Full of sparkle

Die Fledermaus 
Chelmsford Opera Group
Civic Theatre

Nicolette Molnar’s Die Fledermaus, like the best champagne, kept its sparkle right to the end. Sponsored by Lloyd’s Bank, Chelmsford Opera Group’s production at the Civic last week had a predominantly youthful cast who made the most of the lively humour and the frothy plot.
Martin Spencer was an elegantly effete Eisenstein, flirting expertly at the masked ball with his own wife [Patricia Cameron, who sang beautifully as the fun-loving Rosalinde].
It was a real pleasure to be able to take the excellence of the singing for granted, and sit back and enjoy the performances, such as David Flint’s, as the shameless tenor Alfred. He didn’t look much like a ladykiller, but he was ideally suited to the gentle comedy the part demands.
Familiar faces in some of the crucial smaller roles – Michael Bagnall as the tongue-tied lawyer Blind, Ken Rolf as Frank, the prison governor, and Bernard White, successfully following Fulton Mackay and a long line of jolly gaolers. 
Unfairly upstaged by a pair of pampered bitches, Ann Davey wore the dress-trousers as young Prince Orlofsky, whose bal masqué gave the Opera Group chorus to shine in some nicely libidinous goings-on.
Birgitta Angsmyr gave a delightful performance as Adele, the real parlour maid, and Peter Crowe cut a dapper figure as Falke, the false friend whose Bat’s revenge gives the piece its title and its plot-line.
The Chelmsford Sinfonietta, organised by Brian Brown, made up in authentic Viennese sound what it lacked in body – the celebrated overture was enjoyed in rapt silence by the first night audience. The conductor was Anthony Trodd.

An enterprising Nutcracker

The Nutcracker
Chelmsford Ballet Company at the Civic Theatre
May 30 1986

An impressively lavish production of The Nutcracker at the Civic last week. The enterprising Chelmsford Ballet Company – unique of its kind – has built an enviable reputation for full-scale shows, and this was a worthy successor to Tales of Beatrix Potter and last year’s Coppelia.
I saw the matinée, at which Clara was danced by Rosina Baker [Gemma Beesley danced at other performances]. Rosina cleverly caught the innocent delight of the child whose party ends in a colourful dream. Caroline Clark made an impact, too, in the smaller role of Franz, her brother.
The Nutcracker soldier himself was Jason Wild, who also danced the Grandfather and the Arabian. John Richardson, sporting a raffish eye-patch, was excellent as the ever-present Drosselmeyer, and David Slade made an imposing King Rat.
Stephen Ayres danced the Prince, and guest artiste Amanda Graham gave a delightful Sugar Plum Fairy.
The ensemble work was imaginative and polished, especially the Snowflakes [led by Rachel Ashcroft as the Snow Queen] and the national dances. This ballet makes good use of the talented Junior Company, particularly good in the Battle and in the sequence with Mere Gigogne [Kathleen Mardell].
The scenery was mostly rented cloths, but the furniture was splendid, and costumes – even the removal men’s – exquisite.
The Nutcracker was choreographed by Rose Kinsey and the Company’s director, Elisabeth Swan.

Road Testing The Yeomen

The Yeomen of the Guard – Ingatestone and Witham
May 9  1986

The other week I had the rare pleasure of watching two productions of the same show on successive nights. Both Ingatestone and Witham had chosen Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic Yeomen of the Guard. Difficult not to make comparisons, but like those glossy automobile advertisements, we’ll try to stick to the facts,
Ingatestone had the better acceleration – Overture to Beginners in 5m 16s, but Witham clocked the faster journey time, even including the traditional encore for the Cock and Bull duet, and with more leg-room too !
Ingatestone’s road-holding was questionable at times, with prompts, hesitations and false starts, but their documentation was impeccable, with a beautiful programme designed by Haydn Davies, their Sergeant Merryl.
Visibility was good in both, though Ingatestone’s lights had a tendency to dip unexpectedly. I liked the distant view of the Globe, though.
Witham’s open-top design was striking, featuring a Pierrot/Headsman mascot.
Finish and trim excellent in either model, though Witham’s spinning wheel worked, and all their Yeomen wore beards.
Witham’s long pedigree [they first had this show on the road sixty years ago] told in a touch more polish and style, plus a higher octane all-round performance.
Ingatestone won on Jack Points, though – their Merryman had the pathos Gilbert intended.
Apologies to both companies for this unorthodox review – space is at at premium. And I wonder how many other people road-tested both versions ?

Two excellent exhibitions

Chelmsford Then and Now 
and 
The World of Fred Spalding



The face of Chelmsford is changing faster than most.
Salutary, then, to take stock of two excellent exhibitions that chart some of the developments of the last hundred years.
At the Museum, until May 11, “Chelmsford Then and Now”, paintings by members of the Chelmsford Art Society, inspired by Bennett Bamford’s watercolours of a century ago.
Some locations are still recognizable – the Stone Bridge, caught nicely by Phil Kyffin, Springfield Wharf, atmospherically captured by Bob Vasey, whose Mildmay Almshouses [just down the road from the Museum in Oaklands Park] featured a prominent yellow van instead of Bamford’s distant pony trap.
New Street has altered more than most – who now remembers Eli Bacon’s store where the police station now stands ? - and Charlie Tait’s recent study is already out of date, the Snip’s weather-boards replaced by the new Crown Court. There was a lively collage of the Wheatsheaf, which happily still survives.
Although there was some beautiful work inspired by the obviously picturesque, I suspect that a hundred years hence the transient town centre will be of more interest, like Ann Snow’s view of soul-less Tindal Street, with ghostly motorbikes in the foreground.

In the Cathedral until April 30, an equally intriguing glimpse into the world of Fred Spalding, alderman and photographer extraordinaire, whose studio can be seen in his 1860 study of Tindal Square. Hylands House stands “smart and self-confident” in the Edwardian sunshine, a charabanc leaves the Griffin in 1906, Marconi meets the Mayor in 1912, and the Cathedral interior looks very Victorian in 1905.
Both these exhibitions are free. Do try to see them; you cannot fail to be fascinated.

Agreeable evening down at the Mill

The Vanbrugh Quartet – The Mill at Roxwell

A uniquely agreeable evening at the Mill in Roxwell last week: the Vanbrugh Quartet playing to raise funds for the new Essex Chamber Orchestra.

Jim and Pat Smith have a lovely house, with the new “barn” attached – in fact a tiny concert hall, with a good acoustic and a view of the garden. It is a rare pleasure to hear chamber music in such an ideal setting.

Violinist Gregory Ellis – who played the Brahms concerto with the ESO last month – met Elizabeth Charleson [violin] and Simon Aspell [viola] when they were all studying at the Royal Academy. Cellist Christopher Marwood joined them last November.

They have just secured a two-year contract with RTE [the equivalent of the BBC in Eire], before they go off to Canada for an international competition. The tape they submitted to qualify included the three works that made up the substantial but well-balanced programme we heard at the Mill.

Mozart’s Quartet in C [K465], with its beautiful Andante Cantabile and exhilrating Allegro Molto finale, is often dubbed the Dissonance Quartet, since its opening sounded harsh to eighteenth-century ears. What would they have made of the Prokofiev which followed ? Rhythmically exciting, including references to many Russian Jewish themes.

To conclude, the Vanbrughs gave us a fresh, enthusiastic account of one of the peaks of the repertoire – Beethoven’s B flat Quartet opus 130.