially showed us a freshness and confidence at the top end which was very impressive. The players gave consistently helpful support and the use of the percussion is a notable insistent feature of the scoring. The final Paradisi Gloria brought this interesting and challenging piece to a powerful climax. I'd like to hear it again.
Messiah Part 2 was a thoughtful choice for this Lent season, containing, as it does, some of the finest choruses and arias – though eyebrows were raised at the Amen chorus from Part 3 following directly on from Hallelujah. We might perhaps have had Worthy is the Lamb, but no doubt time was a factor here? And this was an accomplished performance, the sopranos again leading the way, but the whole sound was full and very satisfying – though the acoustic was not always helpful. Soloists Marilyn Archer, Penelope Davies, Anthony Gregory and Simon Trist were in good voice: I particularly enjoyed Penny Davies' warm, bronze alto and Anthony Gregory's clear incisive tenor. The Sinfonietta, led by Richard Studt, were impeccable, some fine string playing, ebullient brass and plangent woodwind giving the singers confidence and considerable – sometimes overly con sforza – in the climaxes. Marcus Sealy provided the organ continuo. Conductor Nigel Perrin produced an excellent result from his singers and players, well paced, trenchant and full-bodied: a very satisfying evening.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams, 1st April 2009)
Carols by Candlelight 2008
The Pump Room
Bath
This was what we all needed to lighten up the all-pervading national gloom, a musical tonic, presided over by Nigel Perrin, whose genial presence made us all feel better and provided some excellent music too. The opening processional, with Nigel and his tambourine was a new carol by Robin Benton, commissioned in memory of former singer John Inwood, We Come to Tell a Story, full of lively joyful energy, which characterised the whole programme.
I particularly enjoyed the Basque Noel, (I saw a Maiden,) beautifully sung, with poise and tender warmth and a spirited final group of three carols in the first half, including the new - to me - piece by Bob Chilcott, Remember O Thou Man, quiet and mysterious, which formed a lovely balance with the rhythmic exuberance of My Dancing Day and Gaudete, sung with crisp precision.
The Junior Choir, under new conductor Simon Carr-Minns at the piano, was full of cheerful good humour, especially in a swinging Christmas medley arranged by the conductor. Then both choirs joined together in Rutter's Star Carol.
We had some fine clarinet playing from Joe Shiner with a delightful Finzi carol and a bravura Carnival of Venice, full of technical fireworks. He has a considerable talent and plenty of confidence.
The audience had its big moment too, in a remarkably well-organised Holly and Ivy, sung in canon - and we all came to the right conclusion. After a romantic Christmas Eve by Harrell C Lucky, with a lilting clarinet accompaniment , we finished with A Merry Christmas. It was a thoroughly good-humoured evening's music making, with Marcus Sealy's piano accompaniment as immaculate as ever and maestro Nigel Perrin produced some captivating sounds from his singers, bright and ebullient, quiet and meditative in turn. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams, 16th December 2008)
A Concert of Music by Pehkonen, Hughes and Vivaldi
Bath Abbey
November 2008
Conductor Nigel Perrin set his singers a serious challenge with this intriguing programme which brought together contemporary and 18th century music. They responded magnificently with a performance of rare quality, back to their best form. First up was Russian Requiem by Elis Pehkonen, born in Norfolk of Finnish descent. It is a remarkable work, new, I suspect, to most of us, comprising an eclectic set of texts by Dante, Pasternak, even Lenin, as well as Revelation and words from the Latin Mass. It has great dramatic turbulence, the Dies Irae contrasting vividly with Lenin: and there were echoes of Stravinsky and Fauré in the final Agnus Dei. The piece is technically demanding, both in its rhythmic complexity and vocal compass, and the choir produced a lovely balanced sound, supported by excellent playing from the Wessex Sinfonia led by the trusty Adrian Eales, with the ever dependable Marcus Sealy at the organ: the cor anglais and trumpet playing were outstanding. Lesley-Jane Rogers handled the high-lying soprano line with fearless abandon: Jeanette Ager's rich mezzo added a lustrous texture. It was a splendid performance which combined pathos and drama in a strikingly original way, and the composer, there in person to take a bow, will have been delighted: the audience certainly was.
To finish, the Vivaldi Gloria - sung without copies, well done indeed - soaring up into the Abbey roof. It was a spirited rendering, full of joy and confidence, the dotted rhythms pacey and well controlled. The same two soloists were again excellent as was the band, with some great trumpeting in the concluding Cum Sancto Spiritu. A performance to gladden the hearts of a packed audience, as we all went out into the rain, still humming the tunes.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams, 3rd November 2008)
An Evening with Ralph Vaughan Williams and Friends
Wiltshire Music Centre
July 2008
An evening with Vaughan Williams and friends, followed by a picnic: ideal for a relaxed, informal summer evening.
