FOREST SCHOOL CHAMBER GROUPS

lunchtime in Chelmsford Cathedral

Early Spring sunshine, a packed Cathedral, and a "formidable" programme from Forest School's chamber musicians.
After a brisk, up-beat Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, an impressive Haydn Missa Brevis. These remarkable young musicians achieved a pleasing liturgical sound, which occasionally touched the sublime, in particular in the Amen of the Gloria, and the Benedictus from soloist Emma Lewis.
The String Quartet were just off to Chetham's for a national workshop weekend, and shared with us their prepared piece, the Toreador's Prayer by 20th century Spanish composer Turina.
And to finish, a full sound and some promising soloists in the Bach Double Violin Concerto.

THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE

CAODS at the Civic Theatre

25.02.09

This “new” Broadway re-working is now nearly thirty years old. It belongs with the flamboyant musicals of the eighties, and as such still has the power to set the stage alight.

Purists would concede that little has changed – a couple of numbers inserted from other Savoy operas, and a few extra routines. Gilbert's jokes survive better than Sullivan's music, put through the Broadway blender and synthesised into submission.

Ray Jeffery's lively production made the most of the big numbers, the Act I finale, for instance, or the silliest policemen I ever saw. The reprise of Catlike Tread was also very effectively done. Only occasionally did I feel that swordplay and shouting were doing duty for style, or decibels for diction. Crystal clear always were Patrick Tucker's Major General, and Jonathan Davis in the swashbuckling Tim Curry role of Pirate King.

Thomas Harper was a likeable, hip-swivelling romantic lead, with Christie Hooper in the vocally demanding role of Mabel, his beloved. Splendid character work from Patrick Gallagher as the Police Sergeant, and Jenny Hockley as the spurned Ruth – though she did get to join the pirate ranks later on. Both pirates and police were equal opportunities employers, and the chorus boys and girls were kept busy with loads of imaginative and amusing business.

The Musical Director was John Trent Wallace.

Photography by Christopher Yorke-Edwards

EIMEAR McGEOWN

Classical Xtra at the Cramphorn

24.02.09

Flautist Eimear McGeown was born in Northern Ireland, as was the composer of her first piece, Hamilton Harty's elegiac, energetic “In Ireland”, which finished with a joyful jig.

The talented and versatile musician showed her classical credentials with a Fauré test piece and a favourite Bach Sonata.

But most of this recital was devoted to traditional forms and new music, including the première of a Romance by Jeffery Wilson, butterfly flute darting around above the wind-stirred foliage of the piano accompaniment [Aleksander Szram].

Canadian composer Katherine Hoover evoked the wide open spaces in her Kokopeli, influenced by Native American music, and ending with a dying diminuendo, beautifully controlled. Ian Clarke's Hypnosis was predictably soporific, with a minimalist piano part, while his ingenious Great Train Race was an exhilarating exploration of the instrument. The Sonata by French pianist/composer Mel Bonis was a varied, constantly engaging piece, with a delicate accompaniment.

Eimear's Irish flute featured in the gentle Give Me Your Hand, and some toe-tapping reels, whilst her two whistles [one in D, one in B flat] were used for a couple of slip jigs and Mahoney's Reel.

The audience rightly demanded more from these two charismatic musicians, and we were rewarded with Phil Coulter's sentimental Home Away from Home.

POTTED PIRATES

Dan and Jeff at the Cramphorn

22.02.09

Buccaneers swarmed over the whole building last Sunday. The Civic had CAODS' Broadway Pirates in for their technical run, while on the smaller stage the big screen Caribbean pirates with Dan and Jeff.

Fond memories of the Potted Potter last year [all seven book in seventy minutes] meant that expectations were high. And despite the early hour and the thin house, it was more of the same madcap fun, with parrots, eye-patches and peg-legs, not to mention Calico Jack Rackham and his two-timing lady pirates. Wicked as-libs, wacky repartee and wild improvisations kept all the ages in the audience awake and amused, and that was before we were dragooned into making like seagulls, sea-dogs and Captain Ahab [“Thar she blows!”].

Black Beard, Sir Francis Drake, Long John Silver all trod the boards [or walked the plank] as historical fact mingled with romantic fiction.

Jack Sparrow was on board too, as earnest Jeff and disruptive Dan took us through the movie trilogy in five minutes And they crammed into their matinee hour a pirate rap, the Spanish Armadageddon [we threw cannon balls, they threw chocolate doubloons], a quick-fire Treasure Island and a glorious Pirate Karaoke Megamix Finale.

IN FOR THE KILL

Writtle Cards

20.02.09

Wagers were laid in the interval. Who “fixed the brake pipes” ["cut", not "mended"] and caused a fatal accident ? We knew it couldn't be the mysterious, menacing visitor, played by Nick Caton in an effectively sustained performance. Perhaps not the only way to play this enigmatic stalker [he's described as “very friendly”], but powerfully done, with commendable stillness and control.

Could it be Paula, confused by the multiple motives and endless mind games [Sarah Wilson] ? Instead of showing Frank the satisfyingly solid door, she mixes him a drink, encourages him to smoke, and only after he's downed three generous vodkas does she make up her mind to call the police. Or hubby James [Lee Barnes, with some scary shouting], pianist daughter Susan [Laura Bennett] ?

The victim, Paula's not-so-secret lover, was Neil Smith, who had two reactions, awkward and rabbit-in-the-headlights.

The capacity house for this Derek Benfield thriller from the early 80s, directed by Michele Moody, was asked to believe that these characters, talking too much and drinking too much, inhabited the 21^st century. But this was an age before GCSEs and, more crucially, before mobile phones. The final twist was clever, but a long time coming. The tension might have built better with a tab curtain, and a tighter grasp of the words.