The opening Valiant for Truth is one of VW's finest short motets and the choir was at its best, finding the buoyancy, the courage and the hope in the final "trumpets" climax with firm certainty. It was a very moving start, followed by pieces from Charles Wood, Parry, Ravel, and Bruch, with all of whom VW studied; and Holst, a great friend, whose compositional journey, though, explored rather different musical territory. The first half finished with Stanford's jovial Songs of the Fleet, given a cheerfully spirited outing and a cultured baritone solo contribution from Simon Trist.
The second half brought on the Junior Choir - ever-popular and well supported. We heard V W and Finzi: a ravishingly sensitive performance of Linden Lea - I learned it aeons ago as a treble and I love it still. Two of Finzi's Children's Songs and VW 's Ploughboy were sung with great charm, tuneful and beautifully shaped. The children were in great form.
Then they sat down to listen to VW's Five English Folksongs, followed by Finzi's For St Cecilia, with fine contributions from two young soloists, tenor Kieran White whose top notes were a delight and trumpeter Jonathan Scott who gave the whole musical texture real sparkle. Accompanists Marcus Sealy and Nicholas Thorne provided impeccably reliable support. Finally we all stood to sing VW's 100th Psalm, again with trumpet obbligato, to bring the evening to a rousing conclusion.
A fitting memorial to the late, sadly missed, Christopher Gosland, whose contribution to this choir was immense.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams, 15th July 2008)
A Concert of French Music
Bath Abbey
March 2008
Fauré's short, forceful, Tu es Petrus got us off to a clarion start, with Stephen Foulkes' resonant baritone and the choir at full throttle.
And how good to hear Marcus Sealy showing us the full range of the Klais organ, now with added glockenspiel.
He played Vierne's Carillon de Westminster and Naji Hakim's Tombeau d'Olivier Messiaen, a bustling noisy piece - très farouche - which showed us what the organ - and the player - can do, but without Messiaen's finesse and unique style.
The Duruflé Requiem is distinctive and wonderfully inventive, with its contrasting harmonic progressions and plainsong sequences. This was a most satisfying performance, with Penelope Davies especially effective in the hushed Pie Jesu.
Nigel Perrin conjured up some fine singing which captured the deep spirituality of the piece and its sense of reverence and Marcus Sealy's organ accompaniment, particularly his use of the reed stops, was masterly.
©Bath Chronicle (Peter Lloyd Williams, 20th March 2008)
Nigel Perrin at Sixty
The Forum, Bath
November 2007
He may have received his bus pass but he is as lively as ever, and his beaming smile was as broad as the Bristol Channel. It was party time and The Forum was packed with well-wishers and his four choirs - perhaps over 200 singers. The Bach Choir opened with - of course - Bach, his exuberantly joyful motet Lobet den Herrn, which lifted everyone's spirits. Then the Exeter Festival Chorus sang a group of delightful Brahms waltzes, romantic and lyrical. The Junior Choir followed with four songs, accompanied by Ai Yamazaki: I loved Bright Eyes and we all sang Do Re Mi with great gusto and good humour. Next, Camerata with a typically eclectic mix: Cloudburst, by Eric Whitacre, redolent with special effects and percussion, was very effective. And there was a birthday present, specially commissioned from Ed Hughes, The Voyager, which Nigel knew nothing about, and had to be rehearsed during his very conveniently timed visit to China, under Simon Trist. A lovely piece which I'm sure we'll hear again.
After the interval the three adult choirs sang Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle, slightly abridged. It was a remarkable performance, these big forces controlled and precise, with some gorgeous pianissimo singing and the Camerata, placed, for reasons of space, at ground level, provided a beautiful semi-chorus, enhancing the dynamic contrast even further. Penelope Davies gave the final Agnus Dei full measure with her warm vibrant alto and the three accompanists, Peter Adcock, and Marcus Sealy at the two pianos, and Colin Hunt on a splendid 1868 harmonium, provided superb support.
And, of course, there were decorations, balloons, flowers, speeches, and finally a shower of sparklers to bring the celebrations to a suitably festive ending, by which time the smile on Nigel's face was - if possible - even broader.
©Bath Chronicle (7th November 2007 Peter Lloyd Williams)
Summer Concert
Wiltshire Music Centre
July 2007
This was an evening to be enjoyed, and the opening "Song for St Cecilia", by Ed Hughes, to Dryden's text, commissioned for this occasion, set the mood on its first outing. It is a vivid evocation of the transforming power of music with some striking orchestral effects, moving sometimes in blocks of sound, sometimes in staccato interpolations, with a particularly effective trumpet obbligato. The choir was kept on its toes sustaining the rhythmic interest and one lovely glissando before the final resolution and "the diapason closing full in man" It was an enlivening and well-crafted piece, certainly worth another hearing and the composer was there to take an enthusiastic ovation.
The four light-hearted choruses, Viva la Musica, Name That Tune,
Tequila Samba and Italian Salad made us all smile, especially Italian Salad
with a magnificently hammed-up baritone extravaganza from Simon Trist.
The Junior Choir gave us a tuneful medley of songs done with great spirit, energy and huge enjoyment before joining with their seniors in a lovely vocal arrangement of Ev'ry time I Feel the Spirit, sung with great feeling and a buoyant sense of rhythm and swing. Great stuff.
After the interval, a group of five Rutter Madrigals - written for the 75th birthday of the legendary jazz pianist George Shearing - Rutter at his most tuneful and rhythmically inventive.
Finally, Purcell's great ode Come ye Sons of Art, full of vocal goodies and given a vigorous and very musical rendition. We heard some fine solo singing from Simon Clulow (countertenor), Nigel Perrin (and very effective too), Leah Jackson (soprano) and Simon Trist (baritone). The concluding chorus with bass and soprano solos brought the whole evening to a resoundingly cheerful conclusion with the admirable Emerald Ensemble playing a major part in a splendid evening's music. A final plaudit for the two accompanists Marcus Sealy and Jamie Knights - immaculate as ever.
Carols by Candlelight
Pump Room, Bath
December 2006
Carols by Candlelight is always a first rate tonic, and this year's performances have to be rated the best ever. This impression was clearly shared by the audiences as the level of their applause showed, and confirmed by a number of individual comments. From the opening processional of the evocative "Ukrainian Bell Carol" to the romping encore - "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" - it was spellbinding stuff. There was tremendous diversity; traditional, both the well-loved and less familiar gems; and the more modern, including works by Archer ,Chilcott, Rutter, Tavener, and Willcocks - of which a number featured forms derivative of spirituals, blues, and jazz. The Choir rose splendidly to the challenges these presented and sang with feeling, discipline and control throughout. The Junior Choir sang their five numbers with comparable musicality. They have made great strides and are now a well-balanced group singing with impressive confidence.
The quality of both choirs reflects the inspiration of, and high standards demanded by, Musical Director Nigel Perrin. A glimpse of his technique was provided by the way he entertainingly encouraged and tutored the audiences for the pieces in which they participated, and all sang with gusto - thoroughly enjoying the experience. Marcus Sealy's accompaniment of the Choir, and Jamie Knights' of the Junior Choir were both impeccable.
A highlight in each of the performances was a work played by a young soloist from Wells Cathedral Music School. Polly Francis on Violin played the Czardas by Monti, Joe Shiner on Clarinet performed After You Mr Gershwin by Kovacs, and Jasmin Bennett showed the miracles that could be wrought from Recorders. All were simply outstanding.
©Bear Flat Bugle
Autumn Concert
Bath Abbey
November 2006
This concert presented a pleasing and elegant contrast between today's man and an old master. The Jenkins Requiem, reminiscent in form with Britten's War Requiem is tuneful, and has a peaceful serenity enhanced by Japanese interpolations with their exotic instruments - in this case beautifully sung by the Junior Choir. The Choir as a whole produced a fine robust sound, controlled and well organised; and the balance with the orchestra was particularly good.
Haydn's Nelson Mass, written 200 years earlier, was given a brisk energetic performance, the choir full of warmth and colour, enjoying this very attractive and singable piece. The soloists made a very effective quartet and the whole work was polished and satisfying - with the orchestra giving exactly the right level of support under conductor Nigel Perrin. All in all it was an absolute triumph, much appreciated by a full house.
Summer Concert
Wiltshire Music Centre
July 2006
A polished Performance of Vaughan Williams' Serenade to Music opened the programme with solos neatly taken by choir members. Then George Shearing's Who is Sylvia was a revelation - lyrical and tuneful, almost Schubertian, and sung with great style and grace. Rutter's swingy setting of There was a Lover and his Lass was suitably jazzy and toe-tapping. The Junior Choir's Saga of the Seven days by Tom Cunningham was given a rousing performance, full of sparkle and life - sung without copies too. Then some more Shearing, hauntingly jazzy, splendidly sung, before Vaughan Williams' The Cloud Capped Towers brought the metaphorical curtain down. And after a lively Hey Ho the Wind and the Rain encore, everyone went off to picnic.
This confection of settings, largely to Shakespeare's words was ingeniously linked by Christopher Gosland's interesting narrative, spoken by choir members. It was a joyful, light hearted and musical extravaganza, with Nigel Perrin in ebullient form. Marcus Sealy and Jamie Knights (Piano) and Pete Brandt (Double Bass) also gave excellent support